09/04/2007
NEWS STORY
The penultimate round of the 2007 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport takes place in Shanghai, China this weekend (April 14 and 15) and South Africa will be represented by 27-year-old Alan van der Merwe, who makes his fourth appearance behind the wheel of Vulindlela.
Gavin Cronje (right), 27, winner of the Rotax Max karting world finals in 2001, will be the reserve driver..
It will be a brand new experience for the former British F3 champion and Honda F1 test driver, who last drove the colourfully liveried South African car, which is supported by Telkom, SABC Sport, Aon and ISC, in round seven of this year's series at Eastern Creek in New Zealand.
Van der Merwe is one of the many A1 drivers who will be making their first appearance at the magnificent Shanghai International Circuit.
The distinctively-shaped circuit (it takes on the form of the Chinese symbol 'Shang', which means high or above) was built in 2004 at a cost of $30 million. It is breathtaking in its scope and design and gives true meaning to the term 'state of the art'.
It is built on 600 acres of swamp land and rests on polystyrene blocks; it is, in fact, floating on this base. There are 14 corners with an equal number of left- and right-handers that combine to form a 5,45-km lap. A 1,2-km straight links turns 13 and 14 and in last year's race, which marked the end of the inaugural A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, the highest top speed recorded by the A1 cars was 290 km/h.
The circuit, which can accommodate 200,000 spectators (the main grandstand seats 29,000), is situated 30 km north-east of Shanghai in the Jiading District.
Following the team's excellent showing in the last round of the series in Mexico City three weeks ago, where Zaugg was fourth in the Sprint race and third in the Feature race, A1 Team South Africa is looking for another good result in China this weekend.
"Alan has proved to be a more than capable driver and, if we can successfully build on our performance as a team in Mexico, I'm sure he can earn his first A1 podium," said Mike Carroll, sporting and technical manager of A1 Team South Africa.