22/02/2009
NEWS STORY
Australia
With the crowd building by the hour here in Kyalami, the expectation from the Feature Race starting from 4th position was the obvious, a Podium.
On the start John Martin was boxed in and challenged the leading four cars with some attrition giving way to a move forward. After some excellent moves early we saw Team Malaysia collide with Team Ireland and then Team Malaysia colliding again with Team New Zealand. Martin was then racing in third place and gaining on the front two cars.
Settling into the race Rob Arnott Team Chief Engineer called Martin in for his first mandatory pit stop on Lap 7, at the same time Team Germany pitted in the second bay ahead of Team Australia. As Martin tried to exit and continue his race as planned, Team Germany arrived and failed to stop properly in their pit bay when Rob [Arnott] called Martin to stop after he released him to avoid any collision. The engine stopped when the anti-stall never engaged as he braked in that split second placed third at that stage of the race. Adam Gotch Team Manager called over the radio for the crew to rush to Martin's aid
and push start the car down pit lane. In the end they had to run the starter from the pit garage half of the pit lane for Martin to keep racing.
The Feature race hopes of a podium at that stage looked ominous as Martin pushed as hard as he could with a lap to the lead group. With another pit stop remaining there was some hope to gain a point and perhaps the fastest lap of the race. Neither would eventuate with a result of 13th position the best possible result in the Feature.
Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "I am very disappointed in the result. The anti-stall didn't work as it is programmed to do as John braked to avoid a collision into the back end of the Team Germany car. The engine stopped. The German team was not due to pit until the next lap and that ended our chances to podium. John, the team and I feel the good work this weekend was taken away from us because of an electronic error and the team. We'll analyse the data and look into the electronics of this new car."
John Martin: "I was watching Rob with the lolly pop and when he let me go all I saw was the German car in front of me so I braked and the engine stopped. The guys tried pushing me to restart and that didn't work so they had to run half way down pit lane with the starter to get me going again. I had the best times over most of the race and was second fastest overall. We had Brazil covered and Monaco, all I had to do was to keep the car going as it was quick and running perfect. The boys worked hard this weekend for us and I thank them for that, just wish this wouldn't happen and we got what we had planned for, the podium."
Brazil
A1 Team Brazil's Felipe Guimaraes led the squad to its first podium position in 23 races today when he took a fine second in the Feature race at A1GP Gauteng at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Brazil's last podium came in November 2007 when Sergio Jimenez took third in the Feature at the Malaysian round.
From his eighth place grid slot in the Feature Race, Felipe made a good start up to sixth. With New Zealand going off track on lap four, Brazil was up to fifth and Felipe then passed Malaysia for fourth. After making the team's first compulsory pitstop on lap nine, Brazil emerged in third place and over the next quarter of the race began to put pressure on second-placed Monaco. When Monaco's Clivio Piccione ran wide on lap 23, Felipe seized his chance to move into second, and increased the gap between the two after his second stop on lap 24. After 40 long laps in the searing heat, 17-year-old Felipe became the youngest ever podium finisher in A1GP.
Earlier in the day Felipe began the 14-lap Sprint race form the seventh row of the grid in 14th. He had lost a position after lap one down to 15th, and retained that position after the round of mandatory pitstops. There was an incident on lap nine when GBR's Danny Watts came together with Felipe's Brazil car when attempting to overtake, but luckily Felipe was not affected and crossed the line in 15th.
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will be visiting another brand new circuit for the next round of the championship when it visits Portugal's Portimao Circuit in the Algarve. It will be A1GP's return to Portugal after three years away - the last round in the country was in season one when the event took place at Estoril.
Felipe Guimaraes:
Sprint Race: "The car was good, we had some problems with the set-up but it will be better for the Feature race as we are making some changes. For the Sprint race I just wanted to be safe so the car was good ready for the Feature as we are starting eighth. I just wanted to save the tyres and bring the car home."
Feature Race: "I'm really happy with the result. Yesterday I had the big crash in qualifying and I didn't think that today I would finish on the podium! But I had a great start then during the race the car was good. It was a bit worrying at the end because the engine was losing power and it was just going but we managed to keep going to the finish thankfully. I was pushing hard but not taking any risks and we brought it home in second. I really wanted to do a good job today and I have."
Emerson Fittipaldi, Team Principal: "I'm so happy and excited and I think Felipe has a great future. The team made an incredible recovery from the qualifying crash and Felipe did a fantastic job and his mind was focused. He was running with the leader when he has the fuel pressure problem at the end but we still finished second. I'm really proud of Felipe and the whole team."
France
Today, A1 Team France took part in the Sprint and Feature races in the fifth round of the 2008-09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Championship on the Kyalami circuit in the Gauteng province in South Africa. Overall, it has been a disappointing weekend for the team. Yesterday, Nicolas Prost did not have any luck in qualifying and today, he finished in 10th place in the Sprint race and was knocked off in the Feature event after only a few laps. The team leaves South Africa empty handed.
In the Sprint race Nicolas lost a place at the start and then another on the track in the opening laps. The A1 Team France driver was struggling with braking problems, and was unable to get the best out of his car. He lost another place after being hindered by a rival during his pit stop, but the car's balance was better and he began lapping at the same speed as his opponents. He saw the flag in 10th spot, as the small number of laps did not give him enough time to fight his way bac k up through the field.
In the Feature Race he was unable to defend his chances. The team had opted for an aggressive strategy to gain positions but Nicolas was hit by another driver after only 6 laps. His car was too badly damaged to continue.
Olivier Panis, sporting director: "This weekend Lady Luck hasn't smiled on us. We had everything it took to score a couple of good results but a red flag in qualifying and an accident in the race dashed our hopes. It just goes to show that the slightest mistake in A1GP can have serious consequences. But we've done our best as our results in Kyalami are due to race incidents that had nothing to do with A1 Team France. We hope to have more success at the next event."
Nicolas Prost: "It's very frustrating to have the speed to fight at the front and to finish the weekend without scoring any points. Apart from the result, our working method and our speed here on the Kyalami circuit have given us cause for satisfaction. We've got the pace to be up among the front-runners, and we owe our setbacks to unfavourable circumstances rather than any direct mistakes on the part of the team. I'm confident that we'll bounce back quickly."
Great Britain
After a difficult start to the weekend, with the team enduring electrical problems throughout practice, A1 Team Great Britain was happy today when Danny Watts finished the A1GP Gauteng Feature race in sixth position, scoring six valuable championship points. It came after a disappointing Sprint race at the South African circuit in which Danny was forced to retire after sustaining damage to the car trying to overtake the Brazilian team.
Starting 13th for the 14-lap Sprint race after struggling with electrical issues on the car in Saturday's practice, it turned into a frustrating race for Danny and the team. GBR dropped one position down to 14th after the first lap and then dropped to 16th after the compulsory round of pitstops was completed. On lap nine, Danny made a move to overtake Brazil on the start/finish straight. There was contact between the two, causing a damaged sidepod and ripped tyres to the GBR car, which was sent into the gravel trap, putting an end to the race.
Danny gained two places at the start of the 40-lap feature race, moving up to eighth from his tenth place grid slot. With Ireland being pushed off on the first lap, GBR were up another place to seventh and then three laps later moved up to sixth when Malaysia went off track. The team gained a position after the first mandatory pitstop on lap nine, emerging in fifth place, and the team then made its final stop from that position on lap 26. Portugal managed to jump GBR during the stop, therefore Danny moved into sixth position. Two laps before the end, GBR was overtaken by Lebanon and crossed the line in seventh.
The sixth round of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will see the series returning to Europe for another brand new event at the Portimão Circuit on the Algarve in Portugal on 12 April. Three weeks after that, A1 Team GBR will return to home soil for the seventh round at Brands Hatch.
Danny Watts:
Sprint Race: "I'm really disappointed with the result especially as the team has transformed the car for the better since yesterday. It's really easy to drive and it's just a shame we found the sweet spot so late in the weekend. The goo thing is that I know we've got a really god car going into the Feature race. We're looking forward to dragging a result out of the next race."
Feature Race: "The car was fantastic throughout and that made it a lot easier during each stint. I had a good race with both Netherlands and Portugal, but unfortunately lost out at the pitstops, which is one thing I've got to work on. Apart from that we have come out of the weekend with a semi-decent result - it's satisfying after what has been a very character building weekend for all of us."
Katie Clements, Team Principal: "This weekend has not been as good as we had hoped but we were playing catch up the whole time as we didn't take part in Friday practice. The team has worked really hard all weekend and we finally found a quick car today. The first race was unfortunate but luckily we were not in a position where we lost out on points and we just quickly turned our attentions to the Feature. We started in tenth due to qualifying being red flagged yesterday before Danny had the chance to set his lap, but he pushed hard, stayed safe and we have scored some points, which we really needed."
India
A1 Team India added to its championship points tally, with a 6th place finish in the Sprint Race at the Kyalami Circuit in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Sunday morning broke with warm and sunny weather, almost ideal racing weather. A1 Team India started the sprint race from 5th position on the grid. When the start lights went green, Narain got an excellent start charging up to 4th position by the first corner, out-braking A1 Team Monaco. He held onto that position for a few laps. A problem with the ratios of 1st & 2nd gear caused him to lock up the rear wheels coming into the final chicane, allowing A1 Team Monaco to get a run on him down the front straight & pass him going into the first corner. He tried to recover the position, but the loss of momentum caused A1 Team Ireland to also get past him on the long uphill section. This dropped Narain to 6th place, a position he would hold onto until the end of the race.
Starting 18th in the Feature Race, Narain got a solid start. After a few laps he had moved up to 14th place, with other drivers making mistakes and getting involved in incidents with each other. The first sequence of pit-stops went off quite smoothly, and Narain moved up to 12th place by the middle stint of the race. After the second sequence of pit-stops, he had moved to 11th place, behind A1 Team Italy, and was catching him with a steady run of quick laps. With 6 laps to go, he was almost under the A1 Team Italy cars gearbox, and was pushing very hard. He made two very strong attempts to pass the Italian, but each time the car slid wide under braking and the Italian driver was able to get the position back. With 3 laps to go, the A1 Team India car started developing fuel pressure problems, and with just a lap to go, the problems were slowing down the car severely, allowing A1 Team Germany to pass Narain on the very last lap. A1 Team India finished the race in 12th position.
After the races, Narain said, "I'm quite disappointed that we were not able to score points in both races today, despite being on the pace. The disadvantage of starting in 18th place for the feature race was very difficult to overcome. Coupled with the fuel pressure problem in the last few laps, it made for a disappointing finish. However, we showed that we have the pace to run at the front of the field with our 6th place finish in the Sprint race. We are at a disadvantage to some of the other teams as our financial position is not as strong as theirs, and therefore we are not able to have a selection of things like gear-ratios, spring, etc. which could help us to get an optimum setup for the car / circuit combination. We are very fortunate to have some backing from the Tata Group, but we are hoping that some more corporates in India get behind us and support the national racing team as we go to the next race in six weeks time in Portugal."
Ireland
The A1 Team Ireland squad was out of luck in round five of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Kyalami, South Africa when Adam Carroll was punted out of the Feature Race on lap one as he passed Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy. Earlier Carroll had finished a fine fourth from sixth on the grid in the Sprint Race but the net gain of five points from the weekend was not enough to retain the lead of the series and Ireland has slipped to second, three points behind Switzerland heading to the sixth round of the championship.
After making a good start Carroll was up one place from his grid position of sixth and ready to challenge Team Malaysia on the back straight. Carroll got a clear run out of the previous corner and was already past before he turned in for turn five. Needless to say, the Portadown man was very disappointed afterwards.
"I'm pretty annoyed, pretty angry with the Malaysia driver," said Carroll. "I made a good start and had already made up positions and we were having a battle. Malaysia was slow coming onto the back straight so I used my push-to-pass and I knew I was ahead. I even turned in quite late to give him some room and he just hit me in the back right corner. That's very disappointing for everybody in the team and it's cost us the lead in the championship. We would have had a good afternoon but we'll just have to regroup for the next event.”
Team Principal Mark Gallagher was very angry after the incident, which he described as unacceptable; “Frankly I'm disgusted. It's taken us four seasons to get to this level of competitiveness. We're pushing to win a championship and it's not the only time that this driver has caused incidents – in fact he did the same thing to New Zealand later in the race. That's cost us the championship points lead that we fought so hard to create. It's now developed into a very tight three-way battle at the head of the points table with Switzerland, Portugal and ourselves.
"We were on course to consolidate our points lead today but for a piece of poor driving. Team Malaysia is one of the very best in A1GP, but today their driver has cost us dearly. Adam and the team did a great job to improve two spots on our grid position in the Sprint Race showing just how competitive we are when we get a clean run. We're still very much in it so now we have to put this weekend behind us and focus on reproducing the performances that helped us to the series lead in the first place. It's still all to play for."
Lebanon
It could have been a script from a Hollywood blockbuster for A1 Team Lebanon this weekend. After battling major engine problems and technical issues which kept the team working late into each night of the race weekend, finally 18-year-old driver, Daniel Morad, was able to be a star, with a superb race from the back of the grid to sixth place in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport event in South Africa.
A1 Team Lebanon celebrated their best ever finish in the A1GP series in today's Feature race at the Kyalami circuit in Johannesburg. Watched by a large contingent of Lebanese fans, Morad and the Lebanese team certainly gave them plenty to cheer.
Morad didn't have the best of Feature race starts, as technical gremlins remained, but he quickly made up for this as he scythed his way through the field. Superb passes on India, Germany and Great Britain were applauded by the fans as Morad raced on to his points finish. His efforts were aided by two lightning quick pitstops from the A1 Team Lebanon crew. Despite the return of a misfire in the closing laps, Morad was able to take the chequered flag in sixth place.
Earlier in the day the Lebanon team lined up on the grid for the Sprint race. Morad had a lap of the track before lining up on the grid, the only opportunity for the team to check that the issues of the earlier Sprint race had been resolved, however on this lap he had another engine misfire.
The Ferrari engineers were able to re-programme the electronics and Morad was able to start the race, but after only one lap, in which Morad had gained an impressive five positions, he suffered a gear change problem and had to return to the pits. The team quickly set to work to resolve the issue and Morad was then able to go back out on track. With just four laps of the race remaining, there was no chance of any improvement in finish position, the team could only use the race to check that the problems encountered had been solved. A stunning lap – 11th quickest - by Morad proved that he had lost none of his determination or pace, despite finishing 20th.
Morad was delighted with his Feature race result saying, "I had an anti-stall problem at the start, but it only took me three corners to catch up the pack. I was able to blitz through the field as the car was perfect. Overtaking was easy at first as I was able to brake later than the other cars. In the middle of the race the engine gave me a bit of a problem, then it was okay, until about 10 laps later when I felt it again. At the end it was very worrying. I was able to overtake Great Britain but then the car slowed and I thought we might not make it to the end, luckily we did."
Tameem Auchi added his congratulations to the teamwork, saying, "The guys have worked so hard this weekend with major challenges for them, so it is a superb result for everyone, particularly after the disappointing races we've had previously. Daniel put in a huge effort to have a fantastic pace in every session and in these two races. It was a pleasure to watch him racing today and we're all delighted to be celebrating a strong top ten finish."
Malaysia
A1 Team Malaysia salvaged a lone World Cup of Motorsport point for taking the fastest lap at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa today, in the fifth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. A ninth place finish in the Sprint race and a 15th place in the Feature race were the fruits of a difficult weekend for the Malaysian team.
The early part of the weekend was a major challenge for the team, after major engine problems from the first practice session through to minutes before qualifying. Fairuz Fauzy drove superbly, which combined with a welcome dose of good fortune to deliver a second place start for the Feature race and ninth position for the morning Sprint race.
The Sprint race began with a standing start and Fauzy was quick off his mark, battling for position. He attacked hard but maintained position until he was able to make a pass on the French car ahead of him, moving into eighth place. He stayed in this position until the mandatory tyre change pitstop. Fauzy brought the Malaysian car into the pits but the Swiss car was in the next pit and with a very tight pitlane, he had to stop at an angle. The Swiss car then pulled away from the pits, delaying the Malaysian mechanics running to the side of the car to change the tyres. This lost the team vital seconds and dropped them back one place to ninth..
Fauzy maintained position for the remainder of the race, posting fifth fastest lap time and having the highest top speed at 238.9 kph. Despite this, and with few laps left, he was unable to make it back into the points, to finally finish in ninth place.
After the Sprint race Fauzy said, "I was pleased to have finished in the top ten, but if we hadn't had our problems in the pitstop I think we could have been higher up the order. We lost a place to New Zealand and I wasn't able to get it back. I tried to catch this car but it is very difficult to overtake here."
The Feature race did not go to plan for Fauzy with a slow start off the line dropping him back to fifth place. After a close and frantic battles for position with Ireland Fauzy moved up to fourth place, but contact with New Zealand put him back down to fifth. He was then forced to pit with a suspected slow puncture from the incident with the New Zealand car and after changing a front tyre, he returned to the track, although now back in 16th place.
A few laps later Fauzy returned to the pits for his mandatory stop and with four new tyres returned to the race track. He continued to struggle with the handling of the car and was finally forced to go back to the team garage. The team worked quickly to resolve the problems and were finally able to send Fauzy back on track. With no hope of finishing in the top ten to score points, the team took the decision to use the PowerBoost feature and set the fastest race lap to score one point and Fauzy quickly accomplished this. The team were classified in 15th place at the end of the race.
Fauzy said of the race, "Naturally I'm very disappointed with today's Feature race. It should have been a podium finish for us, but instead we just have one more point. I had a bad start and lost two or three places, then I had to fight to get them back. I clashed with the Irish car after he squeezed me and he then went off. The New Zealand car was ahead of me in the first part of the race, but was very slow and blocking me. I kept pushing him to challenge for position but when he crossed in front of me for a corner I had to brake hard and we touched with my front wheel hitting his rear wing. After that the car didn't feel right.
I ended up returning to the garage and the crew worked hard to get me back out. I was lucky to be able to set fastest lap and at least get one point."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive of the team summed up the weekend saying, "We've faced innumerable challenges this weekend, particularly with engine supplier issues which have been out of our control. We thought we'd got it back on track with an excellent qualifying position for the Feature race and a potential for points in the Sprint race. But as we've done too many times this season, we weren't able to make the most of this."
Monaco
Team Monaco finished in 5th place in the Sprint race and in 3rd position for its first ever podium finish in the Feature event at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, host of round five of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Powered by Ferrari. Today's results mean that Team Monaco moves up to 9th in the championship table with 23 points and five Top Ten finishes.
Clivio Piccione made a difficult start from fourth position for the 14-laps Sprint race this morning, at first losing a place to team India before immediately launching a comeback as the battle between the top five cars remained incredibly close. Clivio immediately made a successful move back on India to regain fourth position. The Monegasque squad was running in first place when Clivio came in to make his mandatory pitstop on lap seven and the team remained in fourth place until the final lap when Clivio felt a loss of power coming out of turn eight. It was the Netherlands who, from pole position, took the Sprint race victory, with Portugal, Switzerland and Ireland ahead of Monaco, who crossed the line in fifth position.
From the team's maiden pole position Clivio left the field behind him to battle it out into turn one at the start of the afternoon's Feature race. Early exits by championship leaders Ireland and team New Zealand mixed up the pack in the top ten whilst Clivio built up his lead in front of Switzerland to 1.7 seconds after only two laps. The team made an early stop in the first mandatory window, but a quicker stop later by Switzerland meant that they rejoined the race ahead of Clivio who was trying to overtake those cars still yet to stop. Monaco was then running in second place when Clivio started to struggle with grip, allowing Brazil to close the gap from third. Brazil took advantage of Clivio's ailing tyres and slipped past just before the second pitstop window. With 15 laps to go, and from leading the race once again, Clivio came in for a quicker second stop and returned to the track in third place. With all eight PowerBoost's still intact he maintained his position ahead of the Netherlands and took the chequered flag for Monaco's first ever podium finish. With points scored during both the Sprint and Feature races the new A1GP round at Kyalami has provided the platform the team required to get its inaugural championship campaign back on course, achieving its goal of two Top Five finishes for the weekend.
Clivio Piccione, Driver and Seat Holder: "The start of the Feature race was very good; I got off the line in the lead and was able to pull away and maintain the gap from Switzerland. The car was feeling great, but when we went in for the first pitstop it did not go the way we wanted and we lost a few seconds. We got out in second place and then I was really struggling on the second set of tyres. The car did not behave as I expected and at the end of stint the car was very difficult to drive and the track was tricky. Our second stop was not great either and we lost more time, but we got out on better tyres and the car felt as it did during qualifying so I was able to protect my position from Netherlands and catch up to Brazil. In the remaining few laps we were getting close to Brazil and I saw them struggling so I tried to catch them and reduced the gap to nearly one second on the last lap, gaining ground but sadly not our position. It is a great result for the team, however, with points in bag and making up a few positions in the championship. Improvement has been made in terms of our performance and we are really looking forward to the rest of the season."
Graham Taylor, Team Principal: "Clivio did not experience a great start to the Sprint race. He was on the dirty side of the circuit and lost a place to India, but immediately got it back with a brave overtaking manoeuvre over three corners. The pitlane is very narrow here and so not to get caught in traffic we pitted when the first window opened and executed a good stop to continue in fourth place comfortably ahead of Ireland. But at turn eight on the last lap there was a loss of power from the engine which gifted Ireland our fourth place. Despite this, it was a strong performance by Clivio and the team this morning. We were very much looking forward to the start of the Feature race and Clivio started very strongly. We pitted early, however a poor pitstop dropped us behind Switzerland, but we were still in a strong position. Clivio then started to report problems with the tyres and lack of front end grip, putting him in the clutches of Brazil. We lost position before the second round of pitstops, but on a better set of tyres Clivio was able to close in on the Brazilian car and challenge for P2 at the end of the race. The team is very happy to finish on the podium so early in its A1GP career. I would like to give credit to Clivio and team for such great performance this weekend."
South Africa
It was again heartbreak for South Africa and Adrian Zaugg in their home grand prix. The 22-year-old started from a very disadvantageous 15th on the grid, but was already up to 12th at the end of the first lap. He made up another three places before the first mandatory pit stop and just failed to make up another place when he emerged from the pits behind Portugal after a slick pit stop by the South African pit crew.
There was an audible groan from the partisan and enthusiastic South African crowd as Vulindlela slowed dramatically on lap 17 while lying seventh. The distinctively-liveried car, painted in the colours of the South African flag, almost came to a standstill in turn 12 and Zaugg struggled to get the car going and limped back to the pits and retirement.
"I started to hear ugly noises coming from the engine around lap eight and then I started battling with second gear," said Zaugg. "After the pit stop the engine started to misfire and I couldn't downshift. Eventually I couldn't find any gears. I toggled around with the paddle shift and managed to keep the car going until I reached the pits.
"I'm very sorry to let down the fans. The crowd support really boosted me and I wanted to give them a good result after the disappointment of last year's race in Durban."
A1 Team South Africa general manager Mike Carroll, who was also involved with the organisation of the event, felt that it had been a great success. "It shows that wherever we stage this event in South Africa, we can put on a good show. We had a good crowd (early indications are that around 41 000 people were at Kyalami over the three days) - South African's are crazy about motor sport and gave us great support.
"Now we go to the Portimao circuit in Portugal for the next round in April, where we must regroup and make some progress."
The South African team wore black armbands in memory of motoring editor Steve Dlamini of City Press newspaper, who died in a motorcycle accident on his way to Kyalami on Sunday morning.
USA
A1 Team USA driver Marco Andretti rallied from a 17th place finish in Sunday's morning's Sprint race to finish eighth in the Go-GP.Org A1GP Gauteng, South Africa Feature race.
Andretti was able to capitalize on the misfortune of several teams during the eventful opening laps of the Feature and was then able to find some welcome speed in the back half of the event, punctuated by a brief hold on the race's quickest lap, 12 laps from the finish.
A1 Team USA remains tied for 11th in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport standings with 19 points.
Marco Andretti: "It was a tough weekend, but at least we scored a few points by the end of it. We were just too far behind at the start of both races to make a run at the front. Like everybody, we just have to find speed right away in the first session of the weekend and that seems to be pretty tough for us right now."