A1GP car performance

Kiwi3 · 17 Nov 2008, 03:58 (Ref:2336166)

Just read an article on the New Straits Times website (Malaysian newspaper) where Fairuz Fauzy suggests the new car will do a 1.41-1.42 lap around Sepang.

Fastest lap last year in the old car was a 1.49.2. Lap record is a 1.34.2 set by Montoya in 2004.

So the new car has closed the gap to F1 performance by half.

Anyone know the GP2 Asia fastest lap from last season?

Kai · 17 Nov 2008, 05:54 (Ref:2336194)

Pole was a 1.44.1 and the fastest race lap was a 1.46.4

diabloA1 · 17 Nov 2008, 17:58 (Ref:2336495)

Yeah, fairuz's estimation sounds about right. I was guessing about that much too

nkfan · 18 Nov 2008, 21:39 (Ref:2337235)

so he reckons it will be much faster then the GP2 car....well we will find out soon...

diabloA1 · 19 Nov 2008, 17:01 (Ref:2337726)

He is confident that it will do 1.41, quicker than GP2. Will surely be interesting to see

courageous · 19 Nov 2008, 21:44 (Ref:2337934)

The fastest lap for a F1 Ferrari in 2003 was 1:34.980.

It was set by Schumie.
There was a tyre war.
A1 cars are twiddled with to aid overtaking (and to a certain degree to make sure developing nation's drivers can cope).
A1 engines are effectively out of a GT car rather than an F1.

Only 6 seconds slower - that would be impressive!

diabloA1 · 20 Nov 2008, 17:54 (Ref:2338422)

Lap record was set by Montoya in 2004 1:34.223. Don't forget although its a GT engine, what it lacks in hp it makes up aplenty in Torque. 550Nm is quite substantial. I don't think even the 2.4L V8 F1 engines make that amount of Torque. Thereare also talks that Ferrari might raise rpm to give more power once they're confident with durability. Apparently there's quite a bit of power at the high end that can be released with say 500rpm extra. The engine note is also better in that region

Mak · 20 Nov 2008, 19:47 (Ref:2338481)

I'd be very surprised if the car saw 1.45's. Really depends on how much Ferrari turn up the wick. They did it at Donington so they could if they thought the PR value made it worth it. Don't know there reliability issues if they have to do it to all cars. May even see fastest lap in race rather than Qual. if they boost the push to pass!

Mak · 20 Nov 2008, 19:49 (Ref:2338482)

???? are the Asia GP2 cars running detuned engines compared to main series??

JohnMiller · 20 Nov 2008, 20:02 (Ref:2338487)

Yes, 1500 rpm down

nkfan · 21 Nov 2008, 00:12 (Ref:2338597)

well we cant really tell if it rains unless some one has lap times from a wet race.

Karthikeyan set 1m 52.433 in yesterdays special test in wet weather

Kai · 21 Nov 2008, 01:15 (Ref:2338612)

Well it did rain in GP2 Asia last year during the feature race, but I can't find any lap times so I guess it doesn't matter...

Asa · 21 Nov 2008, 03:46 (Ref:2338649)

Rookie 1 just completed their session at Sepang, fastest time is 1:51.096 by Danny Watts.

Asa · 21 Nov 2008, 04:57 (Ref:2338658)

Rookie 2 session also completed. Nicolas Prost is fastest: 1:50.6.

Mak · 21 Nov 2008, 14:53 (Ref:2338922)

are A1GP a bit concerned about the prospect of this years car being slower than the Lola here last year? Joker quailfying.having boost engaged for full lap. Could turn the grids upside down as well.. I think they should'nt worry as it about the entertainment value, not out right speed.. I think once rubber is down they will be quicker anyway. Sepang still F1 grade circuit so they can run over 600bhp isn't it?

SALEEN S7R · 21 Nov 2008, 19:45 (Ref:2339087)

Dissapointing lap times so far, although as has been said there hasnt been much information regarding track conditions although no mention of rain has been made in any of the reports I've seen and on the video on www.a1gp.com the track is clearly dry. GP2 Asia pole time was a 1:44.182 last year set by Grosjean so it looks as though the A1 cars may well not get down to those sort of times unfortunately.

nkfan · 21 Nov 2008, 21:16 (Ref:2339137)

track does seem very dry !!.... so why the heck are they slower then the lola cars !

SALEEN S7R · 21 Nov 2008, 21:34 (Ref:2339149)

They arent, they are slower than the last generation GP2 Dallara's.

Kai · 21 Nov 2008, 22:40 (Ref:2339177)

Quote:

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

They arent, they are slower than the last generation GP2 Dallara's.

Actually they are, A1GP pole last year was a 1.48.6...

pirenzo · 22 Nov 2008, 03:21 (Ref:2339291)

1:47.648 is the best lap time achieved by the old A1GP car in all sessions at Sepang, according to the live timing screens.

I am surprised that they're not yet down to the pace of the old cars. I guess they might be running on harder rubber, or Ferrari have turned the revs down a bit due to the high temperatures and long straights...

Mak · 22 Nov 2008, 07:50 (Ref:2339374)

Lola was old chassis.(last year) Ferrari actually turned up the power in Qualifying to acheive these times..Full throttle and more power for one lap out of the four sessions. Only four cars quicker than last year. Really shaken up the grid, (maybe to much), hope we don't get to many safety car periods tomorrow.

SALEEN S7R · 22 Nov 2008, 15:05 (Ref:2339569)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kai

Actually they are, A1GP pole last year was a 1.48.6...

When I said what I said last night I figured there was more to come from the cars in qualifying, (which has been shown in qualifying) which is why I wasnt comparing them to the previous A1 GP car and rather the current specifcation GP2 Asia car, and whilst the fastest A1 GP time this year was 1.5 seconds faster than last year it is still pretty dissapointing. If anything though the cars are more comparable to WSR in terms of pace, they are slower than Formula Nippon which had a pole time this year of 1:43.61. The A1 cars are however quite a bit faster than the Formula Renault V6 Asia times which had a pole of 1:58.429 this year, although that should be expected as the series is just above F3.

Mak · 22 Nov 2008, 16:03 (Ref:2339591)

over 1.5 sec's quicker with extra power boost certainly turned qual upside down. Hope it does'nt backfire. They do have a couple of months to get new parts though. Still hope they don't keep it in future as it makes the championship a bit of a lottery. Ireland. Portugal and GB seem tohave made the best from the format.

**ScotsBrutesFan** · 22 Nov 2008, 18:46 (Ref:2339667)

I think you need to remember that it's a new Tyre manufacturer to the series as well.

Last years times were set with several years of experience running those tyres and that car.

This year new car, new engine and New tyres, had Sepang been later in this season once the teams understood the tyres and cars a bit more and Ferrari have fettled the engine some as well then these times could easily have been another second quicker.

**Asp** · 22 Nov 2008, 18:47 (Ref:2339669)

Quote:

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

When I said what I said last night I figured there was more to come from the cars in qualifying, (which has been shown in qualifying) which is why I wasnt comparing them to the previous A1 GP car and rather the current specifcation GP2 Asia car, and whilst the fastest A1 GP time this year was 1.5 seconds faster than last year it is still pretty dissapointing. If anything though the cars are more comparable to WSR in terms of pace, they are slower than Formula Nippon which had a pole time this year of 1:43.61. The A1 cars are however quite a bit faster than the Formula Renault V6 Asia times which had a pole of 1:58.429 this year, although that should be expected as the series is just above F3.

Why all the discussion about times?

Surely I can't be the only one who couldn't care a less if they lapped in 5 hours. Providing the racing's good, close, and fun - what else matters?!

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