09/04/2008
NEWS STORY
A1 Team Malaysia will be in China this week for the penultimate round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport 2007/08 season at the Shanghai International Circuit. Alex Yoong will return with Team Malaysia to the circuit where he scored the first A1GP victory in China, taking victory in the Sprint Race during the first season of A1GP.
Last time out Yoong added to the team's points tally with a ninth place finish in the Sprint race at Mexico City but, after a drive through penalty in the Feature race, the team was disappointed with a 15th place position at the chequered flag.
A1GP has visited the ultra-modern Shanghai International Circuit for the past two seasons and it has provided four different winners. Team Malaysia and Alex Yoong will be looking to repeat what was one of the team's most successful racing weekends in 2006, which saw them secure pole position for both races, win the Sprint Race and finish second in the Feature Race.
The Shanghai track shares similar qualities to the team's home circuit at Sepang as it is another masterpiece by circuit designer Hermann Tilke. The 4.6-kilometre version of the circuit layout was used during last years A1GP race, which missed out three corners and introduced a chicane. This had the effect of bunching the field up for longer through the circuit, whilst the one-kilometre straight at the end of the lap provides drivers with superb overtaking opportunities, resulting in the revised Shanghai Circuit delivering exciting, close racing.
A1 Team Malaysia driver Alex Yoong commented ahead of this weekend's race, "We are really looking forward to getting out to Shanghai, as the track holds good memories for us at Team Malaysia. We are aiming for a good result, particularly with our knowledge of the track and having a good setup from the previous two seasons. This season has been difficult, but things started to look better in Mexico City in terms of our pace and we hope that we can at least get some more points in China."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive of the team commented, "The increasing competitiveness of A1GP has given us a greater challenge this season and now, as we head towards the final leg of the Championship in the UK in May, we are really looking to get some more points. Although we won here in the first season that doesn't make it any easier for us; in fact it probably adds to the pressure. Every team has raised its game, including ourselves, but with the experience everyone now has the pace is much higher, and the field much tighter, with just a few tenths of a second separating the majority of the grid. We can make improvements on our recent outings and need to be pushing for top ten finishes, so that will be our focus this weekend."