02/05/2009
NEWS STORY
Australia
The superb summer weather here at Brands Hatch has certainly motivated the fans to come along and witness the A1 drivers setting quicker lap times driving faster than ever before breaking lap records.
On average the cars are three seconds and ten kilometres per hour faster than their predecessors with an average speed of 186 kph and a straightline speed of 269 kph around this track at Brands.
In the early third practice session this morning John Martin moved his A1 Team Australia race car into 1:13.163 mid session completing 21 laps in total. Of the three timed sectors on the racetrack, Martin was sixth fastest in sector one to finish the session overall in 11th position with a 0.879/second gap to the fastest car of A1 Team Netherlands.
John Martin: "A few small errors cost me a couple of tenths and that's all you need to loose three or four places. The car is quick so we'll see how qualifying goes later today"
The weather cooled somewhat for the Sprint and Feature Qualifying sessions. Rob Arnott the team's chief engineer released Martin with a clear track and this paid dividends with a 4th place in qualifying one on a time of 1:13.088 being 0.733 of a second behind provisional pole sitter A1 Team Netherlands. A late release onto the track inside the last part of the ten minute session for Martin's qualifying two was another perfect strategy by the engineers. Unfortunately John Martin ran wide into Druids Bend and dropped his final grid position to 10th being 1.130 of a second behind pole sitter A1 Team Ireland.
In the first ten minute session of Feature race qualifying one, the team decided to send Martin out on used tyres without using the only allowed 'push to pass' button option for combined qualifying. This proved to be another good move as Martin lapped inside the top seven with others ahead of him using new tyres. His time of 1:12.581 placed 7th would be eclipsed in qualifying two.
Alan Jones, Rob Arnott, Danny King, Alan Docking and Adam Gotch discussed the best option to release Martin onto his final qualifying session for season four. With two minutes remaining Martin was on a flyer after using his push to pass when A1 Team Switzerland drove off the track on the hope of stalling an A1 Team Ireland assault to grab pole. With yellow flags shown Rob Arnott monitored Martin's track speed informing him of the yellows at turn two as Martin pushed the car hard and fast into a quicker time of 1:11.930 to finish in 7th position. At the end of the session the times were all provisional with a steward's enquiry to the Swiss incident. No penalty was given and the positions remained the same.
Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "That was a good combined effort from everyone in the team. Though John made some minor errors that cost him some places, we're well placed in both races to get points and as we are looking to take out the season's pitstop kings title so keep an eye on the crew"
John Martin: "I try every time to do a better lap, to try and do a perfect lap. It hasn't come as yet but I feel tomorrow we have a good chance to move up the grid for Sprint points and then target a podium to finish the season's Feature race. The car is good and the crew were cool in their decisions today"
Rob Arnott: "John is improving every lap, every session this season. He is pushing himself harder every time, and when he finally does that perfect lap, watch out, he'll take pole for sure. We managed to get the best out of the car and believe we've found some improvements for tomorrow to help John grab more points, hopefully in both races for the season finale here at Brands"
France
Today, A1 Team France continued its preparations on the Brands Hatch circuit for the seventh and final round of the 2008-09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Championship.
After studying the data collected yesterday, the team changed the car's set-up to improve its mechanical grip for free practice this morning. Nicolas Prost proved that it was a step in the right direction by setting the ninth-quickest time on worn tyres.
In qualifying, the team was satisfied with the balance of its chassis and decided to use its power boost in the fourth segment. Thus, it was beaten by some of its rivals who had decided to use theirs earlier. In these conditions Nicolas's twelfth time after the first 2 segments was encouraging, as the team knew it would be possible to go much quicker in the final 2 parts.
The best was yet to come. To avoid any red or yellow flags or traffic problems A1Team France decided to go out early in the last part of qualifying. It wa s the right choice. Nicolas was fourth after his flying lap and then dropped only one place to Team Ireland, which bagged pole.
Starting from fifth on the grid in the Feature race A1 Team France has achieved the first part of its aim this weekend. Thanks to an aggressive strategy and the consistency of its driver, it will be going for the rostrum tomorrow. Such a performance would be the ideal way to end the 2008-09 Championship on a high note.
Olivier Panis, Sporting Director: "We've been a bit unlucky these past few weeks and having an incident-free day is a pleasant change. Today, we've shown that when everything goes off without a hitch we've got what it takes to fight at the front. The team's done a fantastic job setting up the car for this very demanding layout, and Nicolas seems to have tamed the track in record time! Now, we've got to finish the season on a high note, and I reckon we'll have every reason to celebrate tomorrow."
Nicolas Prost: "After the difficult weekend we had in Portugal three weeks ago, today's performance is a real morale booster! Brands Hatch is a very technical circuit: mastering it takes time and some of my rivals had the advantage of having done a lot of racing here in the past. I tried to find the settings that worked as quickly as possible, and I'm satisfied with the result. Now, we're going to concentrate on the two races tomorrow and we'll really try our hardest to shine on our last outing this season."
Ireland
Adam Carroll will start the final two races of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport™ from pole position after a sensational qualifying session for A1 Team Ireland in Brands Hatch today. Carroll proved unstoppable on low fuel with new tyres as he recorded his second double pole of the season to add to the landmark achievement recorded in New Zealand earlier in the season.
Ireland thus will complete the season with seven pole positions from 14 races, more than any other team and with the all important advantage heading into tomorrow's two races.
Carroll's Sprint race pole position came in the second of four 15 minute qualifying segments when he used his new set of Michelin tyres to good effect to edge out Mexico with Netherlands in third position. With two segments of Feature Race qualifying to come, there was no time for celebrations but the Ireland team had the handling of the A1GP Powered by Ferrari car dialled to perfection.
With some of his rivals having used the optional one lap of power boost for Sprint Race qualifying, Ireland were in confident mood heading into segment four with Carroll keeping his 60bhp engine boost in reserve for his final flying lap. Pushing to the very limits of adhesion around the 2.3 mile circuit, Carroll stopped the clock at 1 minute 10.902s, just under two tenths of a second ahead of team Monaco with the Netherlands in third place.
When he returned to the team garage Carroll was immediately swamped by team members and supporters but the Portadown man was relaxed about his latest achievement for Ireland.
Adam Carroll: "I'm delighted. Two poles is the most we could ever hope for and it was interesting going in because we had really damaged the tyres in practice and weren't absolutely sure of our pace. But I knew that once we got the new tyres on in qualifying the car would be where it should be and sure enough it was. I just had to go out there and give it everything and put it all together.
"You've got to go out there with blind faith and judge the grip level. I'm not surprised at some teams using power before the final segment with it being the final weekend and feeling the need to give it a big one but I'm glad we stuck to our game plan and it paid off. This is just another weekend. I understand the importance of the outcome tomorrow and I will give 100%. I have total faith in the team and the equipment I'm given."
Mark Gallagher, Team Principal: "It's terrific to see that sort of performance unfold, not just today but over the course of the season as they bolted on the tyres and Adam didn't just find tenths of seconds, he found whole seconds. It was a phenomenal performance. The plan is simple. Lead from the front and the pit stops are all important and we need to protect our lead. I've never seen a race or championship decided in qualifying yet so we need to focus on the real job which is to make tomorrow a successful day and if we can celebrate tomorrow as we've done today it will be a much bigger goal achieved."
Ireland is currently two points ahead of Switzerland under the terms of the dropped score rule which will be applied this weekend. Under this rule, each team has to drop its single worst score of the season to date, thereby giving Ireland its slender advantage over the reigning Champions.
Lebanon
A1 Team Lebanon will line up in 11th place on the grid for the Sprint race and in 15th place for the feature race of the fourth season of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, following the qualifying session at Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, the historic English racetrack which hosts the seventh round of the Series.
Running on used tyres for the final practice session to keep three sets for the all-important qualifying, Morad set strong, consistent lap times in the final practice. The team worked on improving the balance of the car for the afternoon session, ending the session with 10th quickest lap.
The A1GP qualifying session in the afternoon saw the 20 nations completing four 'flying laps' within the four 10 minute qualifying segments. With three sets of new tyres Morad made the most of the fresh rubber. In the first run he was lying 16th, but then used his PowerBoost to improve to 11th place for the Sprint race. With just under half the grid using PowerBoost for the Sprint race, Lebanon was unsurprised to be further back on the grid for the Feature race, lining up in 15th position.
Daniel Morad: "There is a tinge of disappointment as I thought we could make the top ten for the Sprint race, but we should be able to make progress from 11th and be in the hunt for a points finish. We opted to use the PowerBoost in the Sprint as there is less opportunity for overtaking and the further forward that we start the more chance we have of finishing in the points.
"The Feature race is longer and with two pitstops offers more opportunity to use race strategy as well as pace to make up ground. I'm looking for two strong finishes and if we can score points that will be a bonus."
Patrick Moore, A1 Team Lebanon Team Manager: "Our weekend is progressing well with all the team putting in their best efforts today for a strong starting position. It's a very close contest with the front of the grid all running on a very similar place, so it's going to be an exciting battle tomorrow. The quality of drivers here is very high, and many of them have been racing at this particular track regularly in their careers, which puts drivers like Daniel at a disadvantage. Considering this, I think Daniel should be satisfied with these grid positions. The team has good prospects for top ten finishes tomorrow."
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport concludes tomorrow with the final two races of the season set to entertain the spectators at the Kent circuit. With a full schedule of racing throughout the day and the headline 70 minute Feature race with its mandatory tyre change pit stop, the fans will be given plenty to cheer about. The morning Sprint race will give a flavour of A1GP and is also expected to bring plenty of overtaking action to the Brands Hatch track.
Malaysia
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has entertained crowds of motorsport fans around the globe with its unique brand of nation versus nation motor racing with over 20 nations competing for the championship, seven rounds and fourteen races of fast and furious racing. Aaron Lim is making his debut for the team at this event and took part in his first A1GP qualifying sessions for tomorrow's races at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, this afternoon. The session ended with A1 Team Malaysia starting 18th for the Sprint race and 20th for the Feature race tomorrow.
The Malaysian team resumed their preparations for tomorrow's races with the final practice in the morning giving Lim his final opportunity to continue learning the challenges of the Brands Hatch track and to refine the car set up for the qualifying session. A red flag during the session interrupted the team's running and a second one in the closing stages brought the session to a premature end leaving Malaysia no opportunity to practice the use of the PowerBoost, which is one of the key features of qualifying.
In the afternoon the A1GP qualifying session saw the teams compete head to head in four segments of 'flying lap' runs, with the best two lap times from the first two runs determining the grid positions for the Sprint race and the best time of the last two runs setting the grid for the Feature race.
Lim put in a solid first lap and then tried his PowerBoost for the second lap, resulting in 18th place for the Sprint race. On his final runs Lim put in two more consistent laps, and although he was unable to match his pace from the earlier run, he recorded a lap time which gave him a 20th place start for the Feature race.
Aaron Lim: "I have never done a qualifying session like this until today. It was quite nerve wracking and very different to what I'm used to. On my out lap I had to concentrate on warming the brakes and bringing the tyres up to temperature. It took me the first run to get used to everything and in the first and last runs I caught traffic, but I kept learning in each session. I used the PowerBoost in my second run, but I didn't really maximise the use of it, as it was the first clear run I had and I didn't push too hard, making sure I brought the car back in one piece. We'll put in the best effort we can from our grid positions and I'm hoping that we can gain more places in the races tomorrow."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia: "It was always going to be a tough qualifying session for Aaron as he has had no experience of this type of qualifying format. He has also never used the PowerBoost, which can significantly impact on lap times, and under these circumstances he performed well.
"Aaron is one of only three Malaysian drivers to have reached this level of international motor racing driving a car of this power and capabilities, compared to probably around 500 drivers from Great Britain, USA, Italy, Germany and many other countries. Lining up on the grid tomorrow for the two A1GP races is, in itself, a huge achievement.
"We'll be on the grid tomorrow aiming to improve on the grid position from the Sprint race and then make further progress in the Feature race. I am sure that A1GP will put on a great show for the fans and television audiences worldwide. We're famous for wheel-to-wheel, thrilling racing and I hope that the fans of A1GP all around the world are given a finale to remember."
The final races of this second season of A1GP racing take place tomorrow with a 20 minutes Sprint race giving the fans the first taste of the 600 bhp race cars powering round the Grand Prix circuit in anger. The 70 minutes Feature event will conclude the 2008/09 season, with two mandatory tyre change pitstops adding to the excitement and spectacle of the racing.
Monaco
A1 Team Monaco's Clivio Piccione will start in second position for the Feature event and from the seventh row of the grid for the Sprint race - the final rounds of the 2008/9 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at Brands Hatch tomorrow.
Clivio made an immediate impact on the time sheet when he ventured out on track in the opening minutes of this morning's Official Practice 3. In the early stages of the sixty-minute session current circuit best lap time setters team Netherlands set the bench mark of running in the 1:12's. Clivio sat in P3, only 0.4 seconds off the leaders pace, for the first half of the session. A further push improved his time to 1:13.039, however this now only secured Clivio fifth place. With only 15 minutes left on the clock a Red Flag situation suspended running for several minutes. When the session re-started a further Red Flag was immediately deployed and the decision was made to conclude running. Clivio was therefore unable to improve on his time and ended the session in fifth position overall.
In the afternoon the complete field of 20 teams waited in the pits until the closing stint of Sprint Qualifying 1. With the exception of Germany, everyone timed their last minute outing to ensure that they took the chequered flag. Clivio crossed the line in a respectable 8th position with a 1:13.507. In SQ2 the Monegasque squad sent Clivio on to a clear track with over four minutes remaining. Clivio started his hot lap with a stunning first sector time, but unfortunately ran wide as he pushed the car to the limit, costing him valuable time. Whilst the top of the time sheet scored in the 1:11's, Clivio set a fastest lap time of 1:13.260 to put him in 14th position for tomorrow's Sprint race.
Clivio set his best time of the weekend so far - a 1:12.113 - to sit in third position at the end of Feature Qualifying 1. When the final qualifying segment got underway he utilised the PowerBoost button, setting a fastest lap time of 1:11.085 to sit in provisional pole. Championship contenders Switzerland and Ireland waited until the last possible moment before leaving the pitlane to chase Monaco's fantastic time. In an exciting climax to the final Saturday session of the season it was Ireland who snatched the double-pole, with Team Monaco lining up alongside them on the first row of the grid, in second position for the start of the A1GP Brands Hatch feature event tomorrow.
Clivio Piccione, Driver and Seat Holder: "We are disappointed in the qualifying for the Sprint race as we struggled with a gearbox issue in both the runs. We had a look at the data and I changed my driving style for the problem corners and the changes worked. In the first feature qualifying session we used old tyres and went considerably quicker, so that was encouraging. We knew that we were quick from our times in practice, so we knew that we could achieve the time we needed to. In the last session I used the push-to-pass early and the lap was pretty good. To be on the front row of the grid with the championship contenders for the last race of year feels great."
Graham Taylor, Team Principal: "First and foremost I would like to congratulate Clivio for a great lap and the team for a job well done. Team Monaco had a lot of work to do this weekend. The boys worked extremely hard to get the car on to the circuit and the performance of our driver put paid to their efforts. We are now looking forward to ending our inaugural season on a very high note."
South Africa
South Africa, with Alan van der Merwe at the wheel of Vulindlela, qualified 19th for the Sprint race and 12th for the Feature race. The 29-year-old, standing in for regular driver Adrian Zaugg, who is competing in the World Series by Renault at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium this weekend, took time to get to grips with the new Powered by Ferrari car after a long break from A1GP (he last drove for South Africa in Shanghai in round 10 of season two in 2007).
Alan Van der Merwe: "I'm really enjoying driving the new Powered by Ferrari car for the first time. It's taking a bit longer than I would have liked to settle into the new car and get it set up to my liking. It's very different to the A1GP car I drove more than 18 months ago. We've managed to improve our lap times with each outing."
Van de Merwe, British F3 champion in 2003, was one of the first on to the circuit in the final qualifying session and, with the aid of the PowerBoost button unique to A1GP, was able to record his fastest lap of the weekend so far to South Africa in 12th place out of 20 nations for Sunday afternoon's Feature race.