16/03/2007
NEWS STORY
The 9th round of the 2006/2007 A1 GP Championship will take place next weekend at the Mexico City circuit, which welcomed the Nascar series a few weeks ago.
A1 Team France will have a new rookie driver for this Mexican round, Jean-Karl Vernay. The young French driver will take over the position of the driver to represent his country for the first time.
19 years old, Jean-Karl Vernay won the Campus Cup in 2005, before finishing 2nd in the 2006 French Formula Renault Championship, for his first year in this series. These performances allowed him to integrate the Red Bull Junior Team for the 2007 season. He joined this season the F3 Euroseries Signature Team.
Currently 3rd in the championship with only 3 races to run, A1 Team France wants to grab back his overall championship 2nd place position from the New Zealand Team.
In order to make the difference, the team will need to find the right set up on the 4.42 km bumpy Mexican track, located at a very high altitude (2285m).
Jean-Paul Driot: "Thanks to the support of the FFSA and his President Jacques Régis, I am delighted that Jean-Karl Vernay, a member of the circuit FFSA France’s team, can begin in Mexico in the A1 World Cup of Nations. I am sure that despite his lack of experience of such a car, he will be able to show all qualities that he has already showed us in Campus and Renault Formula. In France, we need to promote new young talents and we are happy to offer them this opportunity with the A1 GP."
Eric Boullier, Team Manager: "We want to thank Dr. Helmut Marko (Red Bull) and Philippe Sinault (Signature) for releasing Jean Karl for A1 team France and letting him race in Mexico City. With the support of the French Federation, we are continuing to set our hopes on the young French drivers of the FFSA Team of France. We are impatient to see Jean Karl on the track and to present him the Lola A1GP car. Despite his youth, we are convinced that he will be able to keep the successes line setup by Nicolas, Alexandre and Loïc and that he will help us to get the second place back from the New Zealand Team ."