23/09/2005
NEWS STORY
USA
A1 USA Team driver Scott Speed was already feeling good about his team's chances in Sunday's debut of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations competition at Brands Hatch, but following today's two official practice sessions, he is even more confident of a strong showing.
"The car handled perfectly today during both practice sessions - no problems whatsoever," said Speed, hand-picked by Team Owner Rick Weidinger as the A1 USA Team driver for this inaugural World Cup of Motorsport. "It responded perfectly to everything we tried, from opening it up on the straightaways to making the tight turns that this track is known for."
Speed said that he was also very pleased with the condition of the Brands Hatch track and its Indy configuration.
"Focus is crucial here at Brands Hatch because of all the dips and cambers and challenging corners, but the superb condition of the track really helped our car perform up to its capabilities," Speed said. "Following these two practice sessions today, I'm really looking forward to the four qualifying sessions on Saturday."
Weidinger was bubbling with enthusiasm after watching A1 Team USA handle its first two practice sessions flawlessly.
"I liked what I saw today," Weidinger said. "These guys are professionals and they knew exactly what they needed to accomplish today. We're ready for qualifying on Saturday."
Ireland
Michael Devaney emerged 7th fastest in the second of today's practice sessions for Sunday's inaugural A1 Grand Prix of Nations at Brands Hatch, the 20 year old Dubliner powering his A1 Team Ireland car into contention ahead of tomorrow's important qualifying sessions.
Enjoying his first ever visit to the full Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, Devaney used the opening one hour practice session to learn the 2.62miles/4.22kms track. The dry conditions were not without incident, the A1 Team Ireland car suffering mild damage as the result of a collision with the A1 Team Russia entry driven by Alexey Vasiliev, but the team quickly replaced the damaged components to minimise Devaney's loss of track time.
Second practice commenced in torrential rain, but Devaney demonstrated his ability in the difficult conditions to emerge 7th quickest some 1.4s behind pace setter Nelson Piquet Jr, leaving A1 Team Ireland confident that tomorrow will bring further progress.
"The second session was much better than the first," said Michael. "The first was all about learning my way around the track and it was a bit frustrating to lose 10 or 15 minutes as a result of the collision with the Russian car. But we recovered well and it actually felt a lot better in the wet. The wet weather tyres give huge amounts of grip and I could swear I was actually quicker in some corners than in the dry! We have completed quite a few laps now and it's given me confidence ahead of tomorrow. It's been a fantastic experience to be out there with the full A1GP field and good to see such a high level of competition."
"Michael did a very good job in the wet conditions this afternoon and we made good progress all round," said A1 Team Ireland Technical Director Andy Miller. "It's a technical track to learn so we have to be satisfied with what was achieved. There were a lot of stoppages due to accidents and incidents, so it's clear that one of the key things will be consistency over the weekend and staying out of trouble, particular other people's trouble. We learned some things in the wet session that will equally apply in the dry."
Canada
25 cars took to the track today in an impressive competitive debut for the A1 Grand Prix series. The Canadian team weren't hampered by the short preparation timescale and driver Sean McIntosh soon showed that he was up to the A1 challenge.
Sean McIntosh: "It was quite good in the wet. The car's fantastic – far more downforce than anything I've ever driven. Overall it's been a good day and now we're ready for tomorrow whether it's wet or dry on the track. It's going to be difficult to race – the track seems so narrow but it should be fun. I'm still trying to get my head round the track a bit. Tomorrow is really the time to fine tune my driving and the car. It's been much more challenging than Silverstone but much more rewarding."
Great Britain
The concept became a reality today as the 25 nations left their garages, rolled down the pitlane and set out on the 2005/2006 A1 Grand Prix season. Two one-hour official practices were held – the first in the dry and the second in the wet with a drying track towards the end. Red flags appeared with moderate frequency as drivers new to cars and the circuit were caught out. Robbie Kerr driving for A1 Team Great Britain stayed firmly on the track and put in consistently fast times to lie fourth and second on the timing sheets for the sessions.
Robbie Kerr: "It was wicked! I'm happy that we made good progress and are going in the right direction. There are a few things still to improve on with the car and me on the track but I'm confident for the weekend ahead. The conditions were a bit tricky – fairly damp and greasy and constantly changing. I'm just learning the car and taking my time and slowly improving through the session as planned. We've not had much time together as a team but that's all coming together too."