Portugal race weekend thread

[strider]

This is looking a bit shambolic...

[gizmo71]

Tis a bit amateur night for sure.

John Watson needs stronger glasses - could he not see that Tomas Schecter had a loose left rear?

How come Piquet was allowed out in the middle of the snake but Enge was held in the pits until after it had passed?

[Kicking-back]

Portuguese marshalling clearly doesn't have a lot to recommend it!

[Kicking-back]

Jos!

[Asp]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

Jos!

He's in Portugal kb, I'm afraid he won't be able to answer you calling his name

[Marcel ten Caat]

Jos "I think I touched Germany as well" Verstappen

[Craig]

"I think I may have touched Germany, as well..."

Mate, I think you just violated the Geneva Convention.

[Kicking-back]

Critics of the series can say what they like, but if you see A1GP for what it is - entertainment - it certainly delivers.

[NedJV]

you're damn right

[Kicking-back]

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon's viewing.

Congratulations France - and well done to Ralph Firman - 19th to 3rd.

[Asp]

Excellent result by France - especially good as it shows that it is the country that is doing well with 4 wins in 2 events from 2 different drivers.
I must agree though with a few comments earlier in the thread - it seemed rather amateurish today. There was still some good racing, and it was exciting - that's for sure. But there was something in it that made it feel not as well run as previously - I think something around with the SCs, but it wasn't one particular event, just a feeling I got.

[Nismo]

basil shabaan? or was it kalil beshir? anyway lebenon drove a strong race to finish 11th ahead of GB!! well done!!

[maximus]

Originally Posted by Nismo

just suprised that britain and ireland have high profile drivers, including an ex f1 driver, nippon champion etc, yet their results are poor! TBH i dont think they will do much interms of winnign races or the championships... other drivers out there are a lot stronger!

Both got involved in an incident in the opening stages. Thats why they were so low down in the results. Did you fail to notice Kerrs race in Germany? Lebanon only finished ahead of team GB due to another problem. I'm not saying they are the best, but both are much stronger than you are giving credit for.

Well done to France, totally dominant. The Swiss are looking pretty racy too, and well done team Ireland on another good drive to 3rd this time!

I thought that there was some rather dubious blocking going on with team Austrailia in the closing stages when Italy got a good run on them.

[LucaBadoer]

I think it's time for team GBR to give someone else a go. Kerrs poor qualifying put him in that position in the sprint race. Still, pretty bad luck whatever was going on with the gearbox.

I like the way the French are going - switching between Lapierre & Premat from race-to-race.

GBR's championship chances are pretty much gone already. All we can hope for is some of the top teams drivers bing lost to rival series...

Well done to Firman! Excellent decision to stay out while the others were pitting early.

[Mr Jinxx]

I take back any slight niggles I had with Sky ... thought the whole programme was really slick, the graphics are much improved, studio folk are spot on (Andy Priaulx is such an articulate and very highly respected current racer himself, and I've always liked Keith Hueuen, and the link girl, whose name escapes me momentarily, is also great) ... and Ben Edwards and John Watson are a terrific team. There were some clumsy incidents on track, marshalling, etc, but I don't know if that's a championship thing or a local thing.

Great car for France, they had it totally sorted, and Premat looked very relaxed in it. Bad luck for Robbie, seriously frustrating for him. Nice to see the pitstops working almost properly now - did I hear there were new wheel nuts for this weekend? If so, they worked. Just a very exciting spectacle throughout, and huge respect for Sky for putting on a 3 hour show, and never faltering. Wish we had more motorsport like this.

[maximus]

Originally Posted by LucaBadoer

I think it's time for team GBR to give someone else a go. Kerrs poor qualifying put him in that position in the sprint race. Still, pretty bad luck whatever was going on with the gearbox.

Why? He's done a decent job. He had bad luck yesterday, which put him down in the grid. He had qualified well before that. Nothing wrong with his race craft either, he was excellent in race two until he hit problems today.

[strider]

Feature Race results: http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpa...s_art_id=26370

Pitpass is also a good website for detailed A1GP information.

[LucaBadoer]

Originally Posted by maximus

Why? He's done a decent job. He had bad luck yesterday, which put him down in the grid. He had qualified well before that. Nothing wrong with his race craft either, he was excellent in race two until he hit problems today.

I'm being unfair, I know. It's just frustrating to see us dropping out of contention.

[brands]

Watched both races and although it's still full of rookies making lots of mistakes, I must say it's quite amusing to watch

The TV (Sky) coverage is still very poor but on a wet weekend afternoon the on track action at least kept me awake this time.


I do hope the series doesn't rely on trackside ticket sales because I doubt there was a 1,000 people around the circuit today and I believe they gave a way 20,000 tickets in Germany two weeks ago.

[Mr Jinxx]

There are unsubstantiated rumours of an investigation into the GBR/CAN incident in the main race. Call me an old cynic if you must, but somehow, I can't see Canada protesting too strongly.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Mr Jinxx

I take back any slight niggles I had with Sky ... thought the whole programme was really slick,

It was a much better programme this weekend - but only because they didn't try and do anything themselves, and filled with World Feed coverage for much longer.

Getting Lee McKenzie to pre-record some specific interviews just for Sky was a good touch - shame they ruined the illusion by saying she was live (both yesterday and today) and then showing the freeze on the end of the recording yesterday, and cutting to it before it had been rolled today.

Using a smaller studio this week worked though, as for the first time the three of them didn't look like they were too spread out.

the graphics are much improved, studio folk are spot on (Andy Priaulx is such an articulate and very highly respected current racer himself, and I've always
liked Keith Hueuen

I really like Andy, but he is so wooden in front of camera. To be honest I think this is doing his image more harm than good.

The programme is far too reliant on Keith Huewen to hold it together, and if they are not careful, Sky's A1 coverage is going to be regarded as motorsport's equivalent of "John Barnes' Football Night".

It is telling that last Sunday (Lausitz) when it was Andy and Alex in the studio, it was Alex who was the confident one - if aliens had come down from outer space and seen that programme, without being able to understand what was being said, I am sure they would have thought Alex was the presenter.

It's almost lucky Alex wasn't racing in Germany, because if they had had Robbie in the studio it would have been painful.

, and the link girl, whose name escapes me momentarily, is also great) ... and

That'll be Georgie Thompson. And you're a married man Mr Jinxx, so careful what you say.

[Mr Jinxx]

I only meant that Georgie was great in a presentational sense, sceptic, not that I would seriously think of checking to see if she was wearing shoes with lovely stiletto heels

Which she was, in fact

Bit harsh on Andy Priaulx though! He was telling Alex how nervous he was, and in particular, how difficult it is when you have people gibbering away down your earpiece, counting you down, etc, when you are trying to talk and listen at the same time. Alex could hear the instructions, but didn't have the earpiece, so it was much easier for him (and he was a bit nervous too). Andy had a far tougher job than Alex, who was full of awe for the presenters, declaring it an absolutely impossible job. Andy has visibly improved and relaxed too, I thought. I didn't really know much about him, and I have a new-found respect for the guy now. Very smart. Good looking buqqer too, the swine.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Mr Jinxx

I only meant that Georgie was great in a presentational sense, sceptic,

Sky have better presenters.
She has settled into it now though, compared with Brands Hatch, when she seemed very unprepared.

not that I would seriously think of checking to see if she was wearing shoes with lovely stiletto heels

Which she was, in fact

There's a joke in there somewhere...

Bit harsh on Andy Priaulx though! He was telling Alex how nervous he was, and in particular, how difficult it is when you have people gibbering away down your earpiece, counting you down, etc, when you are trying to talk and listen at the same time. Alex could hear the instructions, but didn't have the earpiece, so it was much easier for him (and he was a bit nervous too). Andy had a far tougher job than Alex, who was full of awe for the presenters, declaring it an absolutely impossible job.

The problem is that there are so many people on TV who do make it look natural that one nervous person really stands out... and for the wrong reasons.

Perhaps Sky should give him some lessons?

Andy has visibly improved. Good looking buqqer too, the swine.

I'm sure there are people who say the same about Alex. Or even you!

[Mark Webber]

well done France they really have some moment at the moment. I also very impress with the swiss team ATM .
And our boy Will well done top drive from the back of the grid
Bring on Esatern creek

[AlMillion]

Rumours and gossip:

Seems Team GB are growing very discontented about the job Arden are doing - and even Mr Surtees himself does not know the reason John Bright was removed from the job this weekend (considering he's the team manager and listed on the team's Web site you'd have thought there was a good reason - he was there, just not allowed to work)!

Something is obviously going on as Arden shouldn't be so far behind and making schoolboy errors like putting the tyre pressures 10psi lower than they should be for qualifying. You have to wonder is it deliberate? Internal politics?

John Surtees, Team Principal: “Not a brilliant weekend. I think a series of errors has resulted in not a particularly good event for us. It has been exasperated by the fact that in the second race here we had a gearbox selector mechanism problem. Also by our strategy not working with the course car coming out so very early. Robbie got jammed into the pits too which was unfortunate. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you get it wrong but the fact remains that we actually didn’t have the pace to compete, particularly with the French car, but we will of course try to rectify that.”