22/02/2007
NEWS STORY
The second street race of the season in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport is set in downtown Durban, the capital of KwaZulu Natal which hosts one of the most exciting, glamorous race weekends in the Series' calendar. A1 Team Malaysia is looking forward to the unique challenges which this coastal circuit presents and driver Alex Yoong is ready for the wheel-to-wheel racing which epitomises A1GP.
The Malaysian team's fortunes have swung from the lows of early practice sessions in the middle of the grid at Eastern Creek, Australia, to the extreme highs of double victory in the Czech Republic. This success has given everyone in the team the confidence that winning is achievable, not just at one race venue, but others too, and the team is firmly set on bringing more trophies home to Malaysia from South Africa.
Last year's Durban feature race was completed by only nine cars, and with such high attrition, the team know that perseverance and precision are the key ingredients for success at this circuit.
Yoong says, "Like many other teams last year we were caught out by the unforgiving nature of this tight track. The closeness of the concrete walls, the tight sections and the difficult hairpin combine to create one of the most testing race weekends in the A1GP calendar. The car isn't necessarily on its limits of power, but harnessing this power and releasing it in short bursts, finding every extra foot of braking distance, can be the difference between finishing in the points and a DNF. We need to get two strong points finishes this weekend, so I'm hoping to keep away from the immoveable walls and into the points, at least."
The 3.28 km track lines the beach of the Durban coast, winds its way inland and skims the boundaries of the town's Casino. With extensive grandstand seating set to attract record crowds to the event, A1 Team Malaysia is looking forward to showcasing the A1GP Series in South Africa.
Yoong will be the sole occupant of the Malaysian car this weekend, without the benefit of Fairuz Fauzy driving in the first Friday practice session, but the team made a strategic decision to focus on Yoong this weekend.
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia, explains, "Fairuz is very busy with his commitments in other race series at the moment, so part of our decision rested on his need to plan for these. In addition, we saw last year the number of teams caught out by other driver's mistakes and we didn't want to risk having to compromise Alex's time in the car through any situations such as this. These two factors combined led us to the decision to run with only Alex behind the wheel this weekend."
Cunningham previews the Durban event, saying, "We need to turn our fortunes around more in Team Malaysia. We left the last race weekend in Australia with a few more points, but it's so tight in the overall Championship standings that we need to be amassing as many as possible every race that we compete in. The Durban street circuit is a prime opportunity for success, but on last year's event there are two extremes – victor or victim. We've been a victim of this unforgiving track, now we need to conquer it."