10/12/2005
NEWS STORY
Brazil
A1 Team Brasil will begin tomorrow's 15-lap sprint race from the second row of the grid after Nelson Piquet Jr qualified fourth for the team today.
Team Brasil's Saturday began with a final one-hour free practice. This proved invaluable for the team, who overnight discovered an engine problem which had been the cause of the slow lap times in yesterday's practices. Nelson completed a further 21 laps of practice on old tyres, with a fastest time of 1:46.206, putting him eighth in the practice standings.
Qualifying turned out to be a nail-biting affair, with no margin for error. Six minutes prior to the end of the first session, the Team Mexico entry crashed badly, and the debris was not removed before the chequered flag. This meant that 20 cars, including the Team Brasil entry, were not able to complete a flying lap, leaving the order to be decided by the fastest two sessions from the three remaining, rather than four, for the majority of the pack.
In the second session, Nelson was immediately on the pace, posting the second fastest individual lap time just behind Team Switzerland's Neel Jani. After his second flying lap in the third session, he consolidated his place as second overall. However, an extremely competitive final session saw him finally end up in fourth overall, finishing just 0.001s behind Team Ireland's Ralph Firman.
Nelson Piquet Jr: "I am happy and disappointed at the same time. We could easily have been second today, and maybe even pole. But at least we have sorted out the problems we had yesterday, we did a lot of big changes and we found a big difference. If we put our best sectors together we would have been pole. I did a silly mistake at the end, which lost us two places and we should have been second. There are two long races tomorrow and I will do my best. We can do two podiums easily, but I am fighting for wins. It's been too long since Brands Hatch now."
Emerson Fittipaldi: "It's a shame because Nelson lost out on the last lap. He lost a bit of time on the last sector, I think the Pakistan car slowed him down but we should have been second. The car was consistent so at least we are back in business again. Tomorrow should be good."
Pakistan
A1 Team Pakistan's Adam Khan qualified in 20th position after an unsettling qualifying session at the Dubai Autodrome Grand Prix of Nations. The first qualifying session was cut short by the early exit off the track by Team Mexico's Salvador Duran. Although the car was badly damaged the driver was unhurt but as a result only four teams could register qualifying times.
Duran came off again in session three due to a mechanical failure and at the end of the fourth and final session pole position was held by A1 Team Switzerland followed by the A1 Teams from France and Ireland taking the second and third positions.
Reacting to the result, Team Pakistan's Adam Khan said: "Of course I am disappointed not to be in the top ten where we were all confident that I could be and had shown that I could be. One of the knee pads came loose next to my leg and it ended up at my feet, interfering with my control of the car. I had no option but to back off the throttle. Having missed one of the qualifying sessions restricted my ability to put in a fast enough time."
"However, I am determined that this will not be the end of the weekend and that we will progress through the positions in both races tomorrow and regain the form when it really matters – in the Sprint and Finish – to the delight of the huge support we have had so far from the Pakistani community in Dubai".
Asim Husain, Operations Director of A1 Team Pakistan: "Having finished yesterday's practice session in 7th position we were hoping for a higher position on the grid for tomorrow. The problems inside the car could not be foreseen and is disappointing when we have had such pace. However, we know that the set up of the car is good and that the team are working towards the best finish possible."
Netherlands
For A1 Team Netherlands there is a lot of work to be done tomorrow to get a good result in both races of the A1 Grand Prix in Dubai. After a promising third fastest time in this mornings final free practice session, the team did not reach higher then a nineteenth grid position in qualifying. In the qualifying, which started chaotic when the first session was stopped with a code red after a heavy crash of Team Mexico, Jos Verstappen set an aggregate time of 3'35.074 (1:47.559 & 1:47.516) in the remaining three sessions.
A1 Team Netherlands driver Jos Verstappen had to admit it just did not go at all. Off course Verstappen was disappointed, but also surprised about the difference with the free practice in the morning.
Jos Verstappen; "It's a big disappointment. In the last session I got understeer in the last sector and this made me go wide. With that I lost about half a second. Otherwise we could possibly have ended up around the 12th place. The starting position for the races off course is not good. Also you are right in the middle of the rumble, so the chance of something happening is obviously very present. But this is racing, off course we will go all out to make the best of it and race as hard as possible".
According to Seat Holder Jan Lammers stopping the first session, in which A1 Team Netherlands together with 19 other countries could not go out to set a time, had no influence on the end result. There is a lot of work waiting for the team if they want to leave Dubai with some points.
Jan Lammers; "We just missed speed, which took us a bit by surprise. We thought we were on course, but obviously this was not the case. We have to analyse again where we were off. But we are in 19th, we could have been eleventh or twelfth. So, again we got some work to do. We saved our new tyres for the last two sessions, so the first session would not have made a dramatic difference".
Germany
The Willi Weber managed A1 Team Germany secured its second best qualifying result of the season in Dubai A1 at the sixth round of the A1 Grand Prix series.
After qualifying fifth at the EuroSpeedway in October, the team again claimed a good starting position on the third row at season's half-way point. For nominated driver Adrian Sutil, who trades places with Timo Scheider in the cockpit in the first season of the A1 Grand Prix series, sixth place in the United Arab Emirates represents a personal best qualifying position.
Saturday started well for Sutil after he posted sixth fastest time during third free practice. The first quarter of the four part qualifying session was used by four nations to set a time. However, a red flag interrupted the session early, so that 20 teams, including A1 Team Germany, were unable to record a time. In the second qualifying run A1 Team Germany set the fifth best time in 1:47.112 minutes. In the third segment, Sutil's time of
1:46.489, an improvement of more than sixth-tenths-of-a-second, saw A1 Team Germany provisionally hold fifth place overall.
The young driver from Gräfelfing confirmed his form in the subsequent final quarter with a time of 1.46,616 and was sixth. "Our performance trend is heading upwards. Adrian did a good job in qualifying", said a pleased Willi
Weber, who watched qualifying from the pits. "Since the races are always full of action we have excellent chances of climbing through the field."
Adrian Sutil: "I found that I had a little in hand for qualifying, that's why we steadily improved. From lap to lap I found several tenths of a second just under braking for the first corner. I really do feel that we've made progress. The car oversteers much less and feels very constant over many laps, which makes us quietly confident for the two races."
Switzerland
With just over 1.5 seconds separating the top and the bottom of the timing sheet and less than half a second separating the top six, qualifying was a hard fought affair in Dubai. The circuit is just 18 months old, and A1
Grand Prix has set a new benchmark for lap times, recording speeds in excess of 270kph
Qualifying was disrupted in the first segment after Salvador Duran crashed. This meant A1 Team Switzerland was unable to set a timed lap in the first of the four segments as marshals retrieved the Mexican's car. Later on Switzerland's Jani went on to set two fast laps of 1.45.992 and 1.45.926 and secure his second straight pole position.
"It was a very exciting qualifying session," said Jani. "We had a difficult morning and many problems. In qualifying, the first run was cancelled and it scrambled our plans a little bit. That put the pressure on everyone. I'm really happy with taking pole position again and I hope we can capitalise on it tomorrow and take our first win."
A1 Team Switzerland team principal Max Welti commented, "Neel Jani did a fantastic job today after two difficult days. The car is well balanced now. What Neel achieved showed how professional is even when matters beyond our control disrupt our plan. Pole is great but the really important day is tomorrow."
France
With just over 1.5 seconds separating first and last on the timing sheet and less than half a second separating the top six, this afternoon's qualifying session in Dubai was a hard fought affair.
The circuit is just 18 months old, and A1 Grand Prix has set a new benchmark for lap times, recording speeds in excess of 270kph and a fastest lap time of 1.45.676 set by A1 Team France's Nicolas Lapierre this morning.
A1 Team France was unable to record a lap time in the first of the four qualifying segments after A1 Team Mexico's Salvador Duran's crashed and marshals spent the remainder of the segment removing his stricken car.
In the second segment, A1 Team France's Nicolas Lapierre struggled with a braking problem but recovered in the final two segments to secure the team's place on the front row for the start of tomorrow's sprint race.
"Qualifying was made more difficult because of the red flag in the first qualifying segment," Lapierre said. "But to start from the front row is a good result. We will need a good strategy in tomorrow's race to win. We have a good set up and a strong car and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Jean-Paul Driot, team principal, A1 Team France added: "To be in second position is very lucky after the various problems that disrupted our qualifying. Between red flags and brake problems, to be in the top three is a good achievement. We are confident that with a good strategy we can have another very good race."
South Africa
South Africa's Stephen Simpson qualified 13h out of 24 for the sixth round of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations series in Dubai, United Arab Emirates this afternoon.
It equalled South Africa's best qualifying performance in this unique competition, the brainchild of the Dubai ruling family's Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, started in Great Britain in September.
Simpson, 21, qualified 15th in the opening round of the series at Brands Hatch in England and claimed 13th position on the grid for the opening sprint race at each of the last two rounds of the competition, in Australia
and Malaysia in November.
"We'd like to have been in the top 10, because if you want to finish near the front you have to start near the front," said Simpson. "Our qualifying lap times have improved with each race meeting, but unfortunately more than our grid positions.
"The competition in A1GP is getting very tight now that we've reached the halfway stage of the series. As can be seen from the closeness of the official practice times on Friday and this morning, there are at least 12 nations competing for the last three places in the top 10.
"Mexico's crash in the opening session of qualifying affected us (11 minutes into the 15-minute session) – as it did 19 others in the field – because only four nations were able to complete their first flying lap before the red flag came out 11 minutes into the 15-minute session and signalled the end of the session. It meant we had only three opportunities to post two good aggregate times to qualify.
"We managed to improve our time in each of the remaining three 15-minute sessions, from 1 min 48,04 sec in session two to 1 min 46,93 sec in the last session – but unfortunately the combination of the two best times was only good enough to put us in our third 13th grid position in successive three races.
"Maybe it'll be lucky 13 this time," he smiled. "It's not the ideal position from which to launch an attack on the front runners – you tend to get involved in a battle with the four or five cars that started around you – but if there is one circuit that offers the bold driver a good opportunity to attack it's this one and we'll be looking to capitalise on any mistakes or problems of the drivers in front of us," he promised.
Small consolation to the likeable young South African, who is sporting a trendily short hairstyle in Dubai, is the fact that he and his South African-liveried car, Vulindlela ("clear the way") recorded the 100,000th trouble-free kilometre of the 3,4-litre V8 engine that powers the A1 Grand Prix car since the series started in September.
New Zealand
The New Zealand A1 Grand Prix team has had its poorest ever qualifying effort at this weekend's 6th Round of the World Cup of Motorsport in Dubai.
Matt Halliday could only qualify for Sunday's Sprint Race in 17th position, three places poorer than the Kiwis' previous worst qualifying effort, leaving team boss Bob McMurray bitterly disappointed.
"We expected to do better at this track," McMurray said. "We have to find out the reason why, try and improve our performance and work out some tactics to make up ground.
"We can only work hard and hope for a good Sprint Race finish to provide us with some momentum for the Feature Race. It is vital we keep our points tally ticking over."
Switzerland will be on pole position with France beside them on the grid. Ireland qualified 3rd with Brazil 4th and Great Britain 5th.
"We're a long way back," McMurray said, "and we're not even taking much comfort from the fact Australia is back in 22nd place on the grid!
"Given that our team engineers designed this Dubai Autodrome track we had hoped to record one of our strongest qualifying efforts, so we're all a bit grumpy."
The close times seen in the morning's official practice sessions continued into the afternoon where teams' top two times are aggregated to determine the grid order. Qualifying became even more intense than usual when Mexico crashed during the first qualifying segment. Only four teams posted a time in that segment as the red flag kept the remaining nations off the track, leaving the majority with one less opportunity to post the two times that count towards their final qualifying mark.
France currently has a commanding lead on the overall points table, its 92 points putting it 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.
Japan
A1 Team Japan driver Hayanari Shimoda kept his pace from Friday's practice sessions in qualifying this afternoon to achieve his best starting position to date in 14th position for tomorrow's race. The first session was red-flagged due to the Mexican car running wide and ending up hitting one of the walls early in the session leaving most teams without a time.
Hayanari Shimoda: This is my best qualifying position so far in the A1GP series and I am really pleased to be starting on the 7th row of the grid. Although we only managed three runs due to the first session being red-flagged and the track being dirty, I'm really pleased to be starting 14th. It's a shame really that I made a couple of mistakes in the fourth and last session as I believe the car today was easily good enough for a top ten position. I basically went too hard into the first sector and got oversteer and lost a couple of tenths. However, in the third sector I tried to make up time and lost a second in an incident just before the straight. Andy Stapley, my engineer and all of the team has really helped me to hone the car in the free practice sessions this weekend and I feel we have improved the balance to suit my driving style and this circuit.
Malcolm Swetnam (Team Manager, A1 Japan): So far this weekend, all has gone very well. Hayanari and all of the A1 Team Japan crew have kept their heads down and worked with determination towards improving the car and ultimately the lap times. We have found a set-up that seems to suit Hayanari's driving style and he is working with us in an un-fazed manner. Whatever happens, he stays calm which helps when operating in this pressurised environment. Unfortunately we lost out on the first run due to the red flag and to play it safe and make sure the same thing didn't happen again, the team decided to send him out early in the last session which is not the norm for us. Tomorrow is the final test to see if Hayanari and the team can manage to add to the tally we already have, and to come away with points which would be a great Christmas present to us all.
India
After a day of ups and downs, A1 Team India finished the four qualifying sessions with an aggregate time of 3 minutes 35.007 seconds, good enough for a starting position of 18th for the start of the Sprint race on Sunday at the Dubai Autodrome. The two fastest laps for A1 Team India were 1 minute 47.383 seconds and 1 minute 47.624 seconds, which were attained in the 3rd and 4th sessions of qualifying respectively.
During the 3rd Official Practice session which was held on Saturday morning, A1 Team India continued to do long distance runs with a total of 22 laps during the one hour session, more than any of the other teams. A1 Team India's driver Armaan Ebrahim's fastest lap during this session was a 1 minute 46.774 seconds, which was good enough for 16th fastest of the session, just 1.098 seconds slower than the fastest car of A1 Team France. The team has worked consistently during the weekend to achieve a good setup over the entire length of the race, rather than concentrate on just individual fast laps. A1 Team India feels that this strategy will pay dividends on Sunday afternoon during the Sprint and the Feature race, where consistent lap times will move the team up in the standings, and towards our goal of achieving the first points finish during this inaugural season of The A1 Grand Prix of Nations, The World Cup of Motorsport.
A1 Team India reserved their two new sets of tyres for the 3rd and 4th sessions of qualifying, during which Armaan Ebrahim did his best qualifying laps, the ones which were added up to form the aggregate time upon which the grid for Sundays race was decided. In the 2nd timed sector of the 4th qualifying session, Armaan made a small mistake which cost him seven tenths of a second. So close is the grid for the race, that had he not made that tiny miscalculation, A1 Team India could have been as high up as tenth on the grid for the race tomorrow. Even the starting position of 18th puts A1 Team India ahead of other more experienced drivers like ex-Formula One driver Jos Verstappen of A1 Team Netherlands (who has 105 Formula 1 races under his belt) and A1 Team Austria's Mathias Lauda, son of triple Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda.
After the qualifying sessions were completed, A1 Team India had a team meeting, during which many different strategies were discussed for both the Sprint and the Feature race tomorrow. Taking into account all the various permutations and combinations A1 Team India has now decided on its strategy for the pit-stop during the Feature race and various other key areas like the starts for the two races.
A1 Team is quite positive to make up a few places in the sprint race on Sunday which will then put the team in a better position for the main race. Despite the 18th place on the grid, the morale of the team is very high after being consistent during long runs with fairly used tyres.
Mr. Atul Gupta, Chairman, A1 Team India said, "I am very glad to see the constant improvement and motivation of our team. A1 Team India is working well together and our driver Armaan is showing tremendous promise despite being the youngest driver in the field at the tender age of sixteen. The learning curve for the team and driver is very steep, but I am very confident that this team has the potential for excellent results as the championship progresses. I look forward to the teams' performance in the races tomorrow and I wish them all success."
Ireland
Ralph Firman has qualified third on the grid for tomorrow's Dubai A1 Grand Prix of Nations, the A1 Team Ireland driver remained right up there with the pace setters, France and Switzerland this weekend. Firman produced a strong performance on his last qualifying run putting him 3rd on the grid for tomorrow's race, one thousandth of a second in front of Piquet driving for Brazil.
Ralph Firman: "I did a good final lap as we had made some changes to the car. We got caught out with the second qualifying session being cancelled but we made good progress on the two laps to follow. I'm looking forward to racing for Ireland tomorrow and to getting a good result. My aim is to further narrow the gap between France and Switzerland. I've been on their tail all weekend so I hope to by pass them tomorrow"
Mark Gallagher, Team Principal: "For the second race in succession Ireland has claimed 3rd place on the grid, demonstrating a high level of consistency with the car. The team has worked as hard as ever and with trouble free practice sessions we were able to go into qualifying feeling reasonably confident. Ralph did everything that was asked of him and the engineering side worked very well, ensuring he was able to squeeze that last run out of the car."
Andy Miller, Technical Director: "It got very tense at the end of the last session as the times didn't come up on our screens and I had to ask Ralph his time. Ralph did a great job today and we have some changes to make before the race tomorrow. Looking forward to a great day of racing tomorrow."
Canada
A1 Team Canada struggled through practice sessions this weekend but by qualifying all the elements were beginning to get back on track. Driver Sean McIntosh was suffering from a cold which put him at slightly below 100% fitness and the car wasn't handling as well as the team would have liked.
During qualifying itself, a red flag ended the first session prematurely when the Mexican car spun off the track restricting the majority of teams to three runs. Conditions had changed since morning practice and high winds brought sand onto the track which left the cars struggling for traction. Teams then had just three sessions to set their times to determine grid positions. With having had a challenging time on the track before the session, the team were suitably content with a top ten slot.
Sean McIntosh: "I definitely would have liked to have been higher up but considering the way things have been going this weekend, we've been struggling a little bit here and there, so by moving into the top ten at least we're in a position to score some more points tomorrow. We made a positive change to the car from practice to qualifying which took a bit of getting used to but overall I'm pleased. It would have been better to have had the first session to learn a bit instead of learning on the new set of tyres but I took what the car gave me and now we need to find a bit more for the race. Starting from 9th will be interesting - it's tough going into the first corner in the middle of the pack as I found out in Australia when I was involved in an accident that put me to the back. I just need to watch out and make it through."
Lebanon
Track action continued at the Dubai Autodrome today, with the A1 Grand Prix teams taking part in final practice and qualifying sessions for tomorrow's two races, a 30 minute Sprint race and a one hour Feature race which includes a mandatory tyre change pit stop. Basil Shaaban, driving this weekend for A1 Team Lebanon, lines up in 23rd place for the grid of the Sprint race.
Shaaban is on his first visit to this new track which was built to Formula One standards less than two years ago. On a dusty circuit which caught out a number of experienced drivers, the best two times from his qualifying runs were aggregated to determine his grid position for tomorrow's race, although Shaaban was unable to complete his fourth run due to electrical problems which forced him to abort his flying lap.
Shaaban said after the qualifying session, "It's a very fast, technical track that is not easy to learn quickly, so it's taken me some time to settle in here. I pushed too hard on my first run and spun, but kept it going. I then put in two respectable times and then in the final run I was pushing harder, until electrical problems forced me to abort my run.
Tony Snook, Team Principal, A1 Team Lebanon added, "The circuit is very dirty from wind-blown sand, which penalises even the smallest mistakes as we've seen with many experienced drivers who have spun out. It's a very technical track as well, so it's been a tough challenge for Basil, with only two hours of practice in the A1 car before qualifying. It was unfortunate that a technical problem prevented him from completing his final run, as he had new tyres and we were confident that he'd be able to qualify further up the grid. Tomorrow is the most important day though, so we'll be looking to improve on this grid position in the races as we have done in previous A1 Grand Prix."
Britain
Before qualifying, three practice sessions were held throughout which the British team worked on set-up to end session three second fastest – less than a tenth behind perpetual front-runners and arch-rival A1 Team France. The qualifying sessions were full of incident and anticipation. The first of the four sessions was stopped after only four of the 24 cars had set a time when the Mexican car crashed. Conditions had changed and high winds were bringing sand onto the track making conditions slippy. The seemingly indomitable A1 Team France got caught out and so the tension built as they had failed to set a time in session two. At one point A1Team.GBR was topping the time sheets – but session four wasn't kind to the team. The top teams managed to improve on their times while Robbie struggled with a technical problem and lost time dropping him to fifth on the grid.
Robbie Kerr: "In the practice sessions we were putting in really good times on used tyres and we had real consistency and swapping places with France between first and second. In qualifying we went out and the track conditions were different – a bit slippery so we made some adjustments. Then I was on my fast lap when the red light came on which was disappointing. For the second session we were getting used to the track, then we had new tyres for the remaining two attempts. We had a good run on the third stint and for the fourth we had a little technical problem that we're looking into that lost us a few tenths. It's a shame we're only fifth when we should have been in the top three but I'm looking forward to the race.. We've got a good race car. If I can get another good start we should be right up there."
Czech Republic
The Czech team reaped fruits from all work that had been done in all practices and will start the sprint race from the seventh place on the grid. Tomas Enge put in a solid and consistent performance in all qualifying sessions.
The second day of running at Dubai Autodrome took again place under sunny sky and offered thrilling fight in the qualifying. The day began with the last practice where the Czech team worked again on fine tuning of the qualifying setup. Enge did 19 laps and set the 11th time of the session. The qualifying started with a bit unusual first session that was shortened due to the crash of the Mexican car and only few cars managed to set time before. The effect was that the qualifying results were decided by two best laps from three sessions. The team used a new set of tyres for each session and Enge set seventh, seventh and eight times in each respective session the best two were from the third and fourth qualifying. The seventh place is quite a big improvement comparing to the last two rounds where the Czech car was far away from the top 10 position in the qualifying. The second pole in a row took Neel Jani for Switzerland.
Tomas Enge: "We definitely improved the car for the qualifying and although I am not completely happy with the seventh position on the grid it is much better than in last two races. I think that we have a good starting position and hopefully we will be able to improve it in the races. We spent a lot of time working on the qualifying setup and it paid off. Obviously, we can still improve but we find the right way. Overtaking is quite difficult here because there is basically just one line and the rest of the track is very slippery. However, this can lead to some mistakes, so I think that we will see some changes in the order. Our aim is to score as many points as we can, I would be satisfied with two top five finishes."
USA
On an ideal Saturday afternoon, at a picturesque track in Dubai, new A1 Team USA driver Phil Giebler performed well for his first time in the "We The People" car by qualifying 15th out of 24 national teams in the sixth round of A1 Grand Prix of Nations the World Cup of Motorsport Series.
The top qualifying teams of the day based on aggregate times were Switzerland (3'31.918), France (3'32.551), Ireland (3'32.626), Brazil (3'32.627) and Great Britain (3'32.634).
A1 Team USA is currently in 14th place overall in the standings going into the sixth round of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations Open-Wheel Series. Coming into this weekend, the top five teams continue to be France, Switzerland, Brazil, New Zealand and Great Britain.
Team USA driver Phil Giebler on Qualifying Performance - "It is amazing being in Dubai and racing for A1 Team USA, I am very proud to represent my country. The series is highly competitive, and although there is a steep learning curve, we have progressed and I am feeling part of the team."
Team Owner Rick Weidinger on Qualifying Results -"I think Phil did a wonderful job of keeping his head in the game as we progressed during practice sessions and qualifying. Phil is definitely a talented driver and showed "true grit" today during the morning practice and afternoon qualifying. We have yet to see the best of Phil, as I fully expect for him to move up the grid tomorrow and secure important points for Team USA."
Portugal
The six round of A1 Grand Prix Nations, happening in Dubai Autodrome, once more prove clearly that it's one of the most competitive series in the moment. This morning, during the third and last Official Practice Session, sixteen drivers managed to finish within the same second.
The first qualifying segment of the day was marked by the accident of the Mexican driver, Salvador Duran, resulting in a red flag that not allowed the classification of twenty teams, including Portugal. Álvaro Parente fought continuously in the course of the three remaining sessions, climbing from fifteenth to ninth. In the end, the sum of the two best laps putted the Portuguese team in the tenth place of the starting grid for tomorrows Sprint Race.
Álvaro Parente: "Tomorrow we'll start from tenth in the Sprint Race. Almost none of the teams achieved qualifying times in the first session and on the second one I made a small mistake. I improved substantially my lap times in the remaining sessions, although my goal was finishing in top five. I'll do my best to gain as much as possible, allowing me to get a good classification that enables me to start more in the front for the Feature Race."
Luis Vicente, A1 Team Portugal CEO: "The car was not with the ideal set up and the tenth position in the starting grid doesn't show our real potential. Nevertheless, we'll keep working hard, in order to achieve a good classification in the Sprint Race, allowing us to recover some positions for the Feature Race starting grid".
Malaysia
Track action continued at Dubai Autodrome for the A1 Grand Prix of Nations Dubai with a final practice session in the morning and qualifying in the afternoon.
Alex Yoong is driving the A1 Team Malaysia entry this weekend, while team mate Fairuz Fauzy prepares for his New Year wedding. Yoong will line up in 8th place on the grid, after qualifying was completed today.
Yoong, on his first visit to this new track which was built to Formula One standards less than two years ago, used the practice sessions to learn the circuit and make improvements in the car set up in preparation for the two races tomorrow. Just over 1.5 seconds separated the top and bottom of the grid in the final practice session, demonstrating how competitive this new Series has become after only five events have been completed.
Yoong reviewed the day saying, "I'm pleased to be in the top ten. I was really happy with the times, particularly on my last run which was the fourth quickest lap, showing that we have the pace to be in the top five. We made quite a few improvements to the car today, and I'm happy to be starting in eighth. We've finished fifth three times now, so our goal now has to be fourth or better."
Jack Cunningham, Team Principal, added, "After a disappointing start yesterday, I'm happy with an eighth place grid slot for A1 Team Malaysia. It was a very competitive qualifying; every tenth of a second is valuable at this track, and can make a big difference to your grid position for the Sprint race. Alex improved his time on each of his runs and in the final run was fourth quickest. We're aiming for another top five finish tomorrow, but it would be good to improve on our best finish result of fifth place."
Austria
A1 Team Austria will begin tomorrow's sprint race from the 11th row of the grid after suffering in today's four-part qualifying session.
Driver Mathias Lauda's day begun with a final one-hour practice session. He completed 20 laps with a fastest time of 1:47.149. It was a good lap in a session that saw all 24 drivers separated by just 1.503 seconds.
Qualifying did not turn out so well for the Austrian outfit. A red flag in the first session saw 20 cars not able to set a flying lap, including Team Austria. Mathias struggled for the remainder of the qualifying, eventually finishing 21st, with a combined qualifying time of 3:35.981
Mathias Lauda: "I am not happy with qualifying. We obviously missed the first session because of the crash and then in the second session the new tyres were two seconds off the pace and we had a few problems and a lot of oversteer. Then, to be honest, I lost a bit of confidence because I had lapped in the 1.50's, three seconds off the pace. In the third session I didn't do a perfect lap and in the last session I got stuck behind the Pakistan car and had to brake early, and I lost a bit of time. The car was not bad though. I have to attack in the race again but I am bored of qualifying badly."
To check out our Dubai Qualifying picture gallery, click here