A1 Team Lebanon is back in the driving seat this weekend with the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport resuming competition after a six week seasonal break. The first race of 2007 is another ground-breaking event for this unique Series, as the first international single seater race series to visit a newly renovated race circuit in New Zealand, beside the famous Lake Taupo on the North Island.

The sixth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, with A1 Team Lebanon, representing all of the Arab world, promises to deliver the exciting, close racing that is synonymous with the Series. The Taupo venue will be new to all the drivers and teams, except the home nation, and will require teams to make the most of the track time. The Lebanese team has opted to run one driver throughout the weekend which aims to help the team maximise any advantage available. Alex Khateeb (right), as the team's rookie driver, is able to run in every session and will represent Lebanon this weekend. Khalil Beschir will be alongside his team mate to assist with race preparations, continue to learn from watching and working with the team's driver coach, Pedro Chavez, and to perform the extensive duties which are required in this Series.

The Taupo circuit has been recently upgraded to meet the safety and operational specifications of the top level A1GP series. The 3.5 km circuit features 13 turns, an 830 metre straight and, unusually for a race track, runs in an anticlockwise configuration, which will test the drivers' fitness.

Khateeb says of his first racing weekend for A1 Team Lebanon, "I'm ready to expand my role from running in the first rookie session assisting the team with their race preparations, to driving every session, experiencing the unique ‘hot lap' qualifying system and representing Lebanon in the all-important Sprint and Feature races. There's plenty of pressures on me and I know that I need to be totally focused on working closely with the crew and my engineers, as teamwork is so important in racing. The aim is to get our first team points which we're chasing hard. For my first A1GP races that's a tough challenge, but I'm up for it and I'll be doing my best to bring success to Lebanon in New Zealand.

Beschir will be supporting his team mate, and says, "I'm pleased that Alex has the opportunity to experience a full race weekend and I think for the Taupo event it will be very important to have one driver in the car throughout, so that after learning the track, the team can concentrate on developing the car set up and Alex can improve his performance. I think most of the teams will opt to run with one driver only. I'll be cheering him on from the pitwall. I'll get to do a little bit of driving, but I'll be in charge of a jetski on Lake Taupo in the pre-race media event!"