F1 tycoon Briatore on fast track to success at Rangers

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After West Brom had clinched their place in the top flight with that 2-0 victory on 4 May, Queens Park Rangers co-owner Briatore - also the managing director of the Renault Formula One team - was telling everyone within earshot that his club would emulate them in 2009.

Making his point: Flavio Briatore (above) and Bernie Ecclestone will be banking on boss Iain Dowie (below) guiding QPR into the top flight after investing a fortune in the club

Iain Dowie

With the wealth of Briatore, F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone and Indian steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal behind them, Rangers are effectively the richest club in world football.

They were quickly named as favourites to win this season's Championship and the charismatic Briatore is used to success, having masterminded four F1 world championships - two each for Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso - while in charge of Benetton and Renault respectively.

But Briatore may find quickly that second-tier football in England is far less predictable than Formula One. Iain Dowie, the manager he chose to lead Rangers to promotion, worked wonders by taking Crystal Palace up to the Premier League in 2004 after taking over at Christmas, when they were in the bottom three.

But Dowie's stock has fallen considerably since then, after unsuccessful spells with Charlton and Coventry, and Briatore is unlikely to show much sympathy or patience if Rangers start poorly.

Then there are Rangers' signings. Goalkeeper Radek Cerny and defender Peter Ramage should prove shrewd buys but three young players from Italian football - Matteo Alberti, Emmanuel Jorge Ledesma and Samuel Di Carmine - have no experience of the English game.