A1GP - Oh jeez, not that one again?

duke_toaster · 5 Jul 2010, 15:44 (Ref:2722203)

http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/85015

Looks like someone's setting sail for fail with this one, although a setup where they don't continually bail out the teams could be less unviable. I still think A1GP was not a good way of having a nations cup in motorsport, although the right way would probably need strong FIA involvement.

***MagnetON*** · 5 Jul 2010, 16:24 (Ref:2722227)

Lucky I kept my A1GP domain names then....

Last2LiftOff · 5 Jul 2010, 16:31 (Ref:2722231)

We have a thread for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjOSLCR2hE

ChrisPage · 5 Jul 2010, 20:55 (Ref:2722352)

For some reason my natural cynicism always gets deflected around A1GP. I've always thought it was a decent concept, with some great drivers and good racing - I still think there is a viable series in there somewhere.

Bloody typical of my cynical nature really.

duke_toaster · 5 Jul 2010, 21:08 (Ref:2722360)

It was a good basic concept (the concept of having some form of nations cup), but the problem was what A1GP did with the rest of the thing.

There were some good drivers, but there problem is that the best racing drivers tend to come from a few countries (some of whom weren't even represented in A1GP), meaning that there were number of consistently weak nations, which have practically no talent pool to draw from. Some of those drivers were simply not of the required calibre. That's why it would be better to have 10-12 2/3 car teams rather than however many one car teams.

I agree that the basic concept is a good one, but not much more than that. Any attempt at that concept wouldn't need the A1 name, the A1 cars, the other bits of A1. It would need, however, direct running by the FIA.

JimW · 5 Jul 2010, 21:21 (Ref:2722365)

Never mind the concept (which I thought was pants), look at the fun and racing (two different things) which the meetings produced.

Nice looking cars and a great sound. Hope they succeed.

(How about a date at the re-opened Donington then?)

Regards

Jim

**Woolley** · 5 Jul 2010, 23:04 (Ref:2722398)

Quote:

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

the right way would probably need strong FIA involvement.

That's not a phrase you read very often. I thought only when all other possibilites are exhausted should you ask the FIA.

Kiwi3 · 6 Jul 2010, 14:58 (Ref:2722628)

Yes please! Quite a few of the rounds had really good crowds, Zaandvoort, Brands Hatch, Kyalami etc, with a few others getting there, such as Malaysia and Mexico. I therefore still believe it could be viable.

Would be nice to see some of the better franchise holders from before get the first opportunity though, such as Ireland and New Zealand, as long as they can finance their teams. No need for the Alan Joneses and Emerson Fittipaldis who did nothing however.

I miss it, hope we can see it back.

**bella** · 6 Jul 2010, 15:27 (Ref:2722638)

i don't see why they can't do some sort of shared ownership with superleague. a new a1gp series gets the cars in the winter and the superleague teams get them in the summer. teams can run both series so they can keep team members employed all year round.

mountainstar · 6 Jul 2010, 15:54 (Ref:2722652)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bella

i don't see why they can't do some sort of shared ownership with superleague. a new a1gp series gets the cars in the winter and the superleague teams get them in the summer. teams can run both series so they can keep team members employed all year round.

Makes sense but I doubt superleague would let that happen.

I'm a fan of Superleague and enjoy the races but I have a hard time seeing A1 come back and make it as well in this economic climate. I don't know that there is the room for it anymore.

duke_toaster · 6 Jul 2010, 17:00 (Ref:2722672)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woolley

That's not a phrase you read very often. I thought only when all other possibilites are exhausted should you ask the FIA.

I think any credible attempt at a world cup of motorsport would need to get the ASNs involved, which would really need the FIA. It's like what would have happened if someone tried to set up the Rugby World Cup without the backing of the IRB.

The FIA running it could also open more doors. It would also mean that instead of being a regular series, it could be an annual one-off event, which is far more realistic if you want to create a bona fide nations cup type event that can be taken seriously.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bella

i don't see why they can't do some sort of shared ownership with superleague. a new a1gp series gets the cars in the winter and the superleague teams get them in the summer. teams can run both series so they can keep team members employed all year round.

The thing is Superleague Formula already run a long series, they're currently scheduled to run from April to October. The A1GP season often went in to those months. Unless, of course, Superleague knock their expansion plans on the head. They've been talking about racing outside Europe for over a year ...

JagtechOhio · 6 Jul 2010, 18:05 (Ref:2722706)

Jim W, does this mean you didn't like it?.... (which I thought was pants),

Sorry, sometimes I'm a bit numbty with translations ;}

Morris Dancer · 6 Jul 2010, 18:12 (Ref:2722709)

It won't happen. A souffle can only rise once.

JimW · 6 Jul 2010, 22:02 (Ref:2722809)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Jim W, does this mean you didn't like it?.... (which I thought was pants),

Yes; sorry it's a local vernacular for "not very good really" or some such.

(Two nations divided by a common language, only I'm sure that Churchill or whoever (opinion is divided) had rather more high flown expressions in mind.)

Regards

Jim

**bella** · 7 Jul 2010, 08:59 (Ref:2722937)

Quote:

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

The thing is Superleague Formula already run a long series, they're currently scheduled to run from April to October. The A1GP season often went in to those months. Unless, of course, Superleague knock their expansion plans on the head. They've been talking about racing outside Europe for over a year ...

well to be honest my thoughts are that instead of expanding the superleague concept, they shrink the series and then buy the rights to a1gp. they have a ready made setup so there's no extra costs there. plenty of commercial contacts. there's already a good base of people who will watch a1gp, and the superleague cars are just as epic as the old a1gp ones.

strider · 7 Jul 2010, 10:16 (Ref:2722970)

I think it's a very good idea.

I'll admit I really missed A1GP over the winter, because it was something to watch when nothing else was going on, the cars were big and noisy and the drivers, whilst not top drawer, were mostly people I had heard of and good enough to put on a decent race.

mountainstar · 7 Jul 2010, 19:01 (Ref:2723169)

Quote:

Originally Posted by strider

I think it's a very good idea.

I'll admit I really missed A1GP over the winter, because it was something to watch when nothing else was going on, the cars were big and noisy and the drivers, whilst not top drawer, were mostly people I had heard of and good enough to put on a decent race.

It did kind of add something to the "off season" and I never did watch all the races but the ones I did were usually pretty decent.

**chunterer** · 7 Jul 2010, 19:07 (Ref:2723171)

Quote:

Originally Posted by strider

I think it's a very good idea.

I'll admit I really missed A1GP over the winter, because it was something to watch when nothing else was going on, the cars were big and noisy and the drivers, whilst not top drawer, were mostly people I had heard of and good enough to put on a decent race.

I agree with that post wholeheartedly strider,

In the first season I was really pumped up over it, that crowd at Brands was something to marvel at for a new initiative and then being able to watch live motor racing near Christmas as well was just fantastic!

Some kind of merger between A1 and Superleague would as bella suggested be the best idea - keep the SL cars as the equipment though.

**Woolley** · 7 Jul 2010, 20:50 (Ref:2723223)

The main advantage of it was the original cars did produce some superb racing, with multi-car battles and overtaking. The replacements did away with that, weren't ready on time and were much more expensive ruining everything that was good about it.

The conspiracy theorist in me might suggest that it was a deliberate act by Ferrari and FIA to spoil something that was more interesting than F1/GP2, but that would just be me being silly, wouldn't it?

duke_toaster · 7 Jul 2010, 20:55 (Ref:2723229)

GP2 isn't anything to do with the FIA. Did Ferrari actually do all of the second generation car, or just badge it and provide engines?

**chunterer** · 8 Jul 2010, 09:17 (Ref:2723404)

Who knows??!!!! I don't think you're far wrong with that though duke.

I don't think GP2 had anything to worry about with A1 with GP2 probably being the most entertaining single seater category out there at present. The GP2 Asia concept did make me think that someone somewhere wanted A1 to fall flat on its face though?

Kiwi3 · 8 Jul 2010, 11:47 (Ref:2723459)

I thought the second generation cars provided just as good racing as the first generation ones.

**BertMk2** · 8 Jul 2010, 12:18 (Ref:2723476)

The first generation cars just looked that bit madder though didn't they? The newer ones were "generic single seater", there was no mistaking the older ones though (incidentally - where did the old cars go to?)

westfieldbend · 8 Jul 2010, 13:05 (Ref:2723493)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BertMk2

(incidentally - where did the old cars go to?)

Auto GP?

**bella** · 8 Jul 2010, 13:30 (Ref:2723507)

weren't the first generation chassis just the old f3000 ones with some bodywork tweaks as well?

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