11/04/2009
NEWS STORY
Australia
with only two practice sessions before qualifying today the lack of good track time has proven to be one of the factors determining the team's grid positions for both races tomorrow. From the first practice lap on Friday A1 Team Australia driver John Martin has worked with many changes to the car trying to find the perfect setup for the qualifying and Sunday's racing.
Martin's engineers Rob Arnott and Ash Edwards continued to analyse the car's movements on the track trying to find a solution with Martin's input to a perfectly balanced racecar. On top of that the Team were trying to solve a lack of grip and braking problems with the Michelin tyres taking longer to heat up impeding the need for more grip to increase overall speed for faster lap times. Up to and including the earlier practice session today, Martin's brakes locked up on several corners of the track affecting any improvements to track position although the car's overall balance was finally sorted by the end of qualifying today, bringing some good news for both races tomorrow.
During the Sprint race qualifying, Neel Jani from A1 Team Switzerland experienced an engine problem on track causing the red flag to be shown. With the session concluded, all other cars had to return to their pit and wait to be sent out for the second part of that Sprint qualifying. It was then Rob Arnott with Alan Jones and Adam Gotch decided together to let Martin go out on track in the middle part of the second part of the session, hoping to avoid any other red flags. John Martin was on a perfect lap when he made a slight error on turn 12 losing valuable time to end Sprint qualifying in 17th position. After being nine tenths of a second off the lead car today, Martin ended up with a gap of 3.53 seconds to pole sitter Tonio Luizzi for A1 Team Italy.
The Feature Race qualifying session was a better one overall, obvious to the team that Martin was a lot happier with his race car as he placed 6th in the first part of that session. The decision was made to let the majority of cars set their times allowing A1 Team Australia to leave the pit with the best possible setup. Another good lap until Martin lost time in the last sector of the lap to drop his grid position into 12th, being 1.524 seconds behind pole sitter Robert Doornbos of A1 Team Netherlands.
Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "John has not had the track time we had planned for this weekend to set the car up for a better grid position than we have ended up with today. This is a very difficult track and it's highly technical, challenging and quick. You need the perfect setup early and we've taken right up to the end of qualifying to finally sort the car. Tomorrow anything is possible, we're confident of points"
John Martin: "I made a mistake at turn 12 and that caused me to drop down the order for the Sprint qualifying. The issues with balance and grip have been tough to sort. We have a chance for points tomorrow and that's our goal. The car is now 95% perfect"
Rob Arnott: "We haven't had the best day today though we've now got the car sorted out and with a few clever changes we have the goods to grab some points. John's feedback has been superb and we just need to run two perfect races tomorrow with a crew who are the best at pitstops"
Brazil
Felipe Guimaraes was in action for A1 Team Brazil today as teams hit the track for qualifying for round six of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at the Portimao circuit in the Algarve, Portugal.
Felipe had his first opportunity to drive the circuit this morning in the final one-hour free practice session before embarking on the afternoon qualifying. He will begin tomorrow morning's Sprint race from 14th on the grid and from fifth place for the afternoon's Feature race, after a very strong feature qualifying performance.
Felipe Guimaraes: "It's been a good performance considering we did not run at all yesterday and this morning I only did 11 flying laps in the dry then went straight to qualifying. In the first two qualifying sessions for the Sprint race I had traffic so was not able to put together a clean lap. I had a good first session for the Feature race then on the second I used the push to pass and did a very good lap. The track is physical and difficult because of the blind corners but I learnt it fast this morning and I really like it. I am sure I am going to have a good race tomorrow because we still have some more to come from the car. We only had a limited time to work on the set-up but we'll find some more for tomorrow. I'm actually a little surprised to qualify in fifth because the weekend did not start well then I had a little spin this morning and then I had traffic in Sprint qualifying. But then everything worked well in the Feature qualifying and came together. In the last race in South Africa I started from eighth and finished second. Here I start fifth so I am aiming for another podium."
France
Today, A1 Team France took part in free practice followed by qualifying for the sixth round of the 2008-09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport that will take place on the new Portimao circuit in the Algarve tomorrow.
After setting a promising seventh time in the free morning session, A1 Team France driver Nicolas Prost felt pretty confident when qualifying began. But a string of mechanical problems upset the team's plans. The A1 Team France car suffered a broken exhaust pipe in the first segment and Nicolas was unable to defend his chances. What was worse was that by the time the team had repaired it, there was no time left to compete in the second segment, so he ended up eighteenth quickest.
It didn't get any better in the third and fourth parts of qualifying. When Prost went out, he realised that the car was afflicted with braking problems, and this handicapped his performance. In these conditions, he could do no better than nineteenth quickest. This evening A1 Team France and the A1GP engineers are going to try and pinpoint the problems and fix them in time for tomorrow's two races.
Olivier Panis, Sporting Director: "We're obviously very disappointed but there's not much we can do when mechanical problems rear their head. This is also part of motor racing. The two glitches we had today are all the more infuriating, as our performance had kept us in the top eight since the start of the weekend. Tomorrow, we'll have to try and avoid the pushing and shoving in the first corner, and take advantage of an aggressive strategy to fight our way up through the field. You never know, a neutralisation or a shower could turn the hierarchy upside down!"
Nicolas Prost: "It's been a very frustrating day. Our performance at the start of the weekend was pretty good, even if it's difficult to tame the track conditions here in Portimao. Unfortunately, a broken exhaust and then a problem with the brakes dashed our hopes. There was nothing we could do. In the first case we lost three seconds per lap and in the second it was almost impossible to slow the car. We've just got to put this disappointment behind us, and even if it'll be difficult to score points starting from so far back, I'll do my utmost to take advantage of the tiniest opportunity."
Ireland
Adam Carroll will start tomorrow's Vodafone A1GP Algarve round of the World Cup of Motorsport from 3rd and 2nd place for the Sprint and Feature races. The 26 year old from Portadown overcame the frustration of brake problems on Friday to put Ireland back in contention during final practice this morning, before turning in a series of blistering laps in qualifying to line up on the 2nd row of the grid for the Sprint Race and on the front row for the Feature Race.
With championship rivals Switzerland and Portugal suffering a difficult qualifying, Team Ireland's focus on regaining the overall lead in the championship took a further step forward. Switzerland hit technical problems and will start the Sprint Race from last position, while in the Feature Race it is behind Ireland in 3rd position. Portugal could only qualify 5th and 7th for tomorrow's events, giving the home team a difficult task if it is to win this crucial event.
Pole position for the Sprint Race went to Force India F1 driver Tonio Liuzzi on his A1GP debut for Italy, although he used his single Powerboost to do the time and was well down the order for the Feature Race. Netherlands' Robert Doornbos claimed pole position ahead of Ireland for the Feature Race, 0.281s quicker.
Adam Carroll; "The car felt much better today, totally different due to the new brakes, so I had no real problems and we were right on the pace. Pole position in either race looked possible, but we'll settle for 3rd and 2nd since our immediate series' rivals are behind us. Our goal is the championship, so we have to focus on that. My aim tomorrow is to make a good start and bring the car home on the podium, taking the win if we can do it."
Mark Gallagher, Team Principal; "A good day today, and an indication once again of our pace and consistency. The overnight brake change worked as expected and Adam was very confident after practice. The competition is tight, and Netherlands in particular was very quick today, but the main thing for us is keeping Switzerland and Portugal behind � that's the title fight for the moment."
Lebanon
A1 Team Lebanon continued with race preparations for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport races in the Algarve today. This morning all the teams took to the track for a final practice session and in the afternoon the qualifying session was held under cloudy skies and a cool track temperature. Daniel Morad, the team's driver this season, put in a superb Sprint race qualifying lap to start fourth in the first of the two races. A1 Team Lebanon will start 15th for the Feature race.
The team benefited from a final practice session this morning, fine tuning the set up for afternoon qualifying. With a number of red flag stoppages interrupting the session it was difficult for Morad to find a rhythm, but he ran comfortably within the top ten for much of the hour, just slipping to 11th in the last few minutes. This session allows the driver to have a sample lap with the PowerBoost in preparation for the afternoon qualifying session, in which one lap with the extra horsepower is allowed. However, Morad was blocked on his quick lap and while others benefited his quickest lap was not comparable.
The first two flying laps to set the Sprint race grid saw Morad take a provisional third place after the first run, taking to the track early and avoiding a red flag stoppage. With red flags in each of the sessions the team had little time to put in a second flying lap but Morad used his PowerBoost for the second flying lap and drove superbly to take fourth place for the Sprint race.
Morad summed up his day saying, "Fourth is good for the Sprint race. We used our PowerBoost for this race as it's usually quite difficult to move into the points if you're not up the front. We've also shown that we're able to make good progress in the Feature as it's long enough to make up places and there's two pitstops which, with good strategy can also help us. However we shouldn't be starting 15th, realistically we should be 8th or 9th, but we were blocked by Netherlands on my final run."
Billy Karam, A1 Team Lebanon Ambassador added, "The team and Daniel continue to make strong progress and we're seeing his development each time he's in the car. He put in a great lap to take the fourth place for the Sprint race, showing plenty of potential for that race tomorrow. We're disappointed that he wasn't able to back up his Sprint race qualifying with another strong lap, but you can't legislate for events such as a rival nation blocking you. We'll put that behind us now, show our fighting spirit and be looking for two good points finishes."
Malaysia
A1 Team Malaysia will start in sixth place for the Feature race and 11th position for the Sprint event at the Vodafone A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Algarve, Portugal. Today's practice session preceded a frantic qualifying session with red flags providing the biggest challenge for the teams.
The morning practice session, the final one before qualifying, started with a shower burst, forcing the team to quickly change their plans and put wet tyres on the car for the first few laps. Sunshine soon dried the track when the rain stopped and Malaysia put on dry tyres to start their final practice. Setup changes by the team proved positive, with the team running consistently in the top ten throughout the session.
Each driver is given an opportunity to sample a lap of PowerBoost in preparation for qualifying, when it can be used for one of the four laps. Fauzy was not able to take maximum advantage of this as he encountered traffic on his selected lap, dropping him down the order at the end of the practice hour.
The Sprint race qualifying session, with each team using the best of two laps to determine their grid position, was fast and furious. Red flags in each of the runs left Malaysia out on track in plenty of traffic, however Fauzy coped well and posted 11th fastest lap overall to take this position for the Sprint race.
The Feature race qualifying gave Fauzy two opportunities for flying lap runs. He ran on used tyres on the first of these, checking the balance of the car after the team had made changes to improve its handling. A1 Team Malaysia opted to use the PowerBoost for the final run, along with the majority of the teams, and with Fauzy driving hard, he produced the sixth fastest lap.
Fauzy said after qualifying, "We struggled to get heat in the tyres during practice, so we were able to improve the car for qualifying. We were lucky to be able to be out on track after the red flag in the first session, so we were able to get a feel for the car, but it wasn't a great lap as the track was very slippery. In the second run we improved, but it was still slippery and some of the teams used PowerBoost, so it wasn't a bad effort.
"For the Feature race qualifying we decided to change the car and decided to use the PowerBoost on the last run. Most of the other nations also used their PowerBoost, but we were able to snatch sixth fastest lap for a third row grid start. From this position we are in a good place to try for points, but with two pitstops and a very competitive grid of drivers, it will be very close racing. We need to keep out of trouble, stay reliable and keep up at the front."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia, says of the team's performance today, "Starting around the top ten for the Sprint race and comfortably within it for the Feature races give us a fighting chance of good points finishes. It could be tough for the Sprint race with points awarded only to eighth place, but we should be able to take points from our Feature race starting slot. This track does offer quite a few overtaking opportunities and using these, as well as strong race and pitstop strategies will be key for good finishes tomorrow."
Monaco
A1 Team Monaco qualified in the top ten for both A1GP World Cup of Motorsport races tomorrow at the Aut�³dromo Internacional do Algarve. Clivio Piccione will line up on the grid in 10th place for the morning's Sprint Race and in 9th position for the start of the Feature event in the afternoon.
This morning Team Monaco took to the track for Official Practice 3 after an early Red Flag situation by Indonesia. Clivio's lap times remained consistently in the top ten as the rest of the field joined the session and the circuit rubbered in. A further Red Flag interrupted running momentarily before Clivio was able to improve on his time, putting the team in P5 with 25 minutes of the hour-long session remaining. As team times continued to improve their times until the end of the session, it was Netherlands, Ireland and defending champions Switzerland who ultimately topped the time sheet, with Monaco's best lap time of 1:31.984 putting the team in 8th position when Official Practice concluded.
In the afternoon Team Monaco ventured out on track in the closing stages of Sprint Qualifying 1 after a Red Flag took up vital minutes of the short 10-minute session. As the cars lined up waiting for the Green Light to go on at the end of the pitlane, Team Monaco skilfully placed Clivio behind Portugal at the head of the queue for the track and was one of only 13 cars to set a lap time before the chequered flag was raised. Clivio crossed the line in a respectable 7th position. Due to the over running of SQ1, SQ2 commenced almost immediately and the Monegasque squad sent Clivio on to a clear track with 5 minutes remaining. Unfortunately the swift turnaround was in vain as a further Red Flag was deployed after Switzerland lost power at turn one. Clivio returned to the pits to join the queue to complete the session and set a 1:32.420 in the dying moments to put him in the top ten for tomorrow's Sprint race.
Clivio set a hot lap of 1:33.664 to sit in 17th position at the end of Feature Qualifying 1 this afternoon. When the final qualifying segment got underway Clivio utilised the PowerBoost button to set a fastest lap time of 1:31.495. Team Monaco will line up on the 5th row of the grid in 9th place for the start of the A1GP Algarve feature event tomorrow.
Clivio Piccione, Driver and Seat Holder: "We opted for an alternative qualifying strategy which would enable us to use two new sets of tyres tomorrow instead of one. In SQ2 I had to stop [due to a Red Flag] after our out lap and so lost the best of tyres. We set a reasonable time overall, but it should have been better. We used these tyres for the first Feature Qualifying session, but overall our lap time was not good. We used a new set of tyres and the push-to-pass (PowerBoost) in FQ2, but the session did not go to plan and I was struggling for grip. We tried something different today and it didn't work out, so for sure we have ground to make up tomorrow. Everyone in the team is still pushing hard and we have hope for the rest of the weekend."
Graham Taylor, Team Principal: "The morning session was a little disrupted by the early rain. The couple of changes we tried did not benefit the car, so for this afternoon we reverted back to what we knew. In Qualifying the Red Flag in SQ2 took the edge away from the tyres for the proper run and for the Feature race qualifying Clivio had lost some grip. We would prefer to be further up the grid, but feel we can still achieve some good results tomorrow."
South Africa
While Vitantonio Liuzzi claimed Italy's first ever A1GP pole position for tomorrow's Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal, South Africa's Adrian Zaugg delivered his best qualifying performance of the season and will start Sunday's Sprint race in eighth position and the feature race in fourth.
Liuzzi, making his first appearance for his country, topped the time sheets after the two Sprint race qualifying segments with a lap time of 1m 33,291s. Second was Robert Doornbos of the Netherlands (+0,471s) and third was Ireland's Adam Carroll (+0,725s). Zaugg, at the wheel of A1 Team South Africa's distinctively liveried Vulindlela, was 1m 0,426s off the pace.
Doornbos scored his first pole position for the Feature race with a time of 1m 30,415s, ahead of Carroll (+0,281s), Switzerland's Neel Jani (+0,463s) and Zaugg (+0,569s).
Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque will start s home event from fifth and seventh respectively.
Zaugg was delighted with the team's best qualifying result of the season. "We've worked hard to get ourselves back to the level we were at last season and I have to thank my team for a good car today" said the 21-year-old South African.
"I thought we could have done better in the Sprint race qualifying, but fourth on the grid for the Feature race is a great reward for all our efforts. Now we need to convert this into a good race result".
Team manager Mike Carroll declared himself more than satisfied. "It's good to put together a more competitive qualifying performance. We will be putting all our focus on helping Adrian to turn this opportunity into some worthwhile points in the two races tomorrow."
USA
A1 Team USA driver Marco Andretti turned a best-lap time of 1 minute, 31.459 seconds to secure the eighth starting position for tomorrow's A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Feature race in Algarve, Portugal. The 22-year old Andretti will start 12th in the Sprint race, which will be run prior to the Feature.
Marco Andretti: "Qualifying today didn't quite bring the results we wanted. Judging by how the car felt on the fast lap, I had thought the times would have been a bit higher. I'm definitely a little disappointed, but I think we have the car dialed in pretty well. I'm still confident in what we can do and have hopes for a strong finish tomorrow."