Liverpool beat Tottenham to lift first trophy of the season

Liverpool FC secured its first trophy of the season in Spain at the weekend, but it was on the track rather than on the pitch.

A motorsport team backed and financed by the English soccer club won the 2009 Superleague Formula title, seeing off the challenge of Tottenham Hotspur. Liverpool's driver, Adrian Valles, secured a fourth-place finish in the final race, won by Anderlecht, to take the series.

Superleague Formula features motorsport teams backed by professional soccer clubs. Going into the final race of the six-race season - which has already announced that it will have an extra four races in 2010 - the championship statistically remained a four-horse race with Olympiacos and FC Basel 91 trailing Liverpool and Tottenham.

"It's fantastic to have won the championship and I'd like to thank the whole team for the great job they've done this season," said Valles. "We have been competitive at every round, yet we’ve never had any problems with reliability. To win the Superleague Formula title is a great honour for a driver because the level of competition is so high and the cars are all the same.

"I'm also really pleased for Liverpool. I met all the players and staff last week and they wished me good luck so I am so happy to have clinched this title for them. They've won a lot of trophies in their history so it is nice to have added another one to that list."

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Craig Dolby, driving for Tottenham, added: "I'm obviously very disappointed not to win the championship, but I pushed as hard as I could and had a lot of fun. We've had some bad luck here and there without which things could have been different, but overall it has been a great year."

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