2008 A1GP

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Bobby D on top :)

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Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal got underway this morning with New Zealand’s Earl Bamber setting the early pace in the rookie session and the Netherlands’ topping the timesheets in afternoon practice
Round Six of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport began today in Portugal as the A1GP Powered by Ferrari cars took to the new 4.69-kilometre Autódromo Internacional do Algarve for the first time with the drivers giving it great reviews.
Robert Doornbos looked strong on his return to A1 Team Netherlands’ posting a 1-minute 31.962seconds early on in this afternoon’s first official practice session.

Full results here
 
ALGARVE MOTOR PARK I´m crazy:wink2:to have these track for shore the best we have it here FIA approved and one of top 3 in the world at moment.

Where can a get it for evo or any sim game?':skywalker:
 
Bahh ... live stream ... who needs it :p
... will be there on Sunday, and maybe tomorrow too if I can wangle the time :wink2:

EDIT: ... and the track is stunning ... seen several events there so far and even if it was not just round the corner from me, I would still say its one of the best looking and most interesting (especially modern) tracks I have seen.

Would love a version of it for Evo!!!

BTW: The whole A1GP production unit is moving to a plot at this circuit, along with a satellite base for McLaren from what I hear. If you get chance, get down here for one of the upcoming events, it really is worth the trip (the local area is "not bad" either :D).
 
  • Greg Dranard

From their website;

Due to satellite issues beyond our control, there will unfortunately be no live streaming service available on Sunday 12 April. Raceday action can still be followed on A1GP.com with A1GP.com’s new live DASHBOARD service, live timing and text updates. Highlight videos of the action will be available on A1GP.com within four hours of the race finishing. For details of where you can watch Vodafone A1GP Algarve on a TV channel near you, please click here.


http://www.a1gp.com/Multimedia/TVListings.aspx
 
Glory

Sprint Race: April 12
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Robert Doornbos took his maiden victory for A1 Team Netherlands this morning after a red flag prematurely ended the Sprint race of Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal. Ireland's Adam Carroll brought the Celtic Tiger home a comfortable second and also claimed a point for fastest lap to retake the championship lead from Switzerland while home favourite Filipe Albuquerque took the final podium position much to the delight of the Portuguese crowd.

Doornbos had made a clean start to take the lead from Italian pole-sitter Vitantonio Liuzzi, while Ireland's Adam Carroll held on to third as the field headed through turn one for the first time. Just behind the leaders, New Zealand's Earl Bamber came across the track in front of Lebanon's Daniel Morad, with the Kiwi landing himself in the gravel and out of the race. Germany's Andre Lotterer then also came together with Lebanon while trying to go around the outside of the hairpin, ending his race with significant damage to the left rear of his car. The two incidents resulted in the Safety Car being deployed before the end of lap one.

The race re-started on lap four with Liuzzi looking to find a way passed Doornbos, while Australia's John Martin got ahead of USA's Marco Andretti to take ninth into the first corner.

With the pit stop window now open, race-leader Doornbos was the first man to head in for his first scheduled stop of the day. Monaco, India, Brazil, Great Britain and China followed with the Brazil car clipping a tyre held by one of the Chinese mechanics as Felipe Guimarães' exited his pit box. The tyre flew down the pit lane but was recovered by the team, although the incident delayed the China pit stop dropping them down the field. A lap later Italy, Ireland and Portugal dived into the pit lane and great stops from the Irish and Portuguese teams saw their cars exit the pit lane ahead of the Italian.

Championship leader Switzerland had a difficult start to the day. After starting from the back of the grid due to not setting a time in qualifying yesterday, Neel Jani stayed out late before pitting right at the end of the pit stop window. The Swiss driver rejoined in a points' paying position however, the pit stop was deemed too late by the stewards and the team were awarded a time penalty which dropped them down to an eventual fifteenth.

Doornbos had built up a healthy lead out in front before a crash involving Felipe Guimarães' Brazilian car and South Africa's Adrian Zaugg brought out the red flags with three laps remaining. Doornbos claimed his first victory for the Netherlands while Ireland and Portugal completed the podium. Ireland's extra point for Carroll's fastest lap of 1m31.404s helped the team re-established itself at the top of the championship standings.

Pos. Driver Team Tyres Time
1 R. Doornbos A1 Team Netherlands 19:33.501
2 A. Carroll A1 Team Ireland + 3.635
3 F. Albuquerque A1 Team Portugal + 5.728
4 V. Liuzzi A1 Team Italy + 9.087
5 C. Piccione A1 Team Monaco + 10.048
6 N. Karthikeyan A1 Team India + 12.596
7 F. Guimaraes A1 Team Brazil + 13.297
8 F. Fauzy A1 Team Malaysia + 18.014
9 S. Duran A1 Team Mexico + 20.545
10 J. Martin A1 Team Australia + 22.683
11 D. Clarke A1 Team Great Britain + 23.080
12 M. Andretti A1 Team USA + 23.154
13 N. Prost A1 Team France + 24.175
14 Z. Ali A1 Team Indonesia + 39.400
15 N. Jani A1 Team Switzerland + 44.296
16 H. Tung A1 Team China + 50.655
17 A. Zaugg A1 Team South Africa + 2 laps
Did not finish
18 D. Morad A1 Team Lebanon + 10 laps
19 A. Lotterer A1 Team Germany + 11 laps
20 E. Bamber A1 Team New Zealand + 11 laps

From GP Update

Hans
 
Drama fore Holland - Glory fore Jani

Feature Race; April 12
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Switzerland's Neel Jani emerged victorious from an action-packed feature race in Portugal. The result means Jani now has ten A1GP victories to his name - more than any other driver in the history of the sport. Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque drove a fantastic race to come through to second after a penalty for Ireland, while Fairuz Fauzy was third for Malaysia.

"There was everything in it (the race)," Neel Jani said. "Coming from third, having second, then to the pit stop and getting the lead, losing the lead and having Adam really put me under pressure at the end. We were a bit lucky today and we were very unlucky yesterday so it's a balance.

The drama started before the race had even begun as pole-man Robert Doornbos stopped his A1 Team Netherlands car out on track while the field were coming to line up on the grid. The wiring loom chafing ended the Dutchman's hopes of leaving the team on a high on his last A1GP race of the season.

Effectively on pole now, Carroll also had drama as his crew were last off the grid after trouble getting his car started. Brazil was absent from fifth on the grid after being unable to repair the car after crashing out of the Sprint race earlier in the day. As the race finally got underway, Ireland led the pack into turn one while USA's Marco Andretti made a fantastic start to move ahead of Malaysia and Portugal into fourth. Albuquerque responded immediately with a great move to re-take fourth from the American driver.

Lebanon and Mexico made contact resulting in a puncture for Lebanon's Daniel Morad, whose race then ended in the gravel at turn six. Australia's John Martin had a problem at the first turn which dropped him down the order. By lap three, Ireland had a 1.8-second advantage over Switzerland with the pair beginning to pull away from the rest of the field.

A great battle was continuing further down the field for the final points paying positions between Malaysia, Monaco, Mexico, Great Britain and India, with Monaco's Clivio Piccione pushing hard to pass the Malaysian car. On lap seven there was bad news for the Irish squad as Adam Carroll was given a drive-through penalty for a jump start. With the order now Ireland from Switzerland, South Africa and Portugal, the window opened for the first round of pit stops.

Portugal, Italy and South Africa were among the first to pit while Ireland came through for its penalty. A lap later the Celtic Tiger was back in for its mandatory pit stop but with time lost had dropped right down the field. Switzerland made a clean stop to remain out in front while New Zealand had a fantastic stop boosting Earl Bamber up to an effective third ahead of both Portugal and the USA. Monaco rejoined ahead of USA but came out on cold tyres, Clivio Piccione made an error and lets Marco Andretti through into what was sixth after everyone pitted.

Black Beauty was now flying in the hands of Bamber who was right on the back of South Africa. Zaugg was under immense pressure but defended well coming down the main straight. However, going into turn three Bamber appeared to lock up and crashed into the rear of South Africa. Portugal narrowly avoided the collision up ahead thanks to Albuquerque's lightening reactions as the incident brought the Safety Car out on lap 15. As Switzerland's 15-second lead disappeared, the field closed up with the order behind Jani now Portugal, Italy, USA, Mexico, Monaco, Malaysia, India, Germany and Ireland. As Switzerland's 15-second lead disappeared, the incident brought Ireland right back into contention.

The race re-started on lap 19 and Filipe Albuquerque made a brilliant manoeuvre around the outside of Jani at turn one to take the lead in front of the roaring crowds. USA made a move on Italy and as Vitantonio Liuzzi tried to come back on the inside at turn nine, the pair touched, with the Italian car spinning into the innocent car of Monaco leaving all three out of the race - needless to say the Safety Car was straight back out.

On lap 23 the race was back underway with Portugal under immense pressure from Switzerland. The second pit stop window opened on lap 27 with Portugal, Malaysia, India and Ireland coming straight in. Ireland jumped both India and Malaysia after a stunning stop from the Irish team getting Adam Carroll out just behind Portugal. A lap later Switzerland pitted and a quick stop from the Swiss team got their man out comfortably in the lead. Mexico's Salvador Duran was running an impressive third after great pit stop strategy from the Mexican squad.

With 12 laps to go Albuquerque's mirrors were full of the emerald green car as Jani continued to pull away in the lead. On lap 32 the timing screens flashed with more bad news because Ireland was awarded another drive-through penalty for overtaking behind the Safety Car. The stewards then made the decision to investigate the incident after the race allowing Ireland to continue its race. Germany also had bad news as Andre Lotterer was given a drive-through penalty also for overtaking under Safety Car conditions.

As Mexico came in for its final stop of the day, Ireland finally made a move on Portugal to take second. In the closing stages of the race, India's Narain Karthikeyan spun into retirement while Australia retired in the pits. Ireland now had the gap to Switzerland down to 0.6-seconds as Carroll chased the win in the dying stages of the race. Switzerland held on to the win making Jani the driver who has won the most race victories in A1GP history.

Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque drove a fantastic race to come through from seventh on the grid to take the final podium position in front of his home fans. The 23-year-old bowed down and thanked the crowd for their support this weekend to an almost deafening cheer. The final race order at the flag was Switzerland from Ireland, Portugal, Malaysia, Mexico, France, Great Britain, China, Germany and Indonesia, however, following a stewards' enquiry, Ireland's penalty was upheld.

The teams had a 25-second time penalty applied for overtaking Australia under the Safety Car just before a re-start which dropped it down to fifth in the order. Switzerland therefore regained its championship lead with 88 points from Ireland (86) and Portugal (82) however if dropped scores were taken into account at this stage, Ireland would still remain at the top of the championship by two points.

Result feature race
1 N. Jani A1 Team Switzerland 1:10:45.011
2 F. Albuquerque A1 Team Portugal + 6.786
3 F. Fauzy A1 Team Malaysia + 9.705
4 S. Duran A1 Team Mexico + 16.332
5 A. Carroll A1 Team Ireland + 25.411
6 N. Prost A1 Team France + 27.322
7 D. Clarke A1 Team Great Britain + 29.880
8 H. Tung A1 Team China + 34.586
9 A. Lotterer A1 Team Germany + 43.970
10 Z. Ali A1 Team Indonesia + 1:13.993
Did not finish
11 N. Karthikeyan A1 Team India + 3 laps
12 J. Martin A1 Team Australia + 4 laps
13 V. Liuzzi A1 Team Italy + 24 laps
14 M. Andretti A1 Team USA + 24 laps
15 C. Piccione A1 Team Monaco + 24 laps
16 A. Zaugg A1 Team South Africa + 27 laps
17 E. Bamber A1 Team New Zealand + 27 laps
18 D. Morad A1 Team Lebanon + 41 laps
19 F. Guimaraes A1 Team Brazil + 42 laps
20 R. Doornbos A1 Team Netherlands + 42 laps

From GP Update
Hans
 
Points standings after round 6


  • Pos A1 Team - Points
    1 Switzerland --------88
    2 Ireland-------------86
    3 Portugal------------82
    4 Netherlands---------66
    5 France-------------46
    6 Malaysia------------43
    7 New Zealand--------36
    8 Australia------------30
    9 Monaco-------------27
    10 Great Britain-------24
    11 USA---------------19
    12 South Africa-------19
    13 Brazil -------------18
    14 Italy--------------15
    15 India--------------11
    16 Mexico-------------8
    17 Lebanon-----------8
    18 China--------------7
    19 Korea--------------4
    20 Indonesi-----------3
    21 German------------2
    - Canad -------------0
    - Pakistan
After points penalty Ireland
Hans
 
Thanks Hans for this race report, but after watching these races and despite some stand out perfomances, this event reminded me of a public server. :(

Mark you are Q right only 10 cars at the finish, one with techn. prob.(Holland -Bugger) and the rest are mostly stupid accidents, I think the Race directors must give penalty's in the next race like the F1,so the racers take more notice of there behavior on track.
What is your opinion about Luigi,he did a good Quali but in the race I was disappointed in his driving ,I expected more from a ex F1 driver.

About Holland,I am afraid that this is the end of finishing in the top 3 of the championship ore there must be happening a miracle (still hope so!)

Hans
 
They definitely need to look at a penalty system for the drivers being reckless. I think alot of people expected more from Luigi, but being his first race I suppose the nerve issue crept in.

I believe in don't give up till it's over so Holland can still do it..:)
 
  • Wido Rossen

A1GP 2009 - Round 7: Brands Hatch, England

Racing at Brands on 1-3 May

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Location: Brands Hatch, Kent, England

Track length: 4.22 km (2.62 miles)

No. turns: 9

Direction: Clockwise

Lap record: 1m 14.923s, recorded by Robbie Kerr, A1 Team Great Britain, in April 2007.
 
  • Wido Rossen

Ah okay , i heard differently about Robert.
But who will drive will be made public soon enough i think.
 
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