20/11/2007
NEWS STORY
A1 Team Pakistan heads to Kuala Lumpur, this weekend to prepare for the next round of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
The Pakistani team is represented on the track by Adam Khan, a young talented driver who raced with the team in the first season, when he scored 10 points and a best result of fifth place. He concentrated on his university studies last season, and has made a welcome return to the A1 Pakistan team for its third year of competition.
The first two races of the season were held at venues unfamiliar to Khan and while many other drivers had the experience of knowing the track, he had the task of learning the circuit configurations as well as reacquainting himself with the A1GP car under race conditions, with minimal pre-season testing. In these circumstances the team coped well and Khan brought the team its best qualifying performance since the first race in 2005 with a 13th place start for the Sprint race at Brno.
The Malaysian round of the A1GP Series is the first of this season where Khan has experience of driving the A1GP car. He says of the upcoming event, "I enjoyed the Malaysian track; its fast and flowing, with a great atmosphere. Last time we were there we had mixed fortunes. We were doing well in the first race and were on for a fifth place finish until a gearbox problem slowed us. In the second one we were hit from behind – by the Indian car! – and that put us out of the Feature race."
"On our return to the track, we're aiming high and if we can take fifth place this time we'd be happy. Of course our goal is always to be on the podium and ultimately to win, but we also have to be realistic. We've struggled a little so far this season, so need to improve on our pace. After the last race the team reviewed the data and it seems that we were down on engine power, so we're expecting to have an engine change for Sepang. That should help us, particularly at this track which has a couple of long straights where you can put plenty of power down."
The Sepang circuit, completed in 1998 is 5.54 km long and one of the most technical circuits on the A1GP calendar with a series of challenging sweeping corners, long, high-speed straight and tight twisting complexes combined with a width of track which allows plenty of overtaking.
Khan says, "It's always fun to drive at a Formula One circuit, as it's so familiar to us from watching the Grand Prix on TV, it also makes it extra special to drive here. We're also expecting a good turnout of Pakistani fans and we hope to see our national flag flying around the circuit for the race."