09/12/2005
NEWS STORY
Brazil
Round six of the A1 Grand Prix series got underway today with drivers taking part in several free practice sessions at the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Dubai. As well as regular A1 Team Brasil lead driver Nelson Piquet Jr, reserve driver Tuka Rocha was also in action today as he completed the first extra practice session for the team.
All teams were given the benefit this morning of two extra free practice sessions, which lasted twenty minutes each. Tuka took part in the first of these two sessions, completing nine laps and finishing ninth fastest, with a time of 1:49.648. In the second extra practice, Nelson was forced out of the session after just one complete lap when he ran over crash debris from another car on the track, which caused enough damage to the car to mean he had to sit out of the remainder.
Nelson continued driving duties for the rest of the day, completing two further one-hour official practice sessions. In the first of these sessions, which provided his first real opportunity to learn the track, after his problem in the morning, he completed 14 laps and was seventh fastest, with a time of 1:47.552. In the second practice, Nelson notched up a further 17 laps, with a fastest time of 1:47.574.
Nelson Piquet Jr: "Today has not been great. It was a difficult day, we didn't really have any technical problems but on my first run this morning I ran over something from an accident with another car and damaged my own car. This meant we couldn't do that running as we wanted and we just struggled with lap times. We have to improve tomorrow morning."
Tuka Rocha: "The track here at Dubai is nice and the car felt good this morning. I think we have quite a good set-up for this hot race and we hope we will be very competitive. For sure we will be fighting for a win. It is good that I can work with Nelson and we can put our heads together to think about the car."
Emerson Fittipaldi: "Today was basically a shakedown test to see how the car was, we saved tyres for tomorrow and only made short runs because the track is very dusty and conditions will be completely different tomorrow. We used the spare car in the first practice this morning and Tuka did a good job for us. Nelson then concentrated on our programme for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we will be fast."
Austria
A1 Team Austria began its A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Dubai weekend today when driver Mathias Lauda took part in four free practice sessions. All teams benefited today from a further 40 minutes of running when two extra 20-minute practice schedules were scheduled, in addition to the usual two one-hour sessions. A1 Team Austria ran its new car for the first time today, and this is the car with which it will compete the whole weekend.
Mathias Lauda: "I am quite happy with today. Even though the position didn't look good, we were improving the car with every session, and we were running on old tyres. If I can get another three or four tenths quicker I am not too far from being there, and we should be in the top ten. The results did not look good but we are getting quicker and quicker every time we go out so I am not that unhappy."
Germany
A1 Team Germany was in the top ten during all four practice sessions to begin the sixth race weekend of the A1 Grand Prix Series in Dubai. In Friday's first 20 minute session nominee driver Adrian Sutil occupied fifth place, in the second test, used to familiarise the team with the circuit, he set the second fastest lap in 1:47.294 minutes after having completed twelve laps. In the first of the afternoon sessions that followed the man from Graefelfing set sixth quickest time of 1:47.546 minutes in the powerful 520 hp A1 Grand Prix race car. In the second session, which was interrupted for some time by a red flag, he finished in tenth place with a time of 1:47.292 after completing 22 laps.
Adrian Sutil, who had never seen the circuit in the United Arab Emirates, which opened in 2004, before practice this morning, put the results down to a new set-up developed by his team. "At the previous races we often had problems with the rear tyre grip", analysed the 22-year old rising star. "Thanks to several changes made to the front suspension and the improved overall balance resulting from this, we made a step forward on Friday in Dubai."
Further suspension changes made between the first and second free practice sessions brought A1 Team Germany more useful data for analysis. "As a driver you have to get used to different handling traits, however the times show that the car was better from the word go", summarised Sutil.
New Zealand
The New Zealand A1 Grand Prix team is pleased with its opening practice day for this weekend's Round 6 of the World Cup of Motorsport in Dubai.
The team was happy with how its back-up chassis performed in its first outing of the Series and was also pleased to give 2003 IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon his first gallop in the Black Beauty.
Dixon drove in two extra 20 minute sessions given to teams to run in their second chassis before handing over the reins to Matt Halliday for the two official practice sessions.
With very little time to learn the circuit, as well as the car, Dixon was under instructions to concentrate on communicating the set up rather than burning up the track.
He completed 8 laps in his first session and 10 laps in his second, clocking the 16th fastest time in both sessions.
"It was pretty enjoyable," Dixon said. "We worked on set up to the extreme, making some big changes in the second session that created gains in terms of understeering, so it should be on the right track."
Dixon was surprised by the significant amount of movement at the rear of the A1 cars, but was excited enough by his taste of A1 to confirm his desire to be more involved.
"Coming here was mainly about looking ahead," he said. "Now that I've driven and seen what it's all about I'll be talking to Chip Ganassi (Dixon's IRL team owner) and working towards the races in Mexico and California."
A1 Team.NZL chief executive Bob McMurray said the team was grateful to Chip Ganassi for allowing Dixon to drive and would be keen to discuss the 25-year-old's availability for the 10th and 11th rounds.
In the first official one hour practice session Halliday produced the 12th fastest time on the penultimate lap of a strenuous 22-lap workout. He posted the 11th fastest time in getting through 18 laps in the second session, which was cut short by 15 minutes when the Malaysia car spread oil on the last corner.
Series leader France was once again the stand-out in practice, but Halliday was impressed with how competitive the majority of cars were.
"The times are very close and it should be an exciting weekend because there's so many lines you can take on this circuit and you keep finding a little bit of time here and a little bit of time there," Halliday said.
Halliday said the heat wasn't an issue today, but dust certainly was.
"Dust is a problem, a big, big problem," he said. "You feel like you're walking a tightrope all the time between taking the best lines and not churning up sand and dust by going too wide."
Tomorrow, Saturday local time, sees a final practice before the afternoon Qualifying Session determines grid positions for the first of Sunday's two races.
The Kiwis will definitely be running their second chassis for the rest of the weekend as they attempt to secure podium finishes and stay among the Series leaders.
France tops the points table on 92 points, 27 clear of second-placed Switzerland (65) with Brazil third on 60 points. New Zealand is fourth on 42, just four points ahead of Great Britain (38), with the Netherlands and Malaysia a further six points back on 32.
France
A1 Team France driver Nicolas Lapierre got his weekend off to a flying start setting the fastest time during Friday free practice 1m46.410s
It was a warm and dry day at the Dubai circuit. "My mechanics did an excellent job building the new chassis that we have used today," Lapierre said. "It went from the box to set the fastest lap of the day. The track was quite difficult to learn because there are no landmarks to help you with your approach to corners and it looks quite similar all the way round. Also there was not much grip as the track is not used a lot and was quite sandy. At one point I lost the car but I was able to get back on the track and luckily did not stall. Anyway, it was a good day. I used the first hour of practice to learn the track. We used new tyres at the start of the
session. The car was sliding a lot over the curbs on the first lap. It got better and better after every lap and I'm confident we can fight for the win again."
Jean-Paul Driot, team Principal, A1 Team France added: "It was an excellent result for a practice day. The team did a great job with a very progressive work. The track is challenging and it is important to get it right. Tyre strategy and handling the temperatures correctly are key again on this sandy track. We almost thought we were going to loose the fastest time towards the end. But the track temperature was going down and the speed was growing. We have been working hard to calculate the perfect race strategy for Sunday."
Japan
It was a foggy start to the race weekend in Dubai today with the sun just managing to burn through the fog in time for when the first A1 cars rolled out on the track. Two extra test sessions were scheduled in the morning and Japanese young gun Hayanari Shimoda quickly got up to speed in the A1 Team Japan car and clocked 12th quickest time in both morning sessions. As the day went on, Hayanari fine-tuned his racing lines and could improve his lap times to end up 10th and 6th quickest in the afternoon.
As more rubber went down on the track, my lap times improved. I'm pleased with the car and the team has helped me find a good balance which works well here as it's especially important to have the right set-up on a technical demanding circuit like Dubai Autodrome. I have a slight understeer in some corners and oversteer in others, but we are going to try and change that for tomorrow. Here, it's how you enter the first corner in one of the many sections of the Dubai circuit that determines if the rest of the section is going to flow as well. I hope we can carry on tomorrow as we did today and get a good starting position for the grid on Sunday.
Malcolm Swetnam (Team Manager, A1 Team Japan): Hayanari has done a superb job today and has steadily improved his times and position in each of the four sessions. It's not an easy circuit but Hayanari has worked well with the team to find a set-up that works. We tried to send him out a bit later in the third session as the sand around here made the track very dirty and we hoped it would have cleared a bit to save our tyres, but unfortunately it didn't make any difference because of the breeze we had today. I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we would be very pleased to see Hayanari in a point scoring position on Sunday.
Switzerland
A1 Team Switzerland was in action during free practice at the Dubai circuit today, preparing for the sixth round of the season. Neel Jani was again behind the wheel and finished the day third fastest.
A1 Team Switzerland concentrated on finding the right set-up for tomorrow's qualifying. Neel Jani explains: "It was a good day. We completed important simulation for qualifying tomorrow. We found a good balance with the car and worked to fine tune its handling. We also managed not to loose too much time with the red flags today."
A1 Team Switzerland team principal, Max Welti commented: "This morning we tried both chassis before using the new one of the rest of the weekend. It was not so easy to achieve a good set-up because the track is not used a lot. With the sand and the poor grip it is a good recipe for losing the car over the slippery surface. We will work hard now to analyse all our data and prepare well for tomorrow's qualifying."
After practice, A1 Team Switzerland prepared a surprise birthday cake for driver Neel Jani.
Pakistan
In the scorching heat and on the sandy track of the Dubai Autodrome, A1 Team Pakistan put in a great start to the Grand Prix of Nations race weekend. The first session of the day saw Adam Khan achieve a 15th position, improving in the later session to finish an impressive 7th fastest of the day.
A1 Team Pakistan achieved a fastest lap of 1'48.144 in the first official practice session, averaging speeds of 179.4 kph. The improvement in the second session saw these average speeds rise to 181.3 kph, finishing the day 7th fastest. This put Adam and A1 Team Pakistan only 0.945 seconds off the fastest time and nearly two seconds faster than final placed A1 Team Lebanon.
Commenting on his performance, Adam Khan said: "It has been a great day for A1 Team Pakistan. The day has gone right from start to finish and we now have the set up correct and have completed both sessions without any hic-cups. The engineers and I have proven that we can do a great job and be in contention for a great result.
Having never driven this circuit before I have proved the point that I have the speed I need. I have to thank all those involved in A1 Team Pakistan for working so hard and so well to make this a really great day. I hope to see a great deal of Pakistan flags in the crowds over the next two days as we have shown we are in contention"
The field of 24 nations was again dominated in the first practice session by Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre, closely followed by the teams from the Czech Republic and Italy. The final official practice session saw France, Ireland and Switzerland take the top three places.
Asim Husain, Operations Director for A1 Team Pakistan commented: "It has been a great day for everyone involved in the team and for our supporters. We have shown we can deliver a top performance and with this being the closest to a home race that we have we are hoping for a really good turn out by Pakistan fans. Inshallah, we will have a good result this weekend."
Ireland
Ralph Firman emerged second fastest for A1 Team Ireland in today's practice sessions at Autodrome Dubai, as the team prepares for the sixth round of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations. With all the teams benefiting from two additional test sessions in the morning, Ralph then made good progress in the first practice session where he recorded the fourth fastest time. In the second and final practice session Firman finally spilt the French and Swiss teams who have dominated the season so far, going second quickest.
Ralph Firman: "We worked hard today and I have much more confidence with the car than I did last time out in Malaysia. We've finally started making some good progress and hope to close the gap to France over the weekend. I drove better as the day went on and I'm looking forward to giving it socks tomorrow for qualifying."
Mark Gallagher, Team Principal: "The team worked very well today but we have been quick on a Friday before and the key is to maintain performance as the track improves and conditions change throughout the weekend. It's good to see the times very close over such a long lap, so I think we are in for a highly competitive weekend here in Dubai."
Andy Miller, Technical Director: It is really nice change for the tyres to perform in such a way when you make a change we went faster rather than worse as we have experienced in other races. There is a lot more work to do and we have more ideas and changes to make to the car before qualifying tomorrow. Looking forward to a great weekend racing"
Netherlands
A1 Team Netherlands is looking back pleased on the first day of the A1 Grand Prix in Dubai. This morning the team needed some time to determine the right direction, but especially at the end of the second free practice session about the road taken. In the end A1 Team Netherlands managed to end the day inside the top 10.
Jeroen Bleekemolen was the first to go out on track for A1 Team Netherlands this morning, in a special 20 minute test session to test the second Zytek engine. Bleekemolen, who drove here two weeks ago with Spyker, set a 13th fastest time, but nevertheless was pleased with his performance.
Jeroen Bleekemolen; "It was good. Off course I did not drive that much today, because we had the new engine and we had to check everything. You only have 20 minutes, but all went quite well. When I went out on track I was in the top 10 constantly and for a moment even close to the top five. But when I went in again the track became much quicker and others went a bit faster. Anyway, I'm happy to be able to drive again. The first few laps were unbelievable with the sand on the track, a huge spray behind the cars. Every lap the track became between half a second and a full second quicker, so the drivers that were out in the very end went quickest. By then I was back in the pits".
During the second testsession and the two free practice sessions Jos Verstappen went out for A1 Team Netherlands. At the end of the day Verstappen, for whom this is a new circuit, was pleased with the progression that was made.
Jos Verstappen; "With the sand it's quite a special track to drive on the limit. I did need a few laps to do that. In the end I felt good and I also think that we are improving the car every time. We tried several things, which we can look at tonight in order to improve further. Let's hope that tomorrow it will again go better".
Especially at the end of the second free practice the team found the right direction to go, said Seat Holder Jan Lammers. He is reflecting on today with a pleased feeling, although it did not show in the lap times today.
Jan Lammers; "We hope that we can take another step in improving tomorrow morning. As far as the tyres go, this is a completely different situation then in Malaysia. The tyre wear and degradation are fare less here. That's very good, because then we can get a reasonable confirmation tomorrow, while using the tyres from today. Only with new tyres you really can tell if what you have done actually will work. With used tyres it's difficult to get the feedback through the lap times. So tomorrow we will see if our work today will pay off".
Lebanon
A1 Team Lebanon completed the first day of practice for the A1 Grand Prix of Nations Dubai at Dubai Autodrome today with both drivers, Khalil Beschir and Basil Shaaban, taking turns behind the wheel for the team's local race. A1 Team Lebanon, as the only Arab country represented in the Series, is expecting strong support on raceday. In the lead up to the race week the drivers have undertaken a hectic programme of promotional events and are now focusing on preparations for race day.
Beschir drove in the two 20-minute testing sessions in the morning and the first of the two one-hour afternoon practice sessions, with Shaaban taking over the duties for the final hour of practice later in the day. With a new engine for the A1 car, the morning was spent completing technical procedures, and the afternoon sessions gave both drivers time to learn the circuit and re-acquaint themselves with the car. Shaaban last drove the car in Australia over one month ago, while Beschir drove three weeks ago at the last round, held at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Beschir was 17th quickest in the first test session, 19th in the second and 24th in the first practice hour. Shaaban, who drove in the second hour of practice later in the afternoon also posted 24th quickest time. At the conclusion of the day Shaaban was selected to race for the team for this event.
Martin Stone, Racing Manager for A1 Team Lebanon, said after the second practice session, "We've worked through a programme of circuit learning, and car set up options, and both drivers have been in the driving seat today. The third practice session will give Basil the chance to have more track time before qualifying tomorrow and we'll try to improve on the lap times."
To check out our Dubai free practice picture gallery, click here