A1 GP teams and drivers??

[cos]

Originally Posted by mabs_nsx

I thought Ralph Firman was British.

He has an Irish passport.

[Kicking-back]

He has dual nationality.

Irish mother, British father.

[Adam43]

And the bloke from Pakistan has never even been to the country (yet).

Whatever I hope he does well.

[FCYTravis]

Originally Posted by ghinzani

I see Alex Gurney and Adam Langley Khan listed, are'nt they both toilet ( to various degrees) and only in the sport for their parents name/money?

In the case of Alex Gurney, absolutely NOT!

In four Grand-Am starts with the brand-new GAINSCO/Blackhawk Racing organisation, Alex has scored four top-10s, a pole and a second-place finish in the Daytona Prototype class.

He is a very fast and aggressive driver who is proving to be the equal of any sports car pilot in America and he is committed to the DP program this year.

[pitcrew]

they have got a good chance with ralf as he has done a big part testing and devlopment on this car

[jondownunder]

Apparently Ireland will announce a reserve driver after their first test at Paul Ricard (August 24th-26th).

[cos]

Thought it would be time to consolidate all the teams/drivers/nations in a handy list (mods - would it perhaps be useful to have an A1GP FAQ sticky for this forum, with countries, calendar, TV deals so far etc?)

Australia (ADR) - Jones, Power, Davison & Hackett to test at Ricard.
Brazil (ASM) - they want Kanaan to drive ideally. Piquet has tested; also Dirani, Olivieria and Pizzonia rumoured.
Canada - Andrew Ranger? Sean Mcintosh?
China (McDonald) - Ma Qinghua and Jiang Tengyi
France (DAMS) - Alex Premat? Nicolas Lapierre?
GB (Arden) - Robbie Kerr & Alex Lloyd
Germany (SuperNova?) - Timo Sheider
Italy? - ?
India - Karun Chandok & Ebrahim
Ireland - Firman confirmed. Keohane/Faulkner would be a good choice for 2nd seat.
Lebanon (Carlin) - Khalil Beshir and Basil Shaaba
Malaysia (CMS) - Alex Yoong & Fairuz Fauzy?
Mexico (DAMS) - Luis Diaz, Salvador Duran and others.
Netherlands (Racing For Holland) - Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen
New Zealand (WSR) - Reid & Halliday
Pakistan (SuperNova) - Adam Kahn and Nur Ali
Portugal (Carlin) - Pedro Lamy and Alvaro Parente
Turkey - Artam? Tahinci?
South Africa (BCN) - Simpson? van de Merwe? Scheckter?
South Korea (Autoracing Korea) - ?
Switzerland - Jani?
USA (JVA) - Simmons tested at Silverstone. Speed, Fleming and Jaskol to test at Paul Ricard.

[Net-Ranger]

Originally Posted by FCYTravis

In the case of Alex Gurney, absolutely NOT!

In four Grand-Am starts with the brand-new GAINSCO/Blackhawk Racing organisation, Alex has scored four top-10s, a pole and a second-place finish in the Daytona Prototype class.

He is a very fast and aggressive driver who is proving to be the equal of any sports car pilot in America and he is committed to the DP program this year.

I think he's in the same case of Luis Diaz, during the last weekend in Watkins Glen he confirm that only in the rounds that don't overlap and after Grand-Am ends, he will take he's place in the primary A1GP seat, in the meanwhile Salvador Duran will take over...

I hope that Alex be selected, i saw many times Alex in Atlantic having cool stints against the other drivers, Luis diaz among them...

[FIRE]

Germany (Super Nova)
Driver: Timo Scheider
Teammanager: Willie Weber
Source: http://www.f1total.com/news/05082107.shtml

[EvilPumpkin]

Originally Posted by Rob29

Yep,so did I. Pretty sure he has always apeared under the UK flag in the past. At least he gives us one more decent driver ,with F1 experience racing.

LOL - well according to Mark Gallagher.....

"He raced with an Irish licence in Formula One. He's raced with a shamrock on his helmet. He raced with an Irish team. He has an Irish passport. But, yes, he does have a plummy British accent.

To be honest, at the moment, the only way an Irish driver (outside of rallying) can even get a sniff of a professional career is to up stakes and move to mainland UK. We have some very good "home grown" drivers here - but I doubt they would even be looked at for something like the A1GP - no experience driving more powerful cars, probably very little experience at navigating different race circuits either. Ralph is an excellent choice - with his extensive racing experience, he has a good shot at this and it's becoming a source of great interest in the Irish media.

Motorsport in Ireland (outside of rallying) is gradually dying a death. Lack of TV coverage, lack of sponsorship and rising costs are killing it.

What I would love to see come out of this for the future is that it will significantly raise the profile of motorsport in Ireland - both for potential spectators and potential sponsors. We desperately need this if the sport is to survive here. Money is far more likely to be put into motorsport here if there's an Irish team in a high profile series.

So a huge well done to everyone involved in Team Ireland. I'll be there waving the Tricolour! Rah Rah Ralph!

[Kicking-back]

Indeed, Ralph is an excellent choice.

For those who think he's a "Johnny-come-lately" to Irishness, he had an Irish flag on his car in Formula 3, a decade ago.

[luke]

SPEED

Scott Speed (GP2 Series), Colin Fleming (World Series by Renault) and Matt Jaskol (Star Mazda) will share driving duties for Team USA during the three-day A1 Grand Prix group test set to kick off tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Paul Ricard circuit in France.

[SFonseca]

Originally Posted by cos

China (McDonald) - Ma Qinghua and Jiang Tengyi

Who is team McDonald?

[foreversideways]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

Indeed, Ralph is an excellent choice.

For those who think he's a "Johnny-come-lately" to Irishness, he had an Irish flag on his car in Formula 3, a decade ago.

He is as Irish as Ryan Giggs is Welsh. Supprised they don't an American driver as of course everyone is Irish in America !!

[EvilPumpkin]

Originally Posted by foreversideways

He is as Irish as Ryan Giggs is Welsh. Supprised they don't an American driver as of course everyone is Irish in America !!

Whatever. I'm sure he'll be British if he wins and Irish if he loses. That's the way it usually goes.

[cos]

Indonesia and Russia also signed up now.

Team USA was officially launched today with a very patriotic looking car!
http://www.*******************/a1gp/

[crozier74]

Having looked more into it, I reckon the Korean seat will most probably go to An Suk Won. Gene Lee (who I mentioned earlier) is the other of the "2 Koreans racing abroad". He once competed in the Korean F3 Super Prix, and is now racing in the Asian Porsche Carrera Cup.

More on this Nikolay Fomenko chap here. Seems Paul Ricard was his first ever run in a single seater! Perhaps Viktor Maslov (ex-F3000 driver) would make a good choice for the race drive?

And now that Indonesia is announced, there's only really one choice - Ananda Mikola.

[Mr Jinxx]

USA car looks good

[Mr Jinxx]

What's surprising and disappointing is that John Village is no longer running the USA team

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by crozier74

Having looked more into it, I reckon the Korean seat will most probably go to An Suk Won. Gene Lee (who I mentioned earlier) is the other of the "2 Koreans racing abroad". He once competed in the Korean F3 Super Prix, and is now racing in the Asian Porsche Carrera Cup.

If you look at the A1GP site you wil see that the flags of Indonesia,Germany & Russia have been added and those of South Korea,Turkey & Italy removed.Looks like those franchises have been cancelled? 20 cars ran yesterday leaving Canada the only country with a flag but no car.

[Gerben24]

Although I like the idea of the whole series with equal material, there is one thing that the creators missed and that is the teams themselve. The GB team is actually the Arden team (I believe), who will have a lot more experience than a team like Pakistan or the Republic of South Africa. I know in the end the driver will have to do the job, but the set-up of the car still have to be achieved by the team.

I'm sure the Arden team will overcome set-up problems quicker than an unexperienced team like Pakistan...

[AlMillion]

You'd think so, but I've heard that the car had some SERIOUS setup issues at Silverstone - respect to Robbie for putting it at the top of the timesheets on Day 1

[cos]

Originally Posted by Gerben24

Although I like the idea of the whole series with equal material, there is one thing that the creators missed and that is the teams themselve. The GB team is actually the Arden team (I believe), who will have a lot more experience than a team like Pakistan or the Republic of South Africa. I know in the end the driver will have to do the job, but the set-up of the car still have to be achieved by the team.

I'm sure the Arden team will overcome set-up problems quicker than an unexperienced team like Pakistan...

Pakistan are being run by SuperNova, a team of a similar level to Arden. Most of the franchise holders have enlisted F3000/GP2/F3 teams to run the cars.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by cos

Pakistan are being run by SuperNova, a team of a similar level to Arden. Most of the franchise holders have enlisted F3000/GP2/F3 teams to run the cars.

Correct, see this list.

[mabs_nsx]

Originally Posted by Rob29

If you look at the A1GP site you wil see that the flags of Indonesia,Germany & Russia have been added and those of South Korea,Turkey & Italy removed.Looks like those franchises have been cancelled? 20 cars ran yesterday leaving Canada the only country with a flag but no car.

There are 23 countries confirmed so far but only 21 are on that list. The 2 countries which are not on that list are South Korea and Turkey. Italy is not one of the 23 confirmed countries.

I hope Italy does get a team.