14/12/2007
NEWS STORY
Brazil
The action began today at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China for round four of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. Sergio Jimenez was at the wheel of the A1 Team Brasil car on his first visit to the track in today's two practice sessions.
Today's focus was for Sergio to get to grips with the 4.3km circuit and find a good set-up for the track. In this morning's two-part rookie practice session Sergio was quickly on the pace, topping the timesheets for much of the first 25-minute segment with his lap time of 1:24.216, until Team Germany set a time just eight hundredths of a second faster on the chequered flag. Sergio put in another solid performance in the second segment, eventually finished third quickest behind Teams Germany and Canada.
Sergio continued his work in the afternoon's one-hour practice. He completed 17 laps with a quickest time of 1:24.248, just under a second off the pace of Team Ireland, who finished the session fastest. All teams will have one further hour of practice tomorrow morning before qualifying.
Sergio Jimenez: "It hasn't been bad today. We started very well in the rookie session and set the second fastest time. At this track it is hard on brakes and everyone will have a problem, especially in the feature race. When we started this afternoon's practice, with new tyres, we used old pads and it wasn't good; I couldn't brake so we didn't get a proper lap. After that we changed the brakes but the tyres were old so we couldn't set a good lap time. The position this afternoon is not where we will be tomorrow, it will be much better."
Canada
A1 Team Canada faced some on-track adversity but still managed to remain at the sharp end of the timesheets with Toronto's Robert Wickens finishing second fastest in Friday practice ahead of Round 4 of the 2007-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at China's Zhuhai International Circuit on Sunday, 16th December.
Having reached the podium on his A1GP race debut last time out in Malaysia, 18-year-old Wickens continued to impress as he lapped the 4.30km Zhuhai track for the first time in Friday morning's ‘Rookie-Only' session. Despite a driveshaft issue, he finished second quickest behind Germany's Michael Ammermüller, with a best lap of 1m24.205s. Lap times tumbled in the afternoon's hour-long practice session. A puncture robbed Wickens of valuable track time, limiting him to just 10 laps, but he repeated the morning's feat of finishing second fastest, this time behind Ireland's Adam Carroll.
"I think in general the results of day we were ok," Wickens reflected. "The only problem is we never really got to work on the car on old tires which is crucial for the race and in the official practice we had a puncture which put an early end to the day. It was frustrating because there was a half hour left in the session but we'll figure it out. It's a little frustrating as we're an hour behind and potentially a set of tires behind everybody else. Hopefully we can figure something out without wasting another set tomorrow. It's going to be tough but the team will be able to rebound!"
"We've hit the ground running," Team Manager Simon Cayzer commented. "The starting set-up was pretty good and the work the team put in preparing for here has been good but it was a day of mixed emotions really. We look quite good on the timing sheets but we've lost track time so we still have quite a bit of work we'd like to get through and a couple of problems with the car we'd like to iron out. We need to be a little bit creative with our plan for tomorrow so we don't hurt ourselves in qualifying and our overall strategy for the weekend. We're feeling relatively confident as we had the benefit of running Robert in both sessions, hopefully we're on target for a good result this weekend!"
Mark Gallagher, whose Status Grand Prix operation runs both A1 Team Canada and A1 Team Ireland, commented; "Robert did a great job under difficult circumstances, first with the driveshaft issue and then with the puncture during practice. It's very satisfying to see Canada right up there with its stable-mate Ireland, hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the weekend!"
Germany
The fourth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at Zhuhai in the People's Republic of China kicked off in style for A1 Team Germany. The outfit of Seat Holder Willi Weber headed both Rookie practice sessions before finishing third in Friday's final free practice session of the day.
The team's driver Michael Ammermüller from Pocking near Passau in Germany adapted well to the 4.3 kilometre circuit in the South Chinese province of Guangdong. "We managed to find the right gear ratios right out of the box", said the 21-year old Bavarian driver as no team has ever driven a lap on the track which is new to the A1GP calendar.
Michael Ammermüller was the quickest driver during the first Rookie practice session with his time of 1m24.132s being 0.084s faster than that of Brazilian driver Sergio Jimenez, his closest challenger. In the second Rookie practice session, Michael's lap of 1m24.135s once again marked the best time in the field of 19 nations. "We were working on the aerodynamic set-up in the morning", explained the German driver.
After the last practice session for series newcomers, the free practice session in the afternoon was open to all drivers. A1 Team Germany reached third place on the timing sheets with a lap time of 1m23.848s. Only Ireland's Adam Carroll and Canada's Robert Wickens had been faster. "We have been working on the mechanical set-up of the A1GP car", said Michael Ammermüller. "In general, the car's balance feels okay. We were only struggling a bit with the temperatures of the brakes. The track got slower towards the end of the session after sand had been blown onto the tarmac. So our last attempt to improve our times came a bit late and we were not able to capitalize on our new tyres. Third-fastest time in the session feels okay."
Commenting on the qualifying sessions on Saturday which will determine both grids for the Sprint and the Feature races on Sunday, A1 Team Germany's nominated driver said: "The track is not too difficult. But at the same time, that means we can expect quite close times which might turn qualifying into a thriller. We will have to choose our strategy carefully. It will only be my second qualifying in A1GP."
Great Britain
A1 Team GBR finished 4th and 13th in a day of mixed emotions as Danny Watts and Oliver Jarvis took to the Zhuhai International Circuit in China for the first time today.
The British squad got off to a positive start with new recruit Danny Watts in the car for the Rookie sessions. Danny has a great deal of experience having been crowned Formula Renault UK Champion in 2002, and winning races in both British Formula 3 and the Porsche Carrera Cup. Although having tested the A1GP biofuel powered car in the off-season as part of the series' Think Greener Racing Campaign, this was the first time he'd been behind the wheel for his nation and he did not disappoint. His feedback was excellent, which with the circuit being new to the calendar was even more important than usual and he put in consistently fast times to end the session 4th quickest overall with a time of 1:24.217.
For the afternoon, the GBR car was handed back to A1 race-winner Oliver Jarvis. Compared to some of the other front-runners in the official session, Olly was on the back-foot having not had the benefit of the Rookie track time therefore was not able to make the most of the new tyres at the start of the session as he was focused on learning the circuit. The team worked through a number of different set-ups throughout the hour which ultimately weren't completely right for the track and driver but the team will be back in positive form tomorrow morning as they prepare for qualifying.
Danny Watts: "Having only experienced the biofuel-powered development car for A1GP, for me it was a fantastic feeling to be a rookie driver for my own nation. Out on the circuit, the car felt easy to drive and was consistent. There was one small area where we had to find a little bit more with the car, but overall it was competitive. Ultimately I'm pleased that I was inside the top 4 on my first outing."
Oliver Jarvis: "It was a disappointing session as P13 obviously isn't where we want to be. We had a few issues with the car, though our old tyre pace towards the end of the session wasn't so bad, we really need to work on the car set-up on new tyres. We'll sit down, look at the data and keep working hard overnight to improve before tomorrow. However we've been in this position before in Zandvoort and we came out okay there with a win!"
Katie Clements: "Danny did a fantastic job this morning giving the team valuable feedback and putting in some consistently fast laps. In the second session, Olly was unable to make the most out of the new rubber at the start since he hadn't had the benefit of the earlier rookie session to learn the track, and unfortunately we experienced a few issues with the car throughout the session. However the team will work through these and come back tomorrow with a confident approach ahead of qualifying."
Lebanon
Team Lebanon took to the Chinese track in Zhuhai for the opening day of practice at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Zhuhai, China. The fourth round of this season takes place at a new venue for the Series, and the first of two visits to the country. Drivers Khalil Beschir and Chris Alajajian will be representing the nation, and as the only Arab team in the Series, representing the wider Arab world too.
In the first official practice session this afternoon Beschir used the time to acclimatise himself to the A1GP car at this circuit. He worked with the engineers to develop the balance of the car and its overall setup in efforts to improve on lap times. During the course of the afternoon Beschir lapped consistently, making progress through the session and finishing with 21st quickest time.
He said of the opening day, "Overall I'm satisfied with our performance this afternoon. I always enjoy representing my country by driving the Lebanese car in the A1GP Series. It's a very competitive series and there's a wide range of driving skills within the field, so we're pitted against a mix of highly experienced European drivers and others from countries like ours where motorsport is not so developed and there is less of a heritage in the sport. We're battling with these and gradually making progress which is a positive position."
Trevor Bale, Team Manager, A1 Team Lebanon adds, "Khalil drove consistently today. It's a fairly straightforward circuit, but the slower corners are challenging. We'll be reviewing the data from today's session and working with Marc Hynes, our driver coach, to look at the areas in which Khalil can gain some time. We made some changes towards the end of the session and this resulted in some improvements, and we'll be looking to continue to make progress tomorrow with Chris taking over the car in the morning."
The team were limited to running in only one session today, following a Sporting Regulation infringement, with the drivers testing at this circuit prior to the event which is not allowed within the A1GP rules.
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Zhuhai, China, continues tomorrow. Chris Alajajian will be behind the wheel of the A1 Team Lebanon car for the final morning practice session. The team will then select the driver for the remainder of the weekend. On Saturday afternoon there will be a qualifying session to set the grid for the two races. These take place on Sunday with a morning Sprint race and afternoon Feature race. All the A1GP action can be seen live on Al Jazeera Sport across the Middle East.
Malaysia
A1 Team Malaysia was out on track today for the opening practice sessions of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Zhuhai, China. Aaron Lim, the team's young rookie driver and Alex Yoong, the regular driver for Malaysia represent the nation in the Series and were both at the circuit today. Yoong finished the day in 15th place at the end of practice, while Lim had been unable to record a time in the rookie session.
The morning session running for Lim was hampered at the beginning with a clutch failure which sidelined the team for the first part of the rookie session. Working quickly and thoroughly the mechanics set to work to make the necessary repairs, but were unable to be back out on track for the remainder of the session.
Lim said of his brief experience in the A1 Team Malaysia car at Zhuhai, "Obviously I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to participate in the rookie session. I just had one out lap and realised that there was a problem with the clutch, so I had to return to the pits. Sometimes these things just happen and I just have to look forwards, and wait for my next opportunity to drive the A1 Team Malaysia car, which will now be in January at Taupo, New Zealand, so I have to wait until next year!"
In the afternoon Yoong took over the driving seat for Malaysia, but after only four laps was forced to return to the garage for the Malaysian crew to inspect the car and make further repairs after seeing smoke in the cockpit.
Yoong said of his limited running time, "We really seemed to be jinxed this season with small problems which are not of anyone's making, but just compromise our ability to challenge for top ten positions. This start is probably the most difficult one we've had in terms of lack of running. It will put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, but I know we'll all try our hardest to have a better day tomorrow and through to the races."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia said after the two sessions, "We're all disappointed to have had so little time on the track today and it's been particularly difficult for Aaron and Alex who just didn't have a chance to learn the track and start working on developing the car's performance. I know everyone will pull together to recover from this setback and we'll make some progress tomorrow. Despite the lack of running Alex was able to put in some encouraging lap times and we will be able to make improvements tomorrow."
The team will be looking to put the first day of Zhuhai behind them now and push on tomorrow for final practice in the morning. The afternoon will be the qualifying session for the two races which will set the grid for each of these. On Sunday the 20 minutes Sprint race will take place in the morning with the longer 70 minutes Feature race, with two mandatory pitstops, concluding the event in the afternoon.
New Zealand
The New Zealand A1GP team is pleased with an information gathering day in practice for Round 4 in Zhuhai, China this weekend.
Jonny Reid set the 10th fastest time in his first one-hour session, completed the second highest number of laps as the team focused on learning as much as possible about the 4.3km track making its World Cup of Motorsport debut.
Reid's pre-event prediction that the field would be tight proved unerringly accurate in both the Rookie Sessions and the all-in practice.
Just 0.986 seconds separated Reid from first-placed Ireland as Canada and Germany filled out the top three places in the first official practice with drivers who had earlier competed in the Rookie Sessions.
After those two 25-minute sessions, less than a second separated the top 12 rookies, and the top four were within 1/100ths of a second of each other. Kiwi driver Earl Bamber set the 12 th fastest time, but was only .936 seconds behind the pace-setting German Michael Ammermuller.
"That's the way it's going to be all weekend," Reid said. "We just need to keep finetuning the car and learning the circuit and trust everything will fire on the day."
Reid says he doesn't feel any additional pressure on such an unforgiving track. "You always have to handle the stress and strains and strive to do everything right. This track simply punishes you more than most when you make the slightest error because everyone is just so close."
Pakistan
A1 Team Pakistan was back on track today for the fourth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. Zhuhai in China is a new venue for the A1GP Series and today was the first opportunity for the teams to start gathering data and experience of the track in preparation for Sunday's two races.
Adam Khan, representing his nation in this third season of the Series, had to wait until the afternoon before having his first taste of the track. The majority of the teams have a young rookie driver to run in a morning session; however the Pakistan team does not have this luxury, as there are currently no young, up-and-coming racers eligible for the role. Recognising the importance of this session, the team will soon be launching a new initiative to find a suitably qualified candidate for the role. In the meantime, Khan and the team must watch from the sidelines during the morning session.
In the afternoon Khan was finally able to experience for himself the Chinese track. While the other teams were able to move on from learning the circuit and undertaking the routine technical tasks required at the beginning of a race weekend, the Pakistan team was only just starting on their preparations. The lap times that Khan posted in the afternoon reflected this, with the team finishing 22nd fastest by the conclusion of the session.
Reflecting on his first taste of the Zhuhai International Circuit, Adam Khan said, "I'm disappointed with our progress today, undoubtedly missing the first session wasn't helpful, but I don't feel I'm able to get the most out of the car at the moment. The circuit features several slow corners, where braking is very important, so I'll be talking to my engineer and looking at the data to see if there's any time we can make up there. Hopefully we'll be able to make more progress tomorrow."
A1 Team Pakistan engineer Andrew Miller added, "Missing out on the extra track time during the rookie session really hurt us today. As the track is new for everyone, this weekend was a level playing field for most of the teams, while we were forced to set out the first hour of practice. Taking to the track for the first time this afternoon, we had to look after the car and concentrate on bedding in the brakes so I think we're probably a session behind the rest of the team's in terms of track knowledge."
Switzerland
This was an incident-free day for Alexandre Imperatori's first outing at Zhuhai Circuit in good sunny 20 degree Celsius warm weather conditions at 11 sharp for the start of the first official practice Session dedicated to the "rookie" drivers.
Since he arrived in Zhuhai, Alexandre Imperatori feels at home. There is no need to acclimatize a driver who lived near the track. He could concentrate on Austrian trainer Helmut Fink's strict disciplined and intensive training program and even made sure that Switzerland came second behind China in the Chinese cooking competition organized by the GP administration.
In the rookie session, Alexandre Imperatori, who drives for the first time for A1 Team Switzerland, was able to learn the car and completed 14 laps with a sixth best lap time of 1.24.641 at the end of the two sessions. Engineer James Robinson had a routine technical program to work through with the two drivers.
"It is never easy the first time. But I hope I did a good job. It was a good experience. There are lots of hard braking areas for hairpins and tight corners, followed by accelerations into long straights. This requires a good driving technique," Imperatori said. "I did not have any brake problems like Neel and was able to complete three fast laps. But we worked a lot in that area of race preparation. The session was a lot of work. I hope I prepared the car well for Neel. It was a very interesting experience. Everything went as per plan. I was well prepared too. It is the most important."
Preparations for qualifying and the races have continued in the official practice with Neel Jani driving for the first time at Zhuhai in view of the qualifying and races on Saturday and Sunday. The Swiss driver progressed regularly starting in 2nd official practice with a tenth time of 1.24.902 in his first lap. He was already 8th fastest at the third lap with 1.24.309. At the end of the session Neel completed 16 laps and finished 11th overall of the session of the second practice. Neel Jani said: "The track here is very interesting, smooth, and not too bumpy. On this track I was surprised to see that there is a lot of mechanical traction. I did not push so much because I right away had a brake problem. Towards the end of the session the master brake cylinder failed. Luckily nothing happened and could manage to stay on the track. We first needed to understand the problems. But today, we could not get a clean run. At the end, the objective of the exercise was just to fix the problems with our brakes. For the rest, we'll stick to our experience and acquired data. With the team and the engineers it was a matter of a quick routine check of the systems and the general set-up. It will be interesting for the rest of the week end with qualifying round and the race as the last element. The main technical part of the circuit will be quite a challenge, but I think that everyone will be close together even if a lot of overtaking occurs. It should provide some interesting racing.'
Max Welti: "Alexandre Imperatori did a good job and I am pleased with the work that we achieved today with both drivers. Alex did a solid job for someone who had never touched the wheel of such a powerful car before. He is a really accomplished and professional driver. He interfaced well with the engineers so everything went according to plan. When Neel took over there was a problem with the brakes but we were lucky to have identified the reason. Brakes are a key factor for a week end like this since the track is hard on them."
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