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Final 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

1.Ireland            112

2.Switzerland     95

3.Portugal         92

4.Netherlands    75

5.France           47

6.Malaysia        43

7.New Zealand   36

8.Australia         36

9.Monaco          35

10.Great Britain 28

11.USA             24

12.India             19

13.Mexico         19

14.South Africa  19

15.Brazil            18

16.Italy             17

17.Lebanon       8

18.China           7

19.Korea           4

20;Indonesia      3

21.Germany      2

A1GP Brands Hatch, Great Britain (Round 7 of 7)

Ireland Wins A1GP Title in Style

A1 Team Ireland lifted the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport trophy high above Brands Hatch today after the perfect weekend for the team and its driver, Adam Carroll. They completely dominated the weekend from the time they took to the track on Friday.  Two poles, victory in the Sprint race and then another lights-to-flag win in the Feature race was the perfect end for them to the 2008/09 championship.

After an aborted start when South Africa’s Alan van der Merwe stalled on the grid, the race finally got underway with Carroll getting off the line to lead into Paddock Hill Bend. As the field came through the first corner an incident involving China, USA and India left China and India in the gravel and out the race and brought out the Safety Car as the cars came round to complete the first lap. USA’s John R Hildebrand Jr limped back to the pits for a new nose cone but rejoined the race.

The order behind the Safety Car was Ireland from Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, France, Great Britain and Italy.

Ireland had a good run out of the final corner on the restart to come across the line 0.653-seconds ahead of the chasing pack. Further down the field Mexico’s Salvador Duran took tenth from Italy’s Vitantonio Liuzzi.

By the end of lap five Carroll had a 1.424-second lead before New Zealand’s Earl Bamber spun Black Beauty into the gravel and out of the race at Westfield.

As the pit window opened for the first round of stops race-leader Ireland was the first to dive in, closely followed by Portugal. Another slick pit stop from the Irish crew saw Carroll safely back out in the lead. Switzerland and Netherlands came in a lap later with Monaco opting to stay out a lap extra. The strategy didn’t work, however, as Clivio Piccione fell to fifth after the stops.

Mexico had a good stop to get out in front of Australia with the order on lap fifteen now Ireland 6.956-seconds from Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Monaco, Mexico, Australia, Great Britain, Italy and Lebanon.

Great Britain’s Dan Clarke was flying on home soil placing his car perfectly on the inside of Paddock hill Bend to take seventh from John Martin. He then began attacking Mexico for sixth while Netherlands started to close the gap to Ireland up ahead.

On lap 26 Germany’s Michael Ammermüller rolled to a halt bringing his season to an early end. Ireland was now being held up by USA’s Hildebrand as Carroll came round to lap the American car.

Malaysia Aaron Lim ran wide and crashed out at druids bringing a disappointing end to his weekend just as the second mandatory pit window opened.

Ireland was first to come in again to get a new set of tyres along with South Africa, Lebanon, Indonesia and Mexico. Great Britain and the Netherlands made their stops a lap later with orange car remaining in second despite Ireland having a slightly slower stop this time around.

John Martin was flying in Jackeroo giving Australia the fastest lap, with a 1m 12.754s, which he beat a couple of laps later recording a 1m 12.698s. 

Ireland was in control at the front but there was a great battle for third with Switzerland holding off Monaco and Portugal. Great Britain’s’ Dan Clarke was also putting pressure on Mexico for sixth.

With five laps to go the order was Ireland from Netherlands, Switzerland, Monaco, Portugal, Mexico, Great Britain, Australia, Italy and France.

Carroll held his nerve to bring the Celtic Tiger across the line to take victory by 10.156-seconds from the Netherlands and Switzerland, and with it sealed the team’s maiden A1GP title. Irelandhad been in control all weekend, claiming two pole positions yesterday which were both converted into wins today.

After an amazing season of A1GP racing the title went right down to the final race with A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira, presenting A1 Team Ireland’s seat holder Mark Gallagher and an elated Adam Carroll with the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport trophy in front of the cheering crowds. Neel Jani’s third place finish secured the runner-up spot in this year’s championship. Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque came home in fifth to give them third place in the final championship rankings.

Ireland’s Adam Carroll said: “It was a perfect weekend for us, it’s what we needed to come here to do, it was the plan so it really did come through. We knew by the pace we set in Portugal that if we came here and everything worked out ok we would be really hard to beat, and that was the way it worked out so it couldn’t have been better.

“I didn’t get a great start again, it’s really hard to start from pole, but I knew if I stayed where I was there wouldn’t be any bumping in to each other.

“In the second pit stop the team were nothing to do with why we were slow, the guys did their job but had to hold me because Switzerland was coming in and if they had let me go it would have been very dangerous so we lost some time.

“The team are just unbelievable, they are the best team on the face of this earth in motorsport and I believe that fully. Their commitment is second to none and we are the best in this pit lane. These guys left on Friday night after 29 hours in the pit lane, that says it all.”

Jereon Bleekemolen, who came in second today said: “We started working together with Ireland this season and obviously they are very strong, but I think we have a great group of people too. It was great working with them and I think we both took advantage of that. We have had some bad luck and I’ve been sharing a car with Robert Doornbos. If it goes your way you are fighting for the championship, but we’ve had a few races that didn’t go our way although we can be happy with the season.”

Switzerland’s Neel Jani said: “It was bad luck in the Feature, but on the other hand I am happy because we finally found some pace this weekend as we have been struggling since Friday. This morning we were way too slow to win any championship in the world so I am really happy that in the end this afternoon we were somewhere around even though we had a broken exhaust.

“It had been interesting, lots of close battles, especially within the points. I knew it would be hard to win the title here against Ireland because last year they were very quick and we struggled. I would have liked to have come here with a bigger points lead and I think one of the biggest mistakes was in Malaysia in the Feature race when I spun it. Ireland did a great job though, they had a fantastic year and if I don’t win, I don’t mind if they win.”

Feature Race Results

Fastest lap: A1 Team Australia set the fastest lap (1m12.698s) of the Feature race with a speed of 183.4kph on lap 36.

Ireland Takes Sprint Victory at Brands Hatch

A1 Team Ireland and Adam Carroll moved one step closer to the team’s maiden title after taking victory in this morning’s Sprint race at A1GP Brands Hatch, Great Britain.

India’s Narain Karthikeyan finished second with Mexico’s Salvador Duran taking the final podium position.

Irelandgot a good start but Mexico had a better run into Paddock Hill, taking the lead around the outside through the first corner. Ireland settled into second from USA, Portugal, India and Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland.

Australia’s John Martin took advantage of a mistake by Switzerland’s Neel Jani to take eighth place before the mandatory pit stop window opened.

Indiamade the decision to pit early alongside Lebanon, Germany and Malaysia.  A lap later Mexico and Ireland made their way into the pits but after an incredibly quick stop by the Irish team, Adam Carroll regained the lead with India taking second.

John R Hildebrand continued his good weekend form in his first race for A1 Team USA today by moving up to third after the pit stops, pushing Mexico down to fourth. Monaco’s Clivio Piccione had problems leaving the pits, rolling to a stop at the pit lane exit.

On lap nine the order was Ireland from India, USA, Mexico, Portugal, Netherlands, Australia and Switzerland. 

Duran was then able to capitalise on a mistake from Hildebrand at the final corner which gave the Mexican a good run to take third into the first corner.

Carroll now had a 3.867-second lead from India but still kept the fans on the edge of their seats kicking up the dust showing no sign of easing off the pace.

On lap 15 Lebanon’s Daniel Morad lost the back end and spun into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend with New Zealand’s Earl Bamber also going into the gravel to avoid hitting the Lebanese car, leaving both cars out the race.

Carroll took victory with a comfortable 7.230-second margin over India. Mexico’s Duran settled for the final podium position.

A1 Team Brazil did not make the start after being unable to repair the car in time for this morning’s Sprint race. The team is still working hard and hopes to have the car ready in time for this afternoon’s Feature race.

Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque finished fifth with Switzerland’s Jani taking a single point for eighth. Ireland now leads the championship with 97 points from Switzerland (89) and Portugal (86).

Irelandneeds to finish fifth or better in this afternoon’s Feature race to guarantee them the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport title.

“It’s never easy,” said Ireland’s Adam Carroll. “Sprint races are always quite strange, they’re tougher than the Feature race for some reason. I could see Mexico pushing very hard so just let then get on with it and hoped the boys would come up with the goods in the pit stop and they did. It’s a relief for this race to be over and once this afternoon is done we can relax.”

India’sNarain Karthikeyan said: “it was difficult after a small mistake in qualifying as we should have been further up the grid. The car is working well so I think we are looking good for another podium this afternoon.”

Mexico’s Salvador Duran said: “I did a small mistake put still the team did a great job and put me out in a podium position. To achieve a podium is great for us and it’s a developing project for next season.”

Sprint Race Qualifying Result

Fastest lap: A1 Team Ireland set the fastest lap (1m12.276s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 184.4kph on lap 8.

Jani Wins Dramatic Portuguese Feature Race

 Switzerland’s Neel Jani emerged victorious from an action packed Feature race at Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal this afternoon. The result means Jani now has ten A1GP victories to his name – more than any other driver in the history of the sport. Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque drove a fantastic race to come through to second, while Fairuz Fauzy was third for Malaysia.  Ireland’s Adam Carroll finished second on the road, but a subsequent penalty dropped him to fifth.

The drama started before the race had even begun as pole-man Robert Doornbos stopped his A1 Team Netherlands car out on track while the field were coming to line up on the grid. The wiring loom chafing ended the Dutchman’s hopes of leaving the team on a high on his last A1GP race of the season.

Effectively on pole now, Carroll also had drama as his crew were last off the grid after trouble getting his car started. Brazil was absent from fifth on the grid after being unable to repair the car after crashing out of the Sprint race earlier in the day. As the race finally got underway, Ireland led the pack into turn one while USA’s Marco Andretti made a fantastic start to move ahead of Malaysia and Portugal into fourth. Albuquerqueresponded immediately with a great move to re-take fourth from the American driver.

As the cars came around to complete the first racing lap the order was Ireland from Switzerland, South Africa, Portugal, USA, New Zealand, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico and Lebanon.

Lebanon and Mexico made contact resulting in a puncture for Lebanon’s Daniel Morad, whose race then ended in the gravel at turn six. Australia's John Martin had a problem at the first turn which dropped him down the order.

By lap three, Ireland had a 1.8-second advantage over Switzerland with the pair beginning to pull away from the rest of the field.

A great battle was continuing further down the field for the final points paying positions between Malaysia, Monaco, Mexico, Great Britain and India, with Monaco’s Clivio Piccione pushing hard to pass the Malaysian car. On lap seven there was bad news for the Irish squad as Adam Carroll was given a drive-through penalty for a jump start. With the order now Ireland from Switzerland, South Africa, Portugal, USA, New Zealand, Italy, Monaco, Malaysia and Mexico, the window opened for the first round of pit stops.  

Portugal, Italy and South Africa were among the first to pit while Ireland came through for its penalty. A lap later the Celtic Tiger was back in for its mandatory pit stop but with time lost had dropped right down the field. Switzerland made a clean stop to remain out in front while New Zealand had a fantastic stop boosting Earl Bamber up to an effective third ahead of both Portugal and the USA.

Monacorejoined ahead of USA but came out on cold tyres, Clivio Piccione made an error and lets Marco Andretti through into what was sixth after everyone pitted.

Black Beauty was now flying in the hands of Bamber who was right on the back of South Africa. Zaugg was under immense pressure but defended well coming down the main straight. However, going into turn three Bamber appeared to lock up and crashed into the rear of South Africa. Portugal narrowly avoided the collision up ahead thanks to Albuquerque’s lightening reactions as the incident brought the Safety Car out on lap 15.

As Switzerland’s 15-second lead disappeared, the field closed up with the order behind Jani now Portugal, Italy, USA, Mexico, Monaco, Malaysia, India, Germany and Ireland. As Switzerland’s 15-second lead disappeared, the incident brought Ireland right back into contention.

The race re-started on lap 19 and Filipe Albuquerque made a brilliant manoeuvre around the outside of Jani at turn one to take the lead in front of the roaring crowds. USA made a move on Italy and as Vitantonio Liuzzi tried to come back on the inside at turn nine, the pair touched, with the Italian car spinning into the innocent car of Monaco leaving all three out of the race.

The Safety Car was straight back out with the order now Portugal leading from Switzerland, Mexico, Malaysia, India, Australia, Ireland, Germany, France and Indonesia.

On lap 23 the race was back underway with Portugal under immense pressure from Switzerland. The second pit stop window opened on lap 27 with Portugal, Malaysia, India and Ireland coming straight in. Ireland jumped both India and Malaysia after a stunning stop from the Irish team getting Adam Carroll out just behind Portugal. A lap later Switzerland pitted and a quick stop from the Swiss team got their man out comfortably in the lead. Mexico’s Salvador Duran was running an impressive third after great pit stop strategy from the Mexican squad.

With 12 laps to go Albuquerque’s mirrors were full of the emerald green car as Jani continued to pull away in the lead. On lap 32 the timing screens flashed with more bad news as Ireland was awarded another drive-through penalty for overtaking behind the Safety Car. The stewards then made the decision to investigate the incident after the race allowing Ireland to continue its race. Germany also had bad news as Andre Lotterer was given a drive-through penalty also for overtaking under Safety Car conditions.

As Mexico came in for its final stop of the day, Ireland finally made a move on Portugal to take second. In the closing stages of the race, India's Narain Karthikeyan spun into retirement while Australia retired in the pits.

Ireland now had the gap to Switzerland down to 0.6-seconds as Carroll chased the win in the dying stages of the race. Switzerland held on to the win making Jani the driver who has won the most race victories in A1GP history.

Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque drove a fantastic race to come through from seventh on the grid to take the final podium position in front of his home fans.The 23-year-old bowed down and thanked the crowd for their support this weekend to an almost deafening cheer.

The final race order at the flag was Switzerland from Ireland, Portugal, Malaysia, Mexico, France, Great Britain, China, Germany and Indonesia, however, following a stewards’ enquiry, Ireland’s penalty was upheld. The teams had a 25-second time penalty applied for overtaking Australia under the Safety Car just before a re-start which dropped it down to fifth in the order.

Switzerlandtherefore regained its championship lead with 88 points from Ireland (86) and Portugal (82) however if dropped scores were taken into account at this stage, Ireland would still remain at the top of the championship by two points.

Race-winner Neel Jani said: “There was everything in it (the race). Coming from third, having second, then to the pit stop and getting the lead, losing the lead and having Adam really put me under pressure at the end. We were a bit lucky today and we were very unlucky yesterday so it’s a balance.

“On the restart he (Albuquerque) caught me down the straight and I just thought I can’t hold it, so don’t fight him too much and just try to get him on the second pit stop, which worked well.

“I saw cars going off and I thought ‘oh that’s another position for Adam coming from the back’ I think it was a great race for us. We can be really happy with what we have  achieved today. I had to fight quite hard because Adam (Carroll) was really quick and Portugal too, so I think it will be between the three of us in the end.”

“It was very hard at the beginning,” said local hero Filipe Albuquerque. “We then had a really poor pit stop – another car was coming and didn’t let me out. I still pushed with the new tyres, but I was really disappointed with the third stint – I think the pressures were too high on the tyres.

“I am very proud and coming from P7 I was very lucky and had to fight a lot. I was in the middle of all the battles. I lost my left mirror so I couldn’t see the crash between New Zealand and South Africa. I am pleased to get a podium. It’s good for the standings in the championship. Getting two podiums on home soil is just perfect.”

Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy commented: “Taking our third podium finish of the season today is a good result for us. It has moved us into sixth place of the overall standings, but we’re only three points behind France, so we can fight for this as well. We had a good car and this, combined with our teamwork and a strong race strategy – and a little bit of good fortune - ensured we took a top three spot.”

Feature Race Results

Fastest lap: A1 Team Ireland set the fastest lap (1m31.453s) of the Feature race with a speed of 184.5kph on lap 35.

Doornbos Takes Sprint Race Victory in Portugal

Robert Doornbos took his maiden victory for A1 Team Netherlands this morning after a red flag prematurely ended the Sprint race of Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal.

Ireland’s Adam Carroll brought the Celtic Tiger home a comfortable second and also claimed a point for fastest lap to retake the championship lead from Switzerland while home favourite Filipe Albuquerque took the final podium position much to the delight of the Portuguese crowd.

Doornbos made a clean start to take the lead from Italian pole-sitter Vitantonio Liuzzi, while Ireland’s Adam Carroll held on to third as the field headed through turn one for the first time.

Just behind the leaders, New Zealand’s Earl Bamber came across the track in front of Lebanon’s Daniel Morad, with the Kiwi landing himself in the gravel and out of the race. Germany’s Andre Lotterer then also came together with Lebanon while trying to go around the outside of the hairpin, ending his race with significant damage to the left rear of his car.  The two incidents resulted in the Safety Car being deployed before the end of lap one.

The order was now the Netherlands leading from Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Monaco, India, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico and USA.  The race re-started on lap four with Liuzzi looking to find a way passed Doornbos, while Australia’s John Martin got ahead of USA’s Marco Andretti to take ninth into the first corner. 

With the pit stop window now open, race-leader Doornbos was the first man to head in for his first scheduled stop of the day. Monaco, India, Brazil, Great Britain and China followed with the Brazil car clipping a tyre held by one of the Chinese mechanics as Felipe Guimarães’ exited his pit box. The tyre flew down the pit lane but was recovered by the team, although the incident delayed the China pit stop dropping them down the field.

A lap later Italy, Ireland and Portugal dived into the pit lane and great stops from the Irish and Portuguese teams saw their cars exit the pit lane ahead of the Italian.

Championship leader Switzerland had a difficult start to the day. After starting from the back of the grid due to not setting a time in qualifying yesterday, Neel Jani stayed out late before pitting right at the end of the pit stop window. The Swiss driver rejoined in a points’ paying position however, the pit stop was deemed too late by the stewards and the team were awarded a time penalty which dropped them down to an eventual fifteenth.

Doornbos had built up a healthy lead out in front before a crash involving Felipe Guimarães’ Brazilian car and South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg brought out the red flags with three laps remaining. Doornbos claimed his first victory for the Netherlands while Ireland and Portugal completed the podium. Ireland’s extra point for Carroll’s fastest lap of 1m31.404s helped the team re-established itself at the top of the championship standings.

“From first practice onwards we were aiming for this,” said the Netherlands’ Doornbos. “The target is the big one though, and that is where we’ve got the pole so we’re in a strong position for this afternoon. To get my first win for the team is great and it keeps us in the championship hunt as well, so it’s good.

“I got a good run on Antonio (Liuzzi). At the safety car restart and I pulled away with a nice gap and then afterwards cruised it home so it was a good morning. I came especially for this race. It is the last one I can do this season for A1 Team Netherlands so I’m very keen on making my mark and to leave with some fireworks this afternoon.”

Ireland’s Adam Carroll said: “That’s just what we needed. We got a good start. I’m sure it was tight down into the first few turns but I got through and was able to settle down.

“The guys did a really good pit stop, which allowed us to jump Italy and then push on. I think I actually got fastest lap as well. It was very, very close. But that’s some more points and it was a great race.  It’s going to be a long Feature race this afternoon but hopefully we can do the same.”

Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque said: “This means a lot. I gave my word to the Portuguese that a win or podium would be fantastic. Yesterday qualifying was not great but finally I was able to get a podium. I am very happy and to decrease the distance to Neel Jani in the championship is good.

“I managed to overtake Lebanon which was definitely my goal at the start. I managed to catch Adam Carroll but not by enough in the first lap, however, I think it was a good start. 

“The boys did a good job (in the pit stop). When I passed Italy I knew that was the podium because I was faster than him.”

 Sprint Race Results

Fastest lap: A1 Team Ireland set the fastest lap (1m31.404s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 184.6kph on lap 8.

Jani's win gives Swiss the lead in the Championship

As the Feature race got underway, Switzerland made a fantastic start to move from fifth to second into turn one. A1 Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll was making a move around the outside of Malaysia for fourth when the pair touched resulting in the championship leader being beached in the gravel and out of the race.

On the same lap, Mexico and France also came together at the same corner ending both their races.

On lap nine the first mandatory pit stops began with race-leader Monaco not having the quickest of stops. Switzerland’s slick team-work enabled Jani to leap-frog Piccione (right) and take the lead in Kyalami. Despite having a good stop, Australia had a disaster in the pit lane when John Martin stalled as another car came across in front of him when he was about to leave his pit box. He eventually got going but dropped down from third to 15th as a result.

USA’s Marco Andretti was the last to pit, but on rejoining lost four positions as South Africa, Germany, Lebanon and Indonesia all found their way passed the American car.

Local A1 Team South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg was looking strong, having moved up from 15th to ninth, but on lap 17 coasted back to the pits and out of the race with gearbox problems.

Daniel Morad was putting in a good performance in the A1 Team Lebanon car to get passed Germany for seventh. Morad made his move around the outside of Michael Ammermüller through turn one before taking the inside line through turn two and the position.

On lap 19 the order was now Switzerland from Monaco, Brazil, Netherlands, Great Britain, Portugal, Lebanon, Germany, Indonesia and China.

As the race reached half distance, Brazil began closing the gap to Monaco. The Brazilian car was only 0.466-seconds adrift on lap 24 with the 17-year-old finally capitalising on a mistake by Piccione  to take second position.

In the second round of pit stops Switzerland had a ten second lead and another clean stop brought Jani out with a comfortable lead.

After the second pit stops, Malaysia continued to struggle with the handling of the car and was finally forced to go back to the team garage. The team worked quickly to resolve the problems and were finally able to send Fauzy back on track. With no hope of finishing in the top ten to score points, the team took the decision to use the PowerBoost and set the fastest race lap to score one point and Fauzy quickly accomplished this recording a 1m28.306s.

In the final stages of the race India put pressure on Italy’s Edoardo Piscopo for tenth. Narain Karthikeyan tried on a number of occasions to pass the 21-year-old Italian but to no avail.

Lebanon’s Morad was now chasing Great Britain’s Danny Watts for sixth and, with three laps to go, made a fantastic move on Watts to record Lebanon’s best ever A1GP finish, only its second ever points-finish.

Switzerland’s Neel Jani took the chequered flag 13.075-seconds ahead of a delighted Felipe Guimarães who recorded the team’s best result of the season and become the youngest ever A1GP medal winner. Clivio Piccione finished third getting Monaco’s first ever podium in its debut season.

Switzerland’s Neel Jani was elated at equaling the record for the most number of wins for a driver.

He said: “It was a little bit of a replay start from Taupo, from fifth to second.  I was a bit worried starting from fifth, because I knew the first two turns would be very close and you could get knocked off easily, so my strategy was to just try the outside and it really worked and was a fantastic start.  I then tried to follow Clivio (Piccione) and I struggled a bit. But then we had a great pit stop and I had good pace. I think Monaco had a bit of bad luck in the pit stop so that helped us too.  But after it I could really keep up my pace.”

Brazil’s Felipe Guimarães became the youngest driver to ever finish on the podium. He said: “I am so happy as it’s the first time I have been on the podium. Yesterday I had the big crash in qualifying and I didn’t think that today I would finish on the podium! But I had a great start then during the race the car was good. It was a bit worrying at the end because the engine was losing power, but we managed to keep going to the finish thankfully. I was pushing hard but not taking any risks and we brought it home in second. I really wanted to do a good job today and I have.”

Third placed Clivio Piccione commented: “At first we got in the lead and I kept a distance from Switzerland.  The car felt pretty good as well.   We got into our first stints and then comes the tricky bit – the pit stop.  For now, we’re not the quickest team in the pit stops and we know it.  But the team did the best they could and we know we’re going to work it out.  Our second stint was a bit of a struggle as I suffered with a lot of understeer and I think my tyres were not at their best.  I made a slight mistake and Brazil got through.  Then we went for our last pit stop where we knew we had new tyres. We had a problem on the back wheel but got out in third. From there on I could push pretty hard and we were catching Brazil because they struggled as well.  Still overall it’s a good result – I’m pleased with the final ending.”

On claiming the team’s first podium in its debut season he continued: “We are only six months old and we started a team from scratch.  So we are a brand new team in a brand new series for us – and a new car, so we got used to it like everyone.  We had a good start to the season then we had a struggle in the middle with some missed data.  From this weekend on we knew what was wrong and we’re back at the front so I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and I hope to come back here many times.”

Feature Race Results

Fastest lap: A1 Team Malaysia set the fastest lap (1m28.306s) of the Feature race with a speed of 173.8kph on lap 15.

Jeroen Bleekemolen took the Netherlands’ first victory in Season Four in this morning’s Go-GP.Org A1GP Gauteng, South Africa Sprint race. Bleekemolen drove a faultless race around the 2.65-mile Kyalami circuit to win by 4.407-seconds from Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque. Switzerland’s Neel Jani had a good start to move up to second off the standing start, but finished third after losing time trying to manoeuvre round Malaysia’s car, which had pitted in front of him.

A1 Team Switzerland claimed its second win of the season in this afternoon’s Feature race in A1GP Taupo, New Zealand. Neel Jani finished ahead of Ireland’s Adam Carroll and Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque with Ireland retaining its position at the top of the A1GP championship standing.

A1 Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll converted pole position into victory in the Sprint race at Taupo Motorsport Park this morning, extending the team’s lead at the top of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport standings.

A1 Team Ireland became the first nation to score two victories this season, as Adam Carroll dominated the Sepang Feature race in Malaysia. Filipe Albuquerque took an excellent second place for Portugal while Marco Andretti finished a great third for the USA from eighth on the grid. Ireland now leads the championship heading into the Christmas break.

As the lights went out, Adam Carroll got a clean start from pole position to lead the pack into the first corner. Daniel Morad got a brilliant start from third, capitalising on Lebanon’s best ever grid slot to move ahead of a slow starting Danny Watts for Great Britain in second.

In an eventful first lap, Netherlands and India collided with Narain Karthikeyan spinning into retirement. A good start from Portugal helped Albuquerque move from fifth to third into Turn 1, before Albuquerque moved ahead of Lebanon for second. Switzerland then spun, resulting in the safety car being deployed at the end of lap one to allow the marshals time to pick up both the Swiss and Indian cars from dangerous places.

A couple of laps later and the race was back on, with Ireland leading from Portugal, Lebanon, Malaysia, Great Britain, Netherlands, USA and France.

Monaco’s race ended early as Clivio Piccione pitted with technical problems. Boosted by his home crowds, Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy made a move around the outside of Morad to grab fourth. Great Britain’s Watts then began putting pressure on Lebanon as he tried to make up for his bad start. Watts made a move but the pair ran wide allowing Netherlands and the USA to get through.  Brazil dived up the inside of a recovering Watts, but France, to the right of him, chopped across in front taking off the British car’s nose and leaving France with a puncture.

The order at the front was now Ireland from Portugal, Malaysia, Netherlands, USA, Lebanon, China and Brazil.

On lap eight the first pit window opened and Malaysia was first in, followed by Netherlands, USA, China and Lebanon. China had a fantastic stop which got it out ahead of both USA and Lebanon. Portugal pittted on the next lap as Ireland remained out in front, still putting in consistently quick lap times.

Marco Andretti in the USA car was now piling the pressure on China, eventually making his move stick around the outside of the hairpin at Turn 9.

With a 15-second lead, Ireland pitted with another fantastic stop from the Irish crew, getting Carroll back out comfortably at the front.

Netherland’s Jeroen Bleekemolen, was in fourth when he received a drive-through penalty for the first lap collision with India, which was deemed avoidable, dropping him down the field to a disappointing 14th. Australia’s John Martin passed China down the main straight and then started attacking Adrian Zaugg, whose South African team had got him out quickly in the pit stops.

After the first round of pit stops Ireland had a five-second lead over Portugal, Malaysia, USA, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, China, Lebanon and New Zealand.

Lebanon’s Morad made a mistake through Turns 7 and 8 and ran wide, losing a further two places to drop him down to 11th.

On lap17, from third position, home favourite Fairuz Fauzy confused his team and the watching crowds by diving into the pit lane unexpectedly. A communications glitch meant he received a radio call, that only he heard, to pit that was from another team. His bemused team sent him straight off, but the time lost cost him a potential podium and dropped the Malaysian to 14th.

The USA’s Marco Andretti was now promoted to third. After being involved in a huge start line crash earlier in the day; the 21-year-old was back on track with the help of Korea’s rear wing as the Korean team didn’t make either race due to technical problems that couldn’t be resolved after qualifying.

New Zealand’s Earl Bamber, who started down in 15th, was making good progress, passing China's Ho-Pin Tung around the outside of the final hairpin for eighth.

On lap 18 Mexico's David Garza threw away tenth place by spinning while challenging Daniel Morad's Lebanon car.

Out at the front Portugal was keeping Ireland honest, with the pair putting in consistently close lap times in the blistering heat.

On lap 22, the second pit window was open and the cars began coming in. Australia’s mechanics did another superb job getting John Martin out ahead of South Africa, in what would eventually be fourth position after all the pit stops.

A1 Team Ireland kept up its reputation of being one of the best crews in the pit lane, helping their man retain a healthy lead from Portugal. 

Great Britain was back in the pits again on lap 25 to fix a brake problem, getting Watts back out although six laps down, to end a disappointing day for the team with no points scored.

In the closing stages of the race Malaysia was fighting hard as Fauzy passed Lebanon to move up into 12th. Italy's Edoardo Piscopo gave away ninth place by running wide at the final hairpin and promoting Netherlands' Jeroen Bleekemolen. Malaysia and Italy then had a great battle for the final point. In a great wheel-to-wheel battle, Fauzy’s superb driving got him ahead of Piscopo to take tenth, much to the delight of the cheering crowds.

As the chequered flag came out, Ireland claimed its second victory of the season ahead of Portugal. USA’s Marco Andretti and Australia’s John Martin both put in great drives to come through the field to finish a commendable third and fourth respectively.

Adam Carroll completed the perfect race taking the win, pole position and fastest lap to give the team an eight-point lead at the top of the championship as A1GP World Cup of Motorsport heads into the Christmas break.

He said: “We were starting from pole position and I just concentrated on getting a good start, which allowed me to control the race from there. It’s a long race, the car’s heavy at the start so you just run as fast as you can and be smooth and it allowed us to open up quite a good gap.

“It’s all team work though, it doesn’t just come down to one person as everybody works extremely hard. It’s been hard for the guys to be out here since Tuesday at the circuit in this heat and humidity, but they practiced pit stops every night to make sure they did a good job.

“We planned to come here and try and come away leading the championship and we have. Winning the race is just a good bonus and I’m going to fight hard to keep it.”

Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque said: “I achieved our goals. Actually, I went better than what we were expecting. We wanted to go to the first pit stop in third, but it was even better as we were in second. I was doing whatever I could to keep the pace, but it all needs to be perfect, and Ireland did a good pit stop and we didn’t. We are also missing one guy from our crew who’s in hospital, so I wish him the best. In the end it was good to just take the points. You cannot win every time and they were just perfect and I’m really happy with the second place. “

A1 Team USA’s Marco Andretti said: “The start was a bit of survival and I used the PowerBoost when everybody was close together and we needed the track position. The boys did a good job in the pits and then we weren’t threatened from behind, but I had nothing on these guys in front so I was just enjoying the car and Sepang. It’s a lovely circuit.”

Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy expressed his disappointment saying: “Throughout the race my car was very strong, but I just suffered a few handling problems, nothing major though. The team called me in for the first pit stop, it was fine, and we went out in the same position again, with the same gap to second placed Portugal. After ten laps I was struggling with oversteer on the car. I’m not sure why – maybe the rear tyres pressures were too high, or the rears had just gone. I tried to radio the team, got nothing, and then I heard ‘Box this lap’ twice, and then ‘Copy that’, then I pitted. When I came in I saw the team was not ready so I knew something was not right. I just had to carry on, but obviously I was very disappointed.

“Considering we had the extra pit stop it was a really good recovery, the car was very strong. If we hadn't had the pit issue, we would have had a podium easily. After the last pit stop, I was running about a second quicker. It’s tough for us all.

“At the end of the day, we win, we lose, we are one team and the most important thing is the support. The crowd showed me such support, so I was able to use this and to catch up and finish in the top 10. The most important thing is we scored one point; every point is like gold and will make a lot of difference towards the end of the season.”

With Portugal, France, and next event-holders New Zealand close behind in the points’ standings, Ireland will be looking to continue its dominance when battle resumes in New Zealand on 23 – 25 January 2009.

Feature race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team IRL set the fastest lap (1m48.563s) of the Feature race with a speed of 183.8 kph on lap 25.

Switzerland Wins Dramatic Sepang Sprint Race

Neel Jani became the fifth different race winner this season as A1 Team Switzerland took victory in a dramatic Sprint race at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. After a red flag, Switzerland controlled the re-start and made a slick pit-stop to take a comfortable win in the hot and humid conditions. France’s Loïc Duval finished second ahead of a charging Earl Bamber for A1 Team New Zealand.

As the cars came in formation towards the rolling start, an incident involving USA, Brazil and India brought out the red flag. The pack appeared to pick up pace as it approached the start line, but then backed off causing a concertina effect towards the back of the field.

The USA car of Marco Andretti and the Brazilian car of Felipe Guimarães took it in turn to climb over the back of Narain Karhtikeyan’s Indian entry scattering debris across the pit straight.

Marco Andretti commented: “I’m disappointed. You can say it’s unavoidable but at the time I thought everyone was going and I could only see two rows ahead of me. I couldn’t see ahead of the whole field. I was about to grab fourth gear, and as soon as the rear tyres were hooking up that was when I needed to be stopping the car so there was no hope. Once you are committed you are kind of stuck with it. In the States you either go or you don’t. Here, they went, and then stopped. No one was to blame, it was just racing, but ultimately I crashed out two cars.”

Australia's John Martin had lightening reactions to dive left and onto the grass to avoid the accident as the race was immediately red flagged.

After a 30-minute delay the cars lined up in single file to start behind the Safety Car, but Danny Watts was now in trouble having to crawl back to the pits as the Great Britain car was stuck in first gear.

With the race finally underway, Switzerland held the lead as the pack came round for a cautious single file race start. Further down the field, David Garza was under pressure losing out to The Netherlands’ Jeroen Bleekemolen, who grabbed seventh round the outside of the Mexican at Turn 9.

South Africa then made a move down the inside of the final hairpin to pass Mexico and as the pair both ran wide, home nation Malaysia was right in the thick of the action, as Fairuz Fauzy snatched eighth going through on the inside of both cars.

South Africa tried to fight back and as the pair went wheel-to-wheel they touched with Malaysia picking up a left rear puncture. Fauzy limped back to the pits much to the disappointment of the Malaysian crowd.

After 3 laps the order at the front settled with Switzerland having a 2.3-second lead from France, New Zealand, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa. With changes to the regulations this season, the cars headed towards their first ever mandatory Sprint race pit stop with France and New Zealand being the first to dive in.

France had a slower stop, and New Zealand’s Earl Bamber was released alongside France. With New Zealand’s nose being just ahead France was forced to ease off allowing Bamber to take the position as the pair exited the pit lane. However, the team made the call to give the position back to France to avoid any further penalty for what could be deemed to be an unsafe release.

A lap later Jani pitted and, after a slick stop by the Swiss crew, rejoined with a comfortable lead. A great stop from the Irish team also leap-frogged Adam Carroll ahead of Italy and into fifth. On lap 7 the order was Switzerland still up at the front from New Zealand, France, Portugal, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy and Australia.

Switzerland held on to win the Sepang Sprint race for the third year running to become the fifth different race winner in the five races so far this season.

“It was a great race, we had very good pace, a good re-start and pit stop so it was just a perfect race for me,” said Jani.

“The big race is the Feature race though, and we are at the back of the grid so it’s a totally different task. It’s about the average of the weekend and we need to get a good points average.”

France’s Loïc Duval said: “The pit stop was not that good and I ended up third.  I thought New Zealand may have a drive-through or something like that as the car was released in front of me from the stop, but he let me go back past. The car was not that good so we have to improve a little bit for this afternoon but after that, we were ok and there was no problem at all.”

“We got a really good pit stop,” said Bamber who brought Black Beauty home in third. “The team did a fantastic job and it was quite close between me and Loïc where I just squeezed past, but the team radioed me to let France back past because of an unsafe release. I let him pass on the back straight and then I finished the race in third. It was a good result so we will see how I do from 15th this afternoon.“

Despite what looked like an extremely bad crash at the start, USA, Brazil and India will all be ready to take the grid for this afternoon’s Feature race, where even more excitement can be expected. 

Sprint race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team SUI set the fastest lap (1m48.550s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 183.8 kph on lap 8.

Portugal Takes Maiden A1GP Victory

Filipe Albuquerque claimed A1 Team Portugal’s maiden win in the A1GP Chengdu, China Feature race to become the 17th different nation to take an A1GP victory. Portugal took the lead thanks to a slick first pit stop and held off the charge from A1 Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll in the closing stages. Great Britain’s Danny Watts took the final podium position after starting on pole but dropping back after his two mandatory pit stops.

From pole position, Watts made a good start to lead the pack into the first corner. Portugal also made a great start from third to challenge Ireland for second position. Ireland, starting on the dirtier side of the track, struggled to get traction, allowing Portugal to get a good run round the outside of turn one on the racing line and take the position. Starting eighth, Robert Doornbos’ A1 Team Netherlands car stalled on the grid forcing the immediate deployment of the safety car before the end of the first lap, while the car was pushed back to the pits. The team got the car re-started and Doornbos made his way back out, albeit a lap down.

Great Britain led from Portugal, Ireland and Monaco as the race re-started on lap four with Watts powering across the line with a clear gap at the front. Carroll was right on the back of the Portuguese car, having a look around the outside through turn one while also defending from Monaco’s Clivio Piccione in fourth.

Watts’ lead was now 1.5-seconds from Portugal as the first mandatory pit stop window opened. Great Britain were first to dive into the pits with Monaco, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and China also following suit. A lap later Ireland pitted with a quick, clean tyre change from the Irish squad getting Carroll back out on track in second, but when Albuquerque pitted on the next lap, a blisteringly quick stop from the team handed Portugal what would be the lead of the race, after the field had all pitted.

As Great Britain and Ireland made their way through traffic, Albuquerque began building up a comfortable lead when New Zealand appeared to be slowing along the pit straight with an electrical problem. Chris van der Drift eventually managed to get Black Beauty going with seemingly no further problem.

By the end of lap 14 Portugal had a 2.385-second lead from Great Britain and Switzerland were starting to hunt down Ireland for third. Albuquerque increased his lead to four seconds, leaving him in a strong position in the lead.

Portugal now led from Great Britain, Ireland, Switzerland, Australia, Malaysia, Monaco, France, USA and China.

Further down the field Lebanon’s Daniel Morad was having a good battle with Italy for 14th as the second pit stop window drew closer. For the second round of mandatory pit stops it was Portugal and Great Britain who were first to come in. Ireland took advantage of the extra time out on track, pushing hard on his in lap to try and make up time on the pair in front. Portugal re-joined in the lead but Watts emerged in traffic losing vital seconds. A1 Team Ireland made another great stop and Carroll was able to take second from Watts and set his sights on a second win of the day. On new tyres, Carroll set the fastest lap of the race so far, 1m 16.003s, his pace allowing him to close the gap on Albuquerque and as the pair started lap 33 the Carroll was visibly closer, just 0.422-seconds adrift.

The order was now Portugal, Ireland, Great Britain, Switzerland, Australia, Malaysia, France, Monaco, USA and India.

After going a lap down at the start Doornbos from Rotterdam in the Netherlands, showed what might have been if he had kept his eighth grid-slot as he clocked the fastest lap of the race, a 1m 15.212s on lap 33, faster than yesterday’s pole position time set by Danny Watts. 

On lap 35 the battle for fifth began to heat up as Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy challenged John Martin for position eventually passing the Australian two laps later with a great move around the outside of the first corner. On lap 38, France’s Nicolas Prost tried the same manoeuvre on Martin but gave him a little too much space and spun into the gravel on the exit after getting onto the dirtier part of the track.

The safety car was deployed for a second time on lap 40 as the French car was recovered. With the pack bunched back together, all advantages were lost and when the race re-started five laps later the race was back on to the finish.

A1 Team USA’s Marco Andretti was now running in eighth on his debut weekend as the cars came around for the re-start. Ireland was now in prime position to challenge for victory and as racing resumed Portugal and Ireland were both on the PowerBoost button into turn one. Ireland momentarily edged alongside, but Albuquerque held station and despite a number of exciting challenges the top eight remained the same to the finish. South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg and China’s Ho-Pin Tung were the only nations to move forward in the closing stages, taking 9th and 12th respectively.

Despite all Carroll’s efforts, Filipe Albuquerque crossed the finish line to take the team’s first ever series victory and became the 17th nation to win in A1GP. Malaysia’s fifth position was enough to hold on to the championship lead, but Ireland’s points haul brought them right into contention, and they now sit equal second with France on 23 points.

Race winner Albuquerque said: “The lap times were getting faster and faster. In the second stint, I was really fast, faster than anyone else. I was pulling away and had four seconds and everything was under control. But then Ireland was way too fast with the new tyres. I could not go any faster so I just had to keep the car on the track, not make any mistakes and get the win.

After a successful day in which he claimed Sprint victory and second in the Feature race, Ireland’s Carroll said: “Well that’s the start we really wanted at Zandvoort. I came here determined to have the best weekend we could and at least try to win a race or come away with a couple of podiums.

“Practice actually hadn’t gone that well but I knew the circuit was extremely tricky and put the new tyres on to try to do a good lap in qualifying as you had to start at the front here to try and win. It’s just great for the team and everybody. It’s the confidence we all need and I really think we can challenge the rest of the season for the championship.”

Third placed Great Britain driver Watts said: “How quickly the ten days have gone from getting the call, getting on a plane and arriving here to walk around the circuit. We never would have thought we’d be going away with two podiums - two third places.

“When I saw the car when we arrived here, it was still in bits with a lot to do. I think the two podiums have to go to the mechanics. They’ve been working so hard through the nights so it’s been a huge effort from everyone within the team. For them, it’s been a fantastic weekend. We’re just really glad to come out of our first weekend in A1GP with a big haul of points.”

Feature race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team NED set the fastest lap (1m15.212s) of the Feature race with a speed of 159.4 kph on lap 33.

Ireland Dominate Chengdu Sprint Race

Chengdu, China – Adam Carroll drove a faultless race to take A1 Team Ireland’s second series victory in Chengdu, China today. A1 Team Netherlands , Robert Doornbos came home a comfortable second, while Danny Watts held off a fierce challenge from Switzerland’s Neel Jani to claim the final podium position for A1 Team Great Britain.

As the cars came round the final corner for the rolling start, Carroll controlled the pack with Netherlands’ Doornbos making a good start alongside him to challenge into the first corner. Carroll held his line and by the end of the first lap had built up a 0.918s lead which he never looked in danger of relinquishing.

It an was impressive drive from Robert Doornbos on his debut for A1 Team Netherland’s taking a comfortable second position, the team’s best result in 19 races.

A1 Team Great Britain’s Watts, also having his first A1GP race, made a move around the outside of Switzerland’s Jani to take third position off the start and began to pull out a small gap.

In the closing laps of the 18-lap race, the battle for third began to heat up as Switzerland’s Jani closed in on the British car. Watts’ advantage over the Swiss driver was down to 0.686 seconds and Jani was preparing to make a move. In the final two laps the tension mounted but the experienced Watts held position, taking the first points of the season for A1 Team GBR.

Out at the front Carroll’s superb drive saw the Celtic Tiger cross the line two seconds ahead of the chasing pack, the  dominance underlined as he continued to set fastest lap after fastest lap, eventually taking the extra point for his efforts on lap 16, a 1m 16.084s.

South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg brought Vulindlela home in fifth ahead of Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque. New Zealand’s Chris van der Drift, also on his race debut, brought Black Beauty home in the final points-paying position.

China’s Ho-Pin Tung had a spin on the first lap putting him further down the order. He made his way back to a lowly 17th and is looking to improve in front of his home crowd in this afternoon’s Feature race.

Brazil had electrical problems causing it to drop down the order and at one point stop out on track but, as the safety car waited on stand-by, Felipe Guimarães managed to crawl back to the pit lane.

“It’s brilliant,” said Carroll  “The guy’s have worked so hard and were due the results and this year I think we are going to get what we deserve.

“I managed to get into turn one first and tried control it from there,” said Ireland’s Carroll. “Obviously, I knew Robert was going to be very quick and pushing extremely hard so I just kept my head down and tried not to make any mistakes, I know it’s going to be a pretty long race this afternoon.”

Doornbos commented: “It feels good, obviously, it’s the best impression you can make. We started strong, just missing pole by six thousandths, and in the race it was the same. We kept each other alive going into turn one, which is important because there is another race, but with second place, I am very happy. I think we had a strong pace compared to the rest of the field so we can be proud of this result.”

Great Britain’s Danny Watts said: “It’s a great result and a great reward for all the hard work all the boys have put in over the week, because they have put in a massive amount of hours through the nights. The third place is good points on the board.

“I had a good move round the outside of Jani at the first corner and I just had to pursue it. After that it was just a case of trying to hold onto the back of these two (Carroll and Doornbos). I had to keep it clean and tidy and not let Jani by again.”

The cars now prepare for this afternoon’s Feature race. Great Britain is on pole and hoping to take victory from Ireland, who are also starting from the front row and will be eager to make it back onto the top step of the podium.

Sprint race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team IRL set the fastest lap (1m16.084s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 157.6 kph on lap 17.

A1GP Zandvoort, The Netherlands (round 1 of 10)

France Storms to Victory in Rain-Soaked Feature Race 

A1 Team France has claimed the first Feature race victory of the season in extremely wet conditions at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands. From third on the grid Loïc Duval put in a mature drive to take France’s 15th win. Sprint race winner Fairuz Fauzy finished second for Malaysia, losing time in the first pit stop due to a problem with the left-rear wheel. Earl Bamber put in an outstanding performance this weekend on his race debut for A1 Team New Zealand claiming third, his second podium finish of the day.

With the rain continuing to fall the decision was made to start the Feature behind the safety car instead of the usual grid start due to the standing water around the circuit. The race ran this way for two laps before the Safety Car pulled off an and it was Sprint race winner Fairuz Fauzy who had the best view as the pack headed into Turn 1, with those behind having almost no visibility due to the spray. Charlie Kimball got caught out in the terrible wet condition spinning the USA entry at Turn 6 but continuing on track.

After a couple of attempts, France made a move on New Zealand passing Bamber cleanly down the pit straight and tuckin in front of Black Beauty as the pair headed into the first corner on lap four.

China also had a spin at Turn 2 under pressure from Ireland, who started in 15th after failing to finish the Sprint race. A lap later, Adam Carroll lost the back end of the Ireland car and aquaplaned into the gravel ending a disappointing weekend for the team after looking promising in qualifying.

Meanwhile, local hero Jeroen Bleekemolen passed Bamber for third, much to the delight of the cheering Dutch crowds.  Current A1GP champion Switzerland looked to be in trouble when Neel Jani dived into the pit lane for an unscheduled stop due to a suspected gear selection problem. Up at the front, Malaysia was building a comfortable margin in the lead, now 1.760s ahead of France, making the order Malaysia, France, Netherlands, New Zealand after lap five.

With wet weather continuing to test the drivers, lap seven brought about another incident as Italy and South Africa came together. Italy's Fabio Onidi made a mistake spinning across the kerb and Adrian Zaugg's South African car taking them both out of the race. China dropped further back down the field after being given a drive through penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag while Malaysia extended its lead over France to 2.4-seconds.

On lap eight the first pit window opened with race leader Malaysia making the first scheduled stop of the day but lost time due to a problem with the left-rear wheel. Bleekemolen also had a problem changing a wheel but eventually got back on track. Australia had a quick stop with France now leading from New Zealand and Portugal.

A1 Team Korea, making its A1GP debut this weekend, moved into the top ten, by passing Satrio Hermanto in the Indonesian car making the order now France, New Zealand, Portugal, Malaysia, USA, Lebanon, Netherlands, Australia, Monaco, Korea.

With the rain still pouring Netherlands moved up ahead of Lebanon for sixth with the pair both managing to stay on track despite getting extremely close through Turn 13.

On lap 15 France finally came in for its first pit stop and after a quick one retained the lead, as Jeroen Bleekemolen headed back into the pits for the second time, with the team looking to replace the steering wheel. He continued but had to pit later to make the change.

Korea had a minor spin on lap 17, just before Portugal crashed out after just taking the lead. Filipe Albuquerque had a big crash at the quick final turn resulting in the Safety Car being deployed for the first time in the race. As the field closed up, the order was France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, USA, Netherlands, Monaco and China.

After a couple of laps for the debris to be cleared the Safety Car was in and the field bunched up ready for the re-start. Korea managed to get going again after its earlier spin meaning - being guaranteed a point on its debut event due to so many retirements.

With racing back underway, Netherlands was now right on the back of USA and Australia and moved ahead of USA for sixth place when Charlie Kimball slide off line at the back of the circuit. On lap 19 Lebanon were running fourth with Daniel Morad, on his debut for the team, looking to score the team’s first ever point in A1GP.

As the second pit stop window approached France held a 4.587-second lead from Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, Netherlands, USA, Monaco, China and Korea.

John Martin was pushing hard to catch Lebanon, which was made easier when Morad had a 360-degree spin gifting the position to Australian as he tried to get back up to speed. The Netherlands began dropping back as Jeroen Bleekemolen appeared to be having gear-shifting problems.

On lap 27 the pit window opened, with Loïc Duval now with a 6.3-second lead over Malaysia as Fauzy came in for his second stop.  Australia and Lebanon both pitted with Lebanon retaking fifth. France made a great stop and Duval retained the lead heading into the final third of the race.

With the terrible conditions causing problems for a number of teams the race was turned into a timed event with nine-minutes remaining. On lap 31 Charlie Kimball put in a fantastic lap in the Andretti Green Racing run US car to record the fastest lap of the race with a 1m 47.115s on lap 30 but only a lap later he ended up in the gravel at Turn 5 making it a bitter-sweet end to the Californian’s weekend.

With the order now France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, Monaco, Netherlands the clock continued to tick down but with the weather making things really tough for all the drivers there was a huge crash on the main straight. Lebanon's Daniel Morad lost control of his car, and spun into the back of China's Ho-Pin Tung. Both cars careered at speed into the tyres at Tarzan, bringing out the Safety Car for the second time.

The seventeenth car made an appearance in the closing stages of the race as Brazil came out for the final laps due to the repairs taking so long after the Sprint race crash. As the time ran out the cars were released to take the chequered flag with A1 Team France taking its first victory since last February in Australia. Malaysia and New Zealand completed the podium with Malaysia and France joint championship leaders. A1 Teams Korea and Monaco both scored on their debut much to the delight of both teams and Daniel Morad scored the first ever points for A1 Team Lebanon despite not finishing the race.

France’s Loïc Duval said: “The weekend was really difficult, we received the car yesterday morning and we were in the car for the first time during qualifying so everything was brand new and today it was a really, really tough race. It was hard with the safety car but at the end everything went well and the mechanics did a great job.”

Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy said of his two podium results: “It’s been a dream start to the season for A1 Team Malaysia. We were certainly hoping to have a good performance here, and two podiums are just great. The weather conditions were treacherous today, which made it difficult for all of us, but that makes it all the more rewarding. There is something extra special when you are driving for your nation, so I’m very proud of our achievements today. It’s been a real team effort and I’m delighted that we are leaving Zandvoort leading the championship.”

New Zealand’s 18-year-old Earl Bamber commented on his fantastic weekend: “It was always going to be a tough weekend. There is a lot more horse power from the Powered by Ferrari car and I think it’s just been a challenge for all the drivers to get around and finish the Feature race. It’s been a fantastic weekend for me though, the team did a great job all weekend with the car, and we still managed to hold third position after a mishap with the wheel nut. It was a little bit slow to come off in the pit stop but the guys handled it well and we got back out and still finished on the podium.

“We had a lot of power boosts left in the bag just in case the safety car came out later on and we could challenge for second place but we ran out of time on the clock unfortunately so that’s the way it goes, we will live to fight another day.”

The very final words on what has been a hard but rewarding first weekend of Season Four for A1GP World Cup of Motorsport came from Chairman, Tony Teixeira: “I have always loved the Dutch and I do so even more after this weekend.  We had our dramas getting here, but I never doubted we would make it and want to say a big thank you to everyone who made this possible.  The weather was dreadful, but this did not stop the fans coming to see the races in their tens of thousands with the patriotic orange clearly visible in the packed grandstands. All the teams have been working day and night to put on the show and they did us proud today.”

Feature race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team USA set the fastest lap (1m47.115s) of the Feature race with a speed of 155.5 kph on lap 30.

A1GP Zandvoort, The Netherlands

Malaysia Take First Victory in New Season 

The Netherlands – A1 Team Malaysia has won the first race of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands. In a rain-soaked Sprint race, Fairuz Fauzy came from fourth on the grid to take the team’s first victory since Season Two, which was 27 races ago. After initially taking the lead from The Netherlands, Earl Bamber put in a great drive on his race debut for A1 Team New Zealand to take second place with Loic Duval storming through from 11th on the grid to take the final podium position for A1 Team France. Pole-sitter Jeroen Bleekemolen struggled in the extremely tricky conditions finishing fourth as the red flag came out to end the race.

In a thrilling start to the new season, the drama began before the cars even crossed the start line after doing two laps behind the Safety Car due to the atrocious conditions. On an extremely wet track, Ireland spun in the final corner with Monaco’s Clivio Piccione running into him, so putting the pair out the race before it had even started. As the new Powered by Ferrari cars came down the pit straight for the rolling start, the action behind gave the front row duo of the Netherlands and New Zealand a comfortable gap as they came across the start line for the first time.

Lebanon’s Daniel Morad ran wide in the first corner, narrowly avoiding USA’s Charlie Kimball, as both drivers made their race debut for their respective nations. A lap later, Korea’s Jin Woo Hwang collided with John Martin at the first corner while making an ambitious move down the inside of the Australia car which left both in the gravel and Korea out the race and with a fine and a drop to the back of the grid for race two for causing an avoidable accident and trying to overtake under a yellow flag.

Malaysia and Switzerland battled it out for third with Neel Jani getting ahead of Fauzy on lap four. From 16th on the grid, and having only done a few laps this weekend, China’s Ho Pin Tung was putting in a stunning drive to challenge Italy for seventh by lap five. China claimed the position taking the inside line through turn 11 and began chasing down South Africa.

Out at the front the race was really on with new-comer Bamber pushing the Netherlands for the lead. On lap seven the 18-year-old made a great move trying to go around the outside of Bleekemolen through the chicane. The Netherlands ran off the circuit while trying to defend the position but with a better run out the corner Bamber grabbed the lead.

As the rain continued to fall, Malaysia were flying, re-taking third from Switzerland before passing local hero Bleekemolen for second. Fauzy then set about closing the gap to New Zealand who was still in the lead. France moved up to fourth as Loic Duval took advantage of a mistake from Switzerland.

At the start of lap nine the order at the front was now New Zealand, Malaysia, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, China, South Africa and Italy.

Fauzy, whose car was working really well in the wet conditions, was right on the gearbox of Bamber and on lap nine made his move, snatching the lead through turn eleven. Meanwhile, France stole the final podium position from Netherlands.

China’s tremendous charge came to an end on lap ten when the back end got away from Ho Pin Tung and he spun coming out of the final corner, crashing out of fifth. With Brazil also crashing the red flag was brought out taking the final race classification back to the end of lap 10.

Race winner, A1 Team Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy said: “I am so happy to take this win. It was very difficult on the track today and made even more challenging with the lack of experience we have with this new car, but we have worked really hard as a team and now we have a fantastic win. We start from pole position for the next race as well, so I hope we can have more success, but if the weather stays like this it will be another huge challenge for everyone. I’m looking forward to it!”

A1 Team New Zealand’s Earl Bamber said: “Its pretty atrocious conditions this morning. We got a good start and then managed to get past the Netherlands. He (Bleekemolen) got on some oil which made him have a slow exit so I got down the outside into the chicane and then as he out-braked himself he ran wide and I managed to get in front. It was a good pass, but pretty close. We held the lead for quite a while but then Fairuz was just a little bit quicker and got past me on the infield. I think second is good and hopefully we can make some changes for this afternoon and see what happens with the weather.”

Third placed Loic Duval driving for A1 Team France said: “It’s very difficult to see anything but I’m really happy. We received the car yesterday, but just ran in the qualifying session so to finish on the podium today its great for us. Everything is possible for this afternoon so I am confident now. We lost a lot of laps yesterday morning, so this morning we had the chance for an extra test. We managed to work on the car and I think it’s been quite fair with the amount of laps everybody has had.”

Jeroen Bleekmolen was disappointed not to be on the podium in front of his home crowd: “When you start from pole you want to win the race, so it didn’t go to plan. The first few laps were alright but then I lost a lot of grip and people passed me on the outside, inside and everywhere so we need to find more grip and hopefully we can do better the second race. It’s really great to see the fans and even with this weather they are still here enjoying it so I hope I can give them a good result this afternoon.”

With this afternoon’s Feature race grid determined by the Sprint finishing order, Malaysia is in pole position to aim for a double victory in the opening weekend of the new season.

Sprint race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team France set the fastest lap (1m45.939s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 157.2 kph on lap six.

pics A1gp.com

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