22/11/2008
NEWS STORY
Australia
In the extreme heat of Sepang twenty A1 cars qualified for the Sprint and Feature races tomorrow with a new addition to the rules allowing a driver to use one 'push to pass' button on one only flying lap.
The drivers were lapping in the 1 minute 50 second range for the first session of Q1 Sprint qualifying. John Martin was in 14th place at that stage with a time of 1:50.074 being 0.874 seconds behind the lead car, A1 Team France. Rob Arnott the Team Chief Engineer released Martin early into the Q2 session to see him set a time of 1:49.998 being 2.844 seconds away from the pole sitter A1 Team Switzerland. The competition is better than ever before in A1GP with only four cars ahead of Martin lapping 1:48.930 down to A1 Team Switzerland's time of 1:47.154. At this stage most of the lead cars had used their 'push to pass' during the Sprint Qualifying.
With a 50 degree track temperature the team decided to release John Martin early to set a fast lap on a clear track into the Q1 Feature. He was sitting in first place with a time of 1:48.915 and a top speed of 263.4 kph. This was the perfect lap and the best the team has done in a qualifying session so far this season. There is evidence of Martin's continual improvement with the new car as the session came to a close with two other cars ahead, A1 Team France and A1 Team Ireland on a provisional pole time of 1:48.555 with a top speed of 264.7 kph.
In keeping with the team's qualifying strategy, John Martin was again released early into the Q2 Feature to make good use of a clear track. As he drove down pit lane A1 Team Brazil left their garage and entered pit lane without looking left. To avoid a shunt he moved around the Brazil car in pit lane and was later cleared after investigation by the race stewards for passing another car in pit lane. This incident delayed Martin's entry to the track for his warm up lap allowing A1 Team Monaco to go by on his flying lap and go out to qualify in traffic. As Martin started his own timed flying lap, A1 Team Monaco were on their slow down lap still on the racing line and blocked Martin's fast lap pushing him down the order to finish 13th on the grid 1.462 seconds away from the new pole sitter A1 Team Ireland. A1 Team Brazil later apologised to John Martin in the good spirit of the A1.
Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "Missed opportunities today and the baulking by Team Monaco ruined our Feature qualifying after John had set the 3rd fastest time in Q1 for the Feature. We are trying to fix our 'push to pass' button after it was malfunctioning. It was a real shame as John was improving in each qualifying session, he just needs to be mindful of the rules at times especially in pit lane"
John Martin: "If I hadn't of moved over in pit lane I would have driven into the side of the Brazil car to start with in Q2. With Monaco in front and not slowing or moving over, I lost valuable time especially in the last sector and the last corner onto the main straight. The rules state you must move over on your slow down lap to let the cars on their flying lap go by. He knew we were quicker and ahead of him after the Q1 Feature. My time in Q2 was 1:48.586 and he finished his lap at 1:48.242. I had a 'push to pass' to use and in doing that I had to battle on with a car blocking my racing line"
Rob Arnott Team Chief Engineer: "It was unfair on what Monaco did to John in Q2. John's time in Q1 Feature was a real time, a quick excellent lap. We were P3 in Q1 and the worst we should have done was remaining in Position 3[P3]. I would have been happy if he had of kept the car in the top six, worse case as he still had his 'push to pass' for Q2. We have a good pit stop plan for tomorrow to try and jump some cars during the race"
Brazil
The qualifying session for round three of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport took place today at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. A1 Team Brazil will line up on the eighth row of the grid for the Sprint race and the sixth row for the Feature race after Felipe Guimarães set the 15th and 12th quickest times respectively in qualifying.
This morning's final practice unfortunately followed on in terms of performance as the Friday practice sessions. Despite running similar car set-ups to some of the front running cars, Felipe continued to suffer from a fundamental car problem, which is causing severe oversteer under braking. His lap times reflected this and the team struggled, putting them on the back foot for qualifying.
In the first of two qualifying sessions for the Sprint race, there was an unfortunate red flag incident early on after Korea spun on the final corner. With only two minutes of track time left when the circuit was reopened, all the teams headed out, with Brazil at the back of the pack. Along with four other drivers, he was unable to complete his outlap before the chequered flag, so his time was not counted, leaving his Sprint position all down to the second segment. He headed out half way into that segment on a fairly quiet track, crossing the line with a lap time of 1:50.085. As the track quickly improved through each session, he was down to 15th once all the drivers had set their times, setting himself up on the eighth row for the Sprint.
Felipe headed out five minutes before the end of the first segment of Feature qualifying on a fairly clear track and set a time of 1:50.078, putting him in provisional 13th position. In the final segment he headed out on new rubber and used his PowerBoost for the lap – a new feature for A1GP qualifying which allows a team to select one of the four qualifying laps to utilise the extra 60bhp. He put together a good lap, setting a time of 1:48.323 to move him up to 12th position, putting him on the sixth row for the Feature.
Felipe Guimarães: "We managed to make a bit of an improvement in qualifying and we were definitely much better by the last session. Unfortunately I braked a little early in the first corner of that lap and I lost around four tenths but the rest of the lap was really good so I'm quite happy and confident for tomorrow."
Emerson Fittipaldi, Team Principal: "After practice this morning we base-lined the car and in my opinion Felipe did a good lap in the final session of qualifying. He lost some time in sector one but sectors two and three were very good so he should have been in the top ten. We have lost a lot of running time this weekend which all started with the electrical problem on Friday morning so I am happy with Felipe's qualifying performance. It is difficult to pass here but I think if he has a good race we have a good chance of finishing in a strong points position."
France
Today, A1 Team France competed in the 4-part qualifying session for the Feature and Sprint races in the 3rd round of the 2008-09 A1 World Cup of Motorsport Championship tomorrow on the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
The organisers had a surprise up their sleeve for everybody: they allowed the drivers to use their power boost over a full flying lap in one of the qualifying segments. This device gives the engine a power boost of some 10%, or around half-a-second over a lap this weekend.
The team discussed this and decided to use the tweak in the second qualifying segment that determines the grid for the Sprint race. Knowing that it's difficult to fight one's way though traffic in this event, A1 Team France's aim was the following: guarantee a place at the front of the grid in the first race to bag the maximum number of points, and then bet on the length of the pit stops in the second to move to the front of the field. It was the right choice.
Despite a small error due to his lack of experience with the new car on new tyres, Loïc Duval set the second-quickest time in the first 2 segments. He will start from the first row in the Sprint race alongside Switzerland, which also used its power boost. Only few teams made the same choice.
In the next 2 segments Loïc did a great job. He dialled in a very fast lap setting the ninth-quickest time, while almost all his rivals used their power boost.
Tomorrow, the team's aim will be a couple of rostrum finishes so that it leaves Malaysia leading the championship.
Olivier Panis, sporting director: "We weighed up the pros and cons of the new rule, and opted to use the power boost in qualifying for the Short race. Our gamble paid off. Starting from second place Loïc can target a rostrum finish. We're optimistic about the Feature race for several reasons. First of all, our strategy should enable us to gain several places. Then, given our level of performance so far this weekend, we should be able to pull off a few good passing moves on this circuit, which calls for an aggressive approach. Lastly, several of the teams in front of us on the grid are much slower. We should be able to overtake them without problems. So quite a lot of action to look forward to!"
Loïc Duval: "I made a small mistake on my power boost lap as I still lack a few automatic reactions with the new car. I could have set the quickest time, but second isn't too bad. Our aim in the Feature race is the rostrum. We've picked up a lot of speed since yesterday and I'm now dialled in with the car. On the Sepang circuit you can push really hard. The heat could also upset things, as it'll be a stiff test of the drivers' physical fitness. In short, we can really go for it tomorrow and we'll seize the slightest opportunity!"
Great Britain
A brand new element to A1GP qualifying proved to be the deciding factor today in Sepang, Malaysia, as teams fought it out for grid places for tomorrow's Sprint and Feature races for round three of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. A1 Team Great Britain's Danny Watts put in another fantastic performance, setting himself up for a front row start in the Feature race by setting the second quickest lap. He will begin from the third row in the Sprint race.
Ahead of this weekend's qualifying, organisers announced a new twist to proceedings, designed to add an extra strategical ingredient to qualifying. Each team now has the ability to use their PowerBoost button for one entire lap of their four qualifying segments, which adds 60bhp to the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari cars. It is up to the teams to decide which of the laps to use the extra power on, with the first two used for Sprint qualifying and the second two to determine the Feature race grid.
As it turned out, GBR saved its PowerBoost for Feature qualifying, while four of the top five teams in Sprint race qualifying opted to use theirs in the second segment, giving them around a two second advantage to a lap. Danny set his quickest lap time of 1:49.076 in the second of the two sessions, which was the sixth fastest time overall, putting him on the third row of the grid for the Sprint race. However, the team takes confidence from the fact that GBR was the second fastest car minus the PowerBoost in the session.
In a thrilling qualifying session for the Feature race, Danny set a fastest lap of 1:47.340 in the second segment as he hit the track on fresh rubber and with his PowerBoost facility in action. Despite feeling like he did not complete a clean lap, Danny powered across the line to take the second fastest time, just two tenths of a second behind Ireland, who will be in pole position for the Feature.
Danny Watts: "It was a good session and we have proved we have the pace. My lap in the Sprint race qualifying felt really good so I was a bit disappointed to be sixth, although at that point I didn't know who had used the PowerBoost. My Feature qualifying lap was not very good at all and in fact I apologized to the team as I crossed the line for a poor effort. To find I was second was great – I think the PowerBoost bailed me out on the straights! We should have been a lot quicker though and that gives me confidence. Tomorrow is going to be a big day and that's where it all matters. We have the pace and we're focused now on race day."
Katie Clements, Team Principal: "It's been a pretty exciting afternoon and this new PowerBoost rule has really shaken up the grid. I am very pleased with the team's performance and the pace that we have shown. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day for Danny and the other drivers dealing with this extreme heat and humidity in a very long race. I am very hopeful based on today's showing that we can secure some strong results."
Ireland
It was another day of firsts for Team Ireland at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Sepang, Malaysia, today where Adam Carroll produced a blistering lap in qualifying to take the team's first ever Feature race pole position. Coming two weeks after the team moved into second place in the series with a first and second in China, today's performance bodes well for another strong result tomorrow afternoon.
Ireland timed their final qualifying run to perfection and made best use of a full lap of power boost – providing 660bhp from the Ferrari V8 engine - to take the all important pole for the one hour Feature event after earlier qualifying seventh for the Sprint race.
New rules allowing the teams a single lap of boost from the A1GP cars during qualifying meant that the grids for the two races were quite different and Ireland chose to play their ace card in qualifying for the higher points value Feature event.
Carroll was second fastest in the first part of Sprint race qualifying but failed to improve in the second segment, slipping to seventh place as some other teams either chose to use power boost or a second set of new tyres.
With just a few minutes to prepare between sessions, the teams were soon back out on track for Feature race qualifying and Carroll put Ireland on top of the time sheets with the first of his two flying laps.
With an 60bhp boost for his final full lap of the 5.54km Sepang circuit Carroll saved the best for last to shave a whopping 1.4 seconds off his time and secure the all important top spot.
"This is another step for Team Ireland," said Team Principal Mark Gallagher afterwards. "Our first Feature race pole is the result of continued focus and the talent we have at our disposal. Adam and our new Technical Director Gerry Hughes have forged a strong partnership, but the entire team has done another great job to extract the maximum from the car in both sessions.
"The team didn't panic when we slipped to seventh at the end of Sprint race qualifying because we knew some teams had used their power boost early on. For us the Feature race was always the more important one and Adam carried out our strategy perfectly.
"It's also good that our overall qualifying performance is very strong compared to those of our immediate rivals in the championship. Now, with the good work done today, we need to ensure that tomorrow brings the results and points-haul we want to take away from this weekend."
Adam Carroll: I'm very pleased with this result because it's been hard work getting the most out the car so far this weekend. I'm delighted for everyone in the team. It's a hard, long circuit to put a good lap together and getting the best out of the car around this track is not easy. It doesn't always feel like the perfect lap but it worked out for us.
"The difference with the power boost on for the full lap is very noticeable. The Ferrari engine sounds like it's really working and you can really feel the extra power under your right foot. It's going to be a very tough couple of races tomorrow in the heat and humidity and I'll be working hard to make sure we get two strong results to keep up our title challenge."
Team Technical Director Gerry Hughes: "It was a hard session all in all with a very pleasing result. It was slightly disappointing where we ended up in Sprint race qualifying but now we've got single lap power boost in qualifying it tends to mix it up a little bit."
"We're playing a strategic game and there are five points more for the Feature race victory so we have to set our targets and stick to them.
"Feature race qualifying went to plan and Adam put together two really good laps. For the races it'll be important to stay out of trouble on the first lap of the Sprint and hope that the rolling start and the pit stop works to our advantage. The Sprint race for us will be about points, keeping our nose clean and making sure that the car's in good shape for the Feature race. That's where we will focus for our top result tomorrow."
Watching qualifying with the team were Eddie Irvine's parents Edmund and Kathleen and the team will be hoping that some of the alchemy that produced victory for Eddie in Malaysia in '99 will rub off on Team Ireland this weekend.
Lebanon
After over three years A1 Team Lebanon has finally scored its first top three qualifying spot, a fantastic achievement by the team's new young driver for this season, Daniel Morad. This success came after a weekend of struggles for the team, so was definitely a special moment to celebrate. Morad's third quickest lap in Feature race qualifying puts him on the second row of the grid and in a strong position for a podium finish. The earlier Sprint race qualifying produced an 18th place start.
A1Team Lebanon was struggling to keep their cool in the heat of the Malaysian sun earlier today with a recurrence of fuel pressure problems experienced at the last event returning in morning practice. The frustrations of the team and driver were clear to see as they battled to sort out the problems caused by a faulty ECU, a supplied control part. Exceptional efforts by the highly professional Lebanese crew gave Morad a fighting chance to put in a handful of laps at the end of the session and their efforts were repaid with tenth fastest time. However, everyone in the team was acutely aware of the work ahead for a strong qualifying result.
This afternoon's qualifying featured a format change, with each team being allowed to use PowerBoost over a complete lap for one of the four runs, a rule revision that was to introduce plenty of excitement to the session. A few teams elected to use this for the Sprint race qualifying, with the majority choosing to benefit from the additional power for the Feature race runs.
The start of the qualifying session featured plenty of drama for many of the nations. A red flag in the middle of the session forced all but two nations to take to the track at the same time. A stream of cars passed the green flag with seconds to spare, with Morad in the thick of the pack. A clear track was impossible but the Team Lebanon driver put in a solid lap, then headed out for his second run where he improved his lap time to line up 18th for the Sprint race, saving his PowerBoost for the Feature race qualifying.
These efforts, however, were overshadowed by the Feature race qualifying. With less than five minutes of the third run remaining all but one of the teams stayed in their garage, with everyone playing a waiting game and looking for track advantage. But it was in the final run that A1 Team Lebanon brought everything together to secure an unprecedented third quickest lap.
Morad said, "It's been a tough situation this weekend as we've had so many problems that we haven't really had much running in the practice sessions and we really just had four laps to get it together. By the last stint in qualifying we had the car nailed down and nearly perfect. I used the PowerBoost in the last segment, and although I struggled in the Sprint race qualifying I think we made up for it in the Feature race. No matter where I am in the Sprint race with the pitstops and the possibility of rain, anything is possible.
Billy Karam, said after qualifying, "Daniel really pulled one out of the bag this afternoon, a great result for Lebanon and the Arab team, we're delighted to have finally secured a top three starting spot. I know the team has not had the best start this weekend and have been on the back foot, but all that is behind them now and we look forward to the potential for more points."
Luke Craft, Team Principal, A1 Team Lebanon, added, "We've been up against a number of problems which have been outside of our control and, along with many other teams up and down the pitlane, we've had to concentrate on making sure the car was running reliably rather than performance gain. We hope that this is now in the past, Daniel has proved himself to be a real talent in the most difficult circumstances and we're now keen to translate his superb qualifying effort into a points finish. Can we reach the podium? Anything is possible, but A1GP is highly competitive, there's many variables including very unpredictable Malaysian weather, but one thing is for sure that's certainly our goal."
Malaysia
A1 Team Malaysia completed their final preparations for the home round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport today, with a strong fourth place start for the Feature race and 13th place for the morning Sprint race.
Fauzy was tenth fastest in the first practice session yesterday and continued with his solid form, finishing 10th fastest in final practice this morning, despite not using his PowerBoost, while most of the other nations used this to post quick laps. It was a cool and calm team effort that saw A1 Team Malaysia work through a planned programme of set up changes to improve performance. Running on worn tyres to save the new sets for afternoon qualifying, it was an opportunity for the team to evaluate the car setup in these conditions and the team were keen to put their preparations to good use in qualifying.
Events did not go to plan for the team for the Sprint race qualifying. Fauzy was out on track for his first flying lap when the Korean car stopped on the circuit and caused a red flag, which left Fauzy faced with restarting his flying lap but losing out on the benefit of new tyres. With less than two minutes of the session remaining all the cars had to take to the track to post a qualifying time, however the home team were unable to make it out losing out severely. However, the second of the two runs saw Malaysia post 13th quickest lap.
Fairuz Fauzy said of the session, "There are mixed emotions, but overall I'm happy with our performance. We went out early for the first run but were caught out by the red flag. Being in the first garage as we enter the pitlane made it difficult to get back out in time for another run and we didn't make it, so I only had one shot at the Sprint race qualifying. On my second run we went out and tried to find a space but ended up catching the traffic so I'm a bit disappointed for the sprint race qualifying. For the Feature race we started over and put in a solid lap to start with, saving our PowerBoost for the final run making a very strong recovery.
"After the Sprint race qualifying I was very disappointed and frustrated in the car but I tried to keep my mind strong and positive and was feeling very determined. I think we can target the top three for the feature race tomorrow, with a good strategy and good weather on our side. For the Sprint race the aim will be a points finish and I think that's achievable"
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia, added, "All credit to the team for keeping calm under intense pressure this afternoon. Obviously we're a little disappointed not to have had the optimum two runs for Sprint race qualifying but we certainly made up for this with our Feature race efforts. There's a lot of focus on us this weekend and Fairuz has handled well all the demands of him. With good luck and extremely hard work from everyone tomorrow we could come away with some points and as always we cannot underestimate the competition. The field is full of very talented drivers, including Fairuz, and we know that the racing tomorrow will be fast and furious. Our strength is our teamwork and I know we'll all be on top form tomorrow and giving all the fans here very exciting racing."
Monaco
A1 Team Monaco will start on the 8th row of the grid for the Sprint Race and in 11th position for the start of the Feature race tomorrow after a Saturday of mixed fortunes at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
The teams got the chance to play a PowerBoost 'joker' in qualifying* today with a new rule 'aimed at adding a new strategic element to Saturdays'. The functionality of the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car allows for the PowerBoost button to be available for an entire lap of Qualifying and teams are allowed to use it for one of their four flying laps. The PowerBoost button gives an extra 60bhp on application, so teams were able to decide in which segment to play their joker, making the decision to deploy it for the Sprint or Feature race qualifying instrumental in determining how their race day could develop.
Following an encouraging Friday, Team Monaco struggled with car balance during this morning's final practice session when Clivio Piccione set the sixteenth fastest lap time (1:50.699). The team made a good start, running in fourth place for the first part of the session, before moving down the time sheets as the session continued.
The Monegasque squad fared no better at the start of the afternoon when the team fell victim to an early red flag situation in SQ1 (Sprint race Qualifying Session 1). This limited running to less than two minutes and in a surge to record a lap time all 20 teams went out on track at once. Clivio was caught in the back of the pack and was one of five teams who ran out of time when they crossed the finish line. Team Monaco therefore had to make the most of SQ2 after the short break and Clivio pushed the car to improve on his morning's practice time with a 1:50.171. He will start the Sprint race on the 8th row of the grid in 16th position tomorrow.
Clivio set an early competitive hot lap of 1:48.940 to sit in 2nd position at the start of FQ3, the first qualifying session for tomorrow's Feature race. At the chequered flag Clivio's time was one of only five set in the 1:48's and was impressive enough to hold the team in 4th place at the end of the session. After the final five minute respite the last qualifying segment got underway and Clivio left the Monaco garage with four minutes of the session remaining. He was able to set a 1:48.242 which elevated the team to 2nd on the time sheets, but as the final few seconds of the session counted down, a sprint for the line by the established teams meant that Monaco's time just slipped out of the top 10 to finish the segment in 11th position.
Clivio Piccione, Driver and Seat Holder: "We went out straight away this morning for practice and set a good lap time putting us in P4. The car was understeery and the track was pretty green, so we did few changes to cure the understeer, but the track came back quicker than we anticipated. We were not happy with our result, but we understood what we needed to do for Qualifying. In the first qualifying session we missed the chequered flag by one second. We ran the same tyres in SQ2 and set a good lap, but as many of the other teams were on new tyres, we ended up pretty far back. We started FQ3 on a new set of tyres and made a few changes to maximise grip and it actually went quite well. We set a good lap in FQ4 which put us up into P2 and we used the boost, so we were confident for at least a position on the first three rows. But on my final quick lap I lost the rear at turn 1 and lost time. We had a quick sector 2, but at turn 13 I lost a bit more time under braking. Everyone else's times improved and we missed out on the position we expected, so overall it was quite frustrating and we know we have the potential to do better."
Graham Taylor, Team Principal: "After four minutes of the first segment of qualifying there was a red flag deployed because of Korea, but the clock does not stop, so we were aware that time and space on track would get very tight. Our garage is at the top of the pitlane, so we have a long way to go. The cars in front of us were slow, so we missed the chequered flag by one second. During the second run we were only good enough to take 16th place which is a shame because we needed information from two full runs following a frustrating morning. For FQ3 Clivio put together a very good lap, finding the balance of the car which was encouraging as we still had the PowerBoost to use. Our final run did not live up to own expectations and leaves us with a lot to do tomorrow."
Netherlands
A1 Team Netherlands was not able to create the desired starting position for both A1GP races tomorrow, with respective ninth and sixth grid positions.
On a warm and dry Sepang circuit Jeroen Bleekemolen drove to a fifth fastest time in the first Sprint race qualifying run. In the second segment a number of teams opted to used their Powerboost, amongst others Switzerland and New Zealand, and were able to improve their times considerably. This was the first time it was available to the teams for use in one of the four segments. A1 Team Netherlands decided to wait for the Feature race qualifying. In the end it was Switzerland that took the pole with 1'47.124. With a time of 1'49.323 Bleekemolen drove to ninth on the grid.
In the first qualifying segment for the Feature race A1 Team Netherlands went out on track with used tyres and without Powerboost and was thus not able to compete up front. The team kept the final set of new tyres and the 'joker' for the final run. There Bleekemolen set a time of 1'47.825, which was good for sixth on the grid. Adam Carroll took the Feature race pole for Ireland with a time of 1'47.124. Daniel Morad of Lebanon was the surprise during this qualifying, setting a third fastest time.
Tomorrow there will a mandatory pitstop for the teams in the Sprint race for the first time this season. The new rule was announced earlier, but had not been activated during the first two weekends.
Jeroen Bleekemolen; "After the free practice sessions I had hoped for more. We were inside the top 5 constantly and were competing with the top all the time. Because of the new 'Powerboost rule' it is very hard to be in front for both races. You really have to choose for which race you are going to use the powerboost. Also with tyres you have to choose and this causes countries to finish further down for one run. For us the Sprint race qualifying did not go as it should go yet. Then some others who used their powerboost passed us and you are in ninth. In the Feature race qualifying things did go better every time, but unfortunately still not good enough. For tomorrow I am very confident though. We have been on the pace with the car in race conditions and the team has practiced a lot of pitstops. So that should help us move forward."
Jan Lammers; "Qualifying has become a tight battle. In the four qualifying segments you are allowed to use three sets of new tyres, so you have to do one run with the same tyres as before. This means that you have to choose wether you are going to sacrifice one qualifying run for the Feature or Sprint race. That has been so for quite some time, but from this weekend on we have the opportunity to use the powerboost during qualifying. When you push the Powerboost button you will get an extra 60 bhp after about 4km, and this stays active over a distance of 12km (approx 3 laps), so effectively your entire qualifying run. Our qualifying was difficult but in the end we were able to keep the podium in our sights. It has become a tremendous tactical battle, Switzerland for instance is on pole for the Sprint race and only 16th for the Feature race. New Zealand also had two completely different qualifying results. Fortunately we should be able to do something coming from sixth and ninth and we will have to show this tomorrow. In the Sprintrace you will come in after only four laps, when the field is still close together, which means that a fast (mandatory) pitstop can gain positions immediately. During the Feature race you come in after 8 laps and then the field has spread out more, you can make up some ground but it is more difficult to move up places straight away. It is as it is. For tomorrow; we have got all the ingredients to drive good races and we will have to use them well. We will see on RTL, tomorrow from 06.45 CET."
South Africa
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, known for its innovative approach to encouraging exciting, spectator-friendly motor racing, introduced the use of the series' trademark PowerBoost for the first time in qualifying on Saturday for Sunday's third round of the current season at Sepang in Malaysia.
The result was markedly different grids for the two races, with individual team strategies producing widely varying results. While Switzerland, France and New Zealand took the top three spots in qualifying for Sunday's sprint race, they will start from 16th, ninth and 15th respectively in the feature race.
The top three places on the feature race grid will be occupied by Ireland, Great Britain and Lebanon, with Lebanon achieving its best grid position yet in A1GP and improving from 18th for the sprint race. Ireland is seventh in the sprint race and Great Britain sixth.
South Africa, with Adrian Zaugg at the wheel of Vulindlela, was unable to take advantage of the new PowerBoost rule in either qualifying, finishing 11th on the sprint race grid and 17th for the feature race.
The new rule allows a team to have one PowerBoost lap for its choice of one of their four flying laps that determine the grid positions for the two races. Some teams opted to use their PowerBoost lap in the sprint race qualifying, while most opted to retain it for the feature race. It led to two of the most varied grids ever seen in A1GP.
"While the new system didn't work for us today," said A1 Team South Africa's Mike Carroll, "it certainly has added a new dimension to A1GP and will no doubt prove popular with the spectators. Now we have a tough job to get into the points in Sunday's races."