22/11/2006
NEWS STORY
Robbie Kerr returns to action for A1 Team Great Britain this weekend as the 2006-07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport continues to hold court in the Far East heading from the streets of Beijing, China to the Sepang International Circuit for Round 4 in Malaysia, Friday 24th – Sunday 26th November.
With Great Britain sitting third in the A1GP Nations Standings behind Mexico and Germany following Oliver Jarvis' second place Feature podium in China, the first top-three of the season for the British entry, Kerr is keen to carry the momentum built by his rookie team-mate and translate it into a maiden A1GP victory. Having wracked up a total of seven podium finishes for A1 Team GBR in last season's inaugural championship, Robbie hopes his familiarity with both car and circuit in Malaysia will play to his advantage.
The former British F3 Champion enjoyed mixed fortunes when the series debuted at the 3.44-mile Sepang International Circuit last November, the first time a current Formula One venue had been used to stage an A1GP race. This weekend's visit similarly marks the first time this season that A1GP has returned to a track previously used by the series following maiden starts in Holland, the Czech Republic and two weeks ago on the temporary Jingkai street circuit in Beijing.
Kerr arrived in Malaysia last year with two second place Feature podiums to his credit for A1 Team Great Britain, scored in Germany and Australia respectively, and the Burbage racer would go on to score his third top-three of the season in the Sprint race at Sepang, finishing third behind France and Switzerland at the chequered. The Feature race proved to be less fortuitous as problems in the pits halted Kerr's front-running challenge prior to his retirement 10-laps from the finish.
Robbie's turn behind the wheel this weekend follows his previous outing in Round 2 of this year's championship in the Czech Republic. Competing at the Auto Motodrom in Brno for the second time in his career, Robbie was denied a second-row grid slot following a post-qualifying technical infringement. Forced to start tenth for the Sprint race he went on to record a points scoring finish in the Feature race courtesy of sixth place.
"I'm excited to be returning to race for A1 Team Great Britain at a track I thoroughly enjoy," commented Kerr upon his arrival in Malaysia. "We were competitive last time we raced here and on current form, notably Oliver's podium performance in China, there's no reason why we shouldn't be challenging up at the front for a second straight season. Track knowledge should definitely play to our advantage so I'm keen to get going again."
A1 Team GBR Team Principal John Surtees is similarly keen to see the British outfit build on its recent potential fielding Oliver Jarvis in Friday's rookie session followed by Kerr for the rest of the weekend. "We're looking for first class results in Malaysia with Robbie back behind the wheel and Oliver doing his bit on Friday morning," stated Surtees. "Oliver can use his time in the rookie session re-evaluating the set-up's we ran last season to good use and then hopefully Robbie can utilize his experiences from a year ago to keep us racing at the sharp end of the grid and push for victory."