The Estoril circuit in Portugal will be the venue for the third A1 Grand Prix. This event will also be the first opportunity for the teams to shake down and test their second car, in two 40 – minute sessions. For A1 Team Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen will drive the second car in Estoril.

Bleekemolen, who has already tested the A1 Grand Prix car during the first two official tests at Silverstone and Paul Ricard, is looking forward to the Estoril event.

Jeroen Bleekemolen: I am really looking forward to it! I cannot predict where I will be compared with the competition. The other drivers off course have a lot more experience with the car then me. Normally I am a quick learner and during the tests where I have driven it went very well. I hope I will be able to provide a good basic set up of the car for the rest of the weekend. Anyway, it’s nice to drive with the other 24 countries at the same time with equal chances for everyone. I know the Estoril circuit quite well, because I drove there last year with the DTM, and that was good. For me it’s a very nice track, with its elevation changes and both slow and fast corners. Testing the A1GP car has been great! Before the tests I did not drive a Formula car for a long time, but they are the best to drive. Furthermore I never drove such a powerful and fast Formula car up to now. The A1GP car is very much fun, because you can drift quite a bit without losing much time. That makes it extra spectacular. Off course this is a totally different car then the DTM car, which I drove lots of times. I am really impressed by the series. Everything is arranged to perfection, with the national feeling being clearly present. That is nice, especially for us with the many Dutch fans. Also the number of television viewers is very good. I am sure that this series will become very big in future."

At Estoril A1 Team Netherlands will be working hard to continue the progression it has made since the start of the A1 Grand Prix series. The team will off course be aiming at better results in both races, after the two consecutive retirements in the Sprint races at Brands Hatch and the EuroSpeedway.

The Estoril circuit is located north of the Portuguese capital Lisbon on the estuary of the River Tagus. It can be found in the hills behind the once-glamorous resort town of Estoril - which has grand hotels reminiscent of the French Riviera and a huge casino - and the small fishing port of Cascais. The circuit was on the F1 calendar between 1984 and 1996. After renovations the circuit was re-granted a F1 testing licence in February 2000. With a track lay-out very similar to the Circuit de Catalunya at Barcelona, the track is hard on the tyres and with long sweeping turns the circuit can be tiring for the drivers. The circuit has a length of 4.182 meters.

For A1 Team Netherlands driver Jos Verstappen, the Estoril circuit is more then just any other track. At the end of 1993 Verstappen had his first Formula 1 test there with Footwork, before making his F1 –debut for Benetton just a few months later.