14/03/2008
NEWS STORY
Brazil
A1 Team Brasil hit the track today as round eight of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport kicked off in Mexico City, with two free practice sessions. New rookie Felipe Guimaraes was at the wheel of the A1GP car for this morning's rookie practice, before handing over to Bruno Junqueira for the afternoon, and who will undertake driving duties for the remainder of the weekend.
South American F3 race winner, 16-year-old hotshot Felipe Guimaraes, made his A1GP debut in this morning's rookie practice. In the first 25-minute segment Felipe was tasked with learning the circuit before moving onto set-up work for the team. He completed 27 laps in total, setting his fastest lap of 1:23.773 in the second segment, in which he finished seventh fastest.
Bruno, who has finished on the podium in Mexico City four times over his Champ Car career and who raced for Team Brasil last time out in South Africa, returned to the cockpit for this afternoon's one-hour practice session. Following a set-up programme to find the optimum configurations for tomorrow's qualifying and Sunday's races, Bruno completed 21 laps of practice, setting the ninth fastest time with a lap of 1:22.126, seven tenths of a second behind session leaders Team
GBR.
Bruno will drive in one final hour-long practice session tomorrow morning before the afternoon's sprint and feature race qualifying sessions.
Bruno Junqueira: "Today went okay, we tested a few things on the car this afternoon. It started quite good and got better although we tried something towards the end that didn't work and lost us a couple of positions. Great Britain and Switzerland look good but I'm still taking it easy and things will be much better tomorrow."
Felipe Guimaraes: "During the first session I did some laps to learn the track and the car and did some work on the brakes. I was far from the limit and just taking my time to learn everything. In the second session I could push harder. The car had a little bit of oversteer but felt very good on the last run after we made some set-up changes. I've had a great time working with the team and Emerson and I'm pleased with this morning's results. I hope to keep learning and hope that I
can continue to be a part of A1 Team Brasil."
Emerson Fittipaldi, Team Principal: "Felipe had a very strong session as all the drivers ahead of him had experience either already in A1GP or in F3000. He finished less than a second behind the best lap on a very long track and I am very pleased with his performance. I'm really happy with Bruno's performance. He knows this place very well so doesn't need a lot of laps. He is finding a few things on the car and we are confident for tomorrow."
Canada
A1 Team Canada enjoyed a solid start to the eighth round of the 2007-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport with Markham's Daniel Morad sixth quickest in Friday morning's ‘Rookie-Only' session before he handed over to Toronto's Robert Wickens, who was subsequently eleventh fastest of the 22 competitors on-track in the afternoon's official practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City, Mexico.
The 4.42km circuit, although new to the Canadian racers, held no obstacles for Morad or Wickens with both drivers picking up the layout quickly and posting promising lap times. The morning's rookie session saw Morad first out for the team and he quickly found a front-running pace, ending the first half of the session with the third fastest time. The 17-year-old Formula BMW USA Champion ended his Friday outing with the sixth fastest lap time, a 1m23.716s, from a total of 21 laps.
Wickens, who turned 19 yesterday, strapped in behind the wheel for the afternoon's hour long practice session. Posting 23 laps, with a best time of 1m22.227s, Robert's turn of speed on used rubber bodes well for Sunday's later Feature race but the Durban Sprint race victor knows he'll need to extract the maximum from new tires in tomorrow afternoon's qualifying runs.
"I don't think we're that far off," reflected Wickens after practice. "Our pace on old tires was pretty respectable. We're just lacking a little bit of grip when the tires are still fresh. We've had this issue before and we've overcome it – there are no points on offer on Friday's so there's no need to panic. We need to pick up a bit everywhere, there isn't one spot where I'm losing a lot of time so that's a sign to me that we have to work to get the balance better and I think we can get it for sure!"
Following just his second A1GP ‘Rookie-Only' session Morad commented; "The track was really dirty but given it was just the second time I'd driven the car things in general seemed pretty good. There's obviously a little bit more work to do. I ended up sixth, things were definitely looking promising in the first half of the session but for the second half we had to bed in brake pads and lost our rhythm a little. I thought the circuit really suited me, some parts are pretty bumpy but I found a rhythm which was ideal as I don't like to muscle the car around, I'm more of a finesse driver!"
France
A1 Team France took to the track today (Friday) for the opening day's practice for the Mexican round of the World Cup of Motorsport. Nicolas Prost was the first to go out for the 2 rookie sessions in the morning. He then handed over to Jonathan Cochet for the afternoon's practice.
The temperature was 20° and Nicolas devoted the first part of the session to bedding in discs and brake pads before concentrating on the car's set-up. In the final part he was among the quickest finishing in an excellent fourth place.
Cochet then took over for the afternoon. The team deliberately held him back to wait for track conditions to improve, but just when he was about to go out the session was red-flagged. He finally got going and began to make steady progress. The team then called him in for a data acquisition check. Adjusting the set-up took a little time and he only managed a few laps before the end of practice. He finally finished 12th in a time of 1m 22.343s.
Yesterday, the 2 A1GP France team drivers played in a football match in the Azteca stadium. The A1GP team was up against a selection consisting of former Mexican footballers and a few celebrities. The latter won 4-2 and the A1 Team France drivers used the match to get used to one of the weekend's challenges, racing at an altitude.
Olivier Panis, sporting director: "The sessions have been positive. We were on the pace right away. Nicolas did a good job and used his remaining 20 minutes to concentrate on performance. In addition, he gave us very good technical feedback, which will enable us to improve the car for tomorrow. Jonathan settled in fairly quickly. But his lack of experience with the A1GP car means that we lack those extra few tenths to be well placed in terms of performance. It should not be forgotten that it's only his 3rd session in the car. He will continue his learning curve tomorrow before qualifying."
Jonathan Cochet: "I had already driven on this circuit 2 years ago in GrandAm so I soon memorised it, and I was then able to concentrate on the car. It was obvious that I was losing time in the first sector, which has three corners in succession. We're going to work on this point. I'm optimistic for the rest of the weekend as the car's well- balanced."
Nicolas Prost, rookie driver: "It was a very positive session. The fact that I recently drove a Euro F3000 enabled me to get to grips with a car as powerful as the A1GP machine. I reckon I was the quickest man on the track by the end of the session! In fact, after a brief period of getting used to this track that I was racing on for the first time, I really enjoyed myself. The circuit is very physical but also very challenging."
Germany
For the first time this season, Willi Weber's A1 Team Germany started to a race weekend of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport under somewhat more difficult conditions. In Mexico City, driver Michael Ammermüller only participated in the second Free Practice. Now a "seasoned" A1 racer, Ammermüller no longer meets the criteria of the previous rookie session, which is reserved strictly to newcomers to the series.
The team used the practice unit to optimise the set-up of the A1 GP racing car, which delivers up to 550 hp, for the 4.42-kilometre circuit. "When I went out on for the first time, the practice session was stopped due to an accident," reported Michael Ammermüller. "I then needed five to six laps to familiarise myself a little with the circuit that was new to me." As a result, the 22-year-driver racer from Pocking was in eleventh position at first.
When the race team from David Sears Motorsport improved the mechanical grip of the car as part of the set-up work, Ammermüller set a time of 1m21.974s and moved forwards to second position. However, another change to the set-up meant a step backwards. Originally, the team was shooting to improve its time again in the last 15 minutes of the session. "But then we noticed that the right front tyre was losing air and we didn't want to sacrifice another set of tyres we'd be short of in Saturday's qualifying," added the German racer. Consequently, their rivals, who ran once more, bumped A1 Team Germany to eighth place in the end.
"The circuit is fast and truly tests the driver," raved Ammermüller at the end of the session about the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. "But the track also has some pitfalls. It's very bumpy, so it's always difficult to find the right line and best braking points." After several drivers had their times cancelled after taking a shortcut through the chicane, Ammermüller noted, "You arrive in fifth gear, with the engine revving to the max, then you've got to shift back to first, and in the braking zone there's an extreme bump on which the car bounces. This chicane is really a humdinger."
Great Britain
Oliver Jarvis puts in impressive practice performance as A1GP returns to venue of A1 Team Great Britain's maiden win, topping the afternoon session.
Round eight of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport got underway today as teams participated in two free practice sessions at the Mexico City circuit in Mexico. Oliver Jarvis and Duncan Tappy were in action for A1 Team Great Britain as the series returns to the track which saw GBR take its maiden A1GP race victory a year ago.
Drivers took to the newly configured track, which includes the addition of a chicane, for the first time this morning in warm, sunny conditions for the rookie practice session. Duncan Tappy made his debut for A1 Team GBR in the two 25-minute sessions. Running on a dirty track in the first segment, Duncan acquainted himself with the A1GP car, learnt the Mexico City circuit, and bedded brakes for the team. During the short session Duncan made steady progress and set a lap of 1:24.253, putting him sixth fastest in the session, a tenth of a second behind session leader Wesleigh Orr, driving for South Africa. In Duncan's second session, he once again made a steady start, bedding a further set of brakes for the team. He was able to push harder for his fifth lap onwards but, after a stint in the pits for set-up changes in the middle of the session, he emerged in traffic and was unable to set a competitive lap time. Duncan finished the session in P14 after setting a fastest lap of 1:24.553, 1.7 seconds behind leader's Team Italy, with Davide Rigon at the wheel.
For the afternoon session, Oliver Jarvis took over driving duties, returning to the track on which he took GBR's first ever win last year. He immediately showed his pace on familiar ground, and was in P4 on his third lap before the session was red flagged when the Czech Republic car hit the wall. He was back out on track as soon as the session re-started and made steady improvements, topping the table on his seventh lap with a time of 1:22.026. Although he was briefly toppled during the session by South Africa and Switzerland, Oliver was back on top with five minutes to go after setting a time of 1:21.431, five hundredths of a second faster that Switzerland's Neel Jani.
Oliver Jarvis: "I'm happy to be back in Mexico again where GBR scored our first ever win last year. But I'm slightly disappointed that it's not the same circuit to the one we drove last year. I can understand the need to put in a chicane before the very fast last corner, but the changes made to turns 4 and 5 are disappointing with the bad surface. However, its still a fantastic track and I'm pleased to be at the top of the times. There is still a lot to do and it will be close, but I'm sure we can improve the car for tomorrow and stay at the top."
Duncan Tappy: "The whole experience has been amazing so far, from mixing in with the British team, who are all great and I've got along with everyone, to actually driving the A1GP car. I was surprised that the car didn't seem as quick as I thought it was going to, but with the high altitude here I don't think the engine was as powerful as it usually is. There were no real dramas in the rookie sessions, I just went out there to do a sensible, solid job for the team, which I think I did. Unfortunately the second 25-minute session didn't really reflect the true pace because of all the yellow flags and traffic, otherwise I think we could have been good for 5th or 6th or event higher if we'd had a proper run."
Katie Clements, Team Principal: "Duncan did a good job for us this morning and we were very happy with his approach to the sessions and his performance out on track - it's a shame as P13 didn't do justice to his pace. It is great for us to come back to Mexico, where Oliver won GBR's first race last year. We couldn't have asked for a better start to the weekend this time around, and we are very confident ahead of tomorrow's qualifying."
Lebanon
A1 Team Lebanon made a steady start at this weekend's eighth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Mexico City, Mexico. Jimmy Auby debuted for the team today, preparing for his first races at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday.
The morning rookie sessions were the first experience of this technically-demanding circuit for Auby and he used the time to familiarise himself with the car and the track, having only driven the A1 Team Lebanon race car in a UK test session last year before the beginning of the season.
In the afternoon he continued his learning curve and began working with the team to improve his lap times. He said after the two sessions, "I really enjoyed my first taste of the Mexican circuit and I love driving the Lebanon car. The track is very challenging and I just need as many laps as possible to keep making progress and understand how to get the best out of myself and the car. It's only my second time behind the wheel of the A1GP car, so there's still a lot of learning to be done, including getting to grips with the circuit and the car."
Beschir may not be driving the A1 Team Lebanon race car this weekend, but he represented the nation in a friendly football match yesterday, scoring one of the two goals of the game. In the lead up to the A1GP Mexico City, drivers from 13 different nations played against former Mexican national team players and local celebrities at the Azteca Stadium, the fourth largest stadium in the world and the only stadium ever to host two World Cup final matches.
Following a welcome from ‘the voice of the Azteca stadium', Melquiades Sanchez Orozco, Beschir and the other A1GP drivers took part in a brief warm up and training session in preparation for kick-off, run by Ricardo Pelaez, who represented Mexico in the World Cup in 1998. With the drivers playing against a squad which included Manuel Negrete, who played for Mexico in the 1986 World Cup and Luis Roberto Alves (more commonly known as ‘Zague'), who played for Mexico in the 1994 World Cup, it was unsurprising that they lost 4-2, despite Beschir's best efforts.
Beschir said of the event, "It was awesome to play at this huge, famous stadium, and it was really cool when we watched TV that night to see teams playing on the pitch where we had been that morning. The altitude really affects your fitness as well, so it was a very tough training session for us all. I was pleased to score a goal, but a little disappointed that the drivers' team didn't win!"
Malaysia
The eighth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport started today with Aaron Lim back in the car for the rookie sessions and Alex Yoong returning to the senior driver duties for the team. Mechanical problems curtailed Aaron Lim's rookie session but by the end of the afternoon after Alex's one hour session the team was placed 10th quickest overall.
In the morning Lim drove the Malaysian car, taking part in the dedicated rookie sessions. It was just a year ago that he had his first taste of driving at an A1GP event at this circuit. In the first of the two sessions he undertook the standard set up procedures that the team must go through each weekend. In the second part of the session he was hoping to push harder and improve his pace, but before he could do this he was forced to abandon his car which had developed an electrical problem.
Lim said of his morning, "It was great to be running at a track that I know, but it was a shame for me that I didn't have the full hour of track time. At least we managed to get the jobs done that we needed before we had our problems. I've not driven at the last two rounds as Fairuz Fauzy handled all driver duties at the last two events but I must say that I really missed it, not only because I love driving, but also the learning experience that goes with it."
Yoong has also returned to the Malaysian car this weekend after missing the last two rounds and seems to have lost none of his determination and passion for competing in the series for his country. A top ten time was the result of his efforts this afternoon providing a strong opening day performance for the team.
Yoong said after the session, "It's good to be back in the driving seat and although I've been out of the car for a couple of months it hasn't taken me long to get back in to the rhythm of the team. We are pleased with a top ten today which is stronger than some of the practice days we've had this season. We're not quite there yet with the balance of the car so there's more to work on if we want to achieve what we have set out to which is to qualify in the top ten tomorrow."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive of A1 Team Malaysia adds. "We had a good weekend here last season and we are hoping for the same this season as we sorely need the points after a difficult season for us. However, as we have all seen, nothing is ever predictable in this sport. We need to knuckle down and get on with the programme that the team has planned for the weekend which will determine where we are by the end of the weekend assuming no on track racing incidents which have also blighted us this season."
Netherlands
After the first day A1 Team Netherlands has shown that it is able to compete in front. On the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Jeroen Bleekemolen set the fourth fastest time. It was very close at the front of the field, the top 10 was inside one second.
Arie Luyendyk jr was the first to go out for A1 Team Netherlands in the two times 25 minute Rookie session. In the first half Luyendyk jr., with his father watching the A1 Team Netherlands Rookie's performance closely, managed to set a seventh fastest time. In the second half of the session Arie jr. was not able to further improve on his time, the car suffered a lot from understeer.
Jeroen Bleekemolen went out straight away in the afternoon practice and managed to set the fastest time immediately. In the opening minutes of the one hour session the session was stopped with a red flag for a short while after the Czech Republic had gone off and had to be towed back. Then the battle upfront really kicked of, with the fastest time being improved constantly on the track that was getting more clean every lap. A1 Team Netherlands was in seventh for a while, but with some 15 minutes left Bleekemolen managed to improve further on his time, with a lap of 1'21.876, climbing to fourth place, four tenths behind Great Britain.
The new chicane already promises a lot of spectacle for both races on Sunday and will also be a key factor during qualifying tomorrow . A lot of drivers overshot on braking when entering the right-left combination, which is also blind on entry, and were forced to cut the chicane.
Jeroen Bleekemolen: We started off really well, went out on track first and were fast straight away. We did a lot of changes during the whole session and improved. That is why we did a lot more laps than the others. At the end we were still on the pace on used tyres. A number of people set their fastest time earlier in the session. I am very pleased. We managed to find quite a lot improvement in the car. It is looking good. Personally I think it is a shame that the chicane is there now. The final corner without the chicane, like it was last year, was much more fun, it also posed a bigger challenge for the drivers. Now you brake very hard almost stopping and then you start to accelerate again. I also think it might cause some dangerous situations. Drivers just slamming their cars in between during the race. During the race you will have 22 cars thundering down there in the opening lap. When the front runners are starting to brake the whole field will seize like a traffic jam. When someone brakes too late he can easily take four others with him. I don't think this was a good solution.
Arie Luyendyk Jr: It was a great track to drive. The beginning of the rookie session there was so much dirt on the track but after an engine install and brake bedding I was able to put together one flying lap good for 7th in Rookie Session 1. Rookie Session 2 was very difficult because even though the track was gaining grip the car seemed to suffer from a lot of understeer and the car was unstable over the bumps. We made changes but overall the car needed to improve over those areas. As far as sector times goes we should of been 10th but in the end with finding the right balance and putting a good lap together I did not improve and fell to 15th. I am still happy with the first session but I may have been to hard on the front tires in the first practice because the degradation really hindered a potentially good run.
New Zealand
The New Zealand A1GP team is confident it can close the gap on the front-runners after the first official practice for Monday's 8th Round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Mexico.
Jonny Reid set the 6th fastest time in today's one-hour session, just over 4/10ths of a second behind Great Britain, with Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands and South Africa rounding out the top five. Little more than two seconds separated the entire field of 22.
Team manager John Sears said Black Beauty isn't a million miles off the pace and some minor tweaking will set them up for tomorrow's qualifying. "It's not going to be easy, but we need to take the fight to the two countries ahead of us in the championship (Switzerland and France) and we're confident we have the strategy and the speed," Sears said.
Reid had a light work-out today, only completing 20 laps as the New Zealanders sat out the early part of the session. "The track was filthy, but it cleaned up well as rubber was laid down," Sears said. "Last year we went out hard and decimated our tyre stocks while gathering some confusing info. We're confident that taking the different tack and easing into the weekend was the right way to go."
Pakistan
A1 Team Pakistan took part in the first day of track action today, at the A1GP Mexico City. Taking his place behind the wheel, Adam Khan enjoyed his first taste of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track, having missed last year's visit to the circuit. The young racer quickly got to grips with the 4km long track, despite a puncture in the morning session.
In sunny conditions, the 22 A1GP cars took to the track for practice today. The challenging bumpy track was covered by a thin layer of dust and debris this morning, making conditions challenging for the A1GP drivers. Suffering from some handling difficulties, the team discovered a slow puncture on the right rear tyre of the Pakistan car. Deciding to keep the new tyres for the afternoon session, the team kept the punctured tyre on the car and Khan was forced to pit every few laps to allow the team to re-inflate the tyre. Despite this, Khan was able to set the eighth quickest time in the morning session. The team continued to work on set-up in the afternoon and set the 17th fastest time in the afternoon session.
Speaking about his first experience of the Mexico City track, Khan said, "It's a very interesting circuit to drive, but we haven't made quite as much progress as I'd hoped today. This is a very technical track and I spent most of the rookie session learning the circuit, although the slow puncture we had in the rear tyre affected how much I could push on track. I feel very confident that we will make some improvements tomorrow before qualifying."
A1 Team Pakistan team manager John Allen added, "Adam did a good job today considering he hasn't been to this track before. It's a very technical circuit with some very difficult corners. I think he's struggling a little with the chicane, which is where he is losing the most time. I've no doubt he will make further progress tomorrow as 17th is not really an accurate reflection of Adam's pace."
South Africa
Adrian Zaugg (21) got South Africa off to a good start in round eight of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Mexico City with a fine fifth place in Friday afternoon's second practice session. Earlier in the day, Wesleigh Orr (19) achieved his best ever result in a rookie practice session with an excellent third place in South Africa's Vulindlela.
Quickest in the session for the regular drivers was Great Britain (Oliver Jarvis) with a best lap of 1m 21.431s around the 4,08 km Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit. Second was Switzerland's Neel Jani (+0,051s) with Ireland's Adam Carroll third (+0,377s). The top six were separated by less than half a second with Zaugg 0,452s off the pace and sixth-placed New Zealand (Jonny Reid) 0,001s behind Zaugg.
Quickest in the opening session for rookies and developing nations was Italy's new driver Davide Rigon with a best time of 1m 22,810s. Ireland's Niall Quinn was second (+0.293s) with Orr a scant 0,003s further back.
"It was a good start to the weekend," said Mike Carroll, general manager of A1 Team South Africa. "Wesleigh did a great job, considering it was his first time at the Mexico City circuit in Vulindlela. Adrian topped the time sheets after the first 25 minutes and we were only 0,075s off third place at the end. There's still work to be done, but we're comfortable with where we are right now."
USA
A1 Team USA's Jonathan Summerton had the seventh fastest lap Friday in practice for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
"A1GP threw some curves at us by changing the track from last year and we responded well with productive changes to the 'We the People' car,' " Summerton said. "We concentrated on developing a very solid race car and we'll use the remaining practice to work on a setup for qualifying."
Summerton, of Kissimmee, Fla., ran 29 laps with a best of 1:21.942 on the reconfigured 2.53-mile track located in the heart of Mexico City. A1GP has added a chicane prior to a sweeping final corner and added a new section starting at Turn 4, which now turns left instead of right from the 2007 course, reducing it from 2.75 miles.
"The track is technically different than the one we finished second on in the Feature last year," Summerton said. "It's still a good track and the challenge to adapt is the same for everyone."
A1 Team USA owner Rick Weidinger liked how the team worked together Friday. "We operated at a high level," Weidinger said. "We were efficient in recognizing what the car needed for the changes to the track and Jonathan put together good laps. We're in a good position for qualifying and the races."