12/08/2004
NEWS STORY
The A1 GP car broke cover at Snetterton last week, during a secret shake down.
The car, running devoid of paint, stripped down to its bare black carbon fibre, has been described as "sex on wheels" by one observer and as a "stealth fighter" by another.
The shakedown, which took place behind closed doors, lasted a couple of days, and saw test driver Stephen Watson get down to around the sixty-second mark. It's stressed that this was merely a systems check and that the serious testing gets underway in the next few weeks.
Work on the series, which kicks off in late 2005, is progressing well, with the UK car due to be launched at the end of September and the South African entry a month later. It's understood that details of franchise holders will be announced in October.
Despite early scepticism from certain sections of the media, it's clear that A1, which has the full support of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, and FIA President Max Mosley, means business.