28/01/2006
NEWS STORY
Brazil
A1 Team Brasil will begin tomorrow's A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Durban, South Africa from the fourth row of the grid after qualifying this afternoon in eighth position.
The day began for A1 Team Brasil with a final one-hour practice session. Weather conditions had turned around overnight from torrential rain to scorching heat and humidity. Track temperatures this afternoon were up as high as 53 degrees. Nelson completed 22 valuable laps for the team in the final practice, but it was a difficult session to set a good time in due to a large number of red flag incidents on the unforgiving street circuit.
Qualifying turned out to be fairly incident free until the final segment. Nelson improved his lap times steadily throughout the segments, and was 12th overall after the third segment. In the final qualifying red flag periods caused by Team USA and Team Austria caused a lot of traffic in the last eight minutes of the session, with 21 cars on track. This promised to make it difficult for Team Brasil to improve on its time, however Nelson set a lap time of 1:19.246, his best of the qualifying, and moved the team up to eighth overall.
Tomorrow's sprint race will begin at 1.30pm local time, with the longer feature race beginning at 3pm.
Nelson Piquet Jr: "I would like to have been higher on the grid tomorrow, as I think it's going to be difficult to overtake in the race, but I'm happy we are improving our times. The boys worked hard on the car after practice yesterday and we did a lot of laps in practice this morning. The race will be hard, there will be lots of accidents, so we will have to make sure we stay out of trouble. I hope we can have a good race."
Emerson Fittipaldi: "Qualifying was quite good for us. Nelson was improving with every section, he did his best lap in the last section, and we finished 8th overall. Nelson is much more confident now, he is feeling good. It will be dry tomorrow so it should be good for us. The car is oversteering a little bit too much and there are some other improvements we will make for tomorrow, but overall we are happy. The spectators here are great, today was an incredible crowd for a Saturday and we will have a full house tomorrow. I think there will be a lot of accidents tomorrow but I think we can have a really good race."
Netherlands
A1 Team Netherlands will start the Sprint race of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations Durban from a fourth gid position. With that place the team sets the best result in qualifying this season. Jos Verstappen set an aggregate time of 2'38.452.
The weather in Durban made a complete 180 degree turn from the past few days. Warm temperatures, bright sunshine and clear blue skies made for pleasant conditions and a dry track.
A1 Team Netherlands started the Saturday well with a second fastest time in the third and final free practice, the first that was run under dry conditions after the heavy rain of the past days.
During qualifying Verstappen went out right at the start of the four 15 minute sessions, as did most other drivers. This to avoid as much as possible the danger of having to abort a flying lap because of a red flag. Up to and including the third session there were no code reds. Only A1 Team Lebanon went into the wall, but the session did not have to be stopped. Only in the last session there were two code reds almost directly after each other, caused by spins of A1 Team USA and Austria.
A1 Team Netherlands driver Jos Verstappen was happy with the fourth grid position for the Sprint race tomorrow.
Jos Verstappen; "It's the best result of the season so far, of course I am happy with that result, It all went quite well and the car felt good, there is not much more I can say about it. Up to the last run it was quite close. We went out early in each session, because you never know what's going to happen with the red flags. If the red flag drops, you lose the entire session".
France will start the Sprintrace, that will begin with a rolling start at 13.30 local time, from pole. That rolling start will provide a spectacular sight and sound with 23 cars thundering down full throttle at the first hairpin corner, while the sound of the V8's resonates from the buildings along the circuit.
Britain
With Britain's best ever qualifying performance with a second place, Robbie Kerr is looking to capitalize in the races tomorrow and is aiming for that elusive win and to move up the table. France, on pole, is still looking strong but the times were close and Brazil who is ahead in the table by 11 points is back in eighth.
The weather changed from the very wet conditions of practice yesterday to glorious sunshine today. With morning practice interrupted by four red flags, A1Team.GBR didn't get in as many laps as it would have liked and so felt that a safe option on set-up was in order. Safe proved to be more than satisfactory as Robbie Kerr went out on used tyres for his first stint and set the tenth fastest time. On new tyres for sessions two and three he was the only driver other than Premat for France to set a time below one minute 19 seconds. He put in two tidy runs to put him second in the qualifying table. The fourth attempt which may have given the opportunity to pass the French for pole was aborted following three red flags from spins by the Austrian, American and Lebanese teams.
Robbie Kerr. "We got in two good laps – they could have been slightly better, but then they always can. We went fairly steady getting used to it for the first stint and then made small changes to the car each time for the next sessions. I'm fairly happy with second. Front row's quite important for a street circuit like this – but then again anything can happen. You only need the driver in front or behind to make a mistake and that could be it. You've just got to look after yourself and go for it."
Austria
A1 Team Austria will start tomorrow's A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Durban, South Africa sprint race from the 11th row of the grid after Mathias Lauda suffered an unfortunate spin in the last qualifying segment, making it impossible for him to improve on his position.
Mathias finished off the preparation work for A1 Team Austria in the weekend's final one-hour practice this morning. The session suffered from a lot of red flag periods, but Mathias still managed to notch up 20 laps of practice for the team, setting a fastest lap of 1:22.834.
In qualifying Mathias' two fastest times were 1:21.408 and 1:21.463, giving him a provisional grid position of 21st with one more segment to go. Mathias pushed hard but unfortunately spun off the track, making it impossible to set a lap and improve on his grid position. There was no damage to the car, but it was an unfortunate day for Team Austria.
Mathias Lauda: "We've had a lot of bad luck this weekend. Yesterday it was raining a lot so we couldn't do much and again today there were seven red flags in the practice. Qualifying was disappointing. On the third session the car in front of me spun and then I spun in the last session so we only really had two times. It's a long race tomorrow and I'm sure it will be interesting. I will just do the best job I can."
Germany
Having clinched 12th place, Willi Weber's A1 Team Germany qualified for a start from the sixth row in the seventh round of the A1 Grand Prix series in Durban, South Africa. During the four single timed laps permitted by the rules, Timo Scheider, the driver on duty at the wheel of the 520-hp A1 Grand Prix racing car, improved his performance by more than two seconds.
After Friday's Free Practice session was held in pouring rain, the 3.2-kilometre city circuit on the coast of the Indian Ocean confronted the 23 drivers with completely new conditions in the Qualifying Practice: the dry yet relatively dirty track and the use of slicks made for completely different grip conditions than the day before. After a first trial on used tyres A1 Team Germany clocked a time of 1m21.730s to finish in 14th place. In his second outing on new tyres Timo Scheider improved by nearly two seconds to be clocked at 1m19.773s. Despite a less than perfect lap A1 Team Germany confirmed their previous time at 1m19.880s in the third attempt. Following the ten-minute break separating each of the sessions, Scheider achieved his best Qualifying result of 1m19.552s in his last outing. However, due to the arithmetic of the two fastest times used for classification purposes, he dropped from a temporary eleventh to twelfth place in the total score.
Timo Scheider: "Since there were only two new sets of tyres available to us, I started on used ones. Logically, what followed was a clear leap forwards in lap times. The third trial could have been a lot better yet if I hadn't gone into a semi-spin once. In the fourth trial, which turned out to be my best, I was slowed down a bit by the guy in front of me. Without these circumstances a place among the first four rows on the grid may well have been realistic. Today we have 36 degrees Celsius and a dry track, tomorrow it's supposed to rain again. Then the main thing will be to survive both heats on the street circuit unscathed."
Canada
Sean McIntosh secured A1 Team Canada's eighth top-ten grid slot of the season today as qualifying concluded for Round 7 of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations in Durban, South Africa. The 20-year-old's fastest two laps round the 3.2km temporary street course formed an aggregate time of 2m38.996s to place the Canadian entry ninth on the grid for tomorrow's 15-lap Sprint race.
Track conditions today were dramatically different as brilliant sunshine replaced the rains that marred yesterday's practice sessions. Eighth fastest after this morning's practice, McIntosh used the same tires to record his first qualifying run this afternoon and gain a feel for the circuit. With fresh Cooper tires on for his second run he recorded his fastest lap of 1m19.349s to sit fifth overall. He then set a lap of 1m19.647s on his third run but was ultimately denied the opportunity to bang out another flier in the fourth and final session having been forced to take avoiding action on track courtesy of the slowing A1 Team Lebanon entry.
As a result A1 Team Canada sits ninth on the Sprint grid with A1 Grand Prix Series points leader A1 Team France capturing pole position.
Sean McIntosh: "If everything had gone to plan I'd like to think we'd be sitting higher up the grid but I couldn't set my final time in the fourth session which definitely hurt our chances of improving our position. We're still not sure what the weather's going to do tomorrow but the key to the Sprint race will be to get through the first corner without incident. It's a tight squeeze so it could be interesting!"
Switzerland
A1 Team Switzerland's Neel Jani got to grips with the drastically different weather conditions today in Durban, taking advantage of the sunshine and dry track to qualify third for tomorrows first race in Durban.
21-year-old Neel Jani recorded his fastest laps in the second and fourth parts of qualifying, his aggregated time of 2m38.093s was good enough for third on the grid. Janis pace was consistent with this mornings free practice when he was also third fastest.
Neel Jani commented, The day was tough because of all the red flags in the morning. The track does not forgive any mistakes and there is a lot of gravel, debris and dust as its the first time weve been here! Its important to bring the car home in one piece at the end of any of the sessions. Im looking forward to the races tomorrow and Im confident we have the pace and consistency to at least finish on the podium. It will be a hard race but I'll be doing my very best for an excellent finish.
A1 Team Switzerland team principal, Max Welti added: "Neel Jani was very focused today despite the pressure of a new track. I really happy with his results and position and his incredible determination and the precision and consistency of his laps today are impressive. A street race is a tough and the 40-lap feature race will require plenty of concentration to stay out of trouble. Theres always a risk, but were confident of another good result."
France
Finally, clouds and heavy rain lifted and gave way to hot and sunny conditions for qualifying at the Durban street circuit. With air and track temperatures at 28 degrees Centigrade, A1 Team France driver Alexandre Premat put the hammer down and claimed pole position for tomorrow's first race.
So strong were Prémat's first three runs in qualifying that the team did not need to go out in the fourth part of qualifying and instead saved the car and tyres for tomorrow's important races.
Prémat commented: "The session was difficult but I am pleased with the results. It is the first pole of my season. This is good. We had a hard time finding the right balance on this circuit and it was not helped by all the bad weather yesterday. The set-up needs a lot of fine-tuning here as the cars tend to oversteer a lot on corner exits. It's also very bumpy here and that can upset the car's balance. For qualifying we needed to push
because the track had changed a lot since the morning and was improving despite the debris lying around from this morning's accidents. I am very proud to have taken pole for France and we have a great chance now to extend our lead in the championship. I love driving on street circuits and it's great when your strategy pays off. I feel good about our pace for tomorrow's races lets just hope the safety car isn't called on too often."
Jean-Paul Driot, team principal, A1 Team France, added: "Well done to Alex and the team. The cars are not very easy to drive and oversteer easily. Our team worked really well together to fine tune the set-up and find a good balance. It's an excellent result for today as it is important to leave in pole there is no room for mistakes on this track."
South Africa
France, who have dominated the A1 Grand Prix of Nations series for the last five rounds, will start Sunday's round seven in pole position with four-times winner Alexandre Premat at the wheel. South Africa's Stephen Simpson, in Vulindlela, will start from 16th place on the grid after surviving his first ever qualifying on a street circuit.
Premat, a leading GP2 driver (the successor to the FIA Formula 3000 formula) with experience of the Monaco and Macau street circuits, finished comfortably ahead of Great Britain's Robbie Kerr and Switzerland's Neel Jani after the four 15-minute qualifying sessions.
The rest of the top 10 was made up of Netherlands' Jos Verstappen, Ireland's Ralph Firman Jr and Tomas Enge (all three former Formula One drivers), New Zealand's Matt Halliday, Brazil's Nelson Piquet Jr, Canada's Sean McIntosh and Malaysia's Alex Yoong (also a former F1 driver).
Considering this was the first time the A1GP series has visited a street circuit – built in record time on Durban's ocean front – and many of the 23 drivers contesting this Sunday's races have not raced on a street circuit, there were few incidents and only two red flags (in the third and fourth sessions).
Former SA Formula Ford champion Simpson, who turned 22 earlier this month, was one of several drivers caught out by the red flag stoppages and had to abort his quickest lap in the final session.
"It's frustrating when you have to return to the pits without recording your timed lap," said the Capetonian. "You only get once chance in each session and I was com promised in both the third and fourth sessions. However, we're happy with the car which is performing well. I've had to learn the characteristics of a street circuit under difficult conditions yesterday when it rained and we had just one hour's practice this morning in the dry before qualifying. So it's been quite difficult for those of us without street circuit experience.
"There's something very daunting about racing at high speed (up to 260 km/h on the back straight) inches away from a solid concrete wall, between high catch fences on a narrow and bumpy track that's a collection of public roads under normal circumstances.
"Obviously I'd like to have qualified higher up the grid and now I have a big challenge on Sunday to get a good result in the short sprint race and improve my grid position for the longer feature race. There are few overtaking opportunities on street circuits and this one's no different. There will be more overtaking in the feature race because of the mandatory pit stop to change all four tyres than there will be in either race.
"It will be tough tomorrow, but we're confident we'll be competitive. If I can keep out of trouble and avoid accidents and incidents in front of me, I'm sure we'll make up quite a few places by the end of the day. This is our home race and we have had unbelievable support from the local fans, so we know there is a lot expected of us. We'll do our best not to disappoint."
Australia
Despite a heavy crash in morning practice, A1 Team Australia's Will Davison will start 17th for the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa on the streets of Durban.
The crash - which happened on Davison's third lap in practice - damaged the front end of the Australian car and hampered the team's running time in dry conditions after yesterday's wet sessions. The team had to work feverishly to prepare the car for qualifying and Davison also suffered an arm injury, which will not hamper his progress in tomorrow's two races.
"I'm a little disappointed with today's result, to be honest, given we were fastest in the second session yesterday," said Davison. "The engineering crew did an amazing job to get the car back on the track and it's unlucky we were held up by a red flag in the final segment of qualifying, as that was my best lap of the day. The forecast for tomorrow is rain again, so I'm sure we're going to see a lot of action and I look forward to advancing through the field."
Team Principal, Alan Jones, took an optimistic view towards tomorrow's two races, where series leader, France, will start on pole for the opening 30 minute Sprint Race:
"It's quite unfortunate Will had the crash on his third lap this morning, however the pleasing aspect is that we went faster with every dry lap whilst trying to fine tune the car," Jones said. "The team did an amazing job to get the car ready and get him back out on the track in time for qualifying."
A1 Grand Prix's first street race, which will be held in front of a sell-out South African crowd, promises to be one of the most exciting events of the season so far, the tight nature of the circuit expected to create plenty of action.
"I think with the tightness of the track and the forecast for further wet weather, preservation will be the name of the game," Jones concluded. "With the expectation that there will be a few incidents, employing conservative tactics and staying away from trouble will be the key to recording a strong result."
New Zealand
The New Zealand A1 Grand Prix team will be seventh on the grid for tomorrow's opening Sprint Race at the 7th Round of the World Cup of Motorsport on Durban's beachfront.
Matt Halliday coped admirably with the tight street circuit to post creditable qualifying times in hot dry conditions – the exact opposite of Friday's rain-disrupted practice sessions.
A1 Team.NZL chief executive Bob McMurray was delighted with Halliday's effort, particularly as the weather could yet play a major part in Sunday's two feature races.
"The weather forecast is not good and already we're seeing a major storm coming through that's threatening to blow the hospitality tents into the Indian Ocean!" McMurray said.
"We're thrilled that Matt is up with the pacesetters and hopefully any carnage in the forecast wet conditions will be behind him and not in front.
"We're comfortable with our position and pleased to be back at the competitive end of the field."
A1 Series leaders France again look a cut above the competition and have qualified on pole position with Great Britain beside them on the grid. Switzerland qualified 3rd with the Netherlands 4th, Ireland 5th and the Czech Republic 6th.
New Zealand is well placed to continue heading the unofficial Tri-Nations competition with South Africa qualifying 16th at its home grand prix. Australia will be 17th on the Sprint Race grid.
McMurray says the weather conditions will dictate tomorrow's tactics and the team won't finalise race strategies until minutes before the first race.
"The safety car will undoubtedly come into play given how unforgiving the circuit is. On the first two days cars have been spinning like a Fisher & Paykel dryer and we're pleased that Matt has been able to keep his nose cone clean!
"We could be in for a laugh during the Feature Race if everyone hits the pits together," McMurray added. "All the garages are really close together and there will be chaos if cars have to practically parallel park!"
Malaysia
The torrential rain which greeted the A1 Grand Prix series in the opening day of the first ever street race in the city of Durban was replaced with bright sunshine and high humidity, and a dry track to bring a new challenge to A1 Team Malaysia.
Alex Yoong was pleased to post tenth fastest qualifying time.
Yoong performed well on the dry track in morning practice, running comfortably in the top five for the time he was out on track, but a lock up of his brakes pushed him into the tyre barriers, resulting in damage to the Team Malaysia car and loss of most of the green flag practice time. However, the crew worked hard to repair the car and was able to be ready for the qualifying session.
"I'm reasonably happy with a top ten start" said Yoong after the qualifying session. "My excursion into the wall this morning in final practice meant we lost a lot of dry running track time and it took longer to get into the groove and we didn't have as much time as we wanted to set the car up. A tough weekend so far, but I'm happy with tenth. Tomorrow is going to be a race of attrition; I think as long as we are in the top ten and stay out of trouble there's a chance of a good finish position."
Jack Cunningham, Team Principal, added, "Our weekend so far has been made interesting by the dramatically changing weather conditions, but today's good, dry track conditions have allowed us to show our abilities on this challenging new street circuit in Durban, which has put all the A1 teams to the test. The crew has worked really hard to keep the car out on track as much as possible, and Alex did well to be tenth. The most memorable part of our day has been running for the first time with branding on the car and team from our new sponsor, Proton."
Ireland
Ralph Firman has qualified 5th on the grid for tomorrow's Durban A1 Grand Prix of Nations, the A1 Team Ireland driver recorded the fastest lap time in this mornings practice. Firman produced a strong performance and was set for a top three qualifying slot. However two red flags in the fourth qualifying segment interrupted Firman during his flying lap and the third attempt at setting the final time of the session was held up by the Indian car leaving an angry Firman 5th on the grid for tomorrow's race
Ralph Firman: "Bitterly disappointed with the final lap in the third qualifying session. The car feels really good but we were really unlucky. We wouldn't of beaten the French but second place should have been easy. We just got held up by the Indians while doing my flying lap on my new tyres. Qualifying was very important this weekend as it's impossible to overtake on the track."
Andy Miller, Technical Director: "Given what happened in the last segment of qualifying I think we made the best of it by putting those two timed laps together, although we know we could have been even quicker if the India car hadn't got in our way. Still, it was the same for everybody and coming out on the third row is pretty satisfying as it gives us a good chance for tomorrows race."
Mark Gallagher, Team Principal: "The team has performed well and Ralph did a fantastic job this morning to be quickest in practice. To wind up 5th in qualifying is hugely disappointing. Two red flags on Ralph's final run on new tyres was unlucky, but not totally unexpected, but to then find a competitor on his warm-up lap wandering down the track without the slightest regard for the drivers on a quick lap coming up behind him is totally unacceptable. It is up to every driver to position themselves correctly on the track and for their team to help advise them of what's happening around them. We lost a front row grid slot today thanks to this behaviour.
To check out our Saturday picture gallery, click here