07/03/2006
NEWS STORY
The A1 Grand Prix of Nations makes its U.S. debut this weekend, 10th-12th March, with the penultimate round of the 'World Cup of Motorsport' hosted at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Patrick Carpentier remains in the driving seat for A1 Team Canada heading into the American round, the 34-year-old Québec-native looking to build on his A1GP debut after an encouraging points scoring run in the Sprint race last time out in Monterrey, Mexico.
In addition to competing at Laguna Seca this weekend, Carpentier has now been confirmed as A1 Team Canada's driver for the final round of the inaugural A1 Grand Prix of Nations at the Shanghai International Circuit, China, 31st March - 2nd April. Vancouver's Sean McIntosh, winner of his last outing for A1 Team Canada in Indonesia, was originally scheduled to return to action for the Chinese event but a date clash with his pre-season testing commitments in the 2006 World Series by Renault means the 20-year-old standout is unable to compete in the A1GP season finale.
Focusing on this weekend's program, Carpentier's return to Laguna Seca is eagerly anticipated as the 3.6km Californian road course holds happy memories for the Canadian. With seven career Champ Car starts at the track, from 1998-2004, Patrick's record showcases five top-ten finishes highlighted by back-to-back victories in 2003 and 2004. Both wins followed strong qualifying performances, in 2003 he triumphed from pole then a year later another front-row grid slot propelled Patrick to a second successive victory.
Carpentier's track knowledge can be paired with A1GP seat time following his series debut in Round 9 in Mexico. There he raced to a ninth place finish in the Sprint event, and the points, before taking 15th in the Feature race following problems in the pits.
Previewing his trip to Laguna Seca and looking ahead to China Patrick commented: "I'm thrilled to be returning to Laguna Seca having not raced there since 2004. It's a great track and a fun place to drive so I'm looking forward to combining my knowledge of the circuit with my A1GP experiences in Mexico. I'll sit down with my engineer and we'll go through a few things, I know which set-ups are effective at the track so hopefully we can implement a successful strategy for the weekend. After that I'm really excited to continue with A1 Team Canada for the final round in China. I've never been there, it's another new experience for me but I hear it's going to be a major event!"