23/03/2007
NEWS STORY
New Zealand - 1st
The New Zealand team has set the fastest time in the first official practice for this weekend's 9th Round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Mexico.
After a slow start on the bumpy 4.46km Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City, Kiwi driver Jonny Reid hit his straps to edge out Great Britain and Germany for the day's quickest lap.
A1 Team.NZL Engineering Director David Sears says Reid's effort was impressive given he set his time on old tyres. "Great Britain set their fastest time on their second lap and Germany did similarly on their fourth lap, so to whip past their times in his 24 th lap on old tyres was a pretty useful effort," Sears said.
Sears said the track was incredibly bumpy, but very quick and will only get faster as more rubber is laid down. "It's been a real learning experience given we're at an altitude of eight thousand feet and we're losing twenty five per cent of our down force. It makes it challenging for the drivers and engineering crew."
Many of the teams have new drivers behind the wheel this weekend, including series leader Germany and New Zealand's nearest challengers France and Great Britain.
"I'd like to think Jonny and Black Beauty will be prancing at the front of the grid after tomorrow's qualifying," Sears said.
Great Britain - 2nd
Oliver Jarvis seized his second opportunity to compete for A1 Team Great Britain in this weekend's ninth round of the 2006-07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, 23rd – 25th March, by capping Friday's practice outing with ‘fastest rookie' honours.
The 23-year-old from Burwell, Cambridgeshire signaled his intent early in this morning's ‘Rookie-Only' session at the 2.74-mile track, powering his 550bhp A1GP car to the top of the timesheets ahead of current series leaders A1 Team Germany with a flying lap of 1m28.597s, six tenths clear of Christian Vietoris in second.
Jarvis' consistency kept the British team at the head of the pack for much of the afternoon's hour-long practice session, their potential sweep of Friday's sessions blighted only by Jonny Reid's late effort in the New Zealand entry. Oliver remained the fastest rookie with the second quickest time of the day, just a tenth of a second shy of Reid's best, a 1m28.174s.
Oliver Jarvis: "I seemed to get the hang of the track pretty quickly which is a definite bonus. It's quite a challenging circuit with some significant bumps but there are also some handy looking overtaking opportunities. We tried to change our set-up this afternoon to see if we could combat the effect of the bumps but it didn't really work so we reverted back to this morning's configuration. I'm still working on getting the best out of a new set of tyres but overall I think we're looking strong for qualifying. It'll be my first crack at the aggregate lap time given I didn't get to qualify when I last raced in China as the session was cancelled. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do this time round."
Paul Bellringer – A1 Team Great Britain Team Manager: "Oliver did a superb job for us today and we certainly have no complaints with running so consistently at the front of the pack. We tried a slightly different set-up in the afternoon practice which actually set us back a little but there was no cause for concern as we knew we had a competitive package. Based on today's performance you have to think we have a good shot at being up there in qualifying tomorrow. Oliver's given us a good grounding and hopefully we can build on it."
Germany - 3rd
A1 Team Germany started the ninth round of the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport in Mexico by running constantly in the leading group: Christian Vietoris, who contests a complete race weekend for the Willi Weber managed squad for the first time, recorded the second fastest time in both "rookie sessions" sessions at the "Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez" and claimed third place among the field of 22 nations in the subsequent free practice session.
The "star of tomorrow" from Gönnersdorf in the Eifel region of Germany felt immediately at home on the circuit located at an altitude of 2,285 metres close to Mexico City. "As usual, we walked around the circuit on Thursday to examine it in detail", says the 17-year old youngster. "However, you only really notice the significant effect of the bumps in the car at higher speeds."
Christian Vietoris recoded the second fastest time of 1m29.324s in the first "rookie session" only 0.185s behind the Briton Oliver Jarvis. The British driver was once again fastest in the second session with 0.647s advantage over the German team, which set a best time of 1m29.244s.
The subsequent one-hour practice session was not only reserved exclusively for series newcomers, but also for every other competitor. Christian Vietoris circulated the 4.42 kilometre circuit in 1m28.244s. A mere 59 thousandths of a second separated him from the second placed Oliver Jarvis for much of the session before New Zealander Jonny Reid squeezed him down to third place after setting the best time of 1m28.174s.
"We fitted new tyres at the beginning of the session", explains Vietoris. "I set the fastest lap on the fresh tyres on the second lap, which wasn't perfect, as I ran into traffic in the final sector." To prepare for qualifying the German and his team of technicians working for David Sears Motorsport must thoroughly analyse the data overnight to optimise the set-up of the 520 hp A1 GP race car and fine tune the car even further in Saturday's free practice. "We still haven't stopped the car's tendency to understeer in fast corners", explains Vietoris.
Malaysia - 4th
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Mexico, opened today with A1 Team Malaysia immediately showing its performance potential with a fourth fastest lap from Alex Yoong in the afternoon practice session. Earlier, Aaron Lim, the new rookie driver for the team, had been out in the Malaysian car on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.
Team Malaysia rebounded from a tough South African weekend to be right on the pace at this technically demanding track. The complex circuit which features a famed ‘Peraltada' corner that resembles the Parabolica of the historic Monza track, lies 5,200 feet above sea level, to add to the challenge of this venue.
The afternoon session with the field of regular drivers in the A1GP series was a fast and furious hour of running, with the lap times tumbling as the teams improved their car setup and improved their performances. The Malaysian team was one of the top ten teams for most of the session, improving to be fourth quickest after 21 laps of the track for Yoong.
He said after the session, "It was really good today; our best Friday of the season so far. We came here knowing that we needed to be more competitive, and to get on the pace much quicker. We've changed a few things that we thought where the problem in the last couple of races and this has improved things for us. It's a good start and we've clearly made progress.
"The track is great, really fast, really challenging; it's good fun. The altitude isn't affecting me, but it does affect the performance of the car. You can feel the difference in the car; it's much slower, with the altitude sapping the engine, and it feels slow and sluggish, particularly on the front straight."
Lim enjoyed his two 25 minute rookie sessions in the morning. In the first one he made steady progress, lowering his laptimes as the session developed, while also carrying out a number of routine engineering setup tasks for the team. In the second 25 minutes he was able to make further improvements and, although it was his first participation in an A1GP race weekend, his quickest lap time was better than two of the regular Series drivers, each of whom has substantially more racing experience than Lim.
Of his time in the car Lim said, "I'm so excited to be involved with A1 Team Malaysia, and it's just been a great experience from the start of the weekend when I was off to a traditional Mexican ‘Charros' with all the other drivers for a media event. The driving this morning has, of course, been the highlight for me. It's a great track, not very easy to drive, so it really tests my driving ability. The sessions have gone quite well and I think I have accomplished what the team wanted me to cover today."
Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia, Jack Cunningham added, "This is the performance level that we need and we're delighted to see the return to form that we know lies within the team. Both Alex and Aaron have driven very well today, and being on top of things on a Friday should be able to help us score championship points this weekend. We don't' want to get carried away at this early stage in the weekend, as it's such a strong field and there are a few dark horses that could challenge us. Well done to the team for a good start; here's to hoping that we can keep it up right through to Sunday afternoon!
"I would particularly like to pick out Aaron for praise. This is a big step up from where he has driven in the past. So new team, new car, new circuit, excellent performance. It's a great pleasure to introduce another young man to this level of motorsport. He will never forget this day, I am sure."
Netherlands - 5th
The first day for A1 Team Netherlands was a good one, despite engine trouble in the first free practice session this afternoon. The team was able to make the necessary improvements on the set up of the car and showed that they were competitive. Renger van der Zande started the day with the two 25 minute Rookie sessions. In trouble free sessions Van der Zande put A1 Team Netherlands in eighth in the first half and then managed to improve in session two, finishing in fourth with a fastest lap of 1'29.840. It was the first time on the 4.4 km long circuit for Renger. Tomorrow the real work for the A1 Team Netherlands Rookie starts, as he will drive the qualifying for the first time.
Jeroen Bleekemolen went out this afternoon for his first and also only practice session this weekend, before he will step in on Sunday afternoon for the A1GP Feature race. Bleekemolen immediately proved to be quick and was in second halfway through the session, but engine trouble forced the A1 Team Netherlands driver to go into the pits. With that the session ended prematurely for the team. In the end A1 Team Netherlands ended in fifth, three tenths behind New Zealand.
Renger van der Zande was positive about the first day; "It went well. I think that we were going in the right direction step by step. The Rooke session was already a good start. We were able to make some good adjustments to the set up straight away. We were able to continue improving the car with Jeroen in the second session. We have got a very competitive car. It was too bad though that Jeroen had to stop halfway through the session, that did cost us some time for improving the set up further. I think that we have got a solid foundation for the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow I can make some more miles before I really have to perform in qualification. It would be absolutely great if we could end up with a nice result this weekend. The track itself is particular, you only have three real braking points. The rest is all fluent sweeping turns and straights. It is a fun track for sure with some typical corners where you can win a lot with the right set up and I do think we know where we can find that".
Jeroen Bleekemolen was pleased, nevertheless frustrated with the engine failure "It went great, we were fastest on track halfway through the session. We were second, not bad considering Germany already drove this morning, thus being able to get the full potential from the new tyres right in the beginning of the second session, while I still had to get acquainted with the track. There was a lot more potential in the car. But then the engine failed, it probably was an electronics problem. For me that is even more unfortunate because I only had very limited practice this weekend. We were really competitive and then it is a big shame if you cannot continue. Nevertheless, I will get in the car Sunday afternoon with a positive outlook and, as I already mentioned, we showed that we are well inside the top and that is where I want to finish, no matter where I will have to start from. If this means overtaking people or not that does not matter, we will go flat out".
USA - 6th
The A1 Team USA mechanics put in three long nights to assemble a brand new car for Team USA driver Jonathan Summerton, and their efforts proved well worth it once they saw their young driver off in the new car for Friday's practice session at Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. The "We the People" car also debuted its latest look compliments of Burger King whose logos fit perfectly with the team's patriotic color scheme.
In the morning's rookie session, the team began with customary new car installation checks, then ran in some brake pads before setting about business. Instantly, Summerton jumped to P2 on the timesheets. The track surface was dusty at first. With every lap, the racing line became cleaner and grippier, and the times began to fall. The final result was P9 with a 1:30.356 in Rookies 1. In Rookies 2, the team again tried both aero and mechanical changes. Summerton produced a 1:30.402 which was good enough for P10 in Rookies 2 and a combined result of 12th place in Practice 1.
"Team USA built me a great new car. My hand is fine--no ill effects from the crash in Durban," said Summerton following the morning practice. "We got through a lot of test items off our plan, so I can't be too disappointed with the rookie session. We will be faster this afternoon"
Summerton delivered on his promise, ending the day in 6th position in the afternoon's official practice. A problem with the steering wheel saw the car stick in 6th gear at the end of the session as many cars made a banzai last run and jumped up the time sheets. The session was a tough search for speed as the car would slide wide in one corner but be ready to spin in the next. It took considerable effort from all corners of the team to work towards a sixth place finish.
"I'm happy with how the car ran and how we progressed," said Summerton. "Ending in P6 is okay. I think we can go faster tomorrow. The track is a lot bumpier than I expected. It's very wide and fast--that's one of the longest straights I've ever seen and the Peraltada corner is really fast and challenging. Even though we are at high altitude, I feel good, although it is quite hot".
"The team has really put forth a great effort to get us where we are this week, and we are glad Jonathan is healthy enough to join us in Mexico City," said A1 Team USA owner Rick Weidinger. "We are also really excited to be coming into this race sporting a fresh new look to the "We The People" car thanks to Burger King. The car looks fantastic and we are looking forward to a great weekend!"
Brazil - 12th
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport kicked into action for round nine of the championship at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Circuit in Mexico City today. A1 Team Brasil, with Bruno Junqueira leading the charge for the team, took part in this afternoon?s one hour practice session at the circuit, which has previously been used for F1, and more recently for CART, Champ Car and NASCAR.
This afternoon's practice was held in hot and sunny conditions at the high altitude location, and Bruno completed 21 laps for the team during the hour long session. He worked on developing the set-up of the car and made steady progress. Although not entirely happy with his 12th place in the standings, Bruno and the team have one further hour of practice tomorrow morning to continue development before the afternoon's qualifying.
Bruno Junqueira: "I know the track well and usually the tyres go very quickly, but actually they were holding on quite well and the grip is picking up as well. I'm not very happy with our place in the standings. We started quite slow, then we made a few changes and, on the last outing, the car was much better. I did a better lap time, but then I got stuck in traffic and it was the end of the session. We need to look at the data and then try to keep improving tomorrow morning before qualifying."
Emerson Fittipaldi: "In the second sector we were as fast as the fastest car, but we are losing time in the first and final sectors. We are quite happy with the car but we have to analyse and compare the data. We know we are losing time but we have an hour tomorrow to work on improving."
India - 13th
Narain Karthikeyan took part in the opening sessions of the A1GP Mexico City, Mexico today, around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit. The weather was hot and sunny for A1 Team India's first visit to the capital city.
Karthikeyan took to the Mexican track for two practice sessions this morning, to get his first taste of the bumpy and challenging circuit, and set the fifth fastest time. After making set up changes for the afternoon session, the team moved to within eighth tenths of the quickest time.
Speaking about his day, Karthikeyan commented, "Fundamentally, something seems to be wrong with the car. We're not using my tub, after the crack we discovered in Durban, so that could be causing us a problem. The team will strip the car this afternoon; to make sure everything is put together and working properly.
"We made a few changes to the set up after the first session, including altering the gear ratios, which has helped. We were about one and half seconds off the pace this morning, which came down to about eight tenths this afternoon. But there's still a lot of room for improvement.
"It's a very technical circuit, very bumpy. Surprisingly, the times are very close, despite being just eight tenths from the fastest time this afternoon, we're down in 13th place. Apart from that, the altitude here kills the engine speed, the car is quite noticeably down on power, but that is the same for everyone.
"The track is very interesting, sector two is very bumpy and the car bounces around a lot, which unsettles the rear. You have to wait for the car to calm down before getting back on the power. We need to make a few changes before qualifying tomorrow, and work our way back to the front."
A1 Team India Seatholder Yohann Setna added, "We're still searching for the right set up, we made a few changes during the second session. The rear of the car is not sitting quite right, Narain is suffering from a lot of roll oversteer. But I think we've made some good progress this afternoon. We did a good lap at the start of the session, obviously because we were on new tyres, but as the tyres got older through the session, it became more difficult.
"The front of the car has been pretty good all day, we just need to make a few changes to the rear to make that work, especially through the esses in sector two, which is where we seem to be losing a bit of time. In the morning we were about 8km down on the main straights, so we made a few changes to the gear ratios, which seems to have worked. Narain and the team will now discuss what changes need to be made ahead of tomorrow, but I think we know what direction we need to go in."
Switzerland - 14th
Rookie driver Marcel Fässler was in action this morning at a dry Mexico circuit setting a fourth fastest time in the first of the two sessions and a promising ninth fastest lap in the second rookie session.
Later, Marcel Fässler completed 25 laps and clocked the 14th time in the official practice session. His best lap is 1.29.150.
Marcel Fässler commented, "Race conditions are more difficult than I expected and it was quite a surprise at first. I am pleased with my times but we need to improve for tomorrow's qualifying session. We still have a good margin. The tyres are reacting well to the demanding track although it is quite dirty, and towards the end of the session we had more grip so it was easier. The second section of this track is a really interesting challenge for a driver with eight very tight bends. You must have good trust in a perfect car as this section is especially bumpy. But when you know what to expect, you should be able to handle it well on a track that you have to learn still. I am optimistic for the rest of the weekend."
Max Welti, Team Principal added: "Despite Marcel's lack of experience on new tyres, he has been doing well. I am very confident even if it is not easy to learn everything at the same time. Marcel Fässler has worked very hard and consistently and there is still potential for him to improve at every outing and for the car to handle better. We still have a bit of work ahead of us for a promising qualifying session in good conditions."
Lebanon - 19th
The A1GP World cup of Motorsport held its opening day of practice in Mexico today, with the field of nations lining up in the pitlane for the practice periods. Allam Khodair is driving for A1 Team Lebanon this weekend, with Khalil Beschir attending the event alongside him. Basil Shaaban and Alex Khateeb will be supporting their team and following the fortunes of their team mates, although not at the track this weekend.
Khodair made a strong start to the weekend posting third quickest lap in the opening 25 minutes rookie session. The team made a number of set up changes for the second 25 minutes session and with 15th fastest lap at the end, further changes were made prior to the afternoon practice period.
The regular grid of A1GP drivers upped the pace in the afternoon and with Khodair taking part in only his second weekend of racing in the Series, his lack of experience pushed him back down the order, with the A1 Team Lebanon driver finishing 19th fastest.
Khodair said of his day, "We started well in the rookie sessions, but then the changes we made didn't improve our performance. We also had a few problems with my seat, so we're going to sort that overnight and it will help to be more comfortable in the car. From the sessions today I think we have an understanding of the direction we need to take to have a better balanced car and I hope we can improve tomorrow."
Martin Stone, Racing Manager, A1 Team Lebanon, added, "Allam drove well today, at one of the more technically demanding circuits in this Series. It's only his second weekend behind the wheel of the A1GP car, so there's still a lot of learning to be done, but already he's getting to grips with the circuit and the car."
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is the venue for this weekend's ninth round of the A1GP Series and with its famed Peraltada corner at the end of the lap, is famed for the challenge it presents, while being compared to the European corner, the Parabolica in Monza. At an altitude of 2,500 feet above sea level and high temperatures the climate also presents a challenge for the drivers.
Pakistan - 22nd
A1 Team Pakistan was back in action today for the opening sessions of the A1GP Mexico City, Mexico. It was the team's first on-track appearance since Nur Ali took Pakistan's first point of the season at the Durban round last month.
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit proved no less intimidating than expected for the team, with the severely bumpy surface making set-up difficult. Ali made progress during the first two practice sessions of the day, taking nearly four seconds off his best time in the first session.
In the afternoon as track temperature soared to 52°C, A1 Team Pakistan made set up changes and saw their best time fall a further one and half seconds.
Speaking about the circuit Ali commented, "It's a combination of Beijing and Durban but with more run off areas! It's very bumpy here, that's the main thing, even the start/finish straight is bad. The track surface through the esses is also very bumpy which makes it hard to get on the power as you exit the corner.
"During the afternoon session we had a few problems and didn't improve as much as we hoped, which was partly due to a loose rear wing plate. The back of the car also felt a little loose and we've been working to remedy that. The car was handling a bit better towards the end of the session, when we set our best time, so we are definitely heading in the right direction."
Speaking about the infamous Peraltada corner, Ali added, "I feel very comfortable there, it's a great corner to drive and I think I've made the most improvement on that section of the circuit."
A1 Team Pakistan team manager, Bobby commented, "The circuit is very low grip at the moment, because the track is still quite dirty, and of course it's very bumpy, much more bumpy than we thought when we walked the track. We had a few issues during the final session, the rear left floor stay came loose which affected the balance of the car. Unfortunately this happened when Nur was on new tyres, so he wasn't able to benefit from the fresh rubber. He improved his time later on in the session, so I think if we can help him a bit more with the car and make a couple of changes, there is scope to improve further."
The team will analyse data this afternoon ahead of a final practice session tomorrow morning. Ali will then complete a four segment qualifying session, which will set the grid for Sunday's Sprint race.
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