Considering the problems affecting the world of international motor sport at the moment one might be forgiven for thinking that an interview with A1GP boss Tony Teixeira in The Times newspaper in South Africa would hardly make headline news.

Once again, however, the reaction to some to his comments has cast light on the degree to which the very mention of A1GP in relation to F1 can send certain international motor sport's media rushing to their keyboards for fear that The World Cup of Motorsport™ might gain some grudging credibility. These media in particular seem unduly offended by a series which, now in its fourth season, does not fit in with their view of the world motor sporting hierarchy. I worked in F1 for 20 years, and have run a purpose built team in A1GP - not a GP2 team on a winter break - for four years. Yet I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of F1 journalists who have ever called me up for a chat. In fact I can count them on the fingers of one finger because it was Maurice Hamilton of The Guardian; he came to the A1GP race in Durban two years ago. And he had a really good time.

I don't really pretend to understand what some media, who naturally major on F1, have against A1GP. Maybe it's the fact that it is called The World Cup of Motorsport™ and was feared to be some kind of opposition or competitor to Formula One. As if. Everyone knows that the FIA Formula One World Championship represents the very pinnacle of the motor racing tree. It determines the World Championship for Drivers and Teams. But that hardly means no one else has the right to exist.

The very term 'World Cup of Motorsport' seems to be enough for some media to have a problem, so they disparagingly refer to it as the 'self styled' World Cup of Motorsport. Self-styled. As in someone in A1GP made it up. Does this mean that Apple produces the 'self styled' iPod, that FIFA runs the 'self styled' football World Cup or indeed that Formula One was not itself 'styled' by a group of 'self styling' people? It's all rather bizarre, but gives some indication of the derogatory approach some apply to observation of A1GP. Saying something is self-styled means it's all a little bit fabricated, something not quite genuine. It's like when teenagers say 'whatever' when in fact they mean 'I hear what you are saying but I wish you'd get lost'.

One of the bug bears that appears to annoy these self-styled media is the fact that A1GP involves nation competing against nation, and that a nation can have a national driver. Apparently nationalism is something alien to motor racing, a distant memory of a time when French cars were blue, German cars silver and British cars racing green. Evidently this argument means that the huge growth in the popularity of Formula One in Germany (Schumacher), Spain (Alonso), Poland (Kubica) and so on had nothing to do with national fervour.

Walking through a hotel lobby in Monza 18 months ago I met highly respected Formula One journalist Mike Doodson who, upon remembering that I ran a team in A1GP, launched into a long, often amusing tirade about how A1GP was a complete nonsense and that a series based on national drivers rather than the best drivers was against the natural order of things. I was quite surprised because I know Mike is an enormous motor racing fan, something of a 'key opinion former' in the sport and thus someone who has influence.

The thought that there might be a series for nations where the best drivers in the representative nations could compete, at any time, seemed to be overlooked. Another self-styled journalist wrote this week that the problem with A1GP was that its drivers had not quite made it to F1 or were on their way down from F1. Well given that it would be difficult for A1GP to have drivers that were currently racing in F1 I am not sure what's wrong with the before-or-after bit…

Criticism is always the easy part. If you forecast the end of the world for long enough, one day you'll be right. But it doesn't make you clever and in the meantime everyone will come to hate you. I remember being told that the first A1GP in Brands Hatch in 2005 would never happen. Then that the second race would never happen. Then that the season would finish at Christmas, that season two would be cancelled, and that the Ferrari deal would never be allowed to progress for this year. Four years of being told what would not happen, during which A1GP happened.

Launching a team was no easy feat, let me tell you, but as for launching an entire series, a World Cup no less, with races across five continents? A1GP has been a minor miracle. Finance has been tight, mainly due to the series taking time to become established with the media, sponsors and public. But it has had its successes - witness Kyalami's superb event last weekend and the fact that A1GP has taken over the Surfers Paradise race in Australia later this year.

While the naysayers have banged on for four years, we have watched as other motor sports series have had their own problems, particularly now in this time of vicious economic recession. World Rally has lost two manufacturers, F1 has lost Honda and a raft of sponsors. IRL and GP2 teams struggle for funding. A1GP has not lost much, mainly because we did not have many sponsors to lose, but as a value for money world series (I can't say championship) it is astonishing. ING's recently cancelled Renault F1 deal would fund all the teams in A1GP for a season. Think about it. Who will benefit as the world comes out of its shell and companies look for value for money promotion? I would not bet against A1GP landing its first, seminal deal.