02/02/2008
NEWS STORY
Brazil
A1 Team Brasil's Sergio Jimenez will begin tomorrow's sprint and feature races at Eastern Creek from 11th and ninth places respectively after suffering grip problems in today's qualifying.
For this morning's final one-hour practice session, the team used on high mileage tyres and ran short qualifying runs before moving onto bedding in brakes for qualifying and the feature race. The team made some improvements throughout the session and finished up ninth fastest, with a best lap of 1:21.085.
In the first sprint race qualifying segment, the majority of drivers waited until the last minutes of the session to go out on track. He set a lap of 1:19.626 on new tyres, putting him in provisional 11th position. The team made some small changes to the car for the next session and Sergio was able to improve his lap by almost a second, setting a time of 1:18.811. However, in an extremely competitive session, he was not able to improve on his grid position and will therefore line up on the sixth row of the grid.
Heading into first qualifying for the feature race, the team released Sergio several seconds later than originally planned, which caused him to get caught up in traffic. However, later in the lap he was blocked by the Team Canada car, ruining his lap. Canada was later penalised for the incident and Sergio's fourth segment time of 1:19.235 placed him in ninth position, on the fifth row for the feature race.
Sergio Jimenez: "I don't understand why we always seem to struggle in qualifying. I had problems in the middle sector and problems with the grip under acceleration. The car and myself improved by the second segment, but I didn't have enough grip for the whole of qualifying. Our race pace is good so now we just have to focus on tomorrow's races. With old tyres we are fast and I am feeling pretty confident."
Gary Davies, Race Engineer: "In the first session we were really finding ourselves on new tyres. We made a small change to the car and went out in the second session on new tyres. We improved by still struggled in the middle sector. We went out on old tyres in the third segment, but we released Sergio too late which put him in traffic. It looked like a reasonable lap but then Canada blocked him so we lost that lap. In the last session we had new tyres and made a small change to the car. The sectors were not too bad but we were still losing time in the middle. Our race pace is always good so I am not concerned about tomorrow but we are a little disappointed with our qualifying positions."
Canada
Qualifying for Round 6 of the 2007-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport proved to be dramatic for A1 Team Canada with Robert Wickens collecting a 15th place Sprint start followed by 21st on the grid for Sunday's Feature race after a penalty for blocking dropped him from eighth at Australia's Eastern Creek International Raceway.
With Canada sitting 12th overall in the A1GP Nations Standings and Toronto's Wickens collecting two podium finishes in his first six race starts, the team was hoping for another strong qualifying outing to target two points scoring finishes at the 3.93km track tomorrow. Sprint qualifying initially looked promising with Robert sixth fastest after his first run but he'd ultimately drop back to 15th on the grid after his second run with the pole going to France's Loic Duval.
Feature qualifying was a more competitive affair for Canada with Wickens overcoming grip issues to collect a fourth row grid start with the eighth fastest time from the 22 nations but he was subsequently penalized by the race stewards for ignoring blue flags blocking Brazil in the process. Stripped of the eighth fastest time, Canada is left languishing down in 21st for the 70-minute Feature race with New Zealand's Jonny Reid on pole.
Commenting after qualifying Wickens said; "We were struggling a lot more than expected and now we have two very tough grid slots. We made improvements through the whole session but we obviously still have some work to do. It just seemed we couldn't quite get a hold on track conditions like some others could, struggling with overall grip. The balance was pretty decent it was just the grip level wasn't there."
Simon Cayzer, Canada's Team Manager reflected; "We did quite a lot of work this morning on older tires to try and help with our race pace. We're still struggling with tire drop off, and not getting the level of grip consistently that we need to be running at the top. We're going to do a bit of analysis tonight and see if we can put a good race car together for Robert as that's what he needs. We did make some changes in the last outing which gave us P8, but with the penalty things are tougher!"
Czech Republic
Tomas Enge managed to get one top 10 grid position at Eastern Creek after he set 9th time in the feature qualifying. The Czech team will start 14th in the Sprint. The Czech team struggled with grip on Friday and Saturday's practice showed a slight improvement. However, the main focus was on race setup and Enge was running for majority of the session with full fuel tank and the team was playing with the ride height on bumpy Australian track. He did 22 laps with best time 1:21,733 and ended 16th.
First two qualifying segments decided as usual about the sprint race grid. Enge's best time 1:19,099 was set in the second run and was within a second of the pole winning time. The Czech team finished 14th. The sun went out in the meantime and the track temperature was considerable higher for the feature qualifying. Lap times were slower as a result. Enge set his best in the last run and 1:19,232 put the Czech to the fifth row on the grid, six tenths shy of the pole position.
Tomas Enge: "It is more or less the same like last year when we compare gap to the front. We tried few things to improve the grip in the morning but it is still not ideal. The focus was on race setup with full tank and we checked the ride height to prevent bottoming. Qualifying was very close with 14 cars in one second. The sprint qualifying was quicker because sun went out for the feature one which meant that everybody was approximately half a second slower than expected. We are in a better position comparing to Taupo but we still have to find more. Our car understeers little bit here but it is not a big problem. I think that both races will be quite close as you can see from the gaps in the qualifying and pitstops could be decisive."
Germany
After clinching two grid positions on the first row at both of the two past race weekends in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Willi Weber's A1 Team Germany suffered a disappointment at the sixth round in Australia. At Eastern Creek near Sydney, Michael Ammermüller in his A1GP race car merely qualified for rows four and seven for the sprint and the main race on Sunday.
In the first qualifying session, in which nearly all nation teams were out on the track only in the last two minutes, an accident of the Lebanese car in the fifth turn prompted the Yellow Flag to be waved. As all contenders were slowing down, this led to a traffic jam on the 3.93-kilometre circuit. Michael Ammermüller from Pocking was unable to find a free lap after this. That is why his time of 1m21.134s only earned him 18th place. In the second session, again on new tyres, A1 Team Germany improved clearly, setting a time of 1m18.632s. The team thus claimed seventh place on the grid for the sprint race.
In qualifying for the main race, Michael Ammermüller in the first session on used tyres set a lap time of 1m20.138s, achieving the ninth-best result in the field of 22 nations. Although in the second session on new tyres the German improved by another six tenths of a second to 1m20.138s, his rivals were stronger again. In the end, A1 Team Germany had to settle for 13th place on the grid.
Michael Ammermüller: "I'm very disappointed as, following my previous fifth place in free practice, I'd clearly been hoping for more. I think our biggest problem today was that we didn't make optimum use of the new tyres. In the first session we had no chance when a traffic jam resulted from the accident and the Yellow Flag. In the second trial things were going much better, although I still lost too much time in some of the turns. In the third outing we were on old tyres and made a mechanical change, which did not pay off. So we reversed it again and in the fourth trial used the last new set of tyres. The balance of the car was simply not as good as it should have been, and what's more, I made a major driving mistake during the last session. This cost me time in as many as two consecutive corners. Improving on this circuit in the race will be pretty difficult. We need to put our hopes on the mistakes of other teams and, on our part, ensure that we will – as always – manage good pit stops and of course a clever strategy with the squad of David Sears Motorsport."
Great Britain
Robbie Kerr qualified for the Sprint and Feature races in eighth and third places respectively after A1 Team GBR's engineer was hospitalised after pitstop practice accident.
A1 Team GBR's Robbie Kerr will line up for tomorrow's Eastern Creek Feature race on the second row of the grid after qualifying third for round six of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. For the morning Sprint race, the team will begin from the fourth row on the grid after setting the eighth fastest time in Sprint qualifying. The results follow Team GBR running today without race engineer James Goodfield, who was injured last night in an accident at the circuit.
During routine pitstop practice yesterday evening, the wheel nut gun pipe from neighbouring A1 Team Portugal became detached from the tank, causing the gun to swing around, striking James just above the knee. James was taken to the local hospital where he is currently being treated for a broken leg. In his absence data engineer Albert Lau is taking responsibility for the engineering of the car.
The first challenge for the team was the final one-hour practice this morning, and Robbie demonstrated the strong preparations of the team by getting straight on the pace, setting consistently fast laps on old rubber, and posting the second fastest time behind Team France. The main aim of the session was to fine-tune the car's performance on old tyres and Robbie completed 21 laps of practice, setting a quickest lap of 1:20.233.
This afternoon's qualifying did not begin as well as the team had hoped as Robbie took to the track in the dying moments of the first Sprint qualifying session. The GBR driver was blocked on his outlap by a number of other cars, which prevented him from crossing the line to begin his hot lap before the chequered flag. For the second segment the team made a number of improvements to the car and Robbie set the eighth fastest time, with a lap of 1:18.649, putting him on the fourth row for the Sprint race.
After the team made further changes to the car, Robbie headed out on old rubber for the first Feature qualifying segment. Unfortunately the set-up changes caused the car to lose rear end grip, and Robbie was only able to set a lap time of 1:20.759. For final qualifying Team GBR made some good set-up improvements and Robbie was able to demonstrate the team's previous form by recording the third quickest time with a lap of 1:18.720, setting himself up for a second row grid slot for tomorrow afternoon's Feature race.
Robbie Kerr: "We're reasonably happy with our results given that we are without our race engineer. In the first Sprint race qualifying session, a number of cars backed up in front of us slowing us down and unfortunately we didn't make the line in time. With the difference in track temperature from this morning, the car had changed quite a lot from the final practice session, so we made a few changes ahead of the second session, and although it improved the car, it wasn't quite enough to get the time we were after. We made a few further adjustments ahead of the first Feature race qualifying session, which changed the rear making it harder to drive. However, the improvements made ahead of the final qualifying worked and we're fairly happy with starting from the second row given the circumstances."
Katie Clements, Team Principal: "First of all I would like to wish James a speedy recovery on behalf of the whole team. We very much hope he will be well enough to join the team to watch tomorrow's races. Qualifying certainly didn't begin the way that our earlier weekend form had suggested. However, I'm happy that by the end of the session we had got things right and will now begin the Feature race from a strong starting position. Robbie has always been quick here at Eastern Creek and we are confident that we can achieve some good results in tomorrow's races."
Ireland
Adam Carroll will start 12th and 16th for Belmayne A1 Team Ireland in round six of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Australia tomorrow.
After losing valuable track time on Friday due to a crack in the tub, the team worked late into the night changing the chassis in the hope of turning their fortunes around. In this morning's free practice Adam began to move up the timesheets but on old tyres wasn't able to demonstrate the true pace of the car. This meant the first time both Adam and the team were able to work with the car on new tyres was in qualifying, leaving limited time for changes and putting them at a disadvantage to the rest of the grid.
After a good first lap in qualifying one, Adam was P7 in the standings with a 1m 19.328. The team made changes to try and improve the balance and overall grip of the car ahead of qualifying two. Unfortunately, despite improving his time to a 1m 18.929 and being only 0.78s off pole, Adam will start 12th for tomorrow morning's Sprint race.
In Feature race qualifying Adam clocked a 1m 20.150s in before putting in a 1m 19.706 in the final seconds on qualifying four leaving him 16th on the grid for the Feature race.
Adam Carroll: "We expected to go a bit better but we really struggled with overall grip and just couldn't get the performance out the car. When the grip is there you can drive on the limit, but as it was I couldn't push any harder. The team did a cracking job getting the car ready overnight, we just need to find out why we're lacking in performance now. We'll race hard tomorrow though and still try and get some good results."
Dan Walmsley, Race Engineer: "We started off solidly in qualifying one considering the poor start we had to the weekend and we felt that P7 was a good platform to move forward from. The time didn't come though and as the session went on we seemed to drop back. It's really apparent now how badly the issues in Friday's practice have hurt our qualifying chances. However, we still believe we have a good setup for the races tomorrow and look forward to proving that we're not beaten yet."
Mark Gallagher, Team Principal: "The team has been working extremely hard this weekend and so the results in qualifying are disappointing. It's part and parcel of competing in A1GP that you have good and bad weekends but after a very strong weekend in Taupo it's hard to come to Australia and start so far back. Adam is good racer though and I'm sure he'll once again show what a good guy he is in race conditions."
Lebanon
Following the encouraging first day of practice at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Sydney, Australia, A1 Team Lebanon's fortunes were reversed today with Australian-Lebanese driver, Chris Alajajian, crashing out of qualifying on his first lap of the afternoon.
The team had their first setback in the morning practice session, with the team opting not to run due to a shortage of tyres. In yesterday's practice, en route to fifth fastest lap, Alajajian had flat-spotted a tyre which, as well as compromising his pace, left the team with one less set of practice tyres. With a limited supply of tyres available to each team for the race weekend and in efforts to perform as well as possible in qualifying, the team made the decision to sacrifice the majority of the final hour of practice running, just running two laps at the end of it.
The team's chances of a strong qualifying session were dashed right at the start. As Alajajian pushed hard to make sure he was on the pace for his ‘flying lap' he ran wide and spun into the tyre wall on his opening lap. With extensive damage, there was no time to make the repairs needed before the end of the qualifying session, leaving the Lebanon team at the back of the grid for both the Sprint and Feature races.
Alajajian was upset with the outcome of the day, saying, "I'm totally gutted. I want to apologise to the team for my mistake which has been so costly to us. I know that everyone in the team will now have a hard night ahead of them repairing the car and I'm sorry that this has happened. I can't quite believe this has happened and can only hope that we can salvage something tomorrow."
Trevor Bale, Team Manager, A1 Team Lebanon, said, "It's been a very difficult day for us. There's obviously tremendous pressure on Chris at his home circuit and I think his inexperience got the better of him. Unfortunately a fairly small mistake has had major repercussions on us. We have to completely rebuild the car which will take considerable time, but we will be able to make the grid for the two races tomorrow and ensure that the Lebanese fans will be able to support the team here."
Malaysia
A1 Team Malaysia is set for the finale of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Sydney, Australia tomorrow, after completing qualifying at the Eastern Creek track this afternoon. With 16th place on the grid for the Sprint race and 11th position for the Feature race, driver Fairuz Fauzy and the Malaysian team are intent on finishing the races in the top ten.
The morning practice was the final opportunity for the team to prepare for the afternoon qualifying session, which sets the grids for tomorrow's two races. Running on used tyres throughout the hour of running, Fauzy continued to make progress, working with the team to improve the pace of the car and pursue the best lines around the Eastern Creek circuit. In the practice hour the team completed 22 laps with Fauzy's fastest time on lap seven, although the focus was on car set up rather than a quick time in the morning.
The first flying lap run for Fauzy was a scramble for position and a clear track with the majority of the teams leaving it until the last few minutes of the 15 minutes session to take to the circuit. The Malaysian team posted 13th fastest lap in the first run, but dropped back slightly after the second flying lap, finishing 16th fastest, the team's grid position for the Sprint race.
As the session progressed the weather improved, with the rising temperature adding to the heat and tension of qualifying. The first of the two flying laps ended with Fauzy posting 15th fastest time and in the second he was able to push harder to finish 11th quickest, his position for the Feature race.
Fairuz Fauzy said of the qualifying sessions, "Getting back into the ‘flying lap' style of A1GP qualifying takes a little bit of time. It's not easy to put together a quick lap with so little margin for error. There's always the compromise of leaving it until late in the session to get the best of the track balanced with the busier track as all your competitors are doing the same. I did have a bit of traffic but that's always going to be the case in these circumstances. Overall I think we have the car which can be in the top ten, so that remains my goal for tomorrow."
Jack Cunningham, A1 Team Malaysia added, "We have our work cut out tomorrow in the Sprint race with a lower grid position than we would have liked – it will also put us in the thick of the field for the start of the race. But Fairuz is a racer and our teamwork is strong, so we'll be looking for improvement on our grid positions in both of the races. We are quite happy about our position for the Feature race. As there are many variables in this sport – the weather, the other cars and the technical preparations amongst our competitors – we'll be as ready as we can be when we line up on the grids for tomorrow. We are looking and hoping for top tens by the chequered flag of each race, recognising that this will be difficult in the Sprint."
Netherlands
After a difficult start of the weekend at Eastern Creek A1 Team Netherlands has not been able to recover during the official qualifying. With only a tenth grid position for the Sprint race and a twelfth for the Feature race Jeroen Bleekemolen has to fight hard for points during both races tomorrow.
As was the case yesterday conditions were variable at Eastern Creek, with A1 Team Netherlands not having a good rehersal during the final free practice session. Still in search for grip on the 3.93 km long circuit and in the process Bleekemolen spun off, fortunately with only minor damage, a broken front wing. In the end the team had to settle for 15th.
In the first qualifying segment for the Sprintrace, with dry conditions, everyone waited afwfully long before going out for their first run. With only 5 minutes remaining in the fifteen minute session Pakistan came out first. A1 Team Netherlands followed, together with all the other countries, with two minutes to go. With a big shunt in turn 5 Team Lebanon caused a yellow flag, but the teams did not suffer from this. Bleekemolen set the fifth fastest time. Portugal and Great Britain came out too late to set a time.
Again it took a long time in the second Sprintrace qualifying before the teams started their respective second runs. Bleekemolen did manage to improve himself compared to the first run with a time of 1'18.804, but other teams did make a slightly bigger jump and with the mid section of the grid being close together A1 Team Netherlands dropped to 10th. France, which had dominated the previous free practice sessions, took a convincing pole.
On used tyres from the final free practice A1 Team Netherlands finished in thirteenth in the first qualifying segment for the Feature race. Just like with the previous three sessions on-track-action came right at the end, with teams waiting till the last possible moment to go out on track. As expected Jeroen Bleekemolen did make up time on the new tyres, but with a lap of 1'19.487 he did not gain nearly enough to get A1 Team Netherlands inside the top ten. The lap times of the Feature qualifying were slower than for the Sprint race. New Zealand will start the Feature race tomorrow from pole.
Jeroen Bleekemolen; "Clearly this is not what we had hoped for beforehand. This morning we were already struggling and we were never able to take that necessary step. Still we had hoped that on the new tyres we would be able to move forward more. In the first qualifying sessions things went quite ok, with the fifth fastest time, but after that we dropped back further and further. We did some changes on the car, but this also did not bring the wanted progress. We will have to work very hard to solve this and put all our efforts in climbing as much as possible. It is not an easy track for overtaking, on the other hand a lot can happen and it would not be the first time that someone has come from right at the back. As always we will do our very best."
Jan Lammers; We are clearly struggling right now. You do not fly halfway across the globe to settle for 10th and 12th on the grid. These are the times that you must not lose faith. I still think that Jeroen is the best man for the job and that our technical staff will find and close the leak. This is also top sport and sometimes your skill and mindset are tested thoroughly. We can come up with all the ‘politically correct' answers and analysis but we do not get one step further with this. Simply grabbing hold, self reflection, understanding and solving is the way to improve these things. Explaining things to the media or fans is very difficult if you cannot pinpoint what's wrong yourself yet. Everyone in our team has to realize that we can each make a difference and that we have to perfect the job for which we are responsible. Then we have to of course connect with our teammates and only then we can expect to solve this poor performance. Tomorrow will be a new day, it is very far from over. There is one thing clear for any athlete; When the going gets though, the though get going."
New Zealand
New Zealand will be on pole for tomorrow's Feature Race in Round 6 of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Sydney.
After a weekend of five consecutive 4th placings, across two practice sessions and the first three qualifying segments, Jonny Reid went out early to set a time that claimed the first Feature Race pole of his A1GP career and his 4th pole overall. But New Zealand's championship lead will be hotly contested at Eastern Creek after quality qualifying efforts by nearest rivals France and Switzerland, both just two points behind the Kiwi team on the ladder.
France will start from pole for the Sprint Race alongside Switzerland, with South Africa on the second row alongside New Zealand. The Swiss will then be beside Black Beauty on the front row of the Feature Race grid, with France starting from 5th.
The Sprint Race qualifying was notable for a smash that destroyed Lebanon's car for the day and Mexico, Great Britain and Portugal being unable to set a time in the first segment after failing to make the start line in time because of heavy traffic.
The key to the Feature Race qualifying was New Zealand's tactical decision to be one of the first on a track that changed in make-up after baking in the sun. "We got held up in the first qualifying segment for the Sprint Race so we wanted to get out and get clear air," Reid said. "It feels fantastic. We weren't sure if the time was going to stick, but the conditions changed a lot with the sun coming out and it got a bit warmer. The car feels great so I'm confident for tomorrow. We'll see how we go."
In the morning's final practice session, run in overcast and humid conditions, Reid repeated his 4th fastest placing from yesterday's session as France once again set the pace. Several teams struggled to find grip around the 'slippery' 3.93 km circuit which is particularly hard on tyres, with the Czech Republic, Netherlands and Portugal all spinning off during the session.
Pakistan
The action continued for A1 Team Pakistan today, at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Sydney, Australia. Taking part in the sixth round of the season at the Eastern Creek Raceway just 40 km from Sydney, Adam Khan was on track to qualifying the Pakistan car for the Sprint and Feature races. After a tough session the team had posted two 18th fastest laps to line up in this position for both races.
In a qualifying system unique to A1GP, the teams take part in four qualifying segments. The fastest lap from the first two segments sets the team's position for the Sprint race, and the fastest lap from the second two segments sets the grid slot for the Feature race.
While all the other A1GP teams waited until the last possible moment to set their flying laps, A1 Team Pakistan avoided the traffic and was the first team out on track in the first qualifying segment. Having made a number of adjustments after the mornings qualifying session, Khan improved his time by nearly half a second to take provisional 17th place on the Sprint race grid. Determined to improve his time further, Khan pushed hard in the second segment and on new tyres went almost a second quicker. However as the remaining A1 Teams took advantage of the improving track conditions and new tyres, Khan's time left the team in 18th place – the position Pakistan will take for the 20 minutes Sprint race.
Focus returned to the Feature race as the third qualifying segment got underway. Pushing to find the limit on the changing track, Khan ran wide, but managed to regain control to finish the lap with 17th fastest time. Taking to the track on new tyres for his final flying lap in the fourth qualifying segment, Khan was the first A1GP driver to set a time, taking advantage of the empty track. Although he also improved his time in this segment, the highly competitive field also dropped their lap times to leave Pakistan in 18th place.
Reflecting on qualifying, Khan said, "It was okay, although I thought we'd be a bit higher up, but it's so close here, you make a tiny mistake and you fall down the order. I was a little disappointed with my second qualifying attempt for the Feature race; we'll look at the data to see where I lost the time as we will be looking to improve further before tomorrow.
"We qualified ahead of India which is always satisfying, and we have got some good drivers behind us and some good drivers just in front of us. We always aim to make up places in the race and there's a lot of racing ahead of us tomorrow when you can move up the field, so we'll be aiming towards the top ten tomorrow."
Danny Watts, Driver Coach for A1 Team Pakistan, reviewed the day saying, "We decided to go out early in each qualifying segment as the temperature was rising, and from that respect tactics worked and Adam stayed clear of any traffic. We've got some good drivers behind us on the grid, Adam has made a big step forward and the times are a lot closer to the ultimate pace. As a whole we've very pleased and looking forward to the races tomorrow."
John Allen, Team Manager, A1 Team Pakistan added, "I think that was a good effort from Adam today. I don't think the actual position on the grid reflects the hard work and effort and the progress that has been made. If you look at the times we're only six tenths off tenth position, we're closing the gap and if we keep closing the gap, we'll be looking at fighting for points in the near future. It was a solid drive for Adam; he made a slight mistake in qualifying for the Feature race, but that is all part of being a young driver and the learning process. I'm looking forward to tomorrow - with another good start and some sensible racing, we could be looking at the points again."
To check out our Eastern Creek Saturday gallery, click here