The Mexico thread

[strider]

In view of the action in Australia this weekend, I don't suppose there will be the usual amount of interest, but I enjoyed Mexico last year, no doubt partly because Olly Jarvis took a feature race win for Team GBR.

He's back this year for a final appearance in A1GP for the season, but I think he may find it difficult to get a repeat win, although I wish him all the luck in the world.

Jonathan Cochet - a much under-rated driver - takes over the hot seat for France, whilst Germany retain Michael Ammermuller and have announced they will be all out for victory! Jeez, hasn't the guy done enough damage already?

I expect Neel Jani to cement further Switzerland's position as points leader and Rob Wickens is the form man of the moment for Canada.

I seem to remember there was plenty of overtaking last year, so it should be good and due to the time zones there is no clash with Australia.

They've changed the track to encourage even more overtaking and there's a good map of it here.

[Kiwi3]

What's on in Australia this weekend?

Surprised Germany have not put Vietoris back in the car considering how many points Hammermuller has lost team Germany. Just shows Willi Weber to be stubborn I think. Ironically though there was a shunt at the start in Mexico last year between Brazil and Germany, when Vietoris was in the car. From memory that one was just a racing incident however.

The track has all the right ingredients to provide more drama, although the feature got a boring after a while last year (unusually for A1GP).

Hope the chicane they have put in is not too Micky Mouse.

Cochet was dynamite in F3 a few years ago, will be interesting to see how he goes. I too expect Jani and Wickens to be up front however, and NZ need a strong performance to prevent the Swiss taking further advantage in the points standings.

[diabloA1]

What's happening in Australia this weekend??

I think it's this race thing called 'F1' Very old style of racing. They been doing it since the 50s. Some of the guys in it are in their 70s now.. lol.

Anyway there are changes to the circuit for A1GP Mexico. In addition to the addition of a chicane to slow cars down before entry into the high speed Peraltada corner, they are emliminating turns 5,6,7,8 by linking turn 4 into turn 9 thus keeping lap times hopefully similar to last year.

Malaysia had the quickest car here last year lapping about 0.5-0.6 seconds quicker than the nearest car in quali. Of course Vietoris did the driving instead of Hulkenberg. Still Malaysia was suprisingly very fast.

Anyway with the track changes, lets see how the teams adapt to it.

[Last2LiftOff]

An onboard lap from last year at a1gp.com, and without the commentary.

[Paddockman]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

Hope the chicane they have put in is not too Micky Mouse.

I'm sure it will be, couldnot believe it last year that they were using the "Classic" Peratalda and thouroughly enjoyed watching the variety of lines through it.

But as usual every great corner it has to die these days.

To me it was no different to an oval from the point of view of angle of impact but hey what do I know.

Anyway what is on in Australia this weekend.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

At least they aren't using the silly NASCAR chicane on the front straight as well.

[NAC]

What!!!! is there something on in Australia this weekend ???

Only a couple of tubs with wheels sticking out the side, some Ford and Holden Taxis, some little Aussie wanta be taxis with bike engines in them, some German coupes and some other thing called a GT.

ScotsBrutesFan what's wrong with the NASCAR chicane, I quite liked it

[ScotsBrutesFan]

It did nothing for the NASCAR racing.

[strider]

Olly Jarvis has provisionally taken fastest time in the first practice session for the race drivers, but it seems several drivers were penalized for straight-lining the chicane before Peraltada.

This is not encouraging for the rest of the weekend. The times have not been confirmed yet, so perhaps more penalties on their way.

[cos]

Hopefully no penalties if the infringements only occur in the practice sessions! They should learn their lesson before qualifying, fingers crossed.

[Kiwi3]

The chicane might be a good place for Ammermuller to play dodgems on Sunday.

[strider]

Originally Posted by cos

Hopefully no penalties if the infringements only occur in the practice sessions! They should learn their lesson before qualifying, fingers crossed.

Some drivers did lose laps, Jonny Reid among them. Good to see Adam Carroll near the front. 13 cars covered by a second on a longish lap looks promising.

Times:

Pos  Driver            Team            Time             Laps
 1.  Oliver Jarvis     Great Britain   1:21.431          23
 2.  Neel Jani         Switzerland     1:21.482 + 0.051  17
 3.  Adam Carroll      Ireland         1:21.808 + 0.377  24
 4.  J.Bleekemolen     Netherlands     1:21.876 + 0.445  27
 5.  Adrian Zaugg      South Africa    1:21.883 + 0.452  23
 6.  Jonny Reid        New Zealand     1:21.884 + 0.453  20
 7.  J.Summerton       USA             1:21.942 + 0.511  29
 8.  M.Ammermuller     Germany         1:21.974 + 0.543  19
 9.  Bruno Junqueira   Brazil          1:22.126 + 0.695  21
10.  Alex Yoong        Malaysia        1:22.127 + 0.696  23
11.  Robert Wickens    Canada          1:22.227 + 0.796  23
12.  Jonathan Cochet   France          1:22.343 + 0.912  18
13.  Cheng Cong Fu     China           1:22.362 + 0.931  30
14.  Edoardo Piscopo   Italy           1:22.525 + 1.094  26
15.  F.Albuquerque     Portugal        1:22.586 + 1.155  27
16.  N.Karthikeyan     India           1:22.704 + 1.273  25
17.  Adam Khan         Pakistan        1:22.785 + 1.354  28
18.  Jimmy Auby        Lebanon         1:22.885 + 1.454  33
19.  David Garza       Mexico          1:22.935 + 1.504  25
20.  Filip Salaquarda  Czech Republic  1:23.241 + 1.810   2
21.  John Martin       Australia       1:23.336 + 1.905  20
22.  Satrio Hermanto   Indonesia       1:23.454 + 2.023  19

[Last2LiftOff]

That may have been Ireland's best showing in free practice this year if memory serves, which it doesn't usually. Good work from Oliver Jarvis, seems thankfully fitting somehow. I know it's early but France is some distance back, advantage Switzerland for the championship at the moment? At least Jonny Reid and Zaugg are in front of Germany FWIW, hoping poor judgement's not an issue in the 3 races left.

Missed both sessions yesterday so thanks for the updates. Another one of the few occasions we have open wheel racing on in the middle of the day over here. Likewise for you..lot on the time difference over there I'm sure. Hopefully the live video stream gods will continue to shine upon us (A1GP), even in Mexico.

[NAC]

Nice save Jonny off the wall in Q2

[NAC]

Sprint Grid

Pos  A1 Team  Time    Gap 
1 South Africa 1'20.315   - 
2 New Zealand 1'20.397   0.082 
3 USA 1'20.426   0.111 
4 Switzerland 1'20.518   0.203 
5 Great Britain 1'20.556   0.241 
6 Canada 1'20.621   0.306 
7 Ireland 1'20.769   0.454 
8 Brazil 1'20.842   0.527 
9 Portugal 1'20.940   0.625 
10 Italy 1'20.961   0.646 
11 Netherlands 1'21.005   0.690 
12 China 1'21.028   0.713 
13 Germany 1'21.054   0.739 
14 Malaysia 1'21.099   0.784 
15 Pakistan 1'21.176   0.861 
16 France 1'21.417   1.102 
17 Australia 1'21.789   1.474 
18 India 1'21.799   1.484 
19 Lebanon 1'22.012   1.697 
20 Indonesia 1'22.044   1.729 
21 Mexico 1'22.370   2.055 
22 Czech Republic 1'22.373   2.058

Feature Grid

 Pos  A1 Team  Time    Gap 
1 Canada 1'20.278   - 
2 Switzerland 1'20.320   0.042 
3 Germany 1'20.646   0.368 
4 Great Britain 1'20.705   0.427 
5 Ireland 1'20.708   0.430 
6 New Zealand 1'20.743   0.465 
7 USA 1'20.783   0.505 
8 Portugal 1'20.825   0.547 
9 China 1'20.859   0.581 
10 South Africa 1'20.870   0.592 
11 Malaysia 1'20.939   0.661 
12 Italy 1'20.953   0.675 
13 Netherlands 1'21.263   0.985 
14 France 1'21.310   1.032 
15 Australia 1'21.358   1.080 
16 Lebanon 1'21.441   1.163 
17 Pakistan 1'21.484   1.206 
18 Brazil 1'21.675   1.397 
19 Indonesia 1'21.788   1.510 
20 India 1'21.909   1.631 
21 Czech Republic 1'22.333   2.055 
22 Mexico 1'22.371   2.093

No action to be taken so they stand as above

[Hazard]

Really? I'm certain Jani & Wickens ignored the yellow for Garza's crash...seems very unfair.

[NAC]

Originally Posted by Hazard

Really? I'm certain Jani & Wickens ignored the yellow for Garza's crash...seems very unfair.

Thats what they said "no action"

[strider]

I agree with Hazard. If you read this, it suggests there may still be action. Zaugg definitely saw the flags and aborted his lap, as the report says.

Who are "they" and when did they say "no action"?

[NAC]

Originally Posted by strider

I agree with Hazard. If you read this, it suggests there may still be action. Zaugg definitely saw the flags and aborted his lap, as the report says.

Who are "they" and when did they say "no action"?

They the commentators, said after the post Qual driver interviews. Hey dont shoot the messenger, I thought it was on the nose myself

[Hazard]

Well - despite ours and clearly some other drivers grumbles, (), seems like Wickens pole has been confirmed.

He says he slowed down for the yellows anyway - yet still set pole...wow, he's so fast!

[Sodemo]

Aaagh!! What have they done to the track?!?!

They have ruined it.

[strider]

Originally Posted by NAC

They the commentators, said after the post Qual driver interviews. Hey dont shoot the messenger, I thought it was on the nose myself

Nothing personal, NAC, and anyway you were right as confirmed here. I just feel it was a very poor decision. Rob Wickens has escaped without penalty twice now in arguable situations. Let's hope there's not a third incident, otherwise his luck may run out.

[Last2LiftOff]

LOL Hazard. He's a litttle bit fast.

Not sure how the regulation reads, does it say how long a driver has to lift? 4 or 5 of them went past waved yellows at the end there and Jani and Wickens were a tenth apart. I dunno, what would an appropriate penalty have been?

Either way, I hope it doesn't spoil the race for you, there's only 3 events left.

[Last2LiftOff]

I suppose they could say, any driver having to pass a waved yellow situation scraps the lap time and they're forced to rely on only a single flying lap. I don't see how the regulation (and any penalty) can be fair to all of the drivers in field otherwise.

[strider]

They had John Surtees as the guest expert in the UK TV studio. He said he was hoping hoping Rob Wickens would get away with it, because he obviously rates him (as do I), but that in the UK it would have been an open and shut case - time disallowed.

It should help that they have sector times. If Rob did personal bests in sectors 1 and 2, but was slower in sector 3, then that would support his claim to have lifted off.

What bothered me most was that there was a Marshal standing by the stationary car and if anyone had slammed into it... well, you work it out.