Australia - Sprint Race 11th Feature Race 4th

Sprint Race

Zandvoort delivered its forecast of cyclonic weather conditions to force a start of the Sprint race behind the safety car. The decision by the race stewards was a clever move to keep the grid together before releasing them to race.

Early into the race A1 Team Ireland lost control causing A1 Team Indonesia to run into them, as A1 Team Monaco and A1 Team China had their own problems to manage. On lap 2 our new country to enter A1GP, A1 Team Korea was too quick into the corner and run into John Martin's car causing him to leave the track momentarily losing three positions.

Once the race had settled with some grip on the Michelin tyres, A1 Team Australia overtook A1 Team Brazil to finish the race in 11th place. A1 Team Korean driver Jin Woo Huang came to the Australian team garage to apologise to John Martin, a good sporting gesture.

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "It was unfortunate to see the Korean car run too quick into the corner and push John off the track through no fault of his own. The car was running okay and John was gaining some race pace towards the end. He did what was asked of him to keep his car on the track and be ready to race in the main event, the Feature Race"

John Martin: "I had good pace at the start until Korea came up too fast on the back of my car. Fortunately the damage was ok to keep racing after I passed Brazil; it was looking good to gain some points until the red flag came out to finish the race. I believe we have a good setup for the Feature whether a standing start or starting behind the safety car"

Feature Race

Zandvoort entertained a huge fanatical A1GP crowd here this afternoon. A fantastic effort to see so many fans turn up here today in terrible weather to support their country and A1GP.

Another race start under the A1 Safety car with all of the cars in line for two laps before they were released to race in conditions only the best can do with Ferrari Power.

There were many cars leaving the track, several hard shunts and a few mistakes with teams during their pit stops.

During the first pit stop there was a small delay allowing A1 Team Monaco to pass and in the second pit stop there was an electronic delay losing a place to A1 Team Lebanon who was allowed to go by John Martin at the end of pit lane.

Martin regained his position to finish 4th in the Feature race and take 5th place in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Championship.

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "We are absolutely delighted to salvage an excellent result. John drove very well, the car is superb and the crew performed exceptional to prepare the car for him and have it in great shape for the next race in Chengdu"

John Martin: "After yesterday this is an awesome result. I want to thank our team so much for the work they did between the sprint and feature race. The main thing the team wanted was for me to finish and keep it on track and bring it home. We have a better understanding of the setup now, really looking for Chengdu"

Brazil - Sprint Race 13th Feature Race DNF

The 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season kicked off today at Zandvoort in the Netherlands, with 17 teams taking to the track for the first race of the campaign.

It was always going to be a challenging debut for A1 Team Brazil, as the squad only received the chassis yesterday morning and Felipe Guimarães had just thirty minutes of track time in the new car before racing. In the Sprint race Felipe was one of eight drivers to fall victim to the treacherous weather conditions and his race ended on lap ten after he aquaplaned into the Armco. Despite the team working frantically to try to repair the car for the afternoon race, it was not possible, and Brazil did not compete in the Feature event, although they were able to complete a handful of test laps towards the end of the race.

The team worked tirelessly on Saturday and through the night to this morning to prepare the newly arrived Brazil car for today's races. Felipe took to the track for the first time this morning at 8.10am, twenty minutes into the special 50-minute session allocated to the four teams who did not run any significant laps yesterday. Conditions were not ideal for the car's debut, with rain showers and heavy winds prevalent throughout the session, leading to on-track spray. Nevertheless, Felipe and the team made the most of the run out ahead of the Sprint race, completing 13 laps and setting a fastest time of 1:46.785.