10/04/2009
NEWS STORY
Australia
A1 Team Australia performed well in the second practice session today here in Portimao, The Algarve Portugal. The circuit and complex is a must see for any motorsport enthusiast with state of the art facilities all around. You have a combination of fast corners, an incline with a dipper down to a long fast main straight set in the rural area of The Algarve.
In the early part of the session Martin spent valuable time learning the track making setup changes with Rob Arnott Chief Engineer and Ash Edwards Data engineer.
John Martin's track times came down as the session was half way through moving him into sixth place. With slight rain on turn one Rob Arnott radioed for Martin to return to the pits being on track on slicks moving into a fast turn one could present problems.
The team carried out their routine practice testing setup for tomorrow's qualifying.
Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "That was a good session overall as John maintained the 6th place. His times came down every lap and although we finished tenth overall, the gap to the lead cars came down over a second. We are happy and have enjoyed this spectacular circuit here in the Algarve"
John Martin: "That was a good practice although we moved into tenth the car was quicker during the middle of the session. We decided to try a new setup before qualifying tomorrow and feel confident the car will improve once we attack the third official practice in the morning"
Rob Arnott Chief Engineer: "John did well, we managed to improve the car every lap and he gave good feedback on track as well as the pits to try a range of setups before tomorrow's third practice and official qualifying. The car is good, the track spectacular and we're confident of a good day on Saturday ahead of the Sunday racing"
Brazil
A1 Team Brazil today took part in free practice for round six of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at the new Portimao circuit in the Algarve, Portugal.
Unfortunately for Brazil, the rookie practice session was stopped for a lengthy period after a huge accident befalling Bia. She went straight on at the first turn after suffering a brake failure, scrubbing off little speed before crashing into the tyres headfirst. The safety cell of the A1GP Powered by Ferrari car stood up well to the crash, and Bia was able to walk from the car unaided. Investigations are now underway as to the cause of the failure.
Unfortunately the car sustained considerable front end damage and so Felipe Guimaraes was unable to run in the afternoon session.
Bia Figueiredo: "It was a shame. I was getting used to the car and the track and we were enjoying a good session. On one corner the brakes were fine but then when I tried to brake the next time, with no warning, the rears were gone. It was a big crash but I'm fine and actually I was impressed because I actually thought there would be more damage to the front than there was. The track was slippery and green when I first drove but we were continually improving. The track Is difficult, with a lot of blind corners, but it's really good to drive."
Emerson Fittipaldi, Team Principal: "I always say there are two things that should never fail on a racing car and that is the steering wheel and the brakes. They are investigating what went wrong now because we have to make sure that is not going to happen again. You can always repair a racing car but I am just happy that Bia was not injured. The team is making a very good effort now to prepare the car for tomorrow."
Felipe Guimarães: "It's disappointing not to get in the car today because it's new for all of us and it looks pretty difficult. I've spoken to Bia though and will look at all the data from today. Tomorrow we'll have the car ready to go and new tyres so I will just aim to learn the track fast and prepare."
France
Today, A1GP France took part in free practice for the sixth round of the 2008-09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Championship on the International Algarve circuit in Portugal.
Nicolas Prost at the wheel of the French car set promising times in the 2 rookie sessions this morning ending up second quickest. Overall, the track's grip level was very poor and a strong wind upset the cars' aerodynamic balance. It was difficult in these conditions to find the right window to set a good time.
In the first free session this afternoon the team got down to finding the right set-ups, and tried to adapt the car to the track conditions by working on the tyre pressures in particular. Nicolas finished the day in eighth place overall.
The team had a trouble-free day mechanically speaking and was able to complete its technical programme. It is analysing the data this evening to refine the car's set-up for tomorrow's free practice and qualifying.
Olivier Panis, Sporting Director: "The track conditions evolved a lot from the start to the finish of practice today, and lap times kept coming down. It'll certainly be the same story tomorrow. In such condition, the essential thing is to adapt to the situation, and also to anticipate the track's evolution over the rest of the weekend to determine the best set-up for qualifying and the race. We've made a good start and we're on the pace so it's pretty positive."
Nicolas Prost: "The circuit's rather special and it had very little grip this morning. All the cars were sliding about a lot and you had to drive accordingly. These conditions made the engineers' job pretty difficult, but we were able to improve our performance throughout the day. I was only 0.5 seconds off the top three and that makes me feel confident for the rest of the weekend. We've still got quite a lot of work to do but we're on the right track."
Ireland
Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll endured a character building start to his A1GP World Cup of Motorsport weekend in Park Algarve, his Ferrari powered A1GP car struggling in windy conditions as the result of a brake issue which saw the highly rated championship contender set the 14th fastest time in practice.
On the magnificent Park Algarve circuit, which features 16 corners over an undulating 4.67km track, the Team Ireland driver found the car’s braking points
difficult to predict, noting that the car was not responding as it should and delaying his efforts to get up to speed on his first visit to this venue. Earlier in the day Team Ireland’s rookie driver Niall Quinn was 6th fastest, the rookie session delayed significantly when Team Brazil suffered a high speed accident.
Adam Carroll: "It was difficult this afternoon – the car was struggling under braking so I could not really find a definite braking point and that really affects your confidence going into corners. The track is tricky, not easy to drive in places with bumps and blind crests, so you need the confidence to attack it. The head wind was blowing at 45kph down the pit straight made for difficult conditions as well. We’ll look at everything tonight and hopefully get these issues sorted out for tomorrow."
Niall Quinn: "The session was fine – the track was very green to start with, so there wasn’t much grip, but it’s very good to drive and there are several impressive sections including the last sequence of corners. Overtaking is going to be more difficult than I expected."
Tomorrow morning’s practice session will be followed by qualifying for Sunday’s Sprint Race and Feature Race, with Team Ireland involved in a tight battle for the championship lead with Switzerland and local favourites Team Portugal.
Lebanon
The A1GP series arrived in Portugal this week for the Algarve event which is being held at the new Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, an impressive track close to Portimao. Jimmy Auby made his first appearance this season in the A1 Team Lebanon car, his debut in the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car which replaced the original A1GP Lola car He took part in the two rookie sessions, finishing seventh quickest in the first and 11th quickest in the second, 10th quickest overall. He handed the car to regular driver, Daniel Morad in the afternoon and the Lebanese driver quickly settled in, posting ninth quickest lap.
Auby had prepared for his first session in the A1GP car with plenty of training to cope with the physical demands of driving at this level. The first part of the rookie session was interrupted with a number of red flag stoppages, so the young Lebanese rookie had little time to make improvement. In the second part of the session some of the more experienced drivers joined the track, including former Formula One driver, Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Auby said of driving the A1GP Powered by Ferrari car for the first time, "It was a great car to drive. The biggest difference was the carbon brakes, as they need a different driving style and it took me some time to learn this. It handles really well, and I just wanted more time to enjoy it!"
Of the Algarve circuit he commented, "There's so many corners and changes of gradient that it makes it quite a unique track, and certainly very different than any other tracks I've experienced so far in my career. The blind corners are quite difficult to master, so I found myself taking different lines each time. I was left just wanting more."
Morad returned to the car for the first time since his stunning drive in South Africa when he carved his way through the field to sixth place and Lebanon's best ever A1GP result. He continued to impress his peers with the ninth quickest lap of the field.
He said of his afternoon, "We had to learn the track while using new tyres so we didn't make the most of them and there's certainly more to come from the car. It's a very hilly track, in fact I don't think I've experienced a circuit quite like this. It's awesome though! We were making improvements through the session and we'll be looking to make more progress tomorrow, but we're definitely heading in the right direction."
Malaysia
The A1GP series has arrived at its next stop on the calendar with the Vodafone A1GP Portugal event taking place at the impressive new race track facility near Portimao.
Aaron Lim was the first of the two A1 Team Malaysia drivers to sample the circuit, clocking the eighth quickest time of the rookie and developing nation drivers. Fairuz Fauzy took over the team's car in the afternoon, posting 15th fastest lap time.
The morning session was used by the team to prepare for the weekend. Lim was given a few laps to learn the circuit, having walked round it yesterday with the team's engineers in preparation for today's running.
Lim was quickly on the pace and lapping comfortably in the top ten, although with the session regularly interrupted with red flag stoppages as drivers learnt their limits, it was tough for Lim to find a rhythm. He said of the track, "I loved the track, although it wasn't an easy track to learn. There as so many different types of corner with lots of hills and changes in direction and gradient as well as the blind corners, it all adds up to a very special circuit. I would have loved to have more time on this track."
A1 Team Malaysia used the break between the morning and afternoon practice sessions to prepare the car for Fauzy with a number of necessary adjustments including pedal position and the seat, which is unique to each driver.
Fauzy made the most of the afternoon to put in long runs, learn the track layout and understand the circuit configurations. He said at the end of his session, "It was a good session today. I don't think I've been to a track with such changes in gradient; it's very unique. It's a big challenge as the setup of the car is so critical. On most tracks the setup of the car is for camber, not for the gradients.
"I need to adjust my driving style and adapt to the different type of track, but I really enjoyed it. We'll be able to make some improvements tomorrow. In tomorrow's final practice we can make the progress we need to make."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive A1 Team Malaysia, said of the team's practice sessions, "Aaron continued to show us that he can cope with the challenges presented to him. This new track isn't easy for a driver to learn and to master. In the little time he had on track he gave the team excellent feedback and worked well with the engineers. Fairuz also had a good session and started to work with the engineers on set up developments. There's a strong field of drivers this weekend, so the times are very competitive. We'll be looking for improvements tomorrow."
Fauzy will return to the car for the final practice session tomorrow morning. Saturday afternoon qualifying will set the grid for the two races on Sunday.
Monaco
Rain greeted the teams at the Autódromo this morning, providing damp and slippery early track conditions. Hubertus Bahlsen's initial 'Rookie' session was cut short following a spin on his flying lap. The second session was halted for over half an hour due to a Red Flag situation and when the Green light was finally illuminated there were only ten minutes of the session remaining. All 17 participating teams quickly rejoined the session and Hubertus negotiated the busy track to set a time of 1:42.782 moments before a final Red Flag terminated running a few minutes ahead of schedule.
Monegasque driver Clivio Piccione took over in the team's A1GP 'powered by Ferrari' car for Official Practice 2 this afternoon. An early Red Flag deployment due to a stop out on track by host team Portugal caused a momentary lapse in on-track action, but as soon as the session resumed Clivio was catching the existing front runners and running in 11th place. He continued to improve on pace and was running in sixth position until he set a stunning final lap as the chequered flag was waved. A fastest lap time of 1:32.242 propelled him in to third position at the end of a hugely competitive final Friday practice session for the Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal event.
Hubertus Bahlsen, 'Rookie' Driver and Seat-Holder: "We started the day with a very good set-up and had no problems. I was using a seat made for me for the first time this morning, so it felt much better to drive. I struggled with technique, however, and in the first session I stalled the car. But this is still a learning curve for me and the second session was good, so it is a shame we ran out of time with the Yellow and Red Flags. The track is very interesting and the car is extremely good so it only required fine tuning for Clivio this afternoon. His style is well suited to driving here, he likes the track and his last lap this afternoon was controlled and focussed."
Clivio Piccione, Driver and Seat-Holder: "It was a pretty good day. The car felt the best it has done so far straight from the box. The engineers did a great job setting up the car, preparing us in advance, and we stuck to our plan today. The track has a really nice flow to it with good high speed corners and hard breaking points. The car set-up suits me, so we just have some fine tuning to do for tomorrow and we have made a good start to the weekend."
Graham Taylor, Team Principal: "This morning we benefitted from running the car in the Rookie session with Hubertus. The circuit was damp to start with and offered very little grip and although the program was interrupted by the long Red Flag it was good to be running again. With Clivio running in the afternoon he benefitted with a new set of tyres and adhered to the predetermined plan. A run at the end of the session has given us hope of continued competitiveness."
South Africa
With the 20 nations competing in the series making their first appearance at the 4,69-km Autodromo Internacional do Algarve near the city of Portimao, it was Doornbos and New Zealand's Earl Bamber who made the early running with the Kiwi just 0,068s off the fastest lap. Third quickest was Monaco's Clivio Piccione, 0,028s off the pace. With the top nine covered by less than a second, tomorrow's third practice and qualifying is set to be a closely contested affair
South Africa's Adrian Zaugg was 11th quickest, 1,417s behind Doornbos. "We tried a number of settings during the session and still have some work to do to get the optimum set-up for Vulindlela," said the 21-year-old Zaugg. "This afternoon was our first time behind the wheel since the South African races at Kyalami seven weeks ago and we also had a new track to learn. It's a busy lap, with 17 turns, and it will be a lot quicker tomorrow after more track activity."
Earlier in the day, 29-year-old Cristiano Morgado made his second appearance for South Africa in the practice session reserved for rookie drivers and developing nations. He impressed in the first half of the session with sixth fastest time behind New Zealand (Bamber), France (Nicolas Prost) and Switzerland (Alexandre Imperatori) and was ninth at the end of the session behind Prost, Bamber and Germany's Andre Lotterer.
"It was good to get back behind the wheel of Vulindlela, especially in Portugal," said Morgado, whose parents are Portuguese. "Driving the A1GP Powered by Ferrari car is a big step up from my regular drive in Formula Volkswagen in South Africa and all-round the A1GP car is way faster, brakes better and is a totally different proposition. The Algarve circuit layout keeps you fully occupied throughout the lap - I wish we could have more time than the 17 laps we managed to complete. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to drive Vulindlela again."
USA
Marco Andretti: "I think today was a good start for Team USA. We still have some work to do to get to where we need to be for qualifying tomorrow, but we have a pretty good idea of where we stand and where to go from here. This is a great track and I’m looking forward to a good race."
Robbie Pecorari: "It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get the full practice time; this car is a little more sophisticated than any car I’ve driven, but overall I think it’s great and a lot of fun to drive. Algarve is such a great track; I had an awesome time driving today. I want to thank everyone at Andretti Green for sending me out here and giving me this opportunity. Hopefully we were able to get some good information that will really help Marco and Team USA this weekend."