25/01/2009
NEWS STORY
Australia
Sprint Race
A1 Team Australia came to Taupo with a lot of work to do to rebuild their car after Sepang. All was going to plan today for the Sprint race after a very quick pit stop on lap 5 when the anti-stall engaged after Martin accelerated to keep his position whilst in pit lane. Once the car was back to normal Martin pushed to keep his position in 6th place looking closer at 3rd as the other lead cars came in to pit.
On lap 6 whilst entering turn 12 John Martin clipped the inside tyre barrier and damaged his front wishbone, taking him out of the race as he cruised slowly back to the team garage. Rob [Arnott Chief Engineer] and Adam [Gotch Team Manager] knew at that moment the race was over and our thanks go out to the Team USA crew who assisted in moving the car out of a precarious position with Team Great Britain and Indonesia pitting for their scheduled stop.
The car was pushed back into the garage for immediate repairs before the Feature Race in three hours.
At this stage Australia retains 8th position in the World Championship.
John Martin:" Once I left the pit from my stop on lap five I accelerated and then backed off when the anti-stall kicked in and I couldn't get moving for a split second. Other cars were behind me and I finally got going again only to make a mistake at turn 12 when I clipped the tyre barrier. The front left wishbone was bent and my left tyre was loose on the hub and turning outwards. Once in the pits there was hope of a possible repair. Not the case, so it's all on for the Feature"
Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "We had a good start and pit stop looking at 6th with a possible 3rd but John made a mistake at turn 12 and our race was over before the chequered flag. We have retained 8th in the championship and need to be up in the points for the Feature to keep our improvement record going forward"
Feature Race
Taupo's Feature Race start saw Team Netherlands' Robert Doornbos take a different line moving right to block Neel Jani in Team Switzerland. Doornbos found Jani quicker than he anticipated so he moved back across to the left blocking John Martin's run into turn 1.
It was the same lap Martin overtook Doornbos at turn 4 to retain 4th place behind the top three drivers of Carroll, Jani and Albuquerque who continue to dominate and keep the Australian team on the edge of a podium finish.
The new set of tyres used in the second pitstop were wasted as Martin had to sit behind Team South Africa not being allowed to pass although racing a lot slower than Martin. Eventually Australia passed South Africa trying to catch Portugal in 3rd place.
With Team Monaco in the gravel again the safety car was deployed and the grid bunched up for two laps before being released. Martin was decreasing the gap to Team Portugal who finished 3rd before this happened only to find himself having to pass Teams Great Britain, Indonesia and Brazil to secure 4th place once again after the safety car returned to pitlane.
With seven laps to go the teams' positions remained the same for the top four runners to see A1 Team Australia's John Martin finish 4th and take the team to 30 points, moving up one place to 7th in the A1GP world championship.
John Martin:" My goal now is to score points from both races consistently as this is a great result, so close to a podium and a move up to 7th in the championship. I lost the good set of tyres behind South Africa and the safety car slowed my charge on Portugal. We are looking forward to Gauteng in a month. A big thank you to the team once again an awesome result from everyone"
Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "Our pitstops were the fastest in pit lane, 33.1 and 33.7 compared to the closest Team New Zealand doing 34.0 in both stops. Remember this time includes entering and leaving pit lane. We've increased our lead in the championship with great racing and crew pit stops from John and the team. I am very happy with the result today. Now we need to score points in the Sprint Races to jump some more teams in the championship."
Brazil
A1 Team Brazil's Felipe Guimarães had a frustrating day in New Zealand, finishing today's A1GP Taupo Sprint race in 14th position and the Feature race in 12th position after being hit in both races by Monaco, sending him into a spin in each event.
After struggling with car set-up in yesterday's qualifying, the team had to begin today's Sprint race from the seventh row of the grid in 13th place. He made a clean getaway at the start, but was tipped into a spin on the second corner of the first lap by Monaco. He managed to keep the car going but lost time, rejoining the pack ten seconds behind and in 19th position. The team opted to keep him out late and Felipe was the last to come in for his compulsory stop on lap eight. He emerged in 15th and maintained his position until the chequered flag after 15 laps. After the race, Monaco was penalised and Brazil was promoted to a 14th place finish.
Felipe made a brilliant start in the 50-lap Feature race, moving up to eighth from his 12th place starting spot. However, in a case of history almost repeating itself, he was hit on his left rear tyre by Monaco on lap nine which sent him into a big spin off track. He fell back to 13th position and then lost two further places after the first compulsory pitstop. He had made his way up to 12th by lap 44 after off-track incidents for GBR and Malaysia and a drive-through penalty for China, and crossed the line in that position.
The fifth round of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will take place 20-22 February at Kyalami, near Johannesburg in South Africa - a brand new venue for the series.
Felipe Guimarães
Sprint Race: "It's disappointing that I couldn't get a better result but in such a short race it was decided when Monaco touched the back of my car on the second corner of the first lap and sent me into a spin. I was able to get going again and the car actually felt good throughout the race. We changed some things overnight and there was a big improvement from yesterday, especially on the brakes. We had a little problem in the pitstop but it was okay."
Feature Race: "I am a bit disappointed because it has been a difficult weekend. I had a very good start to the race but then Monaco hit me and I had the spin. I was having a good race after that but unfortunately made a few mistakes. The car was good and should have been in the top ten."
Fernando Avallone, Franchise Manager: "We have mixed feelings about today. We were on the back foot from qualifying yesterday as we started near the back in both races. Today though we found a pace that we have been chasing for a while and set a few positive laps that were close in time to the leaders. Felipe made a phenomenal start to the Feature race but then encountered Monaco on track for the second time in the day, which put an end to our aims for points. We've now found a good direction with our set-up so we are looking forward to going to Kyalami where it will be a level playing field for everyone."
France
Today, the Taupo circuit in New Zealand hosted the fourth round of the 2008-09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. A1 Team France's driver Loïc Duval added another 10 points to his team's tally in the Sprint and Feature events.
Duval was fifth on the grid for the Sprint race and managed to move up a place thanks to an impeccable refuelling stop by the team. He finished fourth after a trouble-free drive.
The Feature event was rather more frustrating. He got up to 5th place after starting from seventh and quickly closed the gap to Team Australia. At that moment he came upon a back-marker who had just rejoined after serving a penalty. Despite being a lap down, the latter ignored the blue flags for more than 10 laps and refused to allow the French driver past. It was the end of Loïc's fourth place hopes. But it was not over for the Frenchman. When he finally managed to get past he had to go off-line to avoid a spinning car. Another driver took advantage of t his to nip past and Duval finally finished sixth.
This evening A1 Team France has 41 points. The team has fallen back a place in the overall classification and is now fourth 24 points behind Team Ireland. In 8 starts, it has scored 1 victory, 3 rostrums and 6 top-10 finishes.
Olivier Panis, sporting director: "Bravo to the whole team who did their very best to overcome the mechanical glitches we had this weekend. And also to Loïc who drove his heart out as always. With a little bit more fairplay on the part of some drivers we could have scored a few more points, but it wouldn't really have made an enormous difference. At least the New Zealand round has helped us to get to know the new car better. Now we're concentrating on South Africa, and we hope we'll have an easier weekend there technically speaking."
Loïc Duval, driver: "What a frustrating weekend! The brake problems we ran into on Friday didn't allow us to prepare for the races as we'd have liked, and we carried this handicap into qualifying. Our starting positions were not in keeping with our expectations and we knew it'd be difficult to shine. The first race went off okay, but I have to admit I was pretty disappointed by the behaviour of some of my rivals in the second. But the results are there and there's nothing we can do about them. During this type of weekend you have to know how to keep your head down, take what comes and bounce back at the next round!"
Great Britain
Today saw A1 Team Great Britain competing in round four of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at the Taupo Motorsport Park in New Zealand. Dan Clarke, on his debut for the team, finished the Sprint race in 12th place and the Feature race in 13th position.
In a change to usual procedure, the 15-lap Sprint race began using a standing start rather than a rolling start, due to concerns over safety at the first corner. Starting from 15th on the grid, Dan was unfortunately held up the second corner, which saw an incident cost time for the USA, Monaco and Brazil cars. He was stuck behind a spinning Brazil and lost time himself before he could rejoin the race. He fell back to 18th and managed to catch up to the back of the pack, and was then able to benefit from a slick pitstop from the crew on lap seven to emerge in 13th place, and crossed the line in that position. Following a penalty given to Monaco after the race, GBR was promoted to 12th place.
With Mexico starting from the pits in the 50-lap Feature race, GBR found itself up to 13th at the beginning of the race. Avoiding a few incidents at the back of the pack, Dan was able to gain another place up to 12th on the first lap and was up to 11th on lap five when the USA fell back. After the first of two compulsory pitstops, which GBR took on lap nine, Dan was in a points scoring tenth position, however after a spin on lap 19, he fell back down to 15th. He maintained position after the second pitstop but by lap 44 had gained two places after China was handed a driver through penalty and Malaysia went off track. He took the chequered flag in 13th.
The 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will resume 20-22 February when the fifth round will take place at a brand new venue for A1GP. Having competed in South Africa for the past three seasons at the Durban street circuit, this year's South Africa event will relocate to the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg.
Dan Clarke
Sprint Race: "I was racing the USA car out of turn one and was on the inside into turn two where he must have lost his footing because he braked and hit the Brazil car, which went into a half spin and stopped in the middle of the corner across my path. I couldn't get out of the way and there were cars either side so I was unlucky to get stuck there. I just had to race on and we stayed out late before stopping to get in a couple of quick laps. After a great pitstop from the guys, we were able to jump a few places in the pits. I came out about eight car lengths behind USA, managed to chase him down and was on his bumper but yellow flags prevented me from making a pass. Our fastest lap wasn't far off the quickest overall so we've made a jump in time from qualifying."
Feature Race: "The start was okay and it was running alright in the race. The guys did a great job in both pitstops, as they have all weekend, but when I made the mistake and spun that was it really. I was just pushing really hard and I lost the rear on the bumps shifting down a gear, however I was lucky to get out of the gravel. It wasn't an easy race but we have made speed increases in every session and showed good promise."
Katie Clements, Team Principal: "Ultimately we cannot get away from the fact that this has been a disappointing weekend and we have come away with no points. We have got positives to take in the team's performance and the pace we have once again shown and we now have to brush ourselves down and work hard in preparation for the next race in South Africa."
Ireland
A1 Team Ireland's Adam Carroll took his third victory of the season in the Sprint race at Taupo, New Zealand today and followed it up with second place in the Feature race to record Ireland's fifth podium finish of the season. Ireland once again starred in the fourth event in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport to move onto 65 points, extending their lead at the top of the standings to 13 points over new second placed squad Switzerland.
Hopes were high after Ireland's dominant double pole position performance in qualifying and Adam Carroll didn't disappoint with a perfect standing start to the 15-lap Sprint race. Thereafter he controlled the pace and, aided by more solid pit work by the Irish crew, was able to maintain his advantage after his mandatory pit stop. Carroll took the flag to record Ireland's fourth victory in the A1GP series and their third of the season by just under one and a half seconds from Team Switzerland.
Another good start by Carroll in the Feature Race helped Team Ireland to a comfortable lead in the second race but all hopes of a third successive win were dashed when a minor delay caused by the anti stall system activating at the second pit stop cost Ireland the lead. But for this interruption Ireland would have retained the lead on the tight, challenging lakeside circuit. Carroll recovered from the brief engine stammer to finish a fine second and has now extended Ireland's advantage by five points in its bid for glory in the World Cup of Motorsport.
Adam Carroll hailed: "It was a good day today, so I am happy with the outcome even if I feel we had the Feature Race under control apart from the software issue in the pit lane. It's great to extend the lead in the championship, but obviously the competition is very tight as we all saw. The battle with Switzerland and Portugal last the whole of the main race, and I think we will see plenty more close racing to come."
"Another very strong performance by the team which achieved our targets for this weekend in terms of retaining and extending our series lead," said Team Principal Mark Gallagher afterwards. "The Sprint Race was faultless and we had victory in the Feature event in our sights until the pit lane issue delayed us. We will go to South Africa determined to maintain our edge, and with the way Adam Carroll and the technical team are performing we just need to keep on repeating these kinds of results."
Lebanon
All the promise shown by A1 Team Lebanon turned to disaster today in Taupo, New Zealand. Daniel Morad had been one of the top performing drivers in each session ahead of the two races, but it turned sour in the Sprint race with a mechanical failure, compounded by retirement from the Feature.
In the fourth event of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Morad made a strong start in the Sprint race, defending hard from charging cars behind to retain tenth place at the end of the opening lap. He was running on the leaders pace as the race laps counted down, pitting for new tyres with a blistering stop from the Lebanon crew to put him back on track in the same position. Sadly a suspension component failure prematurely ended Morad's race, with the 18-year-old having to return to the team's garage for the team and retiring from the race.
Morad's luck didn't get any better in the Feature race. An anti-stall problem prevented the Lebanon car from making a clean start, leaving him right at the back. With a strong pace Morad was keen to make up ground. After passing the Italian car he closed quickly on the New Zealand car. When New Zealand ran wide, Morad grabbed the chance to overtake. Unfortunately New Zealand didn't see Morad, turning into the corner and into the Lebanon car, causing irreparable damage. Morad had no option but to limp back to the pits and retire from the race.
Morad explains, "I was very disappointed to have a component failure in the Sprint race, but that's just what can happen in racing, there's nothing you can do about that one. Racing at 270 kph with the streering wheel on a 90 degree lock could be frightening, but I'm a racing driver and live for that stuff. There was no point in continuing though as I would have just ended up in a barrier. The Feature race was a different story. My anti-stall kicked in without warning, even though I was on the throttle and hadn't lifted off at all. I don't think we're the only team that has suffered with this, so it seems to be a problem that A1GP is looking at. Once I got going I started to catch the cars ahead, but ended up being shunted out of the race by New Zealand who just didn't see me. I'm incredibly disappointed."
Tameem Auchi, Seatholder for A1 Team Lebanon summed up by saying, "Motor racing can be cruel sometimes and this was one of those weekends for us. Daniel had such a great start to the weekend and in every session in the lead up to the races, but today things just didn't go our way. The Sprint race technical failure was no one's fault, it's something that can happen when new cars are introduced and haven't had much running.
"In the Feature race the problem Daniel had getting off the grid was compounded by New Zealand just not giving him the room. It was a racing incident but with huge repercussions. A disappointing end to what had been such a promising weekend."
Malaysia
It was another championship point for Malaysia in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport event at Taupo, New Zealand today with Fairuz Fauzy racing to an eighth place finish in the Sprint race and 11th place finish in the Feature race. The point earned in the Sprint race has kept the team in the lead group of the World Cup of Motorsport standings in seventh place.
In the Sprint race the opening lap produced its customary opportunity for overtaking. Fauzy was one of the few drivers to make passes on the opening lap, moving up to 8th place after passing New Zealand in the second turn. Malaysia, along with many other nations made an early pitstop and although the crew made quick work of the tyre changing, Fauzy exited his pitbox behind the Australian car. The Australian driver struggled to get his gears engaged, holding up Malaysia in the run down the pitlane to rejoin the track. The Malaysian engineers estimated that this slow return to the race cost the team at least two places.
After all the cars had made their mandatory tyre change stop, Fauzy remained in eighth place with six laps remaining. Despite closing on the cars ahead in the last few laps he was unable to make a pass and took the chequered flag in eighth position, scoring a valuable World Cup of Motorsport point.
Of the Sprint race Fauzy said, "We had a good start and the car was very competitive handling wise, but I'm not satisfied with the engine and I was losing speed on the straight to other cars. It's something we'll check on the data. The team did a great job in the pits, but when I pulled away from the garage the Australian car was slow. He seemed to be suffering from a gear engagement problem. There's nothing we could do, but instead of being at 60kph, it was 30kph, so we lost time and probably at least two places. At least we scored a point."
The Feature race start was a melee of cars and dust powering down to the first corner. There was plenty of jostling and in the fight to the first corner, Malaysia lost ground and dropped to seventh place by the end of the first lap. Fairuz pushed on in the opening section of the race. However, he smelt coolant in the cockpit and was struggling for power in the high speed sections of the track. Pitting early for the first of the two mandatory pitstops, the team quickly changed all four tyres and Fauzy was soon rejoining the track, maintaining seventh place.
The second pitstop window opened after 22 laps and Malaysia chose to pit early. Neat and quick work from the Malaysian crew put Fauzy back out on track without loss of position. With 12 laps remaining a stranded Monaco car brought out the safety car and after two laps of running behind it, the field returned to full speed racing. Fauzy easily held position but was unable to pass the hugely experienced, former F1 driver, Robert Doornbos. In the closing stages Fauzy lost the rear of his car in turn 12 and spun off track. He was able to recover but had dropped down to 11th place.
At the end of the race when the crew had had a chance to look over the car there was found to be a hole in the radiator, probably from debris on track. This undoubtedly seriously affected the engine performance, and Fauzy did well to battle through to the finish.
Fauzy said of the Feature race, "I didn't get the best start and dropped a place. After a few laps I smelt coolant and there were warning lights on, but I just had to carry on. I was losing power in a straight line, but just had to change my driving style to try and compensate for this. In the second stop I came out behind the slower A1 Team China car so I wasn't able to use my tyres to the maximum. It was a bit frustrating, especially with the lack of power. It was a shame I spun at the end: I'm not sure whether there was oil as the Indonesian car had gone off ahead of me. It was a shame as we threw away seventh place, where we would have been in the points."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, adds, "We've salvaged a point from this weekend which is a positive and we're lying seventh in the overall standings, still in touch with the leading group of nations. We're under halfway through the season and we have to work towards moving back into the top five. Despite the disappointment for Fairuz in the closing laps, I think he, and all the team, are continuing to show their strengths and abilities. I know that we can get the results we need and we move on to South Africa with the determination to succeed."
Monaco
Team Monaco finished in 11th place in the Sprint race and in 18th position at the end of a frustrating Feature event today at the Taupo Motorsport Park, host of round four of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Powered by Ferrari. Today's results mean that Team Monaco remains in 12th place in the championship with nine points and three Top Ten finishes.
A1GP organisers opted for a standing start for the 15-laps Sprint race due to problems in previous years caused by the short run between the start line and the first corner. The plan worked as all the teams made it through the first corner safely with Team Monaco driver Clivio Piccione making up three positions from 16th on the grid by overtaking teams Mexico, GBR and Brazil at turn one. After the mandatory pitstop window the Monegasque squad were running in 11th place and continued to remain just outside the top 10 until the chequered flag. Team Ireland, who took double pole in qualifying yesterday, came home to victory while Switzerland and the Netherlands were second and third respectively.
Team Monaco endured an exceedingly frustrating afternoon. Clivio made a promising start to the 50-laps Feature race as he climbed from 17th place on the grid to end lap one in 11th position. Clivio overtook USA and India in the following laps and was running in 9th place on lap 10 when Brazil closed the door in front of him as they were running wheel to wheel. Contact as Brazil spun across the track removed Clivio's front wing and forced him to run off-track to avoid further collision. Clivio came back to the pits to allow the team to replace the car's nose and front wing and he rejoined the Feature event in 18th position with 35 laps remaining. A problem with the left rear during the second mandatory pitstop meant a delay in the pitlane; however Monaco rejoined the race in the same position. A stop out on track on lap 33 brought Clivio's race to a premature end and the Taupo weekend to a disappointing conclusion.
Clivio Piccione, Driver and Seat Holder: "I did not have a good start off the line for the Feature race. I had a lot of wheel spin and it is not easy to push forward when you are not going in a straight line. I made up a few positions at turns one and two and the car felt the best it had been all weekend so I was able to push. One by one I was overtaking people and gaining places until, unfortunately, Brazil turned into me on turn seven and pushed me into the gravel at full speed, damaging the nose and I had to go back to garage at a very slow pace. From then the race was effectively over. After the pitstop the car felt ok and I had the pace of the leaders, but the last set of tyres was not good and as I was pushing to try to make up time someone came off at turn eight and put sand on the track, so when I applied the brakes they locked up and I spun into the gravel."
Graham Taylor, Team Principal: "The Sprint race went according to plan. We did not have a great start and Clivio had a coming together with Brazil in turn two when they braked too early and so we ran up the back of the car and took some damage. Our pitstop on lap six went well with the crew turning the pitstop round quickly and Clivio emerged in 11th place. Team hopes were high for the second race. We took an aggressive tyre strategy, which paid off in the first lap when Clivio was able to jump up to 11th as he picked off USA and India. He then caught up and was racing with Brazil, who then made a mistake giving Clivio the chance to attack. But Brazil collided with him, taking off his front wing and puncturing the front tyre, in essence ending the challenge right there. When the car came back to pitlane we changed the tyres and nose and when Clivio went out, he was lapping times close to the leaders. On the positive side, we see performance potential, but unfortunately this weekend we have been unable to show our true level."
Southa Africa
Ireland (Adam Carroll) strengthened their position in the lead of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport with a win in the sprint race and second in the feature race in round four at Taupo in New Zealand on Sunday. Switzerland (Neel Jani) won the afternoon feature race after coming second in the morning's sprint race. South Africa (Adrian Zaugg) finished 10th in the sprint and ninth in the feature races and now lie 9th in the championship with five rounds remaining.
Zaugg, starting from 11th position on the grid in the 15-lap sprint race, made up a place shortly after the mandatory pit stop to change tyres when Australia (John Martin) clipped a tyre curb and damaged its suspension. Switzerland, who earned a bonus point for fastest lap of the race, made up two places as a result of a slick pit stop, while Portugal (Felipe Albuquerque) was the big loser, dropping from second at the start to sixth after the anti-stall device on his Ferrari-engined car kicked in as he exited the pits.
The standing start feature race, held over 50 laps, got underway on Sunday afternoon in cool and overcast conditions. Pole sitter Ireland led until the first of the two mandatory pit stops from Switzerland, Portugal and Australia. South Africa, starting from 16th on the 19-car grid, made up a place in the opening lap and, with rivals making mistakes and running into problems ahead of him, Zaugg found himself in 10th place at half distance.
He dropped back to 11th after the second pit stop after looking like he was baulked by USA (Marco Andretti) as they exited the pits together. Andretti crossed a solid white barrier line as the pair rejoined the race and, although he went on to finish eighth with Zaugg 10th, the American was penalised 25 seconds after the race, dropping him back to 11th and promoting Zaugg to ninth.
Switzerland, in the meantime, had jumped ahead of early leader Ireland in the pit lane during the first pit stop after Carroll was one of several drivers caught out by the anti-stall system as he drove slowly out of the pits. Portugal scored a bonus point for fastest lap of the race.
It was Switzerland's second win of the season on a day when Jani matched the record number of A1GP starts of 54 held by Malaysia's Alex Yoong. The Swiss star has now won eight A1GP races altogether and closed in on Germany's Nico Hulkenberg's record of nine (achieved in a single season).
"It was a difficult weekend for the team," said Mike Carroll, general manager of A1 Team South Africa. "Adrian's pace was much improved in the two races compared to qualifying, but in this very competitive form of motor racing - the first six on the grid for the feature race were covered by less than a second - you have to have a good qualifying performance if you hope to challenge for a podium position or a win.
"We'll be doing everything we can to put ourselves in a stronger position for the next round, the A1GP Gauteng, South Africa. This is our home race and we don't want to disappoint the fans."