A1GP Series

[Ian Anderson]

http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/resources/A1GPnew/index.asp?msvcode=a1gpban

The above link gives a fair amount of information but I'm sure people here will have more to input.

So who's in the running? Will it overtake F1?

Ian

 

[Russ Noble]

I don't know about it overtaking F1 but it will certainly provide good racing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

At the risk of sounding partisan, I believe the Kiwi team is in with a good chance under the direction of CEO Bob McMurray who formerly worked for Mclaren for the last 30 odd years. The Kiwi cars to be prepared by expat NZer Dick Bennetts (West Surrey Racing).Both these guys are unrivalled in their expertise and experience and our driver line up will be up there with the best of them.

Look for the distinctive black cars to be at the sharp end of the field. Go Kiwi!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Regards

 

[Russ Noble]

Hard to get up to date info in this part of the world! The website leaves a bit to be desired. I have heard Team Brazil (Piquet) wins at Brands, Team NZ (Halliday) on the podium. Anyone got any further info?

Regards

 

[ChrisL]

Russ,

Try this site A1GP. At the time of writing this post, it only contained the results for the first of two races.

Watched it on Foxtel last night and yes, you were correct Rus, the Kiwis were very impressive. The meeting comprised of two races, a minor one which set the grid positions for the second race. The Kiwis qualified 2nd for the first race and then deservedly got the 3rd spot. Unfortunately, Halliday stalled his car before the parade lap of the second race so NZ started at the back of the grid. They then very impressively managed to finish fourth in the second race. That gave them 3rd outright, one spot behind the Aussies who finished 4th and 2nd, for 2nd outright. Nelson Piquet Jnr was the runaway winner and the UK were very quick too, only to have car troubles immediately after finding themselves at the front after a series of pit stops under the safety car.

The Australian team put in an excellent effort to finish 2nd saying after the race that there was more speed in the car but they overcompensated for an oversteer problem that they had in the first race.

As a spectacle, it was probably a bit tame even though the cars did slide around considerably more than F1 cars. I suspect that most teams just wanted to finish the first event and it may well get hotter as the series progresses. It was interesting though in that there was a mix of some very professional teams and some not so professional teams. This was most evident in the pits where some teams took an extraordinary amount of time to change tyers. There was a negative element in my opinion in that the teams don't truly "prepare" the cars, so a mechanical breakdown such as happened to the UK is particularly unjust. An interesting aspect was the "Power button" which gave the cars 20% (?) more power whenever it was pressed, and would then automatically return to normal power when the throttle was lifted. They were permitted 4 shots at the Power button.

 

[Russ Noble]

Thanks Chris, good site. I'll study it in depth when I get some time. Aussie's Will Power put up a good drive by the sound of it too. Could have some healthy Tasman rivalry here if all goes well. At this early stage it looks as though Piquet could be a tough nut to crack. Impeccable pedigree too!
The power button is an intriguing device and I can imagine the changing strategies that would develop around that!

Thanks for the info.

Regards

 

[Simon]

I was there (working) yesterday. REALLY great atmosphere, there were ALL nationalities there, really refreshing to see everybody getting on. Real good family day out, lots of other races, stunt planes, parachutists, pit lane opened twice, drivers signing programmes etc. Got to interview Sheikh Maktoum, he's a top bloke as far as I'm concerned. I for one, really hope it works out as a series.

Simon