Liverpool FC’s Frederic Vervisch claimed €50,000 for finishing third overall in this weekend’s Superleague Formula by Sonangol round in Beijing.  

Vervisch mixed speed with luck in the opening race to climb from 15th to third. The beneficiary of an incident-strewn opening few laps, he was challenging for sixth when the Safety Car was deployed.

Seizing his chance at the re-start, he passed Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) into the first corner before running longer than those pitting ahead and inherited the lead. Just three minutes of the pit window remained when he finally came in for tyres before rejoining fourth.

On fresh rubber he was the fastest man on track and quickly dispatched Tristan Gommendy (Olympique Lyonnais) with a brave move on the push-to-pass out of the final quick chicane and down the start/finish straight.

He then survived one of the most incredible races in the championship’s history when smog and rain made driving conditions treacherous. Again he was the fastest driver in the dry as he worked his way through from 11th to sixth by the time the skies opened, only to be shuffled back a spot during the mad dash for the pits.

Even so, he gained enough points across the two feature races to be classified third overall. Under normal circumstances that would have seen him through to the Super Final, but with bad light prevailing, organisers chose to cancel the five-lap dash for cash.

“It’s been a really good weekend and the result is excellent considering from where I started the first race,” he said. “Qualifying wasn’t good but we continued to work hard afterwards and we were fast in both races. I’m happy that the car is in one piece and I’m holding a cheque! I would have liked to have raced in the Super Final, but on the other hand you saw what happened in Ordos when drivers are racing for money, so maybe it was a good decision!”