09/03/2008
NEWS STORY
South Africa, competing with 21 other nations in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, has just three rounds of the 10-round series remaining to improve its fourth place in the third season of this unique contest that pits nation against nation in identical cars. A1GP returns to Mexico City this weekend (March 14 to 16) and South Africa will be defending its fourth place among the 22 nations contesting the eighth round of this unique motor racing series that pits nation against nation in identical cars.
In last year's inaugural A1GP race meeting in Mexico City, South Africa's Adrian Zaugg (right) had a successful Mexican debut by finishing a fine third behind Great Britain and the United States in the Feature race after a fourth place in the Sprint race. The 21-year-old, who will be making his 14th appearance for his country in the distinctively-liveried Vulindlela, will be aiming for an even better performance.
"After the disappointment of the Durban round three weeks ago, the team is very motivated to repeat the kind of performance that saw us win in Australia in round six," said Zaugg. "We know we can do it and with better luck than we had in the streets of Durban, we can close the 15-point gap to New Zealand in third place in the championship."
Mike Carroll, general manager of A1 Team South Africa, is looking forward to a race weekend where he doesn't have to worry about the race organisation, as he did in Durban, where he also headed up the company tasked with presenting the South African round of the championship.
"We have established ourselves as one of the teams capable on any day of winning a race," said Carroll. "We have been particularly good this year in qualifying and with just three rounds of the championship remaining, we must turn this into good race results if we want to finish the season in the top three.
"Last year in Mexico City we were at a considerable performance disadvantage for much of the weekend and to take home the points for fourth in the Sprint race and third in the Feature event was a great achievement for Adrian. We have a strong car and a top driver and with the knowledge we gained there last year, we will be looking for another top three result," said Carroll.
The Mexican round of the A1 series returns for the second year to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, which was previously used for Formula One and has hosted rounds of US series CART, Champ Car and NASCAR.
The bumpy surface will make handling difficult for the drivers and the relatively high altitude - the circuit lies at 2 285 metres above sea level - should make for challenging conditions. It is 4,42 km in length, runs in a clockwise direction and has 16 or 17 corners depending on the layout used.
The circuit was built in 1962 and hosted its first F1 race the following year. It is named in the memory of the Rodriguez brothers, Ricardo and Pedro, who distinguished themselves in F1 (Pedro won the South African GP at Kyalami in a Cooper Maserati in 1967) and who both lost their lives in F1 cars. The circuit remained part of the F1 calendar until 1970.
The infamous Peralta corner, which is lined by a concrete wall on the outside and has no run-off area, has been modified slightly by adding an extra chicane on the entry to the extremely fast final corner, providing a breaking zone and potential overtaking opportunity.