13/03/2006
NEWS STORY
Brazil
It was a disappointing day for A1 Team Brasil as the team failed to score points at the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, California, USA after gearbox and electrical problems affected the team for the whole day, eventually forcing the team to retire from the feature race.
After a difficult qualifying day yesterday, in which the team struggled to find a good set-up, Christian Fittipaldi lined up 19th on the grid for today's 30-minute sprint race. The race was held in treacherous conditions with heavy rainfall throughout causing a very slippery track and the subsequent spray severely restricting visibility. Christian worked his way up the grid well, and was lying in 12th position on lap 10. Unfortunately a mistake by Jos Verstappen saw the Team Netherlands car hit the Team Brasil car, and Christian ended the race in 13th position.
Weather conditions had improved by the one-hour sprint race, with a rapidly drying out track. Team Brasil made a good move, choosing to go out on slick tyres, one of only three teams to do so. Unfortunately Christian suffered technical problems throughout the race, and despite a pitstop to try to resolve the problems, he was eventually forced to retire on lap 20.
It was an unfortunate result for Team Brasil, as Team Great Britain scored points in both races today, therefore consolidating third place in the championship. Team France won the championship after the sprint race, and Team Switzerland remain in second. The final round of the 2005/06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations will take place at the Shanghai Circuit in China on 2 April.
Christian Fittipaldi: "Unfortunately we've had problems all weekend, it's definitely been a weekend to forget. We were doing well in the first race, we should have finished in the top eight, but then we had gearbox problems. In the second race we had the perfect strategy by starting on slicks, then we had a slow pitstop and after that we had the gearbox problems again although it was actually an electrical problem that put us out. We just have to move on and think about China now."
Emerson Fittipaldi: "We had an electrical problem in the second race and we had to stop. We started to have gearbox problems in the warm-up when Christian could not go down in gear, and then the same thing happened in the race. It's not been a good day but now we have to work on the car for Shanghai."
Austria
A1 Team Austria had a satisfactory day at the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, California, USA, coming away from the weekend with two championship points. Team driver Mathias Lauda put in two mature and consistent drives, working his way up the field well in both races.
Mathias, returning to the cockpit after a one-race break due to testing commitments, started from 20th position for today's 30-minute sprint race. Heavy rainfall caused very difficult driving conditions, causing both a slippery track and reduced visibility. Mathias put in a consistent drive, working his way up the field and eventually finishing in 12th position, securing a better grid slot for the second race.
Weather conditions changed considerably for the one-hour feature race, with the track drying out quickly. Mathias started from the sixth row of the grid and made his mandatory pitstop early on and changed from wet to slick tyres. Over the following laps, Mathias once again made his way up the field, and by two laps from the end Mathias was in a points-scoring tenth place. With a shock retirement of Team France in the closing stages of the race, Mathias moved into ninth place, collecting two championship points, increasing Team Austria's
2005/06 points haul to 14.
The final round of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations will take place on 2 April at the Shanghai Circuit in China.
Mathias Lauda: "It's been a difficult weekend, it's been tricky to drive here in the conditions and again we struggled in practice and qualifying and then in the races we were quicker. I am happy that I scored some points in the second race, but for China it would be great if we had a good start to the weekend."
Canada
A1 Team Canada climbed to ninth in the A1GP Nations Standings today courtesy of a double points- scoring run from Patrick Carpentier in the penultimate round of the ‘World Cup of Motorsport' at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Sixth place in the Sprint followed by fifth in the Feature rewarded the Canadian team with 11 priceless points in a day where A1 Team France clinched the inaugural A1 Grand Prix of Nations Championship while A1 Team Mexico scored back-to-back victories.
Sprint Race
With a sudden downpour greeting the field just minutes before the start of the race the grid became a hive of activity as slick tires were hurriedly swapped for wets. The rain failed to faze Laguna-veteran Patrick Carpentier in the A1 Team Canada car as he gingerly picked off his rivals on the opening lap to climb five places to 13th. When the safety car was summoned for a second tour of duty, this time on lap 8, the charging Carpentier was looking strong in eighth. Taking two more spots at the checkered flag, the race distance determined by the time limit, Patrick bagged a welcome five points, his sixth place effort further safe-guarding A1 Team Canada's top-ten points standing.
Feature Race
In keeping with the changeable conditions the Feature race started on a predominantly dry track. Initially out on wet tires, Carpentier made his mandatory pit-stop on lap 3, switching to slicks and immediately firing himself back into the top-ten. Following a six-lap safety car period the 34-year-old set his sights on further progression, quickly passing the Czech Republic for eighth. The second-half of the Feature saw Patrick up to sixth and chasing A1 Team Portugal five seconds further up the track. A second safety period allowed the pack to close up before Patrick was elevated to fifth at the checkered flag thanks to an uncharacteristic late-race retirement from A1 Team France.
Patrick Carpentier: "The rain actually helped me in the first race as some people made mistakes and I was able to get past them at the start. From there I just worked my way up to get a good start position for the Feature. I was fighting to catch Portugal at the end of the main race but it was still pretty slippery out there. Overall though it's been fun and we scored points and improved our position. Today was a lot better than yesterday that's for sure, it's all a learning experience and I really enjoyed myself out there!
Czech Republic
The Czech team left Laguna Seca empty handed after Tomas Enge managed to gain many places in the first half of both races but did not finish any of them.
The race day brought two races in different conditions but they unfortunately had they same pattern for the Czech Republic team. The sprint started in the damp conditions and Enge was able to move forward from 14th place on the grid. He was running seventh in the last few laps but Matt Halliday spun on the last lap and Enge hit Ralph Firman who had to brake unexpectedly. The impact damaged the front of the car and the Czech car was classified only 18th. The feature race was run in the dry and Enge once again started moving to the front. The pitstop was well timed and even better executed just when the safety car was deployed after Stephen Simpson's crash. The Czechs were running ninth when the car picked oversteer. Enge tried to fight but the car handling did not allow him good exits from the corners and he was loosing places. The situation was getting worse and he lost the control six laps from the end.
Tomas Enge: "Put it this way it was not our weekend. It sometimes happens. It is shame that it happened here because I really like the track. The day did not start badly and we found solutions for some problems that had occurred in the qualifying. Things were looking good in the sprint and I managed to overtake a few people and got into top 10. Unfortunately, New Zealand's car spun on the last lap, Ireland car braked heavily just in front of me in order to avoid him and I was unable to avoid a contact. We had a good start again in the feature race and a great pitstop. I was in the top 10 again but the car suddenly oversteered a lot and I was loosing places. I just wanted to finish the race but it was getting worse and finally I lost control. We have to check the data what happened with the car. All in all, weekend to forget."
Antonin Charouz, seat holder: "Needles to say that I am very disappointed. We really thought that we could have scored some nice results here. It seems that something happens to us all the time."
Germany
Willi Weber's A1 Team Germany finished runner-up in the tenth round of the A1 Grand Prix Series at Laguna Seca, scoring its best ever result in the inaugural season of the "World Cup of Motorsport" so far. In finishing second behind Mexico, nominated driver Timo Scheider gave the team an excellent farewell present in California as he will fully concentrate on his DTM campaign now.
Starting from ninth position on the grid, Timo Scheider initially had to follow the Safety car as did all the other teams in a heavy shower of rain. As the downpour eased, A1 Team Germany fought back after a spin and improved to seventh position in the 16-lap sprint race. The car suffered only minor damage after A1 Team Lebanon crashed into the rear of the German car in a safety car period.
In the main race, A1 Team Germany gained several positions in the first laps already before completing its mandatory pit stop. David Sears' Supernova outfit performed another excellent tyre change and swapped rain for slick tyres. Timo Scheider re-joined the race on fourth position, with one car ahead of him still having to pit. In lap 28, the team rose to third position when A1 Team Lebanon pitted. Two laps before the end, Timo Scheider gained another position when A1 Team France, the winner of the inaugural "World Cup of Motorsport", dropped down to 14th position.
Timo Scheider: "I am pleased with second place as this is a reward that all the guys of A1 Team Germany deserve for their hard work. When the race started, it was absolutely unpredictable. Fortunately, the team was able to repair the damage on our car caused by A1 Team Lebanon in the sprint race. I started on the wet line of the grid, but we got off perfectly. The pit stop was excellent – thanks for that. The race was really hard behind A1 Team Lebanon as Graham Rahal had a very aggressive style. Finally, we got past him and he had to pit. I gained another place as A1 Team France suffered bad luck in the race, but they won the title – all my best wishes to them!"
Willi Weber: "Congratulations to Timo and to the whole team on their excellent performance. It was a very good day for A1 Team Germany. We always knew that we can finish on the rostrum. After fourth place in Mexico a fortnight ago, we finally broke the duck and we achieved our first podium finish in our strong dash for the line in the closing three events of the first season of the A1 Grand Prix Series."
Pakistan
Weather dictated much of today's events on track. The first 30 minute Sprint race was held with torrential rain and very heavy spray, while for the one hour Feature race drivers faced a dry line with rivers of draining water crossing the track.
In the Sprint race Adam Khan drove sensibly proving that it's not always speed and bravado that gains places. Knowing that the conditions were treacherous, Adam drove with his head taking advantage of others' misjudgements, as they spun off the track or collided in the wet and spray, to gain six places, giving him a starting position of 15th for the second race of the day. Using the same tactical skill Adam progressively moved through the field for A1 Team Pakistan in the Feature race which in contrast to earlier was dry with a few patches of water on the track. A good start saw him overtake two cars only to drop back in the compulsory pit stop melee. Unfazed he got back into the race managing to overtake cars and again avoid making errors. He kept up a good pace and crossed the line in 11th, just one place away from scoring the points that he'd hoped for.
Adam Khan: "The Sprint race was very very tricky. I dropped back at the start so that I could see – the visibility was so bad. I had my foot covering the brake for much of the time. I took the strategy that in these conditions I had to drive carefully, stay out of trouble and let the others do their own thing. It was fundamental to finishing the race. In the Feature race I got up to about thirteenth by overtaking on the first lap. Unfortunately the pit lane is tight here so the team decided to wait a lap to avoid congestion which lost me time and dropped me to 19th. I managed to pass a couple of cars and recover and then picked off more and kept up the pace."
"Overall I'm reasonably happy. It was a good comeback after such a long injury layoff. I'm pleased that we could recover the position after a bad qualifying and I'm looking forward to China and scoring points there."
Arif Hussain, A1 Team Pakistan Seatholder "I'm very pleased that Adam's back competing for A1 Team Pakistan, that he's recovered and did well here. I'm looking forward to racing in China in three weeks."
Netherlands
There were no points for A1 Team Netherlands at the A1 Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. After finishing in fourteenth in the Sprint race the team did not see the chequred flag in the Feature race.Changing weather conditions didn't make the conditions at Laguna Seca today any easier. First the warm up was delayed until just before the starting procedure of the Sprintrace because track conditions had turned the schedule upside down. As the teams were on the starting grid it started raining heavily and A1 Team Netherlands switched to wet weather tyres, as did all other teams. Verstappen was not able to make any real progress in the Sprint race. Difficult conditions, a soaked track and spins made that A1 Team Netherlands had to settle for fourteenth place.
From that position A1 Team Netherlands started the Feature race. By then it was completely dry at Laguna Seca. The track was still a bit wet at the start, but it dried quickly. Verstappen again had a superb start and immediately was able to move up to eighth. After an early pitstop by the team, where they switched to slick tyres, the safety car came out on track. During that safety car Jos was said to have overtaken under yellow. A1 Team Netherlands received a drive through penalty. As Jos Verstappen entered the pitlane, he drove through the pitlane just over the speed limit. After Verstappen came out on track again, the team immediately got another drive through. Verstappen came in again straight away, parked his car at the team and got out immediately. Subsequently the race was over for A1 Team Netherlands.
Verstappen, who understandebly was not in his best mood because of the way the races went today, was surprised about the penalty. "It was said that I had overtaken under yellow, during the first lap of the safety car situation. As I passed the pitlane exit, the Czech Republic came out after their stop. I was next to them and went into turn 2 in front of the Czech Republic. I did not see any yellow flags in turn 2 and was very surprised that the officials decided to give a through. When entering the pitlane I might have been over the speed limit a bit. If you receive another penalty straight away, it's no use continuing the race. Next to that I suffered from ‘ free play' in the steering after the contact with Brazil".
Team principal Jan Lammers could understand that Verstappen got out of the car after the two drive through penalties. "Principally speaking, you should never give up, but under these considering what happened I can easily understand this. We know Jos is someone who has got temperament. We all think that's great with overtaking and action on the track. If something like this happens he has got the same temperament, we just have to accept this. I don't think it would have made a big difference if we would have continued the race. As far as the penalties are concerned we are busy checking the facts. We have to see if the data we have is correct. It will be a borderline case and of course we are leaning towards the opinion that it was just a wrong call. We first have to check this. When we received the second drive through the race was over for us. If it's concluded that the officials made a wrong decision we have to see what our options are. Maybe officials can also receive some penalty or fine if they make a wrong decision. The whole weekend was very difficult for us. We did not come here for this. We have to asses the damage after the weekend. It could well be much better when we head off to China.
New Zealand
The New Zealand A1 Grand Prix team is wondering what might have been after a controversial ruling went against them in Round 10 of the World Cup of Motorsport at Laguna Seca in California.
New Zealand driver Matt Halliday had a scorching start in the opening Sprint Race to lead the field in atrocious wet conditions. But when the Italian car spun, bringing out the yellow flags, Halliday slowed and was passed by Mexico.
The New Zealanders' immediate appeal that the Mexican car had passed them while under a yellow flag was not upheld and Mexico went on to win both the Sprint Race and the Feature Race, reveling in the clean air.
Black Beauty, meanwhile, was swamped from behind and a spin towards the end of both races cost the team places and valuable points.
A1 Team.NZL team manager Mike Ewan said the team was incredulous at the yellow flag decision and is adamant Halliday should have been back at the head of the field when the Sprint Race re-started.
"The local officials were the only ones in pit lane who didn't see what happened and said, in their opinion, there wasn't enough evidence to uphold our appeal," Ewan said.
"We're still shaking our heads at the decision and obviously very unhappy. There's no telling what might have happened if Matt had taken his rightful place back at the front, but the clear track and lack of spray in the rain would have been of huge benefit and the fact Mexico went on to win both races has left us feeling deflated and frustrated."
Halliday said he saw three yellow flags and took his foot off the pedal, slowing appreciably before Mexico whipped past him.
"I can't believe what has happened, but that's life," Halliday said. "We were really quick in practice and the morning's warm-up and I was ecstatic with the starts to both races. There's just that feeling of emptiness that we were wrongly deprived of a significant advantage."
Black Beauty's 8th in the Sprint Race and 12th place in the Feature Race saw the Kiwis score just 3 points from the meeting, but maintain 6 th place in the championship.
France clinched the inaugural A1GP title with a second place in the Sprint Race and an additional point for posting the fastest lap and Great Britain all but cemented 3 rd behind Switzerland with an impressive 15-point haul over the weekend.
New Zealand (now on 67 points) has made up ground on 4th placed Brazil (70 points) and the 5 th placed Netherlands (69 points), neither of whom scored any points today, but Portugal (66) and Ireland (61) have closed the gap appreciably on the Kiwis.
A1 Team.NZL chief executive Bob McMurray says the team's focus has changed ahead of the final round in China early next month.
"Third isn't realistic any more, but we'd like to maintain our place in the Top Six and see if we can reel in Brazil and the Netherlands. We've already surpassed our own pre-Series expectations, but now that we're in this position it would be nice to finish the season on a high.
"As always, the goal is to win races and we'll be striving for a podium finish to bookend the Series after being on the podium in the first ever A1GP race."
Malaysia
A1 Team Malaysia, with its best qualifying performance of the season yesterday, was able to add another point for the team's World Cup of Motorsport points standings. The team takes away a tenth place finish in the Feature race and a retirement in the Sprint race, from the Laguna Seca, California event, the penultimate round of the A1 Grand Prix 2005-2006 season.
In the Feature race, the track was damp after earlier heavy rain and along with most teams, Malaysia opted to start the race on wet tyres. Starting from the back end of the grid after retirement in the Sprint race, Yoong had his work cut out to make it into the top ten, but he attacked from the start. After a quick pit stop to change to slick tyres as soon as regulations allowed, Yoong was off in pursuit of Series points. His attacking style and the lack of grip he experienced left him with a spin and an off-track excursion, but Yoong was relentless and committed. His hard work and endurance was repaid with a tenth place finish. While other front-running cars retired from track incidents, Yoong battled on to the end.
For the Sprint race, A1 Team Malaysia lined up fourth on the grid after the team's best qualifying performance. Just ten minutes before the green flag the weather changed from bright sunshine to a hard downpour of rain, forcing all the teams to change from slick tyres to wets.
The torrential rain falling so close to the start left A1 Team Malaysia, along with all the other teams, no time to change the car setup for these weather conditions. Yoong took the start and with spray from cars ahead resulting in minimal visibility the experienced driver was able to hold position in the opening laps. As the race progressed he found the car had very little grip and consequently struggled to keep pace, then dropped back a few places before a spin put him into the gravel. He was unable to extract the car from the gravel, leaving him stranded and out of the race.
Yoong said at the end of the weekend, "The team worked exceptionally hard in difficult conditions and although we didn't get the results we wanted, we did manage to salvage a World Cup of Motorsport point for the team.
We raced in the most difficult conditions of the season in the Sprint race and I fell victim to them. It was disappointing for us, as starting from fourth, we should have been able to finish strongly. In the feature race I struggled from lack of grip and had to work really hard to keep four wheels on track for the hour of racing. My perseverance was rewarded with a point though."
Jack Cunningham, A1 Team Malaysia Team Principal added, "The weather really didn't help us this weekend – less track time than usual hurt our race preparations and the torrential rain made the Sprint race a bit of a lottery. Still, taking away another top-ten finish is a small consolation. Twelve top ten finishes from twenty races shows our consistency. China is our final opportunity to record two more strong finishes and we'll be going all-out for these in Shanghai."
Australia
Ryan Briscoe has had an impressive start in the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, finishing the feature race in eighth place and earning A1 Team Australia three valuable competition points in the second last race of the inaugural series.
The weather over the weekend at the Mazda Laguna Seca track was an issue for the drivers. Starting on Friday's practise, with a freak snow storm meaning the second session had to be cancelled.
In Saturday's qualifying session Ryan was the first man out in the opening session, and while he was also the first man to come off the track, he managed to recover with style to finish the day fifth fastest. This was A1 Team Australia's best result in qualifying since the first race of the series at Brands Hatch, last September.
A1 Team Australia has been trying to secure Ryan for quite some time but due to other commitments have had to wait until Laguna Seca before getting him in the car. On the announcement Ryan said: "I would like to thank A1 Team Australia for giving me the opportunity to represent my country in the World Cup of Motorsport and I look forward to successful results for the team and our sponsor, Foster's."
Alan Jones, Team Australia's principal said: "We are very pleased to have Ryan in the car. He has slotted in perfectly and adapted to a new car on a track he has never raced on before with a great deal of professionalism. The other contribution which has been very welcomed is his feedback to the engineers. This is one of the reasons we were able to start Sunday's race from the third row of the grid."
Sunday's racing started with a slippery and wet track, and as the competition began for the Sprint race the skies opened. This made racing quite a challenge for Ryan who has not raced in the wet for several years, as Indy Car racing does not allow drivers to race in the rain.
Ryan Briscoe finished tenth in the Sprint Race, picking up one point for Team Australia in his first race for the team. In the feature race Ryan did well to avoid the spinning Thomas Enge – A1 Team Czech Republic driver - on his way to a hard fought eighth place.
Alan Jones commented: "Ryan was posting second and third fastest lap times consistently throughout the race and considering he missed the start, finishing eighth was a great result."
Ryan joins Perth local, Karl Reindler, as the two drivers for A1 Team Australia. 20 year old Reindler tested with the team back at the start of the season but due to other commitments is yet to drive ‘in anger' for Team Australia.
Britain
Sprint race
The conditions were very tough for the drivers throughout the 30 minute race. Torrential rain for most of it led to rivers of water on the track which combined with heavy spray gave the A1 drivers a serious challenge. Robbie Kerr drove a fantastic race, made no mistakes and made two of the few overtaking manoeuvres in the race, passing A1 Team Malaysia and A1 Team Portugal in the first half of the race. Crossing the line in fourth he scored another seven points for the team.
Feature race
In contrast to just an hour earlier the weather had brightened significantly and the Feature race saw a largely dry track with just patches of water. From fourth the team pitted for the compulsory stop on the third lap. A1 Team Portugal was ahead and slow in the pit lane which delayed Robbie. The team did a great job and gained a place on the Portuguese but the lost time enabled A1 Team Germany to pass. From there Robbie held his pace well and was challenging Timo Scheider for A1 Team Germany for third place but wasn't taking risks. When A1 Team France had a mechanical problem in the closing laps and retired, Robbie took third place and his seventh and last podium finish of the season. With other racing commitments, Robbie's seat for the next event in China will be taken by Darren Manning.
Robbie Kerr: "We had a good weekend. Conditions were difficult with the rain in the Sprint – every lap was slippy and we took a different line each time with the rivers so I was very pleased to bring it home in fourth position. We weren't sure if it was going to rain again or not for the second race so we went for a middle of the road set-up. We missed out a little bit on the pit stop. I lost time behind Parente [A1 team Portugal] in the pit lane but we got out ahead of him. Unfortunately Timo [Scheider/ Germany] jumped us there which was a shame and then we were running fourth. When France went out we inherited third position which is brilliant for the Series position; that's what we came here to do – consolidate third. The job's nearly done – 18 points clear of Brazil so now it's Darren's job to bring it home in China. I'm really pleased with the way everything's gone and a big thank you to A1 Team GBR and John Surtees, Tony Clements and Wade Cherwayko for giving me this opportunity."
John Surtees, Team Principal: "Robbie coped extremely well with the conditions in the Sprint race and as with the Feature race it was a case of trying to take opportunities without endangering car. In the second race we were held off by a well driven German car and generally considering how practice looked we upped the pace and came away with a good result. We very much came here hoping to increase our lead for third place – it would have been nice to compete for first but that has justifiably gone to the French for which they must be complemented on a well run programme. It is a credit to them and made it difficult for the rest of us and we'll be looking to challenge them for victory 2006/7. Robbie is not available to drive in China due to testing commitments for a summer programme. That is part of putting us in a better position for the start of the next A1 season to make just that challenge. Darren is coming in to take over the seat and it will be interesting to see how he relates to the car. We're not going there for an experiment. Darren's all fired up and wants to make his mark on A1.
Lebanon
Graham Rahal, driver for A1 Team Lebanon this weekend, ably demonstrated his potential today at Laguna Seca, running in second place for nearly half the Feature race distance, until a spin put him off track. In the Sprint race he also ran well, sitting comfortably in ninth spot until his retirement due to an incident with the German car.
Rahal started from the pit lane at the back of the grid for the Feature race, with the A1 Team Lebanon crew showing their excellent teamwork repairing fairly extensive damage from the earlier Sprint race. The team opted to start the race on dry tyres, one of only three teams to opt for these. Within the first two laps all teams except Lebanon pitted during a safety car period, most having started the race on wet tyres.
Rahal was at the front for the restart and the soon-to-be A1 Grand Prix champions, France, just behind. The French car quickly took Lebanon, but it was the only car that managed to pass Rahal for the ensuing 15 laps, with Rahal showing his natural talent as he lapped quickly ahead of the grid of older, experienced drivers. Unfortunately damage from the earlier race affected the steering of the car as the race progressed. Although Rahal struggled on, these problems caused two spins for the young driver, the second one putting him out of the race. Nonetheless, the A1 Team Lebanon had already made his mark and impressed everyone with his race pace.
The grid for the Sprint race was formed in bright sunshine, but just five minutes before the start of the race, a torrential downpour saw all the cars change from dry tyres to wet. Without any wet practice sessions prior to the race, none of the teams had a chance to prepare their cars for these conditions.
A1 Team Lebanon started from their best grid position of the season so far, on the sixth row. Rahal attacked at the start, passing the cars of Germany, Australia and South Africa before the end of the first lap. Italy caused a safety car period soon after the start with the Team Lebanon driver lying eighth. He dropped a few places after running wide, but recovered well to be just outside the top ten in eleventh spot, a position he retained until an incident with the German car under the safety car put Team Lebanon out of the race.
Rahal summed up his day saying, "The sprint race was really difficult; there was so little visibility I could only really follow by the red brake lights of the car in front. We had a great start though and passed a few cars, but the wet weather really created problems. We damaged the car in the incident with Germany, which gave the team plenty of work between the races, but they managed to fix it for us."
"I have to thank the Team Lebanon boys for working so hard to get my car back out for the Feature race. We had a great start, ended up running up front and on the pace, and quicker than many of the regular race-leading cars. It was always going to be difficult to start from the back and get to the front, but we did it. I was happy with our performance, but not happy that we didn't finish. We'll be back trying our best again in China."
Tony Snook, Team Principal, A1 Team Lebanon, said after the two races, "We're very proud of the team this weekend. Graham drove superbly and he really demonstrated his potential, proving that he is now on the pace with the best drivers in the Series. The crew were given a tough challenge to repair the Sprint race damage before the Feature race, but as always they rose to it admirably, including giving us a very quick pitstop, enabling us to be a major contender for points in that race. I hope that, in China, we'll fulfil the potential we have clearly shown here."
France
A1 Team France stormed to the first championship win of 'The World Cup of Motorsport'. At the tenth round in Laguna Seca/USA Nicolas Lapierre claimed second place in the Sprint Race which brought A1 Team France nine points. This was enough to gain the title as at the same time A1 Team Switzerland up to that point the only remaining title rival failed to score points in the Sprint Race.
It could have been a dream weekend as Nicolas Lapierre was right on course of winning the 40-lap Feature Race. He was leading when three laps before the finish line a low battery caused gearbox trouble. Lapierre had to stop on the track. In the final classification, he was still ranked as 14th.
"We were here to win the championship. And we won it", said Nicolas Lapierre. "It's a shame we were not able to take the next victory. But we cannot complain as this is the first failure out of 20 races."
Jean-Paul Driot, team principal, A1 Team France commented: "Our target was to win the title which was done already in the Sprint Race. For sure I am disappointed we did not take another win with just three laps to go. But if it had to happen then better after winning the title than before…"
In spite of this elusive victory, the success story of A1 Team France in the inaugural season of A1 Grand Prix The World Cup of Motorsport is stunning: Out of 20 races contested so far, A1 Team France with drivers Nicolas Lapierre and Alexandre Prémat grabbed 13 wins, 15 podium places and 18 finishes in the point rankings.
Switzerland
It was no easy weekend for A1 Team Switzerland in Laguna Seca/USA. Series newcomer Giorgio Mondini ended up 16th in the Sprint Race and 13th in the Feature Race.
Heavy rainfall during the Sprint Race made the tenth round of the inaugural A1 Grand Prix season a difficult one for the drivers. The rain just started as the cars were ready to race. Mondini started from 16th place and fought hard against the rivals in front of him. He climbed up to 11th position but this result was spoiled by a drive-through penalty. In the Feature Race the young Swiss driver suffered from problems with the radio and from vibrations after he flat-spotted one tyre. He came in for a second pit stop to swap the damaged tyres when he made a mistake and switched off the engine. This cost him valuable time and several positions.
Giorgio Mondini said: "I had terrible luck on my A1 debut. It was worse than I could ever have imagined. But now we take a look into the future and try to fight back in Shanghai at the season final."
Max Welti, team principal, added: "This was especially a very disappointing Feature Race. Now we shall try to grind out these bad results at the season final in Shanghai. All I want to do now is saying ‘Congratulations‘ to A1 Team France as they already clinched the title. It was a pleasure to fight against them throughout the season."