26/09/2006
NEWS STORY
It's t-minus 4 days and counting until the sound of revving engines rings across the Northeast coast of the Netherlands. With the pre-race gate receipts predicting a sold out, standing-room-only crowd at Circuit Park Zandvoort this Sunday, A1 Team USA is looking forward to contributing to that adrenaline-filled noise.
A1 Team USA will feature both new and familiar faces as they begin season two:
Rick Weidinger is seat holder and CEO of A1 Team USA. Weidinger retired from his career in fibre optic telecommunications in 2001 to follow his interest in motorsport. He became a Team owner in the Indy Racing League in 2004, and acquired the A1 Grand Prix Team representing the United States in 2005. He was nominated to the A1 GP Board of Directors last summer.
Phil Giebler, who represented the Team in four races last season, is set to drive A1 Team USA's signature "We the People" car. In February, Giebler recorded the Team's sixth top-ten finish in Shanghai, China. Giebler has been racing since he was 10 years old. By 1998, he was ranked eighth in the world in karting, an accomplishment unparalleled for an American driver. In 1999, Giebler competed in the world famous ELF/La Filiere Formula Renault Championship. Giebler became the first and only American to win (3 times) in La Filiere's history and finished second in the championship. He continued his successes in the 2000 UK Formula Palmer / Audi Winter Cup by winning both the Team USA Scholarship and the championship. Giebler has become a familiar face around A1 Team USA.
West Surrey Racing joins A1 Team USA this season as their technical racing support Team. No stranger to the A1 GP series, WSR took A1 Team New Zealand to fourth place last season.
Greg Wheeler has come aboard for the second season as A1 Team USA's chief engineer. Wheeler has served as a racing engineer since 1995 for the BTCC, F1, and the Australian V8 Supercar series. Additionally, he brings with him the expertise of having taken A1 Team Malaysia to fifth place last season.
"A1 Team USA is coming off a successful entry in the 2006 Indianapolis 500," said Team Owner Rick Weidinger. "We achieved our goal of competitve racing in view of over 390 million people worldwide with Al Unser Jr as well as gaining awareness of USA's new motor sports Team". Weidinger continued, "We are looking forward to the second season of A1 GP. Our goal is always to compete for the championship and create great partnerships. We welcome new the West Surrey Racing Team and Greg Wheeler to our racing Team and welcome back Leon Gutfreund as our techical data director".