04/12/2006
NEWS STORY
A1 Team South Africa returns to Jakarta in Indonesia this week for the fifth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. Sentul hosted the eighth round of the inaugural A1GP series in February.
Twenty-year-old Adrian Zaugg (right), who got A1 Team South Africa off to the best possible start by convincingly winning the season-opening sprint race at Zandvoort in the Netherlands in October, might not be available for this weekend's races.
Zaugg has a problem affecting the muscles of his forearms and is considering corrective surgery. Alan van der Merwe, who accompanied Zaugg to Beijing in China and Sepang in Malaysia for the last two rounds of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, is confirmed as part of the race driver line-up for Sentul, but his partner for the weekend is likely to be a late announcement.
"We're obviously concerned about Adrian's condition," said Dana Cooper, CEO of A1 Team South Africa. "We are giving him all the support we can and we are confident he will overcome this problem with the right medical care. In the meantime we are also confident that we have the driver talent at our disposal to give a good account of ourselves in any A1GP that Adrian might be forced to miss."
Vulindlela will be carrying the names of its sponsors - Telkom, SABC Sport and Aon - as well as the familiar 46664 that all A1GP cars now carry to signify their support for the Nelson Mandela Foundation and its HIV/Aids initiatives. The car that proudly carries the six colours of the South African flag - and is regarded as one of the best-looking among the 23 nations competing - also carries the number 2010 to signify South Africa's hosting of the next football world cup.