10/12/2006
NEWS STORY
Brazil
A1 Team Brasil today concluded a miserable weekend at the Sentul circuit in Indonesia for round five of the 2006/07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. After struggling with set-up for the duration of the three on-track days, and only able to qualify in 19th position yesterday, Tuka Rocha finished the sprint race in 15th position and retired from the feature race two laps from the end after sliding onto the gravel trap.
After the hot and humid sprint race, from which Tuka made a great start moving from 19th on the grid up to 14th and finally crossing the line in 15th place, the feature race turned into quite a different affair, beginning in almost identical circumstances to the main race held in Malaysia a fortnight ago. The race began under the safety car after torrential rain but after just one lap was red-flagged as the conditions were deemed unsafe. The track was considered safe enough almost an hour later to begin again, this time under a normal standing start.
Tuka moved from his 15th place starting position up to 13th, but could not hold onto position from the faster cars behind him, and by lap eight had fallen back to 14th. After the round of pitstops he was sitting in 18th place, and after some latter-stage retirements was in 16th. However, two laps before the end, his race finished prematurely when he slid onto the gravel while trying to overtake Team Switzerland on slick tyres on an intermediate track, and was unable to get the car back on the circuit.
Tuka Rocha: "I made a good start in both races today but we were not able to keep us with the pace so it doesn't help us to just gain positions at the start. In the feature race I was just managing to hold onto my position, but I was struggling with a lot of understeer. When we came in for the first pitstop I was hoping that the new set of tyres would make things better, but it made it even worse, and then later when we changed to slicks, things deteriorated even more. So there was just nothing I could do, it was all about set-up. The big gap in the lap-times is impossible to work with. If we were fighting for a few tenths then it's okay, but something is seriously wrong when we have been fighting for at least two seconds the whole weekend."
Canada
A1 Team Canada left Indonesia empty-handed following Sunday's fifth round of the 2006-07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at the Sentul International Circuit. An eighth place finish in the morning's Sprint race was followed by retirement for Sean McIntosh in the afternoon's Feature event, the defending race champion forced out thanks to a wayward left rear tire.
With the team failing to score points for the first time since the opening round of the sophomore A1GP season in October, Canada drops two spots down to eighth in the Nations Standings, on 22 points, while Germany extended its lead to 12 points over Great Britain in second, 48-36.
Having qualified the Canadian car ninth on the grid for the 15-lap Sprint race, Sean took the rolling start alongside the Dutch entry of Jeroen Bleekemolen. A decent get away enabled the Vancouver-native a shot at eighth as he latched on to the rear of South Africa's Alan van der Merwe. The two racers pushed each other hard with McIntosh ultimately getting the better of his rival to take the position. Sean was soon in the slipstream of France's Nicolas Lapierre in seventh but an oversteer issue limited his attacking ability, the Canadian holding eighth through to the checkered. Pole-sitter Jonny Reid celebrated New Zealand's first A1GP victory followed onto the podium by Mexico's Salvador Duran and Great Britain's Robbie Kerr.
Torrential rain greeted the 21-car field for the afternoon's Feature race, the start subsequently delayed to allow the monsoon to pass. While the rain eventually stopped track conditions remained treacherous with the spray from the cars ahead severely restricting Sean's view. Showcasing his wet-weather prowess, he steered clear of trouble while reveling in the improved handling of his car and a clear track ahead following his mandatory pit-stop.
A second stop soon followed as Sean pitted for a set of slick tires to make the most of the drying track. Exiting the pits McIntosh hit a puddle and was pitched into a spin but he recovered to resume his on-track charge. Looking good for a potential top-five finish, Sean's race ended prematurely on lap 38 when his left rear tire flew off, the cause of which has yet to be determined. Sean retired on the spot while New Zealand's Jonny Reid celebrated his second win of the day nine laps later.
"The team did a great job today but we're leaving Indonesia scoreless this time round," stated McIntosh. "The changes following the Sprint worked well on the car and the team made two great pit stops but unfortunately events transpired against us with the tire coming off. It's pretty disappointing as I was making up ground with the potential for a top-five finish and a decent points haul."
China
Sprint Race
A1 Team China's new driver Ho-Pin Tung did not finish the race in the 20-minute Sprint Race 4 laps before the checked flag. He was too fast in turn 10 and rushed into grass, then you lost grip and stopped on the side of the track. Before the spin, he was 15th on the track, and A1 Team China will start in the last row in the Feature race.
Ho-Pin explained what happened in the race: "It is not what I expected in my first race in A1GP. It was my first time to experience rolling start, and I lost 3 positions, very disappointing. Before the Sprint Race, we modified the car with less down force to let me drive faster in the straight, but it made the car very hard to control, especially in the corners."
Werner said: "It is first time for Ho-Pin to test A1GP car, so we have nothing to lose. We changed the setup of the car to let this F3 champion make some takeovers in the Sprint Race, but all the other A1 Teams made the competition so fierce, Ho-Pin did not get many chances to perform."
Feature Race
The wet opening ceremony in Indonesia was good news for all A1 drivers, the temperature finally went down. A1GP changed the race time 30 minutes earlier than scheduled, and all the A1 Teams will start their Feature Race at 14:30 local time. A little bit drama for A1 Team China 20 minutes before the Feature race, A1 Team China Car could not start the engine. Only until one minute before the lights turn green A1 Team China managed to start in pit line with other A1 Teams. The rain was so heavy for A1GP to start, and everyone had to wait until 15:20?A1 Team China now was on the grid to have the standing start. Ho-Pin took over 2 cars after first corner, and he tried so hard to get closer to the leading group. As the track got dryer, and A1 Team China changed tyres again and kept up in 12th until the last lap, then the Pakistan car spin and caused A1 Team China two places. A1 Team China finished in 14th.
Ho-Pin expressed: "It was a great experience for me in Indonesia, and I did have a lot of opportunities, and our Team did a good job for both pit stops. In my first two races in A1GP, I experienced many difficult situations, I think I need more lucks in the future."
Rob: "It was a dramatic weekend for A1 Team China, and I think Ho-Pin did a good job in his first try in this series. Unluckily we got some electronic problems with the car, and Ho-Pin could not read data on the driving wheel, he had to drive with his feelings all through the Feature race. And the second set of tyres were not good, nearly no grips on the wet track. But still, I think Ho-Pin did good lap times both in dry and wet track, this is more important than the results of this race. Let's hope a better performance of A1 Team China next year."
France
The action-packed day at Sentul turned out good for A1 Team France's Nicolas Lapierre. Spurred on by plenty of fans waving huge banners reading 'Allez Nicolas', Lapierre finished seventh in the sprint race and climbed up to third in the feature race.
The feature race start was hit by rain and just like in Malaysia, a torrential downpour hit the feature race and the race started behind the pace car. The rain was so heavy that later on, the race was stopped as conditions were too dangerous to run even behind the safety car.
Nicolas explains: "I had a good start and was running in fifth position but I lost a bit of time with the first set of tyres. 39 laps before the end, the team called me in for an early pitstop. Everything worked well and I rejoined in 13th. I was determined to finish well despite the really bad conditions and continued my fight up the order in the feature race. The team helped me tremendously and the pit stop was perfect. I was already third in the first part of the race. But I lost my advantage on lap 24 as Great Britain and USA passed me. I fought back and regained fourth leaving Jonny Reid behind me. Overall it was a good race and a tough fight all the way through. Nine laps before the end, I was in third place as the safety car came out after Robbie Kerr's spun. Only six minutes of the race were left. Considering the start, that we had to change the set-up on the grid and the overall bad weather conditions, it is an excellent result. We have a good pace in the races, but need to work on our qualifying results."
Eric Boullier, team manager, A1 Team France added: "Nicolas drove a great race. To start from 7th and get to the podium is a good result. The team worked hard and consistently. Our strategy paid off. I'm very happy for Nicolas. Now we need to focus on our qualifying better so we can fight for wins."
Germany
Willi Weber's A1 Team Germany further expanded its lead in the A1 Grand Prix series in difficult weather conditions. In the fifth round of the season in Indonesia, Nico Hülkenberg from Emmerich, after leading the race up to lap 25, claimed second place as the track was drying off. The German team expanded its advantage on the Sentul track in the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport by six to twelve points.
With position three on the grid, A1 Team Germany had managed to secure a good starting base. At the start of the sprint race, however, Nico Hülkenberg lost two positions to the teams from Mexico and the USA. On the third lap the Australian team with Ryan Briscoe passed the German A1 Grand Prix racing car, as well, when a gear got jammed during upshifting. When Briscoe attacked the American Phil Giebler on the 15th and final lap, Hülkenberg used the opportunity and re-captured fifth place. This earned him two points and he remained the leader of the table with a four-point advantage.
Like two weeks before, the main race was hit by monsoon rain prior to the start and had to be delayed. Nico Hülkenberg improved from fifth place to second position. When Jonny Reid from New Zealand, who was running in front, made a braking mistake, Hülkenberg took the lead on lap six and developed a more than 20-second advantage up to his first pit stop on lap 17. On the second set of rain tyres, though, the 19-year-old youngster consistently lost time until his closest rival Jonny Reid from New Zealand overtook the German car on lap 26.
For this reason, A1 Team Germany pitted again three laps later in order to mount a third set of tyres – slicks this time. In the process, an air hose at the left rear power wrench broke, causing the team to lose twelve seconds. Thereafter the 520-hp racing car of the German team was running in second place with a roughly 16-second gap to the front runner when Team Great Britain got off the track, triggering a safety car phase. This caused the front of the field to close up again within a few seconds of each other. The race, however, was only released again shortly before the end. As the runner-up, Nico Hülkenberg was merely 1.1 seconds behind the winner. After ten single races since October, this brings A1 Team Germany's tally to four podium positions: two victories and two second places went to Willi Weber's team.
Nicolas Hülkenberg: "We expanded the lead in the standings, that's why I can be very happy with second place. In the sprint race I lost three places. When a gear got jammed while I was upshifting, another position was lost – to Australia. But later I overtook this rival again under braking. In the main race visibility was even worse than in the previous race in Malaysia. When Jonny Reid made a braking mistake, I took the lead. Unfortunately the car handled very strangely on the second set of tyres and I slid off the track once. So we changed again, but a power wrench got jammed in the process. Towards the end I decided to play it safe and followed Jonny across the finish line."
Willi Weber: "Congratulations to Nico on his sensational performance. He was fantastic in the rain yet again and, despite a second pit stop and a problem with the power wrench, he finished as the runner-up. Before the race we promised to give a rebuttal to our critics on the track – and we managed to do that. We even doubled our advantage to the British team in the standings. However, that's no reason to be more defensive in the sixth round in New Zealand in January. On the contrary: this result will motivate us to fight for victory again."
Great Britain
Round 5 of the 2006-07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, held at the Sentul Circuit in Indonesia, proved to be an eventful Sunday outing for A1 Team Great Britain with Robbie Kerr capturing a third place podium finish in the Sprint race followed by the team's first Feature retirement later in the day.
Kerr's earlier podium effort, the team's third top-three finish of the season following Feature race runner-up spots in China and Malaysia, plus his point for Fastest Lap, ensures Great Britain holds on to second overall in the A1GP Nations Standings heading into the New Year, the gap to current leaders Germany increasing to 12 points (48-36) with the Mexican entry climbing to third just three markers behind.
Sunday morning's 15-lap Sprint race saw Kerr take the rolling start from second on the grid having lost pole to New Zealand's Jonny Reid in the dying stages of Saturday's qualifying session. The British charger made a solid start but was unable to fend off the attentions of the Mexican car, driven by Salvador Duran. Dropping to third Robbie soon found himself losing another spot to Phil Giebler in the USA entry before he slipstreamed the American to regain his position at the third turn.
Eager to make up for lost time Kerr narrowed the gap between himself and the leaders but couldn't get close enough to mount an attack. Jonny Reid scored New Zealand's first ever A1GP victory with Mexico's Salvador Duran second at the chequered followed by Kerr for Great Britain, the former British F3 Champion setting the fastest race lap of the day with a 1m18.110s taking the valuable bonus point in the process as it wouldn't be bettered in the Feature.
An eventful Feature race followed with Kerr lining up third on the grid courtesy of his Sprint finish. Heavy rains forced a delayed start but that failed to dampen Robbie's enthusiasm for the race and he duly passed Mexico for second as he sought to record the team's first A1GP victory. Hampered throughout with a lack of PowerBoost, Kerr found himself caught in a three-way battle for third following his first pit stop, the Brit eventually making the position his having fought wheel-to-wheel with France and the USA.
He would be forced to pit again, this time for a set of slick tyres as the 2.56-mile Sentul track began to dry out following the monsoon rains. Despite being briefly held up by the Dutch entry, Kerr quickly passed and began to head towards the top-three once again. Robbie's podium aspirations came to a sudden stop in the dying stages of the race as he spun and stalled the British entry on lap 39 bringing a spirited performance to an immediate end along with the team's run of points paying Feature finishes. New Zealand claimed the double on the day taking the win ahead of France and Germany.
Reflecting on a busy day in Indonesia Kerr remarked, "Well it was certainly eventful out there!" He continued, "It was good to get a podium earlier in the day in the Sprint although we missed out at the start which cost us the chance of going for the win. Lack of PowerBoost didn't help in the Feature but things were going well until the car slipped away at Turn 4 and I beached it in the gravel, day over!"
India
In tropical surroundings, A1 Team India raced today at the Sentul Circuit in Indonesia, 43 km west of the capital Jakarta. As the rain stayed away for the Sprint race, Armaan Ebrahim, the youngest driver in the A1GP field, finished 18th, before the skies opened for the Feature race, in which A1 Team India were unfortunately disqualified for a penalty infringement.
Starting the 15 lap Sprint race from 16th on the grid, one spot ahead of the home team, A1 Team Indonesia, Ebrahim made a good start and although he dropped two spots in the early stages he remained undaunted. Refusing to give up track position, Ebrahim fought back to regain a place from A1 Team Ireland on lap three. With nine laps to go, the Irish car repeated the overtaking move to put India down to 19th. After A1 Team China crashed off, Ebrahim finished in 18th position, the slot the team took for the afternoon's 50 lap Feature race.
The start of the Feature race was brought forward half an hour in an attempt to avoid the storms that have frequented afternoons at the Sentul Circuit this week. However, as the A1GP cars lined up on the grid, the rain came down and organisers were forced to delay the race after two exploratory laps behind the safety car proved the weather conditions were too dangerous for racing to commence. Allowing the worst of the storm to pass, the Feature race finally began 50 minutes later.
With visibility still poor, Ebrahim followed the incorrect guidance of a marshal to his grid slot, which was deemed a jump start. The team were consequently given a drive through penalty which under A1GP regulations must be taken within three laps of notification. Radio communication problems hindered the team from informing Abrahim of the penalty and the team missed the three lap window, resulting in the A1 Team India car being shown the black flag and disqualified from the race.
Commenting on his day, Ebrahim said, "Obviously I'm disappointed, the marshal on my grid slot told me to move forward, which I did. And I had no way of knowing that the team were calling me in for a drive through penalty. I couldn't see the pit board, the radio was broken and just kept making a beeping noise all race. By the time I saw the pit board the team were telling me to stop as we had been disqualified.
"My priority now is to just forget about this race, and have some rest and prepare for the remainder of the season. I'll be training hard over the break and will be ready to get back in the car in January with a new frame of mind."
Yohann J Setna, Seat holder for A1 Team India added, "Armaan came onto the grid for the Feature race and came to stop when one of the marshal signalled to him to move forwards. As he couldn't see the grid slot clearly because of the rain, he moved as instructed, which counted as a false start. The weather conditions then conspired against us, Armaan couldn't see the pit board because of the spray and the radio wasn't working all race, so we had no way of communicating with him. So through no fault of our own we got black flagged. It's a shame because he wasn't off the pace and with all the incidents and retirements in the race I think we could have got a good result."
Ireland
A1 Team Ireland's difficult A1GP season continued in Sentul, Indonesia, with Hillsborough's Richard Lyons battling to finish 13th in the Feature Race after starting 17th on the grid and narrowly missing out on scoring a good top 10 finish. The former Formula Nippon Champion survived the atrocious conditions which caused a delayed start and affected the early part of the race, pitting on lap 16 for a fresh set of wet weather tyres and returning at the end of lap 23 for slicks as the track started to dry.
Unfortunately for Lyons, who had climbed his way into the top 10, both pit stops went badly – the first when the right rear wheel refused to locate properly, and the second when the same wheel wouldn't go on because of a damaged hub. The 27 year old eventually returned to the track to set competitive times on the drying surface, making up ground and impressing the team with his speed.
Richard Lyons: "We missed out on a good points tally today as a result of the pit stops going wrong, which was gutting because the team has practiced as usual all week only to have a problem when it mattered. The conditions at the start of the main race were unbelievable, and I would have preferred to stay out on wets longer than we did. I made up places as best I could, but it's a shame we didn't get the 6th or 7th place we were on for. It's been great to race in A1GP and I'd love to do it again."
Andy Miller, Technical Director: "The pit stop problems cost us around one and a half minutes, some of which we made up when the Safety Car came out just before the end. Richard drove well and the speed was pretty good in both conditions, but we couldn't lose that much time in the pits and get anything out of today."
Mark Gallagher, Team Principal: "Richard made the most of the changing conditions and made good progress, but once again we emerge empty handed from a race weekend. There is a long gap now before the next round in New Zealand, and our re-evaluation of the team's lack of performance will continue. This time last year Team New Zealand was struggling, today they won both races. That's the formula we have to discover."
Lebanon
The fifth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport took place today in Sentul, Indonesia. The field of international nations represented in the Series lined up for the Sprint race this morning and the longer Feature race later this afternoon. A1 Team Lebanon, with Basil Shaaban driving, finished 19th in the Sprint race and retired from mechanical failure in the Feature race.
A1 Team Lebanon arrived at the Indonesian circuit earlier this week, with a rookie session driven by Alex Khateeb and first practice session driven by Shaaban taking place on Friday. Further practice and the qualifying session for the Sprint race saw Shaaban line up in 20th place for this opening 15 lap race.
With dry, hot and humid weather the Sprint race gave the enthusiastic Indonesian crowd plenty of thrills and action. Shaaban maintained position at the rolling start and drove steadily, closing on the Indian car ahead of him as the race progressed. Improving a position in the closing stages, Shaaban finished in 19th spot to line up on the tenth row of the grid for the Feature race.
In the break between the races Shaaban took part in the traditional A1GP pre-race ceremonies, arriving in front of the grandstands in a rickshaw. The team Lebanon drivers were pleased to meet with the Lebanese ambassador to Indonesia on the grid and he wished the team well for the race.
A change of weather before the start of the race saw a thunderstorm forcing the race to start behind the safety car. After only one lap of the track, organisers stopped the race in the interests of safety. The race was restarted 45 minutes later with the torrential rain having abated enough for the drivers to take to the track.
The green flag dropped for the standing start and Shaaban was quickly off the mark. After a few laps Shaaban felt that the car had a problem, possibly a puncture. The team brought the car and it was found to have rear suspension failure. After less than ten laps of racing, this rare occurrence forced the Lebanese entry into retirement, only the first instance this season that mechanical problems have ended the race day for the team.
Shaaban said of his Indonesian weekend, "It was disappointing to have completed so few laps in the Feature race, but motor racing is always unpredictable. The Sprint race was tough for me, but I continue to learn and gain valuable experience racing around the world."
Tony Snook, Team Principal, A1 Team Lebanon, added, "It was unfortunate that we suffered a rare mechanical failure in the Feature race, having had a steady race earlier today, but we'll be back out in the New Year."
Malaysia
The weekend has been tough for the Malaysian team and everyone has worked hard over the last two days to prepare the car for today's races and developing the setup for optimal performance. The team's lap times weren't as good as recent A1GP weekends in the earlier practice sessions, but Yoong drove strongly in qualifying to line up in 13th place for the Sprint race.
The rolling start, in dry, hot and humid conditions, was a drag-race to the first corner for the field of 21 nations and Yoong charged down to it, passing the Chinese and Dutch cars into 11th place by the end of the opening lap. As the race progressed, Yoong was continually challenged by the Dutch car behind and, as the two vied for position, A1 Team Italy was able to slip past both cars. Yoong pushed hard to re-take the spot, but mindful of the need to minimise the risk of damaging the car, he drove conservatively, maintaining 12th spot at the chequered flag.
Lining up on the sixth row for the Feature Race, Yoong was faced with entirely different conditions, with a heavy rainstorm prior to the green flag forcing all the teams to use wet tyres for the start. At the allotted start time torrential rain persisted and after only one lap of the Sentul circuit, the race was stopped. After a delay of around 45 minutes, the race was restarted.
The standing start grid took off with the green flag waving and Yoong was quick off the mark, powering down to the first corner in atrocious weather and by the end of the first lap the Malaysian team were up to seventh place. Within ten laps Yoong was up into fifth place. Teams began to make their pitstops and, with Malaysia staying out longer, he pitted from the lead.
Returning to the track after a quick tyre change stop from the Team Malaysia crew, the team was in seventh place. The team replaced his first set of tyres with a second set of wets, which were those used in Sepang that the team had thought to have been slower due to wrong tyre pressures. However, Yoong immediately struggled with his pace and the team concluded that the tyres could be the problem. With a drying track, the team called Yoong to pit again and take on dry tyres, although it was earlier than the team really wanted, with the track still a mix of wet and dry.
With dry tyres Yoong was able to get back on the pace quickly, but having lost precious track time he needed to push as hard as possible for the remaining laps. The Malaysian's experience was admirably demonstrated in his fight into the points and from lying ninth after his pitstop, he drove through to sixth place at the chequered flag. A penalty for the Dutch team, which put Malaysia's rivals back down the order, promoted Yoong to a well-deserved fifth place.
He said after the races, "In the sprint race we didn't have the pace. We didn't really get to grips with a car setup for the hot, dry conditions and this showed in our lap times and ultimately our finish position. I'm disappointed that a set of tyres potentially cost us the Feature race. We have to carry over a set of tyres from the last race and these were the ones that we put on in our first stop. We were about 2 seconds a lap slower on these, and so we had no alternative but to stop again, and this time, although it was a bit too early for dry tyres, we had to take the gamble. We've earned some points which I'm happy about, but it could easily have been a podium for us today."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia, comments, "Alex drove superbly today, particularly in the Feature race which started in difficult weather conditions. I think we were victims of a rare inconsistency in the wet tyres that we were allocated and this really was pivotal today for us. If it hadn't have been for that poor set of tyres I think we could have added to our trophy collection. Although we didn't provide Alex and Fairuz with a well set-up car this weekend, we know we have a highly competitive package. We haven't reached mid-distance in the Series yet, so there's plenty of an opportunity to get back to our top form. We'll look forward to the challenge of the new track in New Zealand now."
Mexico
Mexican driver Salvador Duran clinched his fourth podium in the A1 Grand Prix season, after finishing second in the Sprint race during round fifth held this weekend at the 4.12-Km. Sentul International Circuit, in Indonesia. With this effort, the Mexican team becomes the sole lone owner of the third place in the championship that shared after the last race with Malaysia and France.
"From the very first moment, for the Sprint race I knew that I had to defend my position from the drivers who were behind me like the Australian -that sometimes goes crazy, and I've needed a good starting position for the Feature race. In the first turn on the first lap of the Sprint race I managed to overtake the drivers from Great Britain and Germany. I set the second fastest lap and I pulled away from the field while I stayed close to the New Zealander, whom I put pressure on but he maintained his position. Thus, we've got the best possible result according to the circumstances," Mexico City native Salvador Duran said.
I'm happy for my crew. They deserved a podium after the race results in Malaysia and qualifying in Indonesia. They worked very hard. The group is very solid and with the points obtained, from the Sprint race we've got the third spot in the points for us only," Duran said.
"We changed of setting for the second competition, but it was not a good decision. There was a real heavy rain and after two laps my car had no grip. We did two pit stops to change to wet and dry tyres, respectively. Towards the end we charged hard, but we did not get the race result we were hoping for [sixth]. However, we reached the goal to finish the two races, collecting as much points as possible," he added.
Netherlands
After the finish of the A1GP Feature race at Sentul, A1 Team Netherlands has been excluded from the results. According to the A1GP Stewards the team executed the mandatory pitstop one lap too late and had thus breached article 219 of the Sporting Regulations. This article states that the pitstop had to take place after the completion of lap 8 and before the completion of lap 20 on the track. The team was convinced that it could come in for the pitstop at the end of lap 20, without completing the lap on the track.
A1 Team Netherlands finished the Feature race, which was packed with drama and excitement, in fifth position, after Bleekemolen started from thirteenth on the grid. The start had been moved forward with half an hour because of a heavy thunderstorm which was expected around four o' clock, but exactly that storm passed over the circuit just before the start. After the cars had gone out for a brief moment, the organization had no choice but to delay the start of the race.
During the Sprint race it still was completely dry and very warm at the Sentul circuit. A1 Team Netherlands started from tenth, but was pushed off the track by Malaysia on the opening lap, which cost a few places. After that Jeroen did manage to overtake Indonesia and was pushing towards Malaysia for a moment, but in the end he had to settle for thirteenth. A1 Team New Zealand took their maiden A1GP win from pole.
With some delay the Feature race started at a quarter past three. Under extreme wet conditions Jeroen managed to move up to eleventh. When the rain stopped and the track was getting more dry A1 Team Netherlands immediately switched to slicks, which proved to be a good choice. On an almost dry track Bleekemolen was able to close in on the front runners quickly, also because other teams, which had already made their stop, had to come in again for slicks. At the end of the race lots happened inside a few laps. Canada lost it's right rear wheel coming up on the straight and moments later Great Britain spun in turn four. This caused a safety car situation. When A1 Team USA spun behind the safety car, A1 Team Netherlands moved up to fourth, just behind France. Straight after the restart Brazil and Switzerland collided and just before entering the final lap Italy came on strong and overtook Netherlands. New Zealand took and impressive double, in front of Germany and France.
Jeroen Bleekemolen; "Of course we had the right strategy. I saw that the track was getting more and more dry quickly, so I asked if we could switch to slicks because I knew that we could then gain a lot. Unfortunately we did not have the speed to overtake more people. The start of the Feature race was similar to Malaysia, you couldn't see anything. In the beginning I was not very slow I think, but I got held up quite a lot by Italy and Canada. When I had a clear track it went quite well. At the start of the Sprint race A1 Team Malaysia pushed me off in turn two. I was much faster than Malaysia and tried to overtake him, we collided a couple of times. Because of this some others were able to pass us, which was too bad. I did manage to catch Indonesia. As far as the result goes, it was not good, but I did have a fun race with a nice battle."
Jan Lammers: "We waited to the last possible moment with our mandatory pitstop to maximize on the weather conditions. This worked out perfectly and we were the first to go out on slicks. This brought us in reach of the podium. A super job from our quys! To our astonishment we were excluded after the race by the Stewards. They had concluded that we had breached the regulations as we allegedly had not made our pitstop before the completion of our 20th lap. Our difference of opinion is that we feel that the regulations (see below) state that we have to make a pitstop before the completion of lap 20 on the track. We completed our 20th lap in the pit lane. The definition of pit lane according to the regulations is; 'The lane by which the Cars can access the Pits and access and exit the Track'. Our conclusion; it is impossible to enter the pit lane without exciting the track and therefore we did not complete our 20th lap on the track but in the pit lane. Our lap time on lap 20 also shows that the lap was completed partly on track and partly in the pitlane.
"We will try and convince the organisation again that we acted in good faith and according to the regulations. It will take some time before everyone has agreed on this issue, but it is my duty to fight this decision. I am sure that there will be a supplement to the regulations, but we do not want to pay the price for this learning process and want our fifth place finish reinstated".
New Zealand
The New Zealand A1GP team is celebrating double glory in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, taking the checkered flag in both the Sprint and Feature Races of Round 5 at Sentul in Indonesia.
Kiwi driver Jonny Reid started on pole and lead from start to finish to comfortably head Mexico and Great Britain home in the Sprint Race, securing New Zealand's first-ever win in the 9 th race of the second season, the 31st race in championship history. Reid backed this up with a stunning win in a dramatic Feature Race to score 16 points for the weekend and rocket from 12th equal to 5 th on the championship points table.
Germany, second in the feature race, tops the table on 48 points, followed by Great Britain on 36 points, Mexico on 33 points and France on 32 points, just one point ahead of the flying Kiwis.
The two firsts made the weekend New Zealand's most successful ever, bettering the 3rd and 4th Matt Halliday scored in the inaugural round at Brand's Hatch last season. Black Beauty's dual success came in the year's final round. The next meeting is in Taupo between January 19-21, providing plenty of momentum for the Kiwis heading into their home round.
Reid's Feature Race performance was outstanding, given the extreme weather conditions. Torrential rain meant the race started behind the safety car, only to be called off within two laps to ensure a full re-start. When the race started 20 minutes later in lighter rain, this time from a standing start without the safety car, Reid sped off to a beautifully safe start, but was reeled in by Germany within five laps. Reid kept his cool and hunted down the German, re-taking the lead halfway through the 70-minute race, benefiting from a slick pit stop. The drying track forced all teams to change from wet weather tyres to slicks and another quick pit stop kept the New Zealand team in front. With 10 minutes to go Canada lost a wheel but managed to get off the track, only for Great Britain to spin out and end up in the middle of the circuit shortly afterwards. The safety car was deployed and Reid's big lead evaporated like the Indonesian rain, but he re-started well and held off the fast-charging Germany for four nail-biting laps to complete the double.
Reid was blown away by hearing the New Zealand national anthem as he stood on top of the podium. "It is something we've been working towards since testing at Silverstone in August," Reid said, "and to come back from 16th fastest in the opening practice to take pole and then win, well, I'm just ecstatic."
Pakistan
Flying the green and white flag of Pakistan, Nur Ali took part in his fifth event in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, at the Sentul Circuit in Indonesia to take the team's best finish of the season.
For the second consecutive event, weather conditions disrupted the A1GP race schedule and forced A1 Team Pakistan to make set-up changes for a wet Feature race, in which the team finished 15th. Ali finished 20th in the earlier Sprint race.
Nur Ali enjoyed the tropical surroundings of Indonesia earlier in the week, taking part in an A1GP PR event which saw drivers from 12 other nations race through forest on All Terrain Vehicles. In a vehicle much more suited to the race track, Ali took his place on the 11th row of the Sprint race grid in the A1 Team Pakistan car, and completed a fairly uneventful race to finish 20th.
As the A1GP cars took to the grid for the Feature race, the skies opened over the Sentul circuit, forcing the team to make set-up changes. After the field completed two exploratory laps behind the safety car, the start of the race was delayed 50 minutes until the worst of the storm had passed.
In treacherous conditions, Ali kept the Pakistan car on track through the majority of the race, while other drivers crashed off and took excursions across the gravel. After a prolonged safety period at the end of the race, Ali had a small spin, but kept the car going to cross the line in 15th.
Commenting on his day, Ali said, "I had a fairly good start for the Sprint race, but lost some pace after about five laps which unfortunately set me back from the rest of the field. After that I tried to adjust my lines and brake a little later, which improved my times.
"As for the Feature race, we obviously got our best result of the season, which is great for both the team and me. Visibility for the first few laps was very poor, but then as the rain eased up it started to improve. At that point I was able to pick up a bit of time and I think the experience I gained in the wet at Sepang helped.
"I didn't find the hot or rainy conditions here tiring, so I will be maintaining my fitness over the break and just having a bit of rest before the season starts again. I'm really looking forward to getting to New Zealand."
Bobby Issazadhe, Team Manager of A1 Team Pakistan, added, "We finished what was quite a dramatic Feature race and as Nur has little experience of racing in the wet, this is a good achievement. We saw that the teams using slicks were considerably faster at the end of the race, and although there weren't many laps left we thought it would be good experience for Nur on slick tyres on a drying track. It also gave the team a chance to complete another pit stop and get some real practice. Obviously when he went out on slicks, the track wasn't completely dry and after a long safety car period, tyre temperatures dropped too, which resulted in Nur spinning off. But he managed to keep the engine running and rejoined the track."
South Africa
A1 Team South Africa's Alan van der Merwe, competing in his first A1GP, finished ninth in the Sprint Race after a race-long battle with Canada and was the highest placed rookie in the race. The two were never much more than half a second apart throughout the 20-minute race. Switzerland's Neel Jani, winner of the last sprint race in Malaysia three weeks ago, finished 10th and 1,6 sec behind Van der Merwe.
The only yellow flag incident in the race, which was held in dry conditions despite the changeable weather here in Indonesia, saw Team China's rookie driver Ho-Pin Tung spin out of 15th place on lap 11.
Alan van der Merwe: "Not the result I was hoping for, but then you can't expect much better when you don't get a good grid position. Sean (McIntosh) got past me at the rolling start, but I repassed him and we had a good dice for most of the race. We were never more than about a half second apart, but I struggled with pace and there's not much you can do under those circumstances in the short sprint race.
"It was my first race in nearly two years and I'm thoroughly enjoying being back in the hot seat. My objective is to keep improving with each race, so I'm looking forward to the feature event."
The 70-minute Feature Race started behind the safety 20 minutes late after a severe thunderstorm which unleashed a torrent of water on to the circuit. With huge rooster tails of spray coming off the big rear Cooper wet weather tyres, the field battled with poor visibility. However, this didn't prevent several brave overtaking manoeuvres on the hectic opening lap.
Van der Merwe made a great start and shone in the early wet laps, quickly moving up from ninth on the grid to fifth at the end of lap one, behind New Zealand (Jonny Reid), Germany (Nico Hulkenberg), Great Britain (Robbie Kerr) and Salvador Duran (Mexico).
He passed Duran for fourth on lap two and chased down Kerr for 10 laps before getting the better of the Englishman on lap 12 and moving into third. Hulkenberg took over the lead from Reid on lap six and when Van der Merwe came in for his mandatory pit stop on lap 16 he was third behind Hulkenberg and Malaysia's Alex Yoong.
"I wanted to ask the team to fit slicks" said a frustrated Van der Merwe, "but the radio wasn't working and I was unable to communicate with them. They fitted a new set of wets and although we made a good stop the new tyres were several seconds a lap slower than the first set."
Van der Merwe and Vulindlela dropped back to 8th but were back up to sixth when the 26-year-old South African pitted on lap 27 for slicks. On rejoining the race he almost immediately experienced problems with the paddle gear shift and retired on lap 30 with the car stuck in first gear.
"It was a very disappointing end to my first feature race in A1GP," said Van der Merwe. "I really enjoy driving in the wet - it's a great equaliser - so the first 15 or so laps were a lot of fun. I couldn't do anything with the second set of wets and when we eventually changed to slicks I couldn't engage the up-shift.
"I would really like to have scored some points today and repaid A1 Team South Africa more appropriately for having faith in me and giving me this great opportunity. I hope I will get another chance, because I know I can do a lot better."
Mike Carroll, technical and sporting manager: "Alan did a great job this weekend. He made good progress throughout the three days and his performance in the wet opening laps of the feature race was outstanding. We're disappointed we didn't get the result perhaps we deserved in this race, but we know we have another potential race winner in Alan."
Switzerland
A1 Team Switzerland's Neel Jani finished tenth in the sprint race at Sentul and went on to finish ninth in the feature race. He was running in a strong sixth place until he was hit by the Brazilian car. Despite the torrential weather conditions, Jani kept his cool and brought the car home in the points.
Jani commented, "I won the sprint race in Malaysia two weeks ago, but here we still had handling problems for this short race and I finished in tenth not understanding why now the car was oversteering. After the morning handling problems, we suspected engine trouble at the start of the feature race. My car nearly stopped on the out-lap and again almost stopped again during the race. The whole car was not pulling correctly. This is why I started in 20th position but luckily it seemed to get better and I could climb up the order. I was up to eighth with 20 laps remaining despite the problems with the engine and despite the fact I was never able to use sixth gear I got up as high as sixth. That is when the safety car came out after Robbie Kerr's spin. As the field closed up I thought there was a chance of a podium but when the race restarted Tuka Rocha hit me and I barely managed to get the car to the finish. At least he came over to apologise after the race."
Max Welti, Team Principal added: "It was a tough week-end for the team and Neel. We encountered an engine problem and Neel lost ten positions. He drove a fantastic race considering how the car was working. The strategy was excellent and well adapted to the awful weather conditions. We were just unlucky as Neel was almost taken off by Brazil after the pace car came back in. Hope that our luck improves in New Zealand at the next race next year."
USA
In the fifth round of A1GP World Cup of Motorsport held at Sentul International Circuit in Indonesia, A1 Team USA finished 4th in the Sprint race, but a series of unfortunate issues during a rain-affected, incident-filled Feature race resulted in a 9th place finish. Having finished both races in the top ten, however, A1 Team USA will walk away from Indonesia with five championship points. A1 Team USA is currently tied for ninth place in the overall championship run after five races.
In the Sprint race, driver Phil Giebler started 5th, moved to 3rd by the first corner, but was passed by Team Great Britain on the first lap. A1 Team USA was then challenged by Germany and Australia but fought the whole way, prevailing in the end to finish 4th.
For the second week in a row, the A1GP Feature race was plagued by rain. Giebler encountered significant wheelspin off the line and dropped to 9th but picked opposing cars off one by one, moving up to 4th towards the end of the race. Then, while circulating behind the safety car on lap 42, Giebler’s throttle pedal stuck, pitching him into a spin at turn 11. Giebler got a push start, caught up with the pack, and finished in 10th place. Team USA then moved up to 9th place after A1 Team Netherlands was excluded from the results due to a regulation breach.
"I don't know, where do you start? It was another good opportunity to score quality points, and we walked away with just two," Giebler said. "It seemed like everyone was going off track, but we kept it clean all day, and moved up through the field. I had a really strong pace, but we were taken out again by a mechanical problem on the engine. The team made a good call on the tires, and we had two great pit stops."
A1 Team owner Rick Weidinger commented, "Well, we clearly expected to have better results in the Feature Race today. We are looking into the wheel spin incident and all we can do now is be happy with five points and move on to New Zealand." Weidinger added, "Currently A1 Team USA is tied for ninth in the Championship standings. We have seven races remaining and we are only 28 points out of first….just a couple of wins!"
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