The Grid.co.uk    the national & club motor racing website - est1998          

  ^News

2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Final points standings

1.Switzerland 168

2.New Zealand 127

3.Great Britain 126

4.France 118

5.South Africa 96

6.Ireland 94

7.Netherlands 87

8.Germany 83

9.Canada 75

10.India 61

11.Portugal 59

12.USA 56

13.China 55

14.Brazil 44

15.Malaysia 25

16.Mexico 22

17.Australia 20

18.Italy 12

19.Czech Republic 10

20.Pakistan 1

21.Indonesia 1

Next race: A1GP Mugello, Italy, 19-21 September 2008

mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk

Swiss are the Champions as India Wins Feature and GBR the Sprint

A1 Team India secured its second win of the season when Narain Karthikeyan took victory in the Brands Hatch season finale Feature race this afternoon while GBR's Robbie Kerr notched up another home race podium after a beautiful drive, just losing out to India during the second pit stop.

Newly crowned A1GP champion A1 Team Switzerland's Neel Jani joined India and GBR on the podium in third position while China's Congfu Cheng finished in a superb fourth place after a great weekend at a circuit he knows so well.

Fifth was taken by Franck Montagny, helping France to fourth place in the championship, followed by the Netherlands' Jeroen Bleekemolen in a solid sixth.

New Zealand's Jonny Reid did just enough to secure second in the championship behind Switzerland, who took the prestigious title honours this morning. Reid carved his way through the pack from 17th to seventh during the course of the 48-lap race, partly due to swift work in the pits from the New Zealand crew. Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque snatched seventh from the Kiwi with just four laps remaining, demoting Reid to eighth at the chequered flag, which was enough to take second in the championship, beating GBR by just one point.

Indonesia's Satrio Hermanto crossed the line 10th to score his nation's first point this season. Hermanto put in a superb effort to hang onto the final points-paying position, after last lap pressure from the Czech Republic and South Africa.

Ireland's Adam Carroll, who was on course for another podium finish after a sterling drive to third in the Sprint race this morning, crossed the line 13th to secure sixth in the final championship standings. Carroll got a great start and ran in third for the first part of the race, before losing his car's front wing and being forced to pit for repairs outside the compulsory pit stop windows. The Northern Irish star was clearly pushing hard after rejoining in 18th on lap 20, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 44.

Narain Karthikeyan, who took his maiden A1GP race win in Zhuhai, China in December last year, was delighted to score India's second race win:

'I think I made a good start. Robbie tried to go round the outside but I defended that move. When we came out of the first pit stop I had a coming together with Adam Carroll - I didn't see him because I had a moment and he tried to go up the inside and I hit him. But anyway, a great result for A1 Team India and after the final pit stop my car was mega. I made a mistake at Sheen but at the end it was all good!'

Robbie Kerr, who won this morning's Sprint race and finished second in the main event this afternoon, was visibly disappointed to just miss out on doing the double on home soil:

'It was a fantastic weekend for GBR, it was just a shame we couldn't pull the second win off. Narain and I were so equal and after the first pit stop we thought we had done enough. Then unfortunately the second pit stop didn't quite go our way, but it's a team sport and we all worked hard. It's just one of those things.'

Feature race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team Ireland set the fastest lap in the Feature race, lapping the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in 1m15.997s with a speed of 175.4 kph on lap 44 of the 48 lap race.

Switzerland Wins A1GP Title as GBR Takes Superb Home Victory

A1 Team Switzerland has won the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, after finishing fourth in this morning's sensational Brands Hatch Sprint race in the UK, in which Great Britain's Robbie Kerr took a fantastic home race victory ahead of USA and Ireland.

The crowd went wild as home favourite GBR's Robbie Kerr dominated the action from pole position to win the 20-minute race, moving the British team up into third place in the championship before this afternoon's final race of the season. Kerr, who took victory in the Brands Hatch Sprint race last year, has now scored three wins for his nation during his A1GP career.

Much to the delight of the home fans, Ireland's Adam Carroll finished on the podium in third place, after making a brilliant start from fourth on the grid, diving past the Swiss car going into Paddock Hill and seizing third. Twenty-five-year-old Carroll has now notched up a total of four podium finishes - including one win - for the Irish team in his debut A1GP season.

USA's Jonathan Summerton, who started second and has been on impressive form all weekend, held position throughout the race and, despite pressure from Carroll in the Celtic Tiger, went on to finish second and take his third podium for the American squad this season.

New Zealand's Jonny Reid, who had a poor qualifying session on Saturday but was still in with a chance of overhauling the Swiss team in the title fight this morning, crossed the line eighth. The Kiwis are now preparing to defend second overall in the championship during this afternoon's season finale Feature race, as third-placed GBR is set to pile on the pressure.

An emotional Max Welti, seat holder of newly crowned A1GP champion A1 Team Switzerland, said:

'It's absolutely outstanding. It's such a great feeling - you just cannot believe it! To represent Switzerland all over the globe and to actually do it is fantastic. We're writing a page in the history books. Neel came on the radio after he crossed the line to thank the team - he knows that to win the world championship is not only his achievement, but everybody in the team as well.'

Sprint race results

USA Races to Sensational Maiden Win as Championship Stays Alive

A1 Team USA's Jonathan Summerton made history today when he took his and the team's first ever A1GP race win in this afternoon's Feature race at China's Shanghai International Circuit. Current title leader and pole-sitter Switzerland's Neel Jani lost second gear early on in the race and fifth gear towards the end so, despite a heroic drive, couldn't stay in touch with the American car and crossed the line fifth behind title rival New Zealand's Jonny Reid in fourth.

This afternoon's result keeps the thrilling 2007/08 championship alive and it will now be decided at the final round of the season at Brands Hatch, Great Britain on 4 May.

Florida's Summerton, who turns 20 next week, was joined on the podium by Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque, who put in another incredible performance to finish second and take his third podium finish in only his sixth A1GP race outing. Ireland's Adam Carroll, buoyed by his maiden A1GP victory in Mexico last time out, was also on great form, racing to third position and notching up his and the team's third podium finish of the season.

USA's Summerton, who was given an anti-inflammatory dressing by the A1GP Medical Delegate, Dr Paul Trafford, to reduce bruising and swelling in his right hand sustained during the start line incident with New Zealand in this morning's Sprint race, snatched the advantage at the start as Switzerland's Jani struggled to get off the grid.

Summerton had pulled out a one second lead from Jani by lap eight and after some smooth work in the pits and a good out lap, USA held position and continued to pull away from second-placed Switzerland as it became apparent that Jani was driving without second gear. When Summerton came in for his second compulsory pit stop on lap 24, at the same time as third-placed Portugal, the American had a nine second advantage over the Swiss team and again rejoined in the lead. Summerton was never threatened and continued to drive beautifully to cross the line in first place for USA, becoming the 16th nation to win an A1GP race and the 10th this season, taking his and the team's first ever A1GP victory.

Portugal's Albuquerque (pictured), who started from third, fell back one position at the start as India's Narain Karthikeyan snuck through to take third. The 22-year old Portuguese rookie snatched it back on lap five however, with a perfectly timed clinical manoeuvre past the Indian car. Having leap-frogged the struggling Swiss car in the final round of pit stops, Albuquerque ran in second place for the final third of the race and went on to cross the line second.

Adam Carroll lost out to India at the start but rocketed past Karthikeyan on the start/finish straight to seize fourth place on lap seven, slotting in behind Portugal. After excellent work in the pits, Carroll gained a place and held third until the end of the race to score Ireland's third podium finish this season and its fourth overall.

Jani, who fell back to second at the start and drove much of the race without second and fifth gear, lost three places to Portugal, Ireland and, crucially, New Zealand, in the second round of pit stops, rejoining the action in fifth place behind the Kiwis in fourth. The pair remained in these positions for the remainder of the race, crossing the line in fourth and fifth place respectively, and the Swiss team are now 29 points ahead of New Zealand in the championship with just one round remaining.

Malaysia's Alex Yoong, who has been on good form all weekend, raced to sixth place ahead of India's Narain Karthikeyan in seventh, who was running as high as third in the early stages of the race. France's Franck Montagny and Great Britain's Robbie Kerr, who are fighting for position in the championship, enjoyed several on-track battles during the 38-lap race and finally crossed the line in eighth and ninth places respectively.

Germany's Michael Ammermüller took the final points-paying position while home nation China's Congfu Cheng, who started 20th, made up five places to finish a commendable 15th in front of his home crowd.

Feature race winner Jonathan Summerton was delighted with his first A1GP victory and paid tribute to the hard work of his team:

'This win is definitely going to build up team morale and we are going to carry that on to Brands Hatch. My hand only hurt when people started wanting to shake it after the race! We did our best to just go out there and go for the win. I knew basically Switzerland was going to be our biggest competition, so I had to go out there and go for the win and I just kept pushing once I got by. We had a bad start to the weekend, but we had to figure out the problem and work from there. The team did a great job working all last night and also hard today. In the pit stops they did a great job and I am glad I am here this weekend and racing to win for us.'

Second-placed Filipe Albuquerque, who achieved Portugal's best race weekend result to date, was pleased with his performance but is aiming to do even better at the final round in Brands Hatch:

'This is definitely very good as three podiums just from six races is a very good average. The starts were really bad, and this was not my best weekend for them as normally I do good starts, but I will work on that for Brands Hatch and that will make the difference. To win in this championship, which is so competitive, just a small mistake can cost a lot. That's racing, it is experience and I hope to do better in Brands Hatch. When I got close to Neel I noticed he had a problem with second gear and I noticed that at the hairpin on the second last corner. He was pretty fast but I knew I would pass him with an early pit stop and then I pushed very hard on my out lap and after that I was just getting away from Ireland.'

Adam Carroll, who notched up Ireland's third podium finish of the season, said:

'It wasn't too bad, but I got bumped into turn one and had nowhere really to go. I lost out to India and Mayalsia. I was able to fight off Malaysia and hold on to fifth place. Then Portugal and India were having a good battle and I was able to pass Narain as well as he kind of had a bad lap as he had just been overtaken so I knew it was my time to jump on him and make a move. After that I pushed as hard as I could but I really could not go any faster as the guys in front were just a bit quicker. It was hard today and the times were just extremely close.'

Today's result keeps the title fight alive as Switzerland leaves China on 150 points ahead of New Zealand on 121, giving the Swiss team a 29 point lead with only 32 points up for grabs at the final round in two weeks time. France now has 111 points and Great Britain lies fourth with 99 as it heads home for the season finale at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit in Kent on 2-4 May 2008.

Feature race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team Canada's Robert Wickens set the fastest lap in the Feature race, lapping the Shanghai International Circuit in 1m35.177s with a speed of 174.1 kph on lap 33 of the 38 lap race.

Switzerland Takes Superb Win and Edges Closer to Title Honours

A1 Team Switzerland's Neel Jani put in a perfect performance during this morning's Shanghai Sprint race, dominating the action from pole position to seize his fourth win of the season. Jani also set the fastest lap of the race to pick up maximum championship points and increase his nation's lead over second-placed New Zealand to 31 after they failed to score. The Swiss team now needs to increase its lead by just two more points to secure the 2007/08 title honours this afternoon, with one round of the championship remaining at Brands Hatch in Great Britain (4 May).

Canada's Robert Wickens, who is making his final A1GP appearance of the season this weekend, raced to an impressive second place to join the Swiss star on the podium, holding off Portuguese rookie Filipe Albuquerque, who was again on superb form to notch up his second podium finish at only his third A1GP event.

Once pole-sitter Switzerland's Jani had made it to the first corner he was never under threat and by the third lap the 24-year-old had pulled out a two second lead over Canada's Wickens and Portugal's Albuquerque. The Portuguese rookie started on the front row but made a mistake as Jani pulled away, allowing Wickens to sneak through from behind and take second. Albuquerque put pressure on the Canadian throughout the race but couldn't make it past and the pair went on to cross the line in second and third position, a massive 4.6 seconds behind race winner Jani.

Malaysia's Alex Yoong, who started seventh, shot up to fourth at the start and enjoyed a good, clean race to finish fourth ahead of India's Narain Karthikeyan in fifth. The Indian driver managed to hold off Germany's Michael Ammermüller, who crossed the line sixth and was closely followed by South Africa's Adrian Zaugg and Italy's Edoardo Piscopo in seventh and eighth place respectively.

Home nation China's Congfu Cheng got a superb start from 15th on the grid, making up five places to take 10th from Ireland's Adam Carroll, slotting in behind Great Britain's Robbie Kerr. Cheng pushed hard throughout the 10-lap race and excited the local fans when he looked like he was going to make a move past the GBR car with two laps to go. The Chinese driver went on to cross the line 10th behind GBR's Kerr and take the final championship point.

New Zealand's Jonny Reid and USA's Jonathan Summerton, who started alongside each other on the third row, clashed during the rolling start, forcing 'Black Beauty' into a spin and out of the action. Amazingly the rest of the field managed to avoid the incident. Summerton, who hurt his hand when the steering wheel kicked back, limped the USA car back to the pits and retired from the race. Both teams will now be working hard to repair the damage sustained to their cars before the start of the 70-minute Feature race, which starts at 15:00 this afternoon and includes two compulsory pit stops.

Sprint race winner Switzerland's Neel Jani reflected on his team's superb performance in the Sprint race and looked ahead to the possibility of sewing up the championship this afternoon:

'It is a great start to the day. I hope I can do it again in the second race and if we are lucky we can even get the Championship. I tried to quickly get some distance between me and the other guys behind me so I would have a calm race. I still had to push to try and get the quickest lap because Robert (Canada) had it once off me so I had to push again, and I had to fight a little bit with the car so we can still improve it and hopefully be even quicker. I hope Jonathan (USA) is ok and can come back for the second race.'

Canada's Robert Wickens, who finished second in this morning's Sprint race, is aiming for another podium finish this afternoon:

'I think being on the inside on the rolling start here is a big benefit because it's such a long corner. I got a good reaction time to when Neel decided to go and I had a little bit of luck when Portugal got on the limiter a little bit, so it think I lucked out ok and I was just happy to make it to the first corner. From there I just settled in and I attempted to keep up with the Switzerland car but we still have a lot of work to do to the Canadian car. I think we have a tough race ahead of us for the Feature but think it's possible to make it back on the podium.'

Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque, who secured his second podium finish at only his third A1GP event, said:

'I made a mistake at the start that cost me a lot. I fell back into fifth place and then had to fight with Karthikeyan (India). I was able to be third at least and then I was trying to push Robert (Canada) to get second but it's very hard to overtake here. He was getting the team instructions when I was using the push to pass, so I was not able to catch him on the straight. Third place is still good though and I'm pleased to be on the podium but just not as I wanted.'

Sprint race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team Switzerland's Neel Jani set the fastest lap (1m35.400s) of the Sprint race on lap four.

A1GP Mexico (Round 8 of 10)

16 March 2008

Ireland Storms to Superb Maiden Victory as GBR Takes Double Podium

A1 Team Ireland was on sensational form in Mexico City this afternoon to win the thrilling Feature race from Great Britain and USA, becoming the 15th nation to win an A1GP race. It is a fantastic result for Portadown's Adam Carroll in his debut season for the team, and particularly well timed as the win comes just one day before Ireland celebrates St Patrick's Day (17 March). The top three title contenders - Switzerland, New Zealand and France - all endured difficult afternoons and failed to score any points.

A green flag signalled the start of the action-packed 47-lap race in hot and sunny weather conditions (36 degrees C), after the first start was aborted due to technical problems with the starting lights.

Twenty-five-year-old Adam Carroll, who topped the time sheets in free practice on Friday, started the race from fifth and leapt up the order to second behind Switzerland's Neel Jani after amazing work from the Irish team during the first compulsory pit stop on lap nine. He held position until lap 34 when he pitted the emerald green car for the second time and rejoined the action as race leader after another sensational stop. The crowds roared as Carroll, who was making his 14th race appearance for Ireland, crossed the line first to take his and the team's first ever A1GP victory.

Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis put in a brilliant performance to race from fourth on the grid to finish second, notching up a double-podium on his final outing for the British team this season and picking up more valuable championship points. Jarvis also scored a bonus point for setting the fastest lap of the race and this weekend's points haul moves GBR up to fourth in the title table behind France.

USA's Jonathan Summerton, who scored his nation's best ever result at Mexico City last year when he finished second in the Feature race, was once again on superb form, charging through the field from seventh on the grid to finish third and take the final podium position ahead of the Netherlands' Jeroen Bleekemolen.

Pole-sitter Canada's Robert Wickens got a good start but lost the lead to Switzerland on lap six and fell down the order to third during the first round of pit stops. By lap 31 Wickens was running in fifth place as GBR and USA managed to overtake the 19-year-old who had been battling with an over-heating car and clutch problem from lap one. The Canadian racer, who said this was the hardest race he has ever driven, went on to cross the line in fifth position.

Having snuck through and taken the lead from Canada's Robert Wickens on lap six, title leader Switzerland's Neel Jani dominated the action until lap 34, when he came in for his second compulsory pit-stop at the same time as Ireland. After another stunning pit stop from the Irish crew, Carroll took the lead from Jani, who was shortly after hit with a drive-through penalty for unsafe release from his second stop, demoting the Swiss star to 19th at the chequered flag.

New Zealand's Jonny Reid, who was running in seventh for the first half of the race, ran wide at the chicane on lap 25 and brought out the safety car, allowing the pack to bunch up behind race leader Switzerland. Reid rejoined the action in 18th ahead of Mexico and finally crossed the line 12th.

Home nation A1 Team Mexico's David Garza, who led the race for two laps during the second round of pit stops, scored his nation's best ever home race result, making up eight places from the back of the grid to cross the line 14th.

Feature race winner Adam Carroll was delighted to score Ireland's first win and paid tribute to his team's incredible work in the pits:

'It's been three long years for the team and it's my first year in A1GP. I think everybody just saw our true potential this weekend especially with the guys with the pits stop. We knew they were capable of doing those times and today they pulled it off and it won us the race. I'd just like to say thanks to everybody, we've put in so much effort and this is for everybody who has believed in A1 Team Ireland. Hopefully this is just the start and we will finish the year extremely strongly and try to come back and win the championship next year.

He continued: 'We tried to relax and just go racing and have a bit of fun. We still put in the hard work but I think everyone was just a bit more relaxed and we were able to show our true potential. We knew the guys could do it and they did and hopefully this is the first of many - it's just fantastic. I had champagne in my trophy and I don't think the celebrating will stop tonight - it will probably finish sometime tomorrow afternoon, I just hope everybody makes the flight!'

Oliver Jarvis, who notched up two podium finishes today on his final race outing for GBR this season, said: 'Mexico has been a fantastic place for me. I've had four great results here and we really wanted the win today but unfortunately Ireland just did a fantastic job, a whole team effort, but we are happy to go away with two seconds. It's some strong points and we will look forward to going into the last two races and especially Brands Hatch on 4 May.'

USA's Jonathan Summerton raced from seventh on the grid to third, to score the team's third ever podium finish and the second of his A1GP career: 'It was again very similar to last year, we had a very quick car at the end and I was really happy with the car the whole race. At first we had a little bit of a problem but we managed to change a bit of the set up through the tyres and then we just kept chasing people down as quickly as possible. I'm happy with third. I was trying my best but it didn't happen.'

Switzerland leaves Mexico on 128 points ahead of New Zealand on 113 and France, who failed to pick up any points this weekend, on 108. Eight nations, including today's Feature race winner Ireland, are still mathematically in with a chance of winning the championship as the thrilling series returns to China for the penultimate round in Shanghai on 11-13 April 2008.

Feature race results