11/03/2008
NEWS STORY
Three weeks on from scoring his maiden win for A1 Team Canada in South Africa, Toronto's Robert Wickens heads to Mexico City this weekend as the 2007-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport crosses the Atlantic for the first and only time this season with Round 8 hosted at the 4.42km Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Friday 14th – Sunday 16th March.
Wickens' supreme efforts behind the wheel, aided by some slick team-work from the Canadian pit-crew has rocketed A1 Team Canada up to eighth overall in the A1GP Nations Standings with just two rounds remaining following this weekend's Mexican adventure. In addition to Wickens making his eleventh and twelfth consecutive race starts in Sunday's Sprint and Feature events, the team will again field Markham's Daniel Morad on Friday morning for the hour-long ‘Rookie-Only' session.
Morad, the reigning Formula BMW USA Champion, heads to Mexico City following a two-day Formula Atlantic Championship test outing at California's Laguna Seca Raceway. The 17-year-old continued to showcase his potential on Monday's opening day with the fourth fastest time and top rookie honours. Daniel hopes to replicate that rookie form in Mexico having made his A1GP debut with Canada last time out on the challenging street circuit in Durban, South Africa.
Wickens will assume driving duties on Friday afternoon following Morad's rookie stint with the 18-year-old aiming to become the top Canadian A1GP points scorer on Sunday. Robert, already with more podium finishes to his credit than any other Canadian to have competed in A1GP, his tally taken to four following his Durban Sprint victory, requires just two points to surpass Sean McIntosh's target of 53 points scored from 24 starts. Wickens has registered 52 points in just ten race starts – his accomplishments all the more remarkable given this is his first season competing in A1GP.
It's not simply Robert's race performances in A1GP that have earmarked him as one of Canada's leading young racing talents. Last month's South African Sprint race saw the Canadian become the youngest ever pole winner in A1GP history with Wickens backing that up with a second straight front-row start with second on the grid for the Feature. With a total of six top-ten qualifying performances to his credit, Robert has proved to be equally impressive on Saturday's as he has been on Sunday's!
Wickens, who will go on to compete in the European-based 2008 World Series by Renault, is targeting further A1GP victories with a return to the top step in Mexico City high on his agenda.
"I've been itching to get back into the car after South Africa," enthused Wickens. "The weekend saw some real highs and lows. The morning's Sprint win was followed by a disappointing exit from the Feature, especially frustrating when we'd been looking strong for at least another podium finish. It'll be good to get back out on a long permanent road course following the confines of the Durban street track. I'm confident we can maintain our form and keep Canada challenging at the head of the pack and with that hopefully more wins will follow!"