The Shanghai thread

[Kiwi3]

Just received a bunch of details about this weekend. The support race program is a shocker - there basically isn't one! A couple of Ferrari events and that's it...

Hopefully a lot of off track activities to give the crowd something to do between sessions (although expect Shanghai International circuit to show a complete lack of concern for their customers as usual).

Anyway for the vast majority who will be watching via TV anyway it should be very interesting, and with only one more round after this one we'll get a clear idea if SUI are going to wrap it up or if NZ/France can take it to the wire.

[Lam Pak]

they didnt allowed chinese races to race in same weekend.just ferrari festival. no racing but exhibition.

[Kiwi3]

Alexandre Negrao in the driving seat for Brazil for this round. As a GP2 driver he has decent credentials however at some point Brazil need to find a stable driver...

[Last2LiftOff]

Is there an event schedule yet? Such as it is. Just the usual (local) start times? When they race in Asia, a.k.a. midnight to 2 am here...

[Kiwi3]

Shanghai is GMT +8.

Friday:
Practice 1 (Rookie sessions) 1100 - 1200
Practice 2 1400 - 1500

Saturday:
Practice 3 1100 - 1200
Qualifying 1415 - 1530 (TV coverage 1400 - 1600)

Sunday:
Sprint Race 1100 - 1120
Feature Race 1500 - 1630 (TV coverage incl. Sprint 1430 - 1700 I guess)

[Last2LiftOff]

Oh, thanks Kiwi.

On board lap with Frankie Cheng and the Driver Entry List (Mexico hasn't given-up on Garza have they?):

AUS: Martin / Antunes
BRA: Negrao / Guimaraes
CAN: Wickens / Morad
CHN: Cheng
CZE: Salaquarda
FRA: Montagny / Prost
GER: Ammermuller
GBR: Kerr / Tappy
IND: Karthikeyan /
Sureshwaren
INA: Hermanto
IRL: Carroll
ITA: Piscopo / Rigon
LEB: Auby
MAL: Yoong
MEX: TBA
NED: Bleekemolen / Luyendyk
NZL: Reid
PAK: Khan
POR: Albuquerque
RSA: Zaugg / Orr
SUI: Jani / Imperatori
USA: Summerton

[Francis Albert]

Mexico are going with Jorge Goeters:
www.italiaracing.net

[hotwheels]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

Alexandre Negrao in the driving seat for Brazil for this round. As a GP2 driver he has decent credentials however at some point Brazil need to find a stable driver...

Decent?

They have one stable driver in the team since the very first race: Emerson Fittipaldi.

[Kiwi3]

Well GP2 is a much better credential than a 37 year old second-tier Nascar driver.

Mexico appear to have completely run out of options! According to the report I've just read Garza is unavailable due to commitments in the US. He wasn't very good anyway...

[Lam Pak]

thats the most nicer circuit of the championship.

free practie:asian driver alex imperatori was impressive 3th and portugal was impressive 1st. france was second and for me they will get two out of two.

[cos]

FP1 - Portugal on top ahead of NZL and CZE. Switzerland Germany and France were 4th, 5th and 7th.
http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=41175

[Kiwi3]

Anybody have any requests for questions that you want me to put forward in the press conference tomorrow? I am going to try and get some hints about season 4 venues but I'm sure they'll keep a straight face and say 'no comment' until they are ready to announce things.

[strider]

Originally Posted by cos

FP1 - Portugal on top ahead of NZL and CZE. Switzerland Germany and France were 4th, 5th and 7th.
http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=41175

You forgot Team GBR, with Robbie Kerr back for a bit of feisty driving! Full times:

Pos  Driver              Team            Time               Laps
 1.  F.Albuquerque       Portugal        1:35.223            19
 2.  Jonny Reid          New Zealand     1:35.600  + 0.377   19
 3.  Filip Salaquarda    Czech Republic  1:35.609  + 0.386   18
 4.  Neel Jani           Switzerland     1:35.646  + 0.423   20
 5.  M.Ammermuller       Germany         1:35.657  + 0.434   23
 6.  Robbie Kerr         Great Britain   1:35.689  + 0.466   19
 7.  Franck Montagny     France          1:35.822  + 0.599   22
 8.  J.Summerton         USA             1:35.845  + 0.622   22
 9.  Cheng Cong Fu       China           1:35.903  + 0.680   24
10.  Daniel Morad        Canada          1:35.913  + 0.690   11
11.  Adrian Zaugg        South Africa    1:36.428  + 1.205   18
12.  J.Bleekemolen       Netherlands     1:36.457  + 1.234   21
13.  Alexandre Negrao    Brazil          1:36.482  + 1.259   25
14.  Adam Carroll        Ireland         1:36.523  + 1.300   20
15.  Alex Yoong          Malaysia        1:36.543  + 1.320   21
16.  Edoardo Piscopo     Italy           1:36.560  + 1.337   26
17.  N.Karthikeyan       India           1:36.584  + 1.361   21
18.  John Martin         Australia       1:36.598  + 1.375   25
19.  Adam Khan           Pakistan        1:37.049  + 1.826   26
20.  Jimmy Auby          Lebanon         1:37.166  + 1.943   23
21.  Satrio Hermanto     Indonesia       1:37.456  + 2.233   24
22.  Jorge Goeters       Mexico          1:38.414  + 3.191   26

[NAC]

Results: Sprint race grid

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Pos A1 Team Time Gap
1 Switzerland 1'34.163 -
2 Portugal 1'34.613 0.450
3 Canada 1'34.682 0.519
4 India 1'34.688 0.525
5 New Zealand 1'34.742 0.579
6 USA 1'34.791 0.628
7 Malaysia 1'34.850 0.687
8 Ireland 1'34.928 0.765
9 Germany 1'35.012 0.849
10 Great Britain 1'35.015 0.852
11 South Africa 1'35.198 1.035
12 Italy 1'35.224 1.061
13 Australia 1'35.336 1.173
14 Brazil 1'35.492 1.329
15 China 1'35.508 1.345
16 Czech Republic 1'35.590 1.427
17 Netherlands 1'35.670 1.507
18 France 1'35.789 1.626
19 Pakistan 1'35.923 1.760
20 Lebanon 1'35.931 1.768
21 Indonesia 1'36.612 2.449
22 Mexico 1'38.312 4.149



Results: Feature race grid

Saturday, April 12, 2008


Pos A1 Team Time Gap
1 Switzerland 1'34.172 -
2 USA 1'34.626 0.454
3 Portugal 1'35.022 0.850
4 Ireland 1'35.035 0.863
5 India 1'35.195 1.023
6 Malaysia 1'35.207 1.035
7 New Zealand 1'35.283 1.111
8 Great Britain 1'35.357 1.185
9 South Africa 1'35.392 1.220
10 France 1'35.496 1.324
11 Italy 1'35.520 1.348
12 Canada 1'35.554 1.382
13 Germany 1'35.558 1.386
14 Czech Republic 1'35.611 1.439
15 Australia 1'35.653 1.481
16 Pakistan 1'35.865 1.693
17 Brazil 1'35.887 1.715
18 Netherlands 1'35.921 1.749
19 Lebanon 1'36.066 1.894
20 China 1'36.136 1.964
21 Indonesia 1'36.326 2.154
22 Mexico 1'37.440 3.268

Well done Switzerland (buggers) thats got to put you in great shape to take out the title

Where the hell did Portugal and USA come from, nice work

[Kiwi3]

I must say that when I said the support program is a shocker I didn't fully understand what the Ferrari activities are. They are a trial run of how some events will be organised next year. Basically a large number of Ferrari road cars have turned up, plus a couple of Ferrari F1 cars, and Ferrari's top line models. The top line models and F1 cars are demonstrated and the Ferrari owners get to drive their cars around an active racetrack. A1GP and Ferrari are therefore co-jointly organising the weekend, which for the latter is a sales program for their vehicle sales, and no doubt a fantastic networking opportunity for both parties.

[strider]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

A1GP and Ferrari are therefore co-jointly organising the weekend, which for the latter is a sales program for their vehicle sales, and no doubt a fantastic networking opportunity for both parties.

That's true, but it is very raw deal of the spectators. I doubt if many circuits would accept that as a race meeting package. If you take Brands Hatch as an example, which is 'my' circuit in the UK. If that was on offer, quite simply I wouldn't bother to go.

[Lam Pak]

ferrari is a prestigious brand in china and is stub to motor racing. a friend of mine working in ferrari south east china told me how happy ferrari dealer in shangai was with this festival at a1gp. happy people jump silhouettes on blue sky.

on the race i am disapooint with china. cheng can do more. he was zhuhai hero and chinese people deserve more. portugal is the surprise and i can see that the country who ruled my land can be back to the top after they dismsised alvaro parent. swiss car is going to win the series.

[Kiwi3]

Frankie was very disappointed after qualifying and quick to point out that they had suspension problems, i.e. not his fault.

Strider, they definitely will keep a good support race program at Brands Hatch, with the UK being such a developed motorsport market, however in countries such as China where motorsport is still undeveloped they will use this model. In other words I guess in Malaysia, India or the Middle East if they race there in future they will replicate this model. I agree it is not very good for spectators however in China spectators are already treated like dirt anyway, so it doesn't make much difference!

If I was limited to the public areas for this race I wouldn't bother, there is absolutely no atmosphere or entertainment in the public areas, something which A1GP might need to address in these newer type venues.

[Last2LiftOff]

Edit: wait, wait, wait...tape-delayed maybe?

[NAC]

What no points for NZ in sprint.

From what I saw from Jonny's in car camera looked like it was Jonny that moved into USA.

Any other thoughts???

[jackschmidt]

It must be delayed telecast for you guys. The race is over but I won't spill the results. About the crash, I think it's a racing incident. It's an extremely difficult position for Reid and he clearly did not notice how close the USA car was to his. I think Reid was focusing more on the folks in front of him and the rolling start being very compact and tight, it's a miracle only Jonny and Jonathan Summerton got caught.

I love this race. It shows much professionalism and no bullsh*t. Good stuff, and I hope Summerton recovers well.

[NAC]

Awesome result for both USA and Portugal. Fantastic

Nice to see there is also a glimmer of hope for NZL

[Last2LiftOff]

Nicely done Jonathan, he's earned it.

USA, USA, USA...

[strider]

Originally Posted by jackschmidt

I hope Summerton recovers well.

You can't get a better recovery than that! Well done to Jonathan and also to Filipe Albuquerque, who had a great weekend for Portugal.

I suppose Switzerland were unlucky in race 2, but at least it keeps the title chase open until Brands. Jani coped well with the loss of 2nd gear. I'm not sure he would have caught Summerton, but a solid runner-up place was his for the taking.

Nice to see Adam Carroll on the podium again. As for Team GBR, let's just say Olly Jarvis was missed.

[Kiwi3]

Originally Posted by jackschmidt

I love this race. It shows much professionalism and no bullsh*t. Good stuff, and I hope Summerton recovers well.

Only one major incident at the start of the Sprint race and none at all in the feature. I'd like to hear again from those who earlier dissed A1GP as having a low driving standard!