24/11/2007
NEWS STORY
Brazil
A1 Team Brasil scored its best combined qualifying result of the season today as Sergio Jimenez put the A1GP car in seventh and sixth places respectively for tomorrow's sprint and feature races. Qualifying was held in exceedingly hot and humid conditions at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia for the third round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
The team continued to demonstrate its consistency and performance improvements in this morning's practice, with Sergio completing 18 laps of testing, finishing the session in eighth place. His time was less than a second from session leaders Team Switzerland, who later went on to blitz feature race qualifying with Neel Jani putting the Swiss car on pole by almost a second.
In segment one of qualifying for the sprint race, Sergio set a lap time of 1:50.326, putting himself in provisional fifth, despite suffering from understeer. The team worked hard to improve the car for the second segment, and Sergio set a time a second faster. However, the rest of the field were also working furiously, and Sergio's lap put him in seventh fastest overall, putting him on the fourth row for tomorrow's sprint race.
For tomorrow afternoon's feature race, Sergio will line up on the third row of the grid after setting an impressive time of 1:49.110 in segment four of qualifying. His previous time in segment three time of 1:50.000 was encouraging as the 23-year-old ran on old tyres.
Sergio Jimenez: "We expected something to need changing after the first qualifying for the sprint race and we were right as we suffered a lot of understeer in the first session. We made some big changes and improved the lap time by a second so we have to be happy with that. We should really be a couple of places higher, but seventh is not bad. In first qualifying for the feature race, we started very good on old tyres and improved the car a lot. Unfortunately I made a mistake on the middle sector of that lap, but the first sector was the fastest of the session. We put new tyres on for the final qualifying and the balance changed a bit. I had oversteer in three turns, so I think I could have been fourth, but we know we have a good car for the race and I'm confident we can get a podium here."
Emerson Fittipaldi, Team Principal: "I am pleased that we are showing an improved performance and consistency. I'm very happy with Sergio's last lap because he had oversteer and still set an impressive lap time. He should be in the top four but because of the time he lost due to that, I am happy to start from sixth. Sergio is getting more confident, is learning about the car and is working well with the engineers and the team. We have a good synergy and I'm looking forward to two positive races tomorrow."
Canada
Robert Wickens marked his first competitive weekend in the 2007-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport by capturing A1 Team Canada's highest grid placing of the season courtesy of a fifth place start for Sunday's Sprint race at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. The 18-year-old Toronto rookie followed his sterling performance in Sprint qualifying with 12th on the grid for the later Feature race putting Canada firmly in contention for two strong points scoring finishes on Sunday.
Sampling A1GP's unique qualifying format for the first time at the 5.54km Sepang track, Wickens used two brand new sets of tires for his first two runs, the fastest lap used to set the grid for the Sprint race. Despite being blocked on his first tour, a 1m49.252s lap on his second attempt was quick enough to land Canada its highest start position of the season with fifth overall. Feature qualifying was marred by a slight off at Turn 14 on the final run on fresh tires but Wickens posted the 12th quickest time, with a 1m49.642s, for a sixth row grid slot from the field of 22 nations.
"Qualifying for the Sprint race went well," said Wickens afterwards. "That said, the South African car almost stopped in front of me on my first run and that held me up. I am frustrated not to have qualified better for the Feature race, I had a little off and that ruined my final lap which was disappointing. I think we made good progress yesterday and again today so now we just have to concentrate on getting the finish in the points for the Sprint race and making up ground in the Feature. I think we're in quite good shape!"
France
A1 Team France's weekend got off to a good start on the Sepang circuit and the team confirmed its promising form today during qualifying for Sunday's sprint and long races. Loïc Duval will start from second and fourth positions, which boosts his chances of making a fighting return to the championship with a couple of podium finishes.
During the first two segments of qualifying to determine the sprint race grid, A1 Team France was the only one able to provide serious opposition to pole position setter, the Swiss Team. Loïc finished only 2/10s behind Neel Jani and will be on the front row tomorrow.
In the next two segments, which determine the grid for the long race, the team went for bust. After setting the second time once again the French engineers decided to change the set-up to gain that little extra pace. Unfortunately, its bet did not pay off and Loïc could only set the fourth-quickest time.
However, these solid performances bode well for the rest of the weekend after which A1 Team France intends to have moved up in the overall classification.
Olivier Panis, Sporting Director: "A1 Team France has made an excellent start to the weekend, and today it confirmed the promising performance we saw yesterday. The car is well balanced and it is very competitive on used tyres, which could prove decisive in the long race. We're well placed to fulfil our weekend's mission: namely, to score two podium finishes and close the gap to the leaders."
Loïc Duval, Driver: "I'm fairly satisfied overall with today and above all I'm happy to be back with the team with a couple of good performances after the Brno race that I had to miss. Today we did the job. I'll be starting from second place in the sprint race after getting very close to the Swiss team. We then took a set-up gamble for the last part of qualifying, but the car developed severe oversteer and I made a couple of little mistakes.
"The weekend's aim is to score as many points as possible as the championship still has a long way to go. Switzerland is competitive this weekend, but it's not our main rival on a long- term basis. I think it'd be wiser to keep a close eye on Great Britain and New Zealand. I've driven a good few races for the A1 Team France. I've been on the podium on several occasions, but I can't wait to win for the team. I'll do all I can to score a victory this weekend."
Germany
On his debut for Willi Weber's A1 Team Germany in Malaysia, Michael Ammermüller recorded the team's best qualifying result of the season. After claiming fourth and third starting positions the 21-year old racing driver from Pocking close to Passau will start both the sprint and feature races from the second row on this, the third race weekend of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
Newcomer Michael Ammermüller made an noteworthy improvement: After the ‘star of tomorrow' had been unable to compete in the "Rookie Test" due to technical reasons and was sixth in both the following practice sessions he went on to improve his pace in qualifying constantly. In the first round of qualifying for the sprint race Michael Ammermüller posted the fourth fastest lap time of 1m49.976s in the 520 hp race car. On the single timed lap allowed during the second attempt the talent from Lower Bavaria improved by more than seven-tenths-of-a-second to clock a lap of 1m49.219s, was again fourth fastest and confirmed his grid position on the second row in the process.
In qualifying for the feature race which followed immediately, the A1GP debutant's stock rose still further: In the first part of this qualifying session he set the fourth fastest time once again with a lap of 1m49.293s. Ammermüller improved by more than half-a-second on the last run with a lap of 1m48.736s and secured third place on the grid for the feature race. After sixth and second positions at Zandvoort and seventh and ninth in Brno the result in Sepang marks the best average qualifying performance for A1 Team Germany in the current season.
Michael Ammermüller: "This is a result that I'm pleased with. I still wasn't on the limit with new tyres in the first run. I pushed a little harder and took a few more risks on the new tyres and improved my time in the second run. I made the third timed lap on used tyres. I took new tyres again for the final attempt and did my best qualifying lap. Second on the grid could have been possible if I'd taken a few more risks. My team improved the car constantly with small changes to the aerodynamic balance between the individual sessions. With a good car I think we have potential in both races on Sunday. I hope that I can reward the entire team with a good result."
Great Britain
Oliver Jarvis continued his strong Sepang form putting in two fantastic laps to claim third spot for the Sprint race and going one better to start on the front row for the Feature Race for A1 Team GBR in round three of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
In Q1 Oliver made a slight mistake clipping the curb at Turn 7, costing him valuable time on new tyres. After further set-up changes, he was slightly cautious in Q2 to make sure he had a good lap for the Sprint Race, but despite this was still able to put in a lap only 0.234s off pole position.
In the Feature Race qualifying Oliver pushed the car harder, clocking a 1:48.608s on fresh rubber right at the end of Q4 which saw him jump to the front row for tomorrow's race, 0.960s adrift of A1 Team Switzerland.
Oliver Jarvis: "It was quite a difficult qualifying, especially in Q1 where I got caught out by the car and made a mistake so didn't set a competitive time. For Q2 I had to take it quite cautiously but still managed to set a good enough lap for P3, but if I hadn't had to be cautious I think pole position could have been possible. Q3 and Q4 went really quite smoothly. I think I could have improved slightly on Q4 but congratulations to Neel Jani (A1 Team Switzerland) as there is no way I could have beaten his lap, so second on the grid is probably the best we could have hoped for and we will be looking to have a strong race from there. We'll be looking to move up places in both races, but the aim is to at least get two podiums, if not a win".
Katie Clements, Team Principal: "The set-up changes we made ahead of Q1 didn't work and caught Olly out. But the team did a fantastic job continuously working away throughout qualifying to get the best out of the car. Q3 and Q4 went really well, but A1 Team Switzerland just did an even better job. Olly drove fantastically and will be in the heart of the action for tomorrow's races."
Ireland
Adam Carroll will start 13th and 7th for Belmayne A1 Team Ireland in round three of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at the Sepang International Circuit tomorrow.
After difficult practice sessions the team made further changes ahead of qualifying which made a big difference to the handling of the car. Unfortunately Adam lost time on his first run on new tyres as the rear stepped out at Turn 14 but with a clear track in Qualifying 2 he clocked a 1:49.915s which eventually left him P13.
The team worked hard ahead of Qualifying 3 to fix a problem with one of the wishbones and had Adam back on track with six minutes left on the clock for his final run on new tyres. He delivered a fantastic lap of 1:49.218s which puts him P7 for the Feature Race tomorrow.
Adam Carroll: "We're still playing catch up but we're finding our way. I lost the rear end under braking into Turn 14 on my first run on new tyres but I'm much happier with our Feature Race qualifying position. Considering the problems we've had it was a pretty good lap. I'll be pushing as hard as I can tomorrow and hopefully we can come away with a good result."
Dan Walmsley, Race Engineer: "It was a largely successful session apart from our Sprint race qualifying position. We were nowhere coming into qualifying but we made some changes and it's just a shame we only had four flying laps to make it work. Adam put in an absolutely fantastic drive to get P7 for the Feature Race and there's definitely more to come from him. We also had a problem with one of the wishbones during the session and the team worked fantastically in minutes to get the car out for the final session".
Mark Kershaw, Team Owner: "It's been a hard day for the team, but everyone worked well together and we eventually turned things around despite having difficult practice sessions. Sprint Race qualifying was tough, but Adam produced a very good time on the third qualifying run which basically saved the day and we can go into the Feature Race looking for a good points finish. It is so competitive out there - although Switzerland seem to be in a class of their own."
Lebanon
A1 Team Lebanon completed final preparations for tomorrow's third round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Sepang, Malaysia. The two qualifying sessions produced 20th and 18th fastest laps. The team will start in 20th for the Sprint race, but will be in 22nd place for the Feature race after technical irregularities demoted the team to the back of the grid.
The morning practice began a little later than the team had hoped, with the extreme heat causing cooling problems for the A1 Team Lebanon car. It delayed the start of Alajajian's final runs before qualifying, but he was untroubled and set about continuing with preparations for the race. He was quickly settled into a strong pace, turning 15th fastest lap by the end of the session.
Afternoon qualifying began well for the team, with Alajajian posting his best lap position in the first segment, with 12th quickest lap. His second run was at a similar pace, but with the more experienced drivers dropping their lap times, the Lebanon team finished 20th fastest overall to line up in this position for the Sprint race.
The best lap of the second two segments of qualifying determine the grid position for the Feature race and Alajajian was anxious to improve on his Sprint race position for this main race of the weekend. He finished his two flying lap runs with 18th fastest time, but due to the scrutineers deeming the car to be under the minimum weight, the teams' times for the Feature race were disqualified and the Lebanon entry relegated to the back of the grid.
Alajajian said of his second A1GP qualifying day, "We had a good first segment and I thought we had the potential to make further improvements, but that didn't really happen. We did get held up in one of our segments, which was unfortunate, but overall I think we're making progress. It's a little bit easier having had experience at the first round in Zandvoort (Netherlands), but the flying lap format makes it quite a challenge. You only have one lap to get everything right and if you don't you've missed it for that segment. I hope with more experience I can continue to improve in these sessions.
"I also use new tyres in qualifying for three of the four sessions, and these always give you the best lap times, so I have to try and get the best lap out of these.We only run one set in the practice sessions, so we don't have much experience of how they will differ until we get to qualifying. It's still a learning curve for me, but I think we're making progress."
Trevor Bale, A1 Team Lebanon Team Manager added, "Chris put in a good effort today and we're pleased with the progress that he's making as we move through the sessions, despite the challenges he's faced with the mechanical issues we've suffered. We're disappointed to have been penalised for a minor technical issue, but we'll put this behind us and all work hard for a strong finish tomorrow."
Malaysia
A1 Team Malaysia will be hoping to race hard at the team's home event in Sepang this weekend. The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport third round of competition is being hosted by Malaysia and as the local team, Alex Yoong and his crew, are determined to bring home their first points finish of the season. The team had looked strong with 10th quickest lap in the morning, but a 19th place start for the Sprint race and 15th for the Feature race were less than the team expected for themselves, their sponsors and all the fans.
The morning practice session was the final chance for A1 Team Malaysia to try different setup options prior to the grid-setting qualifying session. Yoong worked with his engineers in order to review the performance of the car after each run and develop it to gain the maximum speed for the race. By the end of this, Yoong had posted 10th quickest lap and looked set for a strong qualifying session.
Prior to the session A1 Team Malaysia welcomed a very special guest, with Dr Sheikh Muszaphar, Malaysia's first astronaut, meeting the team and catching up with Yoong. Dr Sheikh Muszaphar is Malaysia's first astronaut selected from Malaysia's Angkasawan programme which is collaboration with the Russian space agency to send Malaysians into space. By profession he is an Orthopaedic surgeon with Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. His spacecraft took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, South of Kazakhstan and he spent approximately ten days in space. Dr Sheikh Muszaphar safely landed on earth at 6.37pm Malaysian time on 21 October 2007.
Yoong said of Dr Muszaphar's visit, "I met Dr Muszaphar few years ago. He's a great guy and I've kept in touch with him since then, but obviously haven't seen him since he became an astronaut. He's the first one from our country and a great credit to the nation. There are very few people who have been into space, it was fascinating to hear about travelling at speeds a lot faster than we do!"
In afternoon qualifying Yoong posted a disappointing 19th quickest lap after the first two segments of qualifying, which gives him this position for the grid.
The second two segments, setting the grid for the Feature race, produced better results with 16th fastest lap after the first of the two laps and then the final lap producing 15th place finish, to line up in this slot for the main event of the weekend.
Yoong remarked, "This morning was a bit better, but to be honest we're a bit off the pace. 10th was an improvement, but the time difference was still too far off where we needed to be. This afternoon the car was the best it had been. Why are we so far back on the grid? I just don't know – I'm happy with the car, the team, we're doing everything the right way as far as I'm concerned, so I just don't know. Right now, that answer needs someone smarter than me."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia, added, "Of course we're disappointed that we haven't been able to reproduce our form. With the technical problems behind us we had expected a significantly better grid position for both races. Right now we are unsure as to why we are not on the pace - indeed we are well off it to a level that causes us concern. However we'll keep focused and try our hardest to make the improvements we need to regain our position as a leading team of the series. Everyone in our team has one goal, and that is to do the best for our nation. We value everyone's support for us and we hope that we can deliver a good performance tomorrow."
Mexico
Michel Jourdain Jr. had a hard qualifying session this Saturday at the 5.54-Km. (3.44-mile) Sepang International Circuit for Round 3 of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. Nevertheless, he hopes to regain positions to obtain his first points in the series.
Jourdain Jr. did his best to adapt to the difficult Sepang circuit during the first time he races there. In qualifying for the Sprint race, in the first segment he set a time of 1'52.834 with fresh tyres and in the second segment he did his best lap with used tyres at 1'50.364 to get the 16th place. In the qualifying session for the Feature race he was on new tyres for both segments and his best laps were at 1'50.869 and 1'51.067 to start 20th.
"I'm still very happy to be here at Malaysia. I really like this circuit, it's amazing and it is one of the favourite ones for the Formula One drivers. It has turns that have been difficult for me, three very fast turns and it is there where I have to improve my driving, it's where I feel that I lose more (time). Physically (the track) is very hard. From Brno to now I still feel that I need to be in better shape physically for these cars, but I am a lot better. Here there is a lot of humidity and it's very hot, for the drivers this is even harder," the Mexican said.
"Unfortunately, we did not have a good qualifying session. Mainly during qualifying for the Feature race when I made three errors that cost us a lot of time. The car is much better than where we are in the time sheets. Probably the car is not good enough for a Top-5, entering the turns it develops a little bit of oversteer and we are going to make some changes for Sunday, but with those changes we can only gain a few tenths of a second," Jourdain Jr. said.
"During qualifying for the first race we did better. The Feature race is very long, so hopefully we can execute a good strategy, not making mistakes to collect some points," he added.
Netherlands
The fifth grid position for A1 Team Netherlands in the Feature race offers the team perspective of leaving Malaysia with a good result. The team will have to start the Sprintrace from tenth on the grid.
In this morning's final free practice A1 Team Netherlands was still well outside the top five, with a thirteenth fastest time. After the first qualifying run for the Sprintrace the team was in third though and the expected place inside the top five seemed within reach. In the second run Jeroen Bleekemolen did improve on his laptime, but other countries made bigger steps, causing A1 Team Netherlands to drop to tenth.
The first qualifying segment for the Feature race resulted in a provisional tenth grid position for the team, this time on used tyres. In his final flying lap though Bleekemolen set his fastest laptime of the weekend, with 1'49.021. With that he took a place on the third row of the grid for the long race, which also has two mandatory pitstops. A1 Team Switzerland was in a league of their own today. Neel Jani managed to set the fastest time in all four segments which means that they will start from pole position in both the Sprint and Feature race.
Jeroen Bleekemolen: "The first run actually started really well for us, we were in third. I though, this is looking much better than in free practice. This morning we just had many problems. The second run we also had new tyres, but suddenly we suffered from tremendous understeer. That was a bit strange because we did not change the car. It also was a shame, otherwise we could have well been in the top six for the Sprint race grid. Qualifying for the Feature race just went well, we only had one set of new tyres left. On the old tyres it also went reasonably well. We were in tenth, but some teams had gone out on new tyres. In the final lap I pushed the car to it's maximum. During the qualifying we managed to improve quite a bit. The quys did a really good job, took the right steps. I am pleased that we are in fifth, then one podium is within direct reach. In the Sprint race we should try and take points. The good thing is that both New Zealand and South Africa are behind us, that could work out well for us in the Championship."
Jan Lammers; "This morning it looked like it was going to be a weekend of damage control. Then it is not easy to turn the tide. Surprisingly we were closest to the front runners in the most technical mid section of the circuit, with the most turns and the most difficult part for the driver. In the first sector we had the most problems. That meant working hard. First you have to understand the problem. Jeroen does tell us what the car is or isn't doing, that you have to translate into something that works. The difficult part is making changes that bring improvement, certainly not making it worse. In the four short sessions everything has to be a direct hit. That the guys just did very well. Jeroen, Tim Wright and Erik Schuivens worked in harmony and fortunately we got the car close to the top just before the races tomorrow. It is not only the car inside the top five in the final session, it is also being inside the top five this weekend, with almost everyone going out on new tyres. It is a good feeling to be able to turn around a bad weekend this way. Tomorrow Jeroen will have to work hard in the Sprint race, we can't assist him there with pitstops. It is completely up to him to make the best of it. For the Feature race fortunately our onset is better."
New Zealand
New Zealand has overcome debilitating gearbox problems to post competitive qualifying times for tomorrow's 3 rd Round races at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Malaysia.
Despite being starved of practice time, New Zealand driver Jonny Reid pushed into the third row for the opening Sprint Race, qualifying 6 th and then battled into 10th spot for the Feature Race.
The gearbox problems struck when Black Beauty could only manage five laps in the morning's official practice session, plummeting from 4 th fastest yesterday to 16th fastest today. Frantic work in the garage wasn't enough to get the car back out during the one-hour session.
"It put us at a distinct disadvantage," said A1 Team.NZL spokesman Bob McMurray. "We couldn't test the repair work or finetune the set-up before qualifying started and Jonny cooled his heels in the garage when he could've been clocking up valuable track time.
"This circuit is tricky to get the optimum set up for the fast and long straights and then the technical style of the many corners, so track time here is vital!
"You actually wish it was a nightmare so there was a chance to wake up and have everything be back to normal."
Pakistan
Preparations for the third round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport continued today, as A1 Team Pakistan were out on track for qualifying at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia. While the team benefited from a new engine on the second day of running at Sepang, A1 Team Pakistan driver Adam Khan suffered with a lack of pace which saw him qualify 22nd on the grid for both the Sprint and Feature races.
Having changed the engine yesterday afternoon, the team concentrated on engine installation laps in the final practice session of the weekend. In hot and humid conditions, A1 Team Pakistan driver Adam Khan completed 18 laps in the one hour session, taking the opportunity to bed in new brakes in preparation for the afternoon's qualifying session.
Under the A1GP qualifying system, each team completes one flying lap in four qualifying segments. The fastest lap from the first two segments sets the team's position for the Sprint race, while the fastest lap from the second two segments sets the grid slot for the Feature race. Pushing hard on his first flying lap, Adam spun, leaving just one opportunity to set a good time for the Sprint race. First out on track in the second segment, Khan played it safe to ensure he recorded a competitive lap time. Unfortunately while Kahn improved his time in every session, it was not enough to lift the team up the time sheets.
Speaking about his qualifying performance, Khan said, "I'm very disappointed with how qualifying went, I'm not used to being that far back. I'm a little confused as to where the time is lacking, while the engine change did help us, it wasn't enough to lift us up the time sheets. I missed the first run because I spun, which meant I wasn't able to get a good feel for the circuit, so I had to be a little too cautious on my second flying lap. That upset our whole qualifying programme, as I was also on new tyres at the time, and obviously was unable to take advantage of the new rubber.
"Racing is a completely different game to qualifying, so there is still a lot to play for, but unfortunately I have qualified at the back and it will be hard from there. I'll try and make the most of it tomorrow. The main thing is to never give up; we will work as hard as possible overnight to see where the problem lies and I will be trying my hardest tomorrow to get a good result for Pakistan."
A1 Team Pakistan Engineer Andrew Miller said, "We changed the engine yesterday as having looked at the data it was clearly lacking straight line speed. That improved our time by half a second, but we still a bit off the pace.
We're going to take some time to go through the data, look at a couple of changes, reviewing the data with Adam and helping him to improve his pace. "The Sprint race is very short so there will be little opportunity to make up places, but the Feature race is longer and with a good pit stop strategy, hopefully we will be able to make up a number of positions."
South Africa
South Africa qualified eighth for tomorrow morning's Sprint race and ninth for the afternoon's Feature race at Malaysia's Sepang circuit.
Vulindlela, driven by 21-year-old Adrian Zaugg, finished eight tenths of a second off the pole time for race one and 1,6 seconds short of the fastest qualifying time for the longer of Sunday's two races around the state-of-the-art 5,54-km Sepang International Circuit, 60 km south of Kuala Lumpur
Switzerland's Neel Jani dominated qualifying and will start both races from pole position, from France's Loic Duval and Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis in the 20-minute Sprint event and ahead of Jarvis and Germany's Michael Ammermuller in the 70-minute Feature race.
"Obviously we had wanted to do better in today's qualifying session," said Mike Carroll, general manager of A1 Team South Africa. "We need to focus on scoring some points tomorrow to stay in the championship hunt". South Africa is second on 36 points after the first two rounds of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, a single point behind New Zealand and five ahead of Great Britain.
Zaugg was disappointed, but not disheartened: "Things didn't go as we expected this afternoon. We tried a lot of set-up options in the free practice sessions and when we came to qualifying on new tyres we just didn't get the results we expected. I'm comfortable with the efforts of the Team and my own performance. We'll just have to see if we can do better tomorrow."
Switzerland
Neel Jani, who has been on pole at Sepang the past two years, continued his domination in Malaysia with pole position for both the sprint and feature races.
Already early this morning the Swiss driver had been dominant in the third practice session and clocked a very fast time of 1.49.176. In the afternoon, he followed through with both poles.
Under the 2007-2008 regulations, each A1GP Team is limited to one ‘flying lap' per session, and at the end of the first two sessions the grid is determined. The teams' fastest single lap from either of these first two segments counts towards the sprint race grid slot.
In the hot and sunny conditions at Sepang A1 Team Switzerland finished Q1 with a best time of 1.49.003. In Q2, the team improved their time and finished with a stunning 1.48.630 being the fastest of the Q2 session. The combined result gave Neel Jani pole for the sprint race.
For the Sunday feature race the same applies also for the last two segments, so, the team's fastest single lap from segments 3 and 4 determines the feature race grid slot. In Q3, A1 Team Switzerland again clocked the fastest time of 1.48.425, 0.382s ahead of France. In Q4, the Swiss team was still the one to beat but Jani put in an incredible lap to go even faster with a lap of 1.47.648.
Neel Jani commented, "I encountered a slight problem with brakes towards the end of my last outing and spun. But I managed keeping the top of the sheet in the session and I did not suffer too much from the heat, although it is a bit like being in the sauna with the heat and humidity."
During the qualifying press conference Neel Jani summed-up his session: "I am so pleased overall. I wanted to be P1 yesterday and I made it today. I pushed so hard. It was fantastic in both qualifying sessions for each race. James Robinson my engineer and everyone in the team did such a good job. They adjusted the car for each segment. At the end, in the last run it was just exactly perfect. Finishing on pole for the sprint race and the feature race was certainly more than what we were hoping. I was on pole here last year in the two races, but I did not win both races. My aim is to win both races tomorrow."
Max Welti, team principal of A1 Team Switzerland commented: "I am very pleased with the result. To be starting with a good advantage is key on this difficult track. Neel Jani, Rahel Frey our rookie, our engineers and the mechanics did a really good job all weekend. What a great qualifying result to set us up well for the two races tomorrow."
USA
Jonathan Summerton qualified A1 Team USA in 11th position for the Sprint and 13th for the Feature in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at
Sepang International Circuit on Saturday.
"All in all, I think we did a decent job for my first qualifying in a while in the 'We the People' car," Summerton said. "I know we have a consistently fast car for the races."
Summerton's confidence for Sunday's 20-minute Sprint and 70-minute Feature is based upon running strongly on worn tires, which will be utilized in the race. Both of his fastest qualifying laps were on tires that had been previously used. Typically in A1GP qualifying, which allows just one lap in each of four qualifying sessions (two for Sprint and two for Feature), new rubber makes a significant difference.
A1 Team USA put sticker Cooper tires on the A1GP-mandated Lola-Zytek for the first qualifying session and Summerton ran 1:52.872, three seconds off what he had run in practice (using worn tires) earlier Saturday. The Team made multiple changes to the setup and added downforce and on used tires Summerton ran 1:49.758 on the 3.44-mile, 15-turn circuit for 11th on the Sprint grid.
"We made a mistake in the setup for new tires in the first qualifying and in the second I was still a little nervous from the problems we had in the first," Summerton said. "We ended up 11th, but there was a lot more that I didn't make the most of."
Summerton ran 1:49.818 on used tires in the opening segment of Feature qualifying. A1 Team USA put on its last set of new tires for the final segment and Summerton ran 1:49.937.
"The opening Feature qualifying run was on old tires and I made on a tiny mistake on the lap, but managed to put it in P13. In the second run, I had problems with understeer in the car and we didn't make the most out of the tires," Summerton said.
A1 Team USA will be trying to score its first points of the season Sunday in the third round of the A1GP season.
"We're close to starting in the top 10 and we have a solid car for the race," A1 Team USA owner Rick Weidinger said. "Jonathan has always been fast in the races and it's good on used tires and we'll be racing on used tires. We're optimstic of scoring points.
"We've made progress with the car. Leon Gutfreund, our race engineer, has changed the front and rear suspension geometry and made other changes to adapt it to Jonathan's style. We're in the hunt and there is more to come as Jonathan runs more laps and Jonathan and the Team improve their communication."
To check out our Sepang qualifying gallery, click here