23/02/2008
NEWS STORY
Brazil
A1 Team Brasil has recorded its first front row qualifying result of the season, with Bruno Junqueira set to begin tomorrow's Sprint race from second on the grid after a stunning qualifying performance. In the Feature race, Bruno will begin from fifth after an extremely competitive session saw the top five drivers separated by just two tenths of a second.
Team Brasil began the day on the back-foot as Bruno lost a set of new tyres following yesterday's accident, leaving only two new sets available for qualifying. The aim of this morning's practice, therefore, was not to go for timed laps, but to bed in brakes and work on the balance of the car for qualifying. Bruno completed just 15 laps in the hour as the set of tyres used were required for qualifying, but completed the planned programme.
In the Sprint race qualifying session, Team Brasil had another panic when Bruno was not able to set a lap in the first session due to a red flag when only six teams had recorded a time. However, Bruno came back admirably on his only shot in the second session, setting a fantastic lap time of 1:18.168, the second fastest time behind Team Canada. It was a gamble for the team, opting to go out late in the session, but it paid off as the track cleaned up and Bruno will now begin from the front row of tomorrow's Sprint race.
For Feature race qualifying, Bruno headed out on track half way through the session. He set a lap of 1:18.742 on old tyres, sitting provisionally in fourth position behind Teams Switzerland, Great Britain and New Zealand, the first two of those having set their laps on new tyres. Bruno went out for final qualifying on new rubber, and the team decided to wait until late on in the session. Bruno set a time of 1:17.917 but, in a hotly contested 15-minutes, he qualified fifth behind Teams Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain.
Bruno Junqueira: "We had a very hard day yesterday but there's no better way to come back than with a great qualifying, so I am very happy. I have to thank the team a lot; the mechanics worked very late last night to fix the damage and they gave me a very fast car. I hope now that we can do a great job tomorrow. I'm confident for both of the races, looking at the difference in qualifying times, I see no reason why we can't have two good, solid races."
Emerson Fittipaldi, Team Principal: "I am very happy with the overall team performance this weekend. Xandi did a great job for us yesterday morning and then Bruno, after his setback yesterday, has done a very good job today after not being able to do many practice laps. Second in one race and fifth in the other is a very good job and the team recovered well from yesterday's crash and provided a very good car. Bruno is confident for tomorrow but it is going to be a very difficult race. I think there will be a lot of yellow flags and maybe safety cars and I think emotions will run high. It will be tough for the drivers and I think after half an hour in the car in this heat and humidity they will be at the limit of physical resistance. For Team Brasil, we are aiming for podiums in both races."
Canada
Robert Wickens led A1 Team Canada to its first ever pole position in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport as he claimed the top spot for Sunday's seventh round Sprint race following a storming lap around Durban's challenging 3.28km temporary street circuit. The Toronto racer backed up his performance in South Africa with a second consecutive front-row start, claiming second on the Feature grid behind Switzerland's Neel Jani.
Saturday's qualifying accomplishment, with Robert becoming A1GP's youngest-ever pole-sitter, is all the more remarkable as he logged just four laps in Friday's official practice session, the 18-year-old's first sighting of the 11-turn Durban track. The team battled to fix an electrical issue following on from the morning's ‘Rookie-Only' outing in which Markham's Daniel Morad debuted for Canada.
A red-flag ended the first Sprint qualifying session prematurely with just six of the 22 competing A1GP nations logging a lap time. Undeterred Canada hit the track with just one hot lap at its disposal. Wickens, no stranger to street courses in North America, subsequently blitzed the opposition to claim pole position – the first pole for Canada in three seasons of A1GP but also the first for Status Grand Prix who, in addition to managing A1 Team Ireland, took over the running of the Canadian operation this season. Brazil's Bruno Junqueira joins the Canadian on the front-row of the Sprint grid.
Wickens then achieved another first claiming Canada's first-ever consecutive front-row starts. Just pipped to the Feature pole by Switzerland's Neel Jani, Robert will be attacking from second.
"We almost had the perfect qualifying session," said Wickens. "We got caught out in Q1 with the red flag which wasted a set of tires but I think we have a good car for tomorrow and we have an extremely good shot at winning the Sprint and Feature races. It's good to be clear for the first corner, there should be no-one I can run into from pole. I think the field's pretty responsible though, everyone knows how tight it is here. Overall I'm ecstatic with today's result. We've had our ups and downs but to get Canada's first ever pole position considering where we came from yesterday is a big deal!"
A1 Team Canada Team Manager Simon Cayzer commented, "Robert did an amazing job today! His ability to act calm under all sorts of different pressures is amazing. It was an incredible session and to score Canada's first pole is fantastic. This was a brand new team at the start of the season but we've kept chipping away. We're in a really good position for tomorrow's races, hopefully we can win!"
Czech Republic
The Czech team and rookie Josef Kral coped well with the tricky track at Durban on Saturday and the youngster was improving all the time. The street track troubled all teams in the qualifying and the Czechs will start the sprint from 18th and the feature race from 20th position.
Saturday's free practice was a chance to put in use Friday's experience and Kral did well. He put in 26 laps and improved his maximum to 1:20.720, which was two seconds quicker comparing to Friday. One hour session was a bit longer in the end because there were three red flags after crashes of India, Italy and Ireland.
It was clear even before the qualifying began that tricky street track could turn expectations upside down. And the first session immediately confirmed that it would be the case. The qualifying was red flagged after New Zealand spun and the time ran out. The A1GP do not stop session time in the qualifying when there is a red flag. Only six cars therefore set a time. The grid was decided in the second session where yellow flags slowed Kral. His time was 1:21.919. The Czech team will start the sprint from the 18th place. Just to show trickiness of the qualifying, championship leader France finished 17th and home South African team even did not set a time!
The last two segments, which decided the feature race grid, followed a similar pattern. Kral was unlucky with a yellow flags in the first one. He was on course to set by his best lap of the weekend in the second one but the qualifying was again red flagged due to Adam Caroll's crash. The organisers managed to clear the track before the time ran out and last three minutes were really hectic. Kral improved his personal best to 1:20.369 but he still felt that it could have been better if his initial lap had not been stopped. He will start from 20th position.
Josef Kral: "It is pity that qualifying went in such a crazy way. I managed to speed up in the morning's practice. I am more and more used to the car and obviously I am more confident. Unfortunately, none of the four qualifying sessions was a smooth one. We even did not have a chance to make a run in the first one and I had to slow down due yellow flag in the second one. The same happened in the third one. I was on a very good lap in the last session but it was interrupted by a red flag. I am sure that I would have gone under 1:20. The adnatage from new tyres were gone, the car was not that good after restart. Races will bring a whole new experience for me but I believe that I will cope with everything. Overtaking is not easy here but the priority is to finish both races. All practices and qualifying showed that anything can happen here and just finish the race was enough to take points last year."
Antonin Charouz, Seat holder: "We have not expected any miracles this weekend. The most important thing for Josef is to finish both races and gain as much experience as possible. He can capitalize on it in the future."
France
Today, A1 Team France got down to the nitty-gritty on the Durban city circuit in South Africa. Loïc Duval, who had arrived from Japan in the morning by plane, took to the track in the car in which he has racked up 6 podium finishes including a victory this season.
Things got off to a good start, as the French driver was third quickest in free practice this morning. Unfortunately, it all went wrong in qualifying. Loïc was just starting his first flyer in the first segment when the red flag was hung out after an accident and this put an end to his run. In the following segment, he had just set the quickest time in the first sector when a yellow flag lost him over 3 seconds. Finally, he will start from 17th place for the Sprint Race.
In segments 3 and 4 which decided the grid places for the Feature Race Loïc went out early to try and avoid traffic. He set a competitive time, but some of his rivals went quicker in the dying seconds of practice and he will start from 7th place.
This evening the team is somewhat disappointed as it was unable to capitalise on its mooring's performance, but it has nothing to reproach itself. Tomorrow's aim is a damage limitation exercise to try and minimise the impact of the below par qualifying performances on the overall championship classification.
Olivier Panis, sporting director: "The day got off to a great start and even though Loïc only arrived in the morning, he was on the pace right away. Unfortunately, he was unable to capitalise on his speed in qualifying for the Sprint Race as two flags in succession effectively scuppered his runs. It's very annoying as he set the quickest times in the first and third sectors. Tomorrow, we've got no choice but to adopt a very aggressive strategy for both races to score the maximum number of points and limit the damage."
Loïc Duval: "I have to say that I'm very disappointed as my performance in the morning showed that we could expect to be at the front in qualifying. I lifted off as soon as I saw the yellow flags in the second segment, but some of my rivals did not and they were not penalised! So I'm starting from 17th place in the Sprint race. Then I got to grips with the car's handling on new tyres and went out early. I finished up 7th which is not ideal, but the car is so quick that I reckon a podium finish is on the cards in the Feature Race."
Germany
Willi Weber's A1 Team Germany will start tomorrow's races from the third and fourth rows after a turbulent qualifying session at the seventh round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in South Africa. Michael Ammermüller from Pocking qualified in sixth position for the sprint and seventh for the main race on Sunday in Durban in his A1GP race car. Events on the tight, unforgiving 3.28 kilometre street circuit were dominated by several stoppages in quick succession due to accidents.
With temperatures of 34 degrees Celsius and 70 per cent humidity A1 Team Germany's first qualifying run went perfectly. With his lap of 1m18.650s Michael Ammermüller set the best time. However, only six cars had completed a lap at this point when the New Zealander Jonny Reid lost control of his car and caused the session to be stopped. The first qualifying segment was not re-started. With a lap time of 1m18.708s on the second run Michael Ammermüller missed his previous best by half-a-second. Unusually, the new set of tyres generated very little grip. As a result he claimed sixth place on the grid for the sprint.
As scheduled, A1 Team Germany used the same set of tyres for the first qualifying run for the main race and duly recorded twelfth best time with a lap time of 1m19.332s. As the team started its second run, an accident involving the Irish driver Adam Carroll caused the session to be stopped only a few minutes before the end. Despite being on scrubbed tyres in the final run Ammermüller improved his first time by 1.3 seconds and qualified seventh on the grid.
Michael Ammermuller: "Qualifying turned out to be disappointing after the extremely promising results we had in every practice session. Already during the first run there was an interruption, from which I still benefited. In the second run the tyres were unusually bad. Unfortunately, our tyre allocation and strategy were devised on having to use this set again in the third outing. Furthermore, I was blocked massively by the Canadian driver Robert Wickens. In the final attempt on new tyres I was on a good lap when the session was aborted due to an accident. While many drivers were still on their warm-up laps and still had new tyres left, I had to start my final attempt afterwards with used tyres. Seventh was about the best I could do under the circumstances. Now we have to try to make up what we lost in qualifying in the race."
Great Britain
A1 Team Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis will begin tomorrow's Sprint and Feature races in Durban, South Africa, from the second row of the grid in fourth place.
After an extremely competitive afternoon, which saw the top four drivers in both the Sprint and Feature qualifying sessions separated by just two tenths of a second, A1 Team GBR's Oliver Jarvis will begin both races from fourth on the grid.
After yesterday's encouraging practice, this morning's session also proved to be strong for Team GBR and Jarvis. Despite a disrupted hour which saw four red flag periods, Oliver completed 26 laps, working on set-up for this afternoon's qualifying and tomorrow's races. On Oliver's 16th lap he moved up to second fastest, just two tenths of a second behind Team Switzerland. He remained in a strong second position until four minutes before the end, when he overshot the hairpin at turn 1, grazing the tyre wall and stalling the engine. He looked set to finish second before France and Germany moved ahead on the last lap. Oliver's best lap of 1:18.539 was then the fourth fastest time of the session.
With Union flags flying from the apartment blocks lining the street circuit, Oliver Jarvis prepared for this afternoon's qualifying sessions. In first qualifying for the Sprint race the red flag was shown after just six cars had recorded a time and the session was not restarted. GBR did not set a time in the session and it was all down to the second segment. The team took no chances on the unforgiving track, with Jarvis heading out early. The 24-year-old set a brilliant lap time of 1:18.410 four minutes into the session, putting himself on provisional pole position. As the track cleaned up later on Teams Canada, Brasil and New Zealand were able to improve on Oliver's time, putting Team GBR on the second row of the grid in fourth position for the Sprint race.
In first qualifying for the Feature race Oliver continued to impress, setting his fastest lap of 1:17.916 four minutes into the session and once again sitting on provisional pole position. In the dying seconds of the 15-minute segment Team Switzerland improved on Oliver's lap by exactly one tenth of a second, putting Team GBR into provisional second. On his final qualifying segment, Jarvis put everything he had into the hot lap, setting a time of 1:17.917, just one thousandth of a second slower than his previous lap time. Once again though, lap times fell as the session came to a close and Teams Canada and New Zealand were able to slot between Switzerland and GBR, meaning Oliver will also begin the Feature race from fourth on the grid.
Oliver Jarvis: "I think we definitely had the pace to be on the front row for both races. We got caught out by the red flag in Sprint qualifying 1, as did many other teams, so didn't set a lap. But we managed to set a good time in Sprint qualifying 2 though unfortunately got held up by a car spinning, which probably cost us three-tenths, which would have been good enough for pole. Feature qualifying 1 went well, finishing second fastest, then in the final qualifying we ideally could have gone a bit later, but at the same time there were a few minor mistakes on my part. However, the car is very good and we'll definitely be challenging for podium places in both races tomorrow."
Katie Clements, Team Principal: "Strategically Durban is quite a challenging qualifying because there is the high possibility of flags. We were caught out in first qualifying because of that, but so were most of the other teams, so it was a situation that a lot of people had to deal with. We came back well though and we're very pleased with the fourth place starts. Of course, we would have preferred to be on the front row, but we have proved we can be very strong here this weekend, and we are aiming for podium finishes tomorrow."
Ireland
Adam Carroll will start 21st and 13th for Belmayne A1 Team Ireland in round seven of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Durban tomorrow.
Ireland were making good progress in this morning's practice session when, with 20 minutes of the session still left to run, the car stopped out on circuit with a fuel pressure related problem. On further inspection it turned out to be the high pressure pump which was replaced ahead of qualifying.
Unfortunately in first qualifying for the Sprint race the fuel pressure problem reoccurred and left Adam stranded out on track. Luckily, a red flag caused by New Zealand's Jonny Reid allowed the marshals to return the car to the pits where the team began frantic repairs. With no time registered for Sprint qualifying Adam will start back of the grid in 21st.
After some fantastic teamwork, Adam was back on track in the dying moments of Q3, the first Feature race qualifying session, and put in a blistering lap of 1m 18.824s which was good enough for fifth. Unfortunately, when on a quicker run in Q4 the back end stepped out and Adam ended up in the wall at Turn 10. With others going quicker in the final minutes Ireland dropped to 13th for tomorrow Feature race. As the track has proved, it is extremely unforgiving so with two good clean races, and inevitable mistakes by others, Ireland can still come through field tomorrow and Adam is never one to shy away from a challenge.
Adam Carroll: "Unfortunately the problems started in testing when we missed the last 20 minutes. The car was getting better and I was getting better but unfortunately we didn't get the chance to finish that session. I went out on new tyres in qualifying and unfortunately the fuel pump went again, the same as it did in practice, so I had to pull over. The guys did a great job fixing it that quickly and get me back out. The first set of tyres wasn't too bad, but in Q4 I knew where I had to improve so was trying really hard but the rear end was just so lose I just hit the wall and that was that. If you look at what happened last year though, as long as we can get through the first corner and stay out of trouble we can hopefully be in a decent position at the end of the races."
Dan Walmsley, Race Engineer: "We suffered a similar failure in qualifying that stopped our running in free practice this morning. We ended up losing the first two qualifying sessions for the Sprint race so unfortunately we're going to have to start from the back of the grid there. The team worked fantastically well to get the problem resolved in just enough time to get Adam back out for the end of the first Feature race qualifying. Adam had to push to make it round in time and he put in a fantastic lap which he pulled from nowhere to put us P5, and there was more to come from the car as Adam hadn't had a chance to feel the current circuit conditions.
"We left the car pretty much as it was for the final run but unfortunately with Adam pushing so hard to find the time, the back end came around, we hit the barrier and that was the end of our qualifying session. What was P5 in Q3 became P13 by the end of Q4 so it's really disappointing for everyone in the team as they've worked so hard, especially this afternoon to get the problem sorted.
"Adam is a great racer and we hope we can pull a good result off tomorrow but it's very difficult to overtake so we just need to keep our noses clean and hopefully we'll secure a good points finish. It will be a race of attrition and those that finish will most likely finish with points. The Sprint will be very difficult starting from the back but we have a good strategy, a good group of mechanics for the pit stops and if Adam can pull off a couple of good overtaking moves we should hopefully see ourselves up where we should be in the Feature."
Lebanon
It was a solid qualifying session for Lebanon on the challenging street track for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Durban, South Africa which takes place tomorrow.
A1 Team Lebanon had a tough morning practice with red flags flying at regular intervals to stop the session after cars crashed out on this narrow track which offers no runoff area if mistakes are made. Beschir had a narrow escape when he ran wide on the track early in the session, but he was able to have a push start from the marshalls and continue on without any damage to the Lebanon car.
The ferocity of the Durban street track quickly became apparent in final practice, with former F1 driver, Narain Karthikeyen crashing out in the India car after only a few laps of running. After his car was removed from the track the session resumed, only to stop again three more times, for similar incidents by the Australian, Italian and Irish cars. Meanwhile Beschir was trying to put in as many laps as he could to continue to learn the best way to handle the Lebanon car on this extremely difficult track.
In afternoon qualifying Beschir was out at the beginning of the first session and was able to record a time while other teams were sidelined after a red flag. In the second segment all the cars had another shot at setting a lap time for their qualifying position, but Lebanon were unable to improve on their time as a yellow flag caution forced him to slow and abandon his lap, resulting in the Lebanon team recording 19th quickest laptime to line up in this place for the Sprint race.
The final two segments allowed two opportunities to set a lap time for the Feature race grid and Beschir was back out on track early on to set his first lap time. He improved on his earlier lap times, and then in the final qualifying attempt he made up more time, although not as much as he had hoped as he was slowed by the car of New Zealand. The team finished 20th and will start in this position for the Feature race.
Beschir said of his first qualifying session on a street circuit: "That was probably the most daunting qualifying that I've experienced in my racing career. Not only are you trying to put together the best lap you can, you are also aware that one small mistake could result in two starts right at the back of the grid. We had problems with other cars and a yellow flag, which didn't help us today, but the South African races have always produced plenty of surprises and we now really need to focus on completing the race distances. If we can do that, we could be on for a good finishing position, and that's my aim."
Marcus Koch, Chief Engineer, A1 Team Lebanon concluded, "Khalil drove well today. He kept his cool and made improvements as the day progressed and he grew in confidence with the car with each lap. Considering how little running he has had in the A1GP car, with his last race being over three months ago, he's coped well and risen to the challenge of this difficult track. We've seen many more experienced drivers fall victim to this track, while Khalil kept it clean this afternoon when it counted. The two races tomorrow are probably Khalil's biggest challenge yet in his career, but I know he'll put everything into it, to do the best for Lebanon."
Tomorrow's two Sprint and Feature races will bring the event to a climax, and A1 Team Lebanon is expecting a number of flags to be flying in support of the nation, as the South African-Lebanese show their patriotism for their nation.
Malaysia
A1 Team Malaysia continued to work towards the two races tomorrow in the final practice session this morning. Fauzy and the team concentrated on preparing the car for afternoon qualifying, with simulation flying lap runs as well as developing setup and testing different options for the all-important grid setting session.
In a session which featured four red flag stoppages in the first half hour, it was difficult for Fauzy to find a rhythm, but as the practice period continued he was able to learn more about the track and the best lines to take for optimum speed. Running on one set of used tyres, the team was unconcerned with lap times, but finally finished 14th at the end of the hour session.
Afternoon qualifying was held in extreme heat and high humidity, with track temperatures soaring to 46°C as the sun beat down on the Durban coastline.
For the first run the majority of the teams remained in their garages until the last few minutes, when the track has most grip from the rubber laid down by cars out on track before them. A1 Team Malaysia was one of the teams to wait for the best track conditions, however the red flag came out before their flying lap and the session was finished before they had a chance to set a time, along with 15 other cars.
All was not lost though as a second flying lap is allowed in the second segment of the qualifying and Fauzy ensured that he used this wisely, putting in a lap time which put him in eighth place for the Sprint race grid.
The second two segments produced more excitement, with the final segment also featuring a red flag leaving Malaysia little time to complete the final flying lap. Once again Fauzy kept his cool while pushing hard, to finish just outside the top ten with 12th fastest lap.
Fauzy said after the qualifying session, "We were lucky to have got the results we did today. It could easily have been a different story if we hadn't managed to get in the flying laps within the session times. My Feature race attempt was compromised by the red flag that Ireland brought out. That incident meant that we were close behind another car for the flying lap and with other cars behind us there was an added pressure in these circumstances. I'm still confident that we can finish in the top ten tomorrow, and depending on how the races pan out, we could do even better than that."
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia, commented, "We're pleased with the results of our efforts today. Qualifying on a street track is never easy as we saw in the first run when a red flag stopped us setting a time. Fortunately that didn't happen again and Fauzy put in a strong lap for a top ten Sprint race start. For the Feature race qualifying isn't so critical as it's a much longer race and with two pitstops gives us more opportunity to move forward. The lap times were very close this afternoon, so it should be two very exciting races tomorrow. This street circuit has always produced plenty of surprises, so we're set for some good battles between the nations; I hope we'll be in the thick of them and pushing for the best result possible."
Netherlands
In a hectic qualifying for the A1GP Durban, with red and yellow flags, A1 Team Netherlands has not been able to convert the potential it showed on Friday in good grid positions. In the Sprintrace the team wil start from seventh, a sixth grid position is the starting-point for the Feature race.In a close battled free practice this morning A1 Team Netherlands again showed that it was on the pace on the narrow street circuit, finishing fifth.
With bright sunshine and high temperatures the crucial qualifying got underway at 14.15 hours this afternoon. Overtaking is very hard here and thus it is more important to be as much up front as possible. As happens often many countries, A1 Team Netherlands being one of those, waited long before going out on track. This time though Johnny Reid of New Zealand was the spoilsport for many of the teams. His spin caused the red flag to come out with three minutes left and just as Jeroen Bleekemolen had gone out for his flying lap. The session was stopped and not restarted anymore, which meant that A1 Team Netherlands was not able to set a time, like many other countries.
In the second qualifying session A1 Team Netherlands took no chance and went out relatively early. Traffic and a spinning car just in front of him unfortunately hindered Jeroen Bleekemolen in setting a competitive time. A1 Team Netherlands thus had to settle for seventh with a time of 1'18.717. Canada took full advantage and was the surprising pole sitter.
The start of the first qualifying run for the Feature race also brought some chaos as the screens said that the session was underway, but the light at the end of the pitlane remained red. A1 Team Netherlands had just gone out and Bleekemolen had to be pushed back to the garage by the team. In the end A1 Team Netherlands did not succeed in doing better than a tenth fastest time, running on the used tyres from Q1.
The final run brought out the red flag yet again, after a crash by Adam Carroll. And again Jeroen Bleekemolen had just gone out to set a fast lap time on new tyres. He had to go back in again and was sent out straight at the restart of the session. There was just enough time left for the other teams to set their times. On tyres that had been used somewhat Bleekemolen set a sixth fastest time, the 1'18.002 being three tenths of a second slower than Switzerland that took the pole.
Jeroen Bleekemolen; "We were driving past the casino today, but qualifying looked like that as well. Every time something went wrong and you just had to be lucky to go out on track at the right moment. In the first session we were not able to set a time at all and lost a set of tyres in the process. There was heavy traffic in the second session and also someone spun right in front of me. I was not able to put in a good lap this way. Then you are in seventh, we were not able at all to maximize on our potential for the Sprint race. It was quite strange in Q3 with the pitlane opening and closing straight away. By then we were at the end of the pitlane and had to go back again. We were driving with the tyres from Q1 and the car was sliding all over the place. In the final session there was a red flag again just as we were out on track on new tyres. By the time we could our lap time they were used as well. When you see that even then we were not even four tenths off you know it would have been possible. We certainly have got the pace and have to hope that everything goes our way, with good starts and pitstops. And hope that others will make mistakes instead of us. Of course you will try to overtake, but that is very difficult here. You might be able to do something if someone is making a mistake. But normally speaking that is not the case with good drivers and margings being as narrow as they are."
Jan Lammers; "We are having a tough time. Yesterday was some light in the dark, it was a good feeling. Of course we would have liked to continue on this today. But that was not meant to be. Really, we couldn't do anything right. The pace is still there. We should still be able to run inside the top three. When you are in your flying lap or on your outlap and there is a red or yellow flag, that is just bad luck. People who did not go out yet in session 1 had three new sets available. It just did not go our way at all. We are even lucky that we are fairly close to the top, but it is going to be a hectic race tomorrow. It is too bad that we were not able to show our true potential today."
New Zealand
New Zealand driver Jonny Reid is buzzing after a sensational qualifying effort for tomorrow's 7th Round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Durban. Black Beauty will be on the second row of the grid beside Great Britain in both races after Reid recorded a pair of 3rd placings in the nail-biting qualifying sessions. Canada and Brazil will be on the front row for the Sprint Race and Switzerland and Canada have that honour for the Feature Race.
"I'm really, really pleased," Reid said. "A pair of third placings in qualifying for my first ever street race is awesome. There's a very positive feeling in the team. We're in good shape for tomorrow and have every reason to be confident. I'm learning more and more every time I go out. I've just got to keep it off the wall, watch out for confrontations and bring home the points."
The rookie street racer was only 9th in the morning's final Official Practice session after setting just the 11th fastest time among 22 nations in practice on day one. Reid says it was part of a concerted strategy to learn the challenging circuit and brush up street driving skills ahead of qualifying. "If you push too hard and hit the barrier in practice you lose everything. The margin for error is just so slight. We were concentrating on learning different areas of the circuit at a time and focusing on what we needed to do well in qualifying. Now we have a couple of good starting positions for the two races and we can make it happen. We're in the hunt for a good points haul."
New Zealand and France head the championship with 96 points, just three points ahead of Switzerland, with South Africa and Germany lurking within striking distance. While France struggled and will start 17th in the Sprint Race and from 8th on the Feature Race grid, the Swiss snared 5th place for the opening race and will be on pole for the Feature.
"It would've been nice to have Switzerland behind us in the Feature, but it was such a battle for good clear air," Reid said. "(Chief Engineer) Chris Gorne called some fantastic shots to try and get clear air amid the havoc red flags were creating." Reid anticipates a challenging day at the office tomorrow as the heavily barricaded track claims more victims, but he is reveling in the new thrills the street circuit is providing. "It's the fastest roller coaster I've ever been on. You're almost clipping walls and it's like 'wow', you have this intense sense of speed. The different colours of the signage and billboards rip past you, creating a real visual distraction and magnifying the feeling of speed. I could imagine this is what it's like being a car on a slot car set. Amazing."
Pakistan
A1 Team Pakistan driver Adam Khan put in a strong performance today, around the tight and twisting streets that make up the A1GP Durban, South Africa. The 22 year-old racer battled against injury to put in the team's second best qualifying result of the season – and will line up 14th for tomorrow's Feature race. The team will start the Sprint race from 15th place.
The demanding Durban track served up its usual challenges today, with former F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan crashing out in the Indian car just two laps into this morning's practice session. A number of other cars followed, leading to four red flag periods in total. Khan continued to make progress and by the end of the one hour session, was 15th ahead of India, Australia and Mexico and several others.
As a temporary, bumpy street circuit, the Durban race puts the A1GP drivers under immense physical pressure. As one of the tallest drivers in the series, Khan has little space inside the confined space of the A1GP car cockpit. This, together with the very bumpy surface of the Durban race track resulted in severely bruised and swollen elbows for the Pakistan driver. Having received medical attention, the 22 year-old carried on regardless into the afternoon's qualifying session.
In a system unique to A1GP, each team completes one flying lap in four qualifying segments. The team's fastest lap from the first two segments sets the grid position for the Sprint race, while the fastest lap from the second two segments sets the grid slot for the Feature race.
Taking to the track early on in the first qualifying segment, Khan set a good bench mark time. A crash by A1 Team New Zealand brought out a red flag soon after and as the clock continued to tick down, some countries failed to set a time. By the end of the segment, Pakistan were in provisional fourth place on the Sprint race grid. With just one more flying lap in the second qualifying segment to better their times, the 22 A1GP cars were out on track again. With the pressure on, all the teams were pushing hard and by the end of the segment, Pakistan had set the 15th fastest time.
As the sun continued to beat down on the Durban track, Khan was back out to qualify for the Feature race. On new tyres, Khan's first attempt put the team in a provisional ninth place, ahead of current world champions A1 Team Germany and former race winners Netherlands and Malaysia. The Pakistan car was one of the first back out on track for the final qualifying segment for the day. Determined to protect or better his Feature race grid slot, Khan was charging and put in his best time of the weekend so far. With a number of other teams also improving and putting in last minute improvements, Khan will line up 14th for tomorrow's Feature race.
Speaking about his injured elbows, Khan said, "Because I'm very tall I get bashed about anyway, but because this is a bumpy street circuit, it's very bad here. My elbows are really sore, but we're here to do a job, so I've just got to get on with it. Qualifying was ok, the team did a great job and the car felt good. I think we could have done better in qualifying for the Sprint race, but I was pleased with our effort the Feature race. Around here you do have to be a little conservative in qualifying, just to keep the car in one piece for the races. I think we're in really good shape for points tomorrow."
Driver coach Danny Watts added, "We're much closer to the leaders now, we've made really good progress; Adam has real fight to do well. I think we need to try and stay out of trouble tomorrow, as I think there could be some incidents at the first corner. The team's really pleased with how it went today and looking forward to the races."
South Africa
A1 Team Canada (Robert Wickens) scored their first pole in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport when they recorded the fastest qualifying time for tomorrow's rolling start Sprint race here this afternoon. Brazil (Bruno Junqueira) will join France on the front row, with New Zealand (Jonny Reid) and Great Britain (Oliver Jarvis) sharing row two. The first seven cars were covered by half a second.
South Africa (Adrian Zaugg) failed to record a time in either of the two qualifying segments and will start from the back of the grid in 22nd place. Zaugg was denied a chance to record a timed lap in the first segment after an incident involving two other cars brought out the red flag and a premature end to the segment. In the second segment he lost control of the car on a bumpy section of the circuit and spun off the circuit.
Sunday's longer Feature race will see Switzerland (Neel Jani) start from the coveted pole position (his fourth this season and his seventh in A1), ahead of Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain. The gap between first and eighth (France's Loic Duval) was less than half a second. South Africa's bad luck continued in the third and fourth segments that determine the grid for the Feature race and Zaugg was only able to qualify 15th
The South African was naturally disappointed, but undeterred and still determined to do his best in front of his home fans. "To be honest, we've not really been in contention in terms of performance for a top four position all weekend," he said. "We've struggled to achieve the optimum set-up for the car for the bumpy track conditions. I was surprised when the car snapped to the side (coming out of turn two in the second qualifying segment) as this had not happened in the two practice sessions. We had a problem with the fuel pickup in segment three and I just tried my best to get in a decent lap.
"There's not much I can do from the back of the grid in the Sprint race, but I'll do my best to at least finish in the points in the top 10. The 70-minute Feature race offers more of an opportunity for a good result. There are two compulsory pit stops and we've been good at these this season, so I'll be looking to make up places here.
"Whatever happens, I'll be trying hard to get a good result for the team and for my country," the likeable 21-year-old promised.
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