19/02/2008
NEWS STORY
A1 Team Lebanon will be back in racing action at Durban, South Africa this week, with the seventh round of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. Khalil Beschir (right) will return to the cockpit of the team's car for this event, racing for the pride of Lebanon and, as the only Arab team in the Series, for all the Arab nations. He is joined by reserve driver, Jimmy Auby, a South African-Lebanese racer.
The Durban event is the jewel in the crown of the season and has quickly become known as the Monaco of A1GP. The event centres on a street circuit which winds around the city and along the shores of the Indian Ocean, a superb backdrop for the glamour and glitz of high speed A1GP motor racing. The temporary track is created each year especially for A1GP, with this event being the third visit to Durban for the Series. The South African fans are passionate about motorsport and have helped to build this event into one of the most popular on the calendar.
The track itself is unique in its layout, with the front straight running parallel to the shoreline, before snaking inland, using the local highways of Durban and hugging the Sun Coast Casino building before returning to the pit straight. Its narrow width, bordered by concrete walls is a tough test for the driver, who has to balance aggressive racing with precision, to ensure that the team completes the race distance. The scale of the challenge was evidenced in last year's Feature race in which only ten cars crossed the finish line.
Beschir says of racing for his country in Durban, "I haven't driven the A1 Team Lebanon car since the beginning of the season, so it's a tall challenge to get back in it at a street track, which is one of the most unforgiving types of circuit that there is. The concrete walls are close and with everyone crowded into a confined place there's much more chance of being hit by someone else making a mistake. My focus will be on keeping away from the walls, staying out of trouble and completing both races without incident. It's not going to be easy at this track, but I'll work with the team on the preparations and aim for the best results possible."
Luke Craft, Team Principal, A1 Team Lebanon adds, "Durban is a fantastic location for a motor racing event and the city gives us a great welcome, so we're looking forward to a very exciting weekend. As the only street race in the Series it's a very unique challenge for the drivers and particularly for us, with less experienced drivers than many other teams. We hope that we can have a better weekend than in Sydney; ultimately our goal is to score World Cup of Motorsport points and that's what we'll be aiming for this week."
Reserve driver Auby sampled the A1 Team Lebanon car in the pre-season testing at Silverstone in the UK. The young racer has driven both single seater and saloon cars in his career so far. He began racing go karts at the age of 10, until moving to stock cars at 15, as well as racing in single seaters in the South African A3 championship. More recently he has been testing and racing in Europe.