08/04/2006
NEWS STORY
Despite ranking third overall in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series, A1 Team Great Britain has told Arden International that it will not be requiring its services for the second A1 Grand Prix series that kicks off at Zandvoort in Holland on 1 October.
"We were pleased with third overall," said Team Principal John Surtees, "but you go racing to win, not come third. There's no doubt that we were beaten by two extremely good teams, but Seat Holder Tony Clements and I felt that A1 Grand Prix is big enough and important enough to warrant the services of a team that gives A1 Grand Prix its full attention.
"Arden are an extremely professional and very well managed team," her continued, "but their involvement with both GP2 and the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team made for the occasional conflicts of interest, such as personnel allocation and A1 Team GBR management believes A1 Grand Prix should not be subordinated to other series. We had an option with Arden to sign up for Series Two, which we decided not to exercise."
For series two, A1 Team Great Britain will form its own team of personnel to run its car rather than paying an established team to do the job.