08/04/2008
NEWS STORY
A1 Team Lebanon head to Shanghai, China this weekend for the penultimate round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season. Jimmy Auby will once again line up for the Arab nation, after a promising debut race in Mexico City which saw him finish in 15th and 17th places during the races.
The Shanghai International Circuit is one of the most impressive circuits in the world, built in 2004, it is also one of the newest. The Circuit was built in just less than 18 months, work started in April 2003 and by September 2004, the track was hosting the first Chinese Grand Prix. The 5.3 km2 site was effectively marsh land, which means that the buildings and race tracks had to be floated on polystyrene. This makes the suspended media centre and restaurant, which form two bridges over the track even more impressive.
Auby Commented ahead of the race weekend, "The Mexico round was a huge learning experience for me, but I feel like I started to get a feel for the pace of the car. I think we can definitely get quicker, and as I learn the car and the team we will get more competitive. The Shanghai track in the A1GP car will be a new experience for me, but the team have data from previous seasons and we will do a track walk with the engineers and prepare for the weekend as much as we can before the first practice session."
Team Principal Luke Craft commented, "Jimmy did a solid job in Mexico, which is why we have opted for him to stay in the car for Shanghai. We are heading towards the end of the season rapidly, and we are still chasing those elusive first points, we are very aware time is running out for us to score this season. A1 Team Lebanon works really hard as a team and getting some points will be a well earned reward for the mechanics and engineers representing the small Arab nation."
Auby 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. Auby made his A1 Team Lebanon driving debut at the Silverstone pre-season test session and made his race debut at the Mexico City race track four weeks ago. After a tough weekend of close racing in Mexico, Auby has again secured the cap, driving for team Lebanon in only his second A1GP race weekend in Shanghai.