06/12/2006
NEWS STORY
A1 Team India head to Indonesia this week for the fifth event in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. For the third consecutive round on their home continent, A1 Team India will take to the track at the Sentul Circuit on Friday, with A1GP rookie Parthiva Sureshwaren and Armann Ebrahim (right) sharing driving duties.
For the first time this season, the team will benefit from participation in the Friday Rookie session, reserved for drivers with less than six races experience in A1GP. Having sat out the last race in Malaysia, Parthiva Sureshwaren will be able to collect valuable data for the team.
In the centre of the lush island of Java, the Sentul Circuit is a physically demanding 3.9 km long circuit. Sharing the same hot and humid weather conditions of the last race in Malaysia, regular driver Armaan Ebrahim is feeling positive about the team's prospects in Indonesia.
He says, "I'm really looking forward to this race. It's an enjoyable circuit to drive being quite wide and open, with plenty of room for overtaking. Last year we suffered from two drive-through penalties, so I hope we can avoid this and make sure we can show improvement this year. I'm sure that Parthiva's participation in the first practice session will help us in our race preparations, so I'm feeling very positive for the weekend. We've shown good pace in the last couple of events and finished just out of the points in Beijing. I don't think our first points are far away."
Yohann J Setna, Seat holder for A1 Team India added, "Our hopes for Indonesia still remain to score our first points in A1GP. Armaan and the team are working well together, but there is still room to improve. The key in Indonesia will be to work on achieving a better set-up which will give us a better qualifying position. Hopefully Parthiv will gather some valuable data for us in the rookie sessions which will give us an advantage as we head towards the race.
"The weather should not be a factor, as Armaan is used to the equatorial climates he will experience in Sentul. He should also be at an advantage, having raced here before with A1GP."