01/12/2005
NEWS STORY
A1 Team Great Britain is to give Katherine Legge an outing in its A1 car at the Dubai circuit next week.
Taking advantage of two additional test sessions at the forthcoming round of A1 Grand Prix of Nations, the 25-year-old from Northampton will be the first woman to drive an A1 car and will do so just two weeks after being the first female to drive a full F1 test in over a decade. Katherine has had a successful rookie season in Formula Atlantic, claiming three wins and finishing third in the championship and will be assisting the A1 Team Great Britain with the running in of a new car and engine.
Driver strategy for A1 Grand Prix is proving to be like no other formula. Some teams have one driver while others have a pool of several to draw from. Following the driver shoot out pre-season to determine the two core drivers for A1Team.GBR, this is the first opportunity for the team to assess other potential drivers to add to the Robbie Kerr and Alex Lloyd line-up.
John Surtees, A1 Team Great Britain, said: "I'm very pleased to be bringing a first to both A1 Team Great Britain and A1 Grand Prix by having a female driver in the car. It's by no means a first for Surtees which has at various times run ladies such as Davina Galica, Lella Lombardi and Desire Wilson in F1 cars. Katherine was one of the drivers on our list that we couldn't test before the season so we're taking the opportunity of the extra sessions in Dubai to assess her in the car. By doing so we have the chance of broadening our driver line-up and strengthening the team."
"It's a fantastic opportunity to gain experience and represent my country," said Katherine. "I'm massively grateful to John Surtees and the Arden team for the chance. It will be interesting to see how the A1, Champ Car and F1 cars compare. I've been watching the races with interest and am looking forward to getting behind the wheel. I've never been to the Middle East before and so I'm excited by the prospect. From my research into the circuit which will be new to everybody I hear the conditions will be a bit sandy! When I was testing with the Formula Atlantic car near Vegas we had sand on the track and it proved to be very slippery for the first few laps."