Team Brazil

The penultimate round of the 2006/07 A1GP World Cup of Nations got underway today at the Shanghai International Circuit with two free practice sessions, however, technical problems in both sessions limited running for A1 Team Brasil, leaving the squad with a lot to do in tomorrow's final one-hour practice session, prior to qualifying.

This morning's rookie practice sessions saw female driver Bia Figueiredo get her first taste of the A1GP car, the most powerful car she has driven to date. A problem with the fire extinguisher caused her to miss most of the first 25-minute segment, only getting on track for the final 25 minutes, during which time she had to learn the track and get to grips with her new machinery. However, once on track she performed well, completing 13 laps, and setting a time just three tenths of a second off the race-winning New Zealand car.

Vitor Meira stepped into the cockpit for this afternoon's one-hour practice session, once again a newcomer to the Team Brasil car. However, after just three laps, he was forced into the pits for lengthy repair work after suffering a water leak. He got back out on track with just ten minutes left in the session, completed 8 further laps, and set a time of 1:37.378, which was 1.8 seconds off pace-setters and last round winners, Team Great Britain.

Emerson Fittipaldi: "Both drivers have been very professional today. Bia did a very good job this morning. She didn't run the first session so she had to learn the track and the car in just 25 minutes. It's the most powerful cars she has driven, Shanghai is a very long track and she was just three seconds off the pace of the fastest guy, and only three tenths off New Zealand, which is a very quick car. What happened to Vitor this afternoon was a shame. We had a water leak and so he could only do ten laps. He needs miles and so I hope that tomorrow we can run for the full hour. It was Vitor's first time in the car and driving this circuit, and he did a good job on the few laps that he was able to do."

Vitor Meira: "I was really convinced we wouldn't get to go out on track again after we had the problem, so actually it ended up being better than at one point we thought it would be. It was good to have the ten laps at the end but we could have done more. I had three laps at the start, so one good thing was that while the car was being fixed I thought about what I wanted to do, so that's why I was two seconds faster straight away when I did go out again. The car is very interesting - there is a lot of power and it takes a bit of getting used to, but it's a lot of fun. The circuit and facility here is amazing. It's different coming from American circuits, the European-style circuits are different, they have long flowing corners, whereas in America it's a little more stop and go. It means I have to adapt a little bit but everything will be fine.

Bia Figueiredo: "Unfortunately we couldn't run in the first part and I had just the second part, but it was great. I didn't make any mistakes, and kept improving my time and confidence with the car, which is what they wanted from me. The car has so much power, it's fast! I came into the box smiling because it was a really great experience driving this car. The circuit is very good, the first corner is very fast. Unfortunately I had just ten laps but everything went well so I hope I can drive the car again."

Team Canada

A1 Team Canada enjoyed a solid Friday at the Shanghai International Circuit, China as practice took place ahead of Sunday's tenth, and penultimate, round of the 2006-07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.

Kevin Lacroix was first out on track for Canada, the Québec teenager participating in the morning's ‘Rookie-Only' Session on the F1 circuit before handing over to McIntosh for the rest of the weekend. The 2006 Star Mazda Championship runner-up continued to impress in his development and understanding of the 550bhp A1GP car having joined the team back in Round 8 in South Africa.

Clearly relishing his Chinese outing, Lacroix was in the mix throughout the first of two twenty-five minute sessions, the Saint-Eustache racer sitting in the top-four with competitive lap times. Having to run on older tires for the second session Lacroix still proved fast, ending his third A1GP outing in the top-ten for the first time, Canada finishing the morning ninth fastest from the 22 competing nations.

Sean McIntosh returned to action in the afternoon, the 21-year-old driving in A1GP for the first time since December's fifth round in Indonesia. The Coquitlam, B.C. native spent the hour long session familiarizing himself with the track layout and dialing himself back into the car, the former A1GP race winner having missed out on last season's meeting in Shanghai due to his commitments in the World Series by Renault. Making steady progress throughout the session, Sean's 24 laps saw him record a best time of 1m36.675s to end the day 14th overall.

"It's good to be back in the Canadian car," stated McIntosh. "We improved with every run, consistently working on our lap times. The times are pretty close here so I think tomorrow will be left open to those making the most of their new tires. The track here is excellent – definitely one of the best I've ever driven on and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend."

Lacroix was equally impressed by the Shanghai layout commenting, "The track is a very nice, modern F1 circuit and definitely now one of my favorites. I damaged my tires a little in the first session having been in the top four early on. The second session would have been better on new tires but I'm happy and continuing to gain experience with the car."

Team Germany