06/12/2006
NEWS STORY
Back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Feature races in China and Malaysia have boosted A1 Team Great Britain to second place in the 2006-07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Nations Standings, sitting just six points behind leaders Germany (37-31), with the British team eager to keep its front-running momentum rolling this weekend, 8th-10th December, as the Sentul International Circuit in Indonesia hosts Round 5 of the 12-round winter-based series.
Burbage's Robbie Kerr will again race for A1 Team Great Britain on Sunday with Cambridgeshire's Oliver Jarvis fulfilling rookie duties on Friday morning at Sentul. Kerr heads to Indonesia having posted his first podium of the season, second place in Round 4's Feature race in Malaysia last time out, which followed the British team's first top-three of the season, again a second place Feature finish, scored by Jarvis in Round 3 in China as the 22-year-old belied his rookie credentials.
As with the previous round in Malaysia, Kerr is suitably acquainted with Indonesia's Sentul International Circuit having raced at the 2.6-mile track when it hosted Round 8 of the inaugural A1GP season back in February. On that occasion Robbie wasted little time in showcasing his talents behind the wheel of the British A1GP entry and duly claimed the team's first pole position of the season, beating the on-form French team in the process, to lead the field to the Sprint race's rolling start.
While Kerr was forced to settle for second in the Sprint, his sixth podium of the year for A1 Team Great Britain, he found himself a force to be reckoned with again in the later Feature race leading from the front, only to see a potential win snatched away as a result of poor pit-management, the former British F3 Champion eventually taking the final points scoring place in 10th at the chequered.
Sentul, located 26-miles from Jakarta, undoubtedly offers the British team another crack at scoring that elusive first A1GP victory and in an atmosphere guaranteed to be as electric as last season's event when 46,000 fans packed the grandstands to cheer on home-favorite, Indonesia's Ananda Mikola.
John Surtees (right), A1 Team GBR Team Principal, is hopeful Kerr can repeat last season's form. "Robbie was right in the running on our last visit, sticking it on pole and looking good for the win until a poor strategy cost us. We've taken steps to ensure that won't happen again and I think you'll see quite an aggressive performance this weekend, hopefully leading to registering our first win in A1GP!"
"I'm looking forward to getting back out there," Robbie Kerr stated eagerly. "We had a good weekend in Malaysia and hopefully we can go one step better this time round in Indonesia. We were competitive in Sentul earlier in the year and we're up there again this time fighting for the championship. I think we're set for an exciting race, we saw with Canada's win in February it's possible to overtake but hopefully we'll be out front building on our current momentum."
Oliver Jarvis is equally keen to sample Sentul for the first time in his career and focus on the team's two main objectives. "For sure we're looking for our first win this weekend," Jarvis remarked. "We're also looking strong in the championship and we want to try and consolidate that and close the gap to Germany. I've been studying video footage of last season's race to try and get a preview of the track prior to running in Friday's rookie session and doing my bit to help find a competitive set-up."