Alex Yoong Hails A1GP in Pitpass.com Interview

Alex Yoong reflects...(click image to enlarge)

and comments on Fairuz Fauzy, the Malaysian team and Formula 1

In addition to being a director of the Malaysian A1 seat holding company, Alex Yoong shares driver duties with GP2 racer Fairuz Fauzy. Following his remarkable fifth place finish effort from 13th on the grid in the inaugural Feature race at Brands Hatch at the weekend, Team Malaysia’s Alex Yoong spent Monday in London before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. The 29-year-old took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Pitpass editor, Chris Balfe.

In the very lucid interview Alex and Chris spoke about A1GP and the Malaysian team and where changes may be looked into. As for selling A1 to the sceptics, Alex says "Don't bother." and on Fairuz he felt he has "Done a very good job."

Alex began by reflecting on his team’s weekend. “I think it went pretty well,2 said the former Minardi F1 driver. “Our strategy was always to come in for an early pit stop, and I think that went in our favour. We’re really pleased, we’d targeted a top five finish for the weekend, and we achieved it."

It had been reported elsewhere, that Alex – who is also seat-holder director for A1 Team Malaysia – regretted the decision to split the driving responsibilities on Sunday, putting teammate Fairuz Fauzy in the car for the Sprint race and then taking over for the Feature race, this is not true says Alex: “No, that was reported wrongly,” he replies. “What I’d told the reporter is that (obviously) there is a conflict, because, as a driver, you want to drive both races, but to put Fairuz in the car was the right decision. “We’d started the weekend with Fairuz and myself sharing the driving, and it was only fair that he drive the race on Sunday. He’d tested for us really well, and done a good job in practice, and he did a really good job for us in the first race.”

...for the complete 7-page very lucid interview, go to Pitpass Alex Yoong Interview.

Huge A1GP Crash in Sequence Photos

Contact between Team Lebanon and Italy!

Lebanon flips once...

twice...

airborne...
lands...
screech...
and one more flip coming...

That was one mother of a horrific crash...but after some seemingly eternally long anxious moments Lebanon's Khalil Beschir walked away unassisted upon extrication by the race safety marshalls...he was one lucky fella!

A1GP: Malaysia 5th!

Alex has every reason to be satisfied (click image to enlarge)

A hugely ballsy drive from Alex - well done Alex!!

The 38 lap Feature Race which was to last just under an hour with tyre change and grid positions determined from the Sprint Race held just over an hour and a half ago promised much prospects of a hugely entertaining race as compared to the earlier mundane parade - as this site has predicted before the race. And it was more than entertaining...it was full of spills and thrills...there were crashes and rolls, challenges and aggressive resistances...and what a ballsy drive from Malaysia's Alex Yoong who drove to a superb 5th from 13th on the grid!

The race was deservedly won by Brazil's Nelson Piquet Jr despite a bad pitstop which saw him relegated to third on lap 20 and desrvedly so too for Australia which finished second with Will Power as well as for Mexico with Salvador Duran.

But for Alex no one can deny him this now and he fully deserved his fifth for Malaysia and paid the faith of the many silent supporters like his engineer and close friend, Greg Wheeler, Alex's wife Arianna and definitely no doubt his son, Alister too. Also there for Alex is a huge throng of relatives and friends who were glued to their TV sets at home in Malaysia cheering and urging him on. It was a deserving top 5 for him especially after a year long lay=off from racing.

Team Malaysia made an electrifying start from 13th to move up to 9th in lap 1 and gained another 3 spots to sixth by lap 3. The chase was relentless but the dangers of a clip or a nudge was also starkingly there.

This proved true when Lebanon's rookie driver, Khalil Beschir closed the door on Italy at the entry to the Paddock Hill downhill corner and sufferred a huge airborn triple roll which brought the safety car out on lap 14. Before that 6 cars were out in seperate multiple accidents as drivers in their frenetic pace to gain positions took excessive risks as there is no other race to preserve their cars for.

But Alex kept his cool and stayed in a safe fifth position as Mexico and New Zealand battled it out in the closing laps for the final podium position in 3rd and 4th - knowing that with 6 laps to go it's stupid to get tangled up with that battle and hoping that Malaysia may yet steal a podium third from the immediate front two to him. It was not to be and Malaysia has to be contend with a most rewarding 5th which earned the team a precious 6 points with 11 races to be run.

So, it's off to Germany in two weeks for round 2 - can't wait, can we all?

-JourneyMan-

BRANDS HATCH - FEATURE RACE RESULTS & POINTS
Pos/A1 Team/Driver
1 - Brazil - Nelson Piquet Jr - 22 (11 + 11
2 - Australia - Will Power - 16 (7 + 9)
3 - Mexico - Salvador Duran - 13 (5 + 8)
4 - New Zealand - Matt Halliday - 13 (8 + 7)
5 - Malaysia - Alex Yoong - 6 (0 + 6)
6 - South Africa - Stephen Simpson - 5 (0 + 5)
7 - Netherlands - Jos Verstappen - 4 (0 + 4)
8 - Japan - Ryo Fukuda - 3 (0 + 3)
9 - Canada - Sean McIntosh - 2 (0 + 2)
10 - Germany - Timo Scheider - 1 (0 + 1)
11 - Austria - Mathias Lauda
12 - China - Tengyi Jiang
13 - Pakistan - Adam Khan - 4 (4 + 0)
DNF - Czech Republic - Jan Charouz
DNF - Russia - Alexey Vasiliev
DNF - Great Britain - Robbie Kerr - 6 (6 + 0)
DNF - USA - Scott Speed
DNF - Lebanon - Khalil Beschir
DNF - Italy - Enrico Toccacelo
DNF - Portugal - Alvaro Parente - 3 (3 + 0)
DNF - Switzerland - Neel Jani - 2 (2 + 0)
DNF - France - Alexandre Premat - 9 (9 + 0)
DNF - India - Karun Chandhok
DNF - Indonesia - Ananda Mikola
DNF - Ireland - Michael Devaney - 1 (1 + 0)

A1GP: Brazil Wins Brands Hatch Opener

Fairuz atop formidable Paddock Hill bend (click image to enlarge)

with Malaysia's Fairuz 13th in Sprint Race

Brazil driver Nelson Piquet Jr completed a pole to flag victory in the opening sprint race with hardly a sweat breaking from his forehead.

He was followed home by France, New Zealand, Australia, and Great Britain in second to fifth respectively.

Other points scorers are Mexico sixth, Pakistan seventh, Portugal eighth, Switzerland ninth and Ireland tenth.

Malaysia's Fairuz Fauzy had a poor start from ninth on the grid but drove sensibly to defend his position to finish 13th eventually.

The race was extremely exciting only for the first two corners where the cars in rolling start formation were nose to tail and running four wide.

Netherland's Jos Verstappen was out almost immediately past the lights when he got nicked by Czech Republic driver Jan Charouz.

After that it became almost a proccession although we witnessed some moments with Malaysia's Fairuz going wide at Graham Hill bend and defending Malaysia's 13th position from Germany for most part of the 20 lap race.

Perhaps the drivers in preserving their cars for the Feature race, to a very large extend, made the Sprint race boring to TV viewers and no doubt the circuit race goers too.

We hope the Feature race, with a standing start, a pit stop and a much longer distance will play to a different script and we will see much more action than offerred in the Sprint race.

And perhaps, the idea of awarding the same points for the top 10 finishers for both the races now seemed unfair to drivers in the Feature race who might offer the fans much more value for their money.

BRANDS HATCH - SPRINT RACE RESULTS & POINTS

Pos/A1 Team/Driver
1 - Brazil - Nelson Piquet Jr - 10
2 - France - Alexandre Premat - 9
3 - New Zealand - Matt Halliday - 8
4 - Australia - Will Power - 7
5 - Great Britain - Robbie Kerr - 6
6 - Mexico - Salvador Duran - 5
7 - Pakistan - Adam Khan - 4
8 - Portugal - Alvaro Parente - 3
9 - Switzerland - Neel Jani - 2
10 - Ireland - Michael Devaney - 1
11 - USA - Scott Speed
12 - Japan - Ryo Fukuda
13 - Malaysia - Fairuz Fauzy
14 - Germany - Timo Scheider
15 - India - Karun Chandhok
16 - Italy - Enrico Toccacelo
17 - Indonesia - Ananda Mikola
18 - Czech Republic - Jan Charouz
19 - Canada - Sean McIntosh
20 - Austria - Mathias Lauda
21 - China - Tengyi Jiang
22 - Lebanon - Khalil Beschir
23 - Russia - Alexey Vasiliev
24 - South Africa - Stephen Simpson
25 - Netherlands - Jos Verstappen - DNF

A1 Grand Prix: Brands Hatch Qualifying

Fairuz above will drive in Sprint race and Alex in Feature race (click image to enlarge)

Fairuz to drive the Sprint race and Alex the Feature race - 8TV and Star Sports to telecast races live

Brands Hatch, 24 September 2005 - The grid for tomorrow's A1GP debut race at Brands Hatch has thrown up a few surprises, While Brazil's pole courtesy of Nelson Piquet Jr was half expected, pundits were surprised that RedBull driver and F1 tester Scott Speed of USA languished in a dismal bottom half of 17th after he had dominated the second practice session yesterday and was fourth in this morning's practice 3.

The unique qualifying procedure - each driver must set a time in four seperate 15 minute sessions, the two best of which are added together to determine the grid - proved an interesting success this afternoon, with Piquet taking top spot in two of the sessions to secure pole by three tenths of a second.

Lining up beside him is the New Zealand entry, driven consistently and quickly by the under-rated Matt Halliday.

The second row is taken by France and Australia. Alexandre Premat, the French pilot and GP2 front runner, took fastest in the final session on his way to third spot, and the Australian rising star Will Power starts beside him.

Great Britain's Robbie Kerr starts fifth alongside the Switzerland car driven by F1 tester Neel Jani.

Unexpectedly, Mexico slotted into seventh place, with British F3 series regular Salvador Duran, who will start next to the Pakistan car, another surprise, with the promising Adam Khan at the wheel.

Completing the top ten are Malaysia, with Ex-F1 driver Alex Yoong at the wheel, and Japan's Ryo Fukuda, both drivers far more competent that their reputation paints.

Former Benetton, Arrows and Minardi F1 driver, Jos Verstappen, however could only manage 14th on the grid after much promises in pre-season A1 testing. Other Asian teams qualifying positions are Indonesia - 18th, India - 19th, Lebanon - 23rd and China - 24th.

However, in a twist to the traditional motorsport format, the driver who took part in qualifying may not be the one who competes in both races. Any of the A1 Team's drivers that have set a practice time within 102 per cent of the team's fastest qualifying lap are in with a chance to race.

All the A1 Teams will use the drivers who qualified today for both of tomorrow's races except for A1 Team Malaysia who will field Fairuz Fauzy for the Sprint race and Alex Yoong for the Main Feature race for both drivers to gain valuable race mileage.

The Sprint race will be contested over 50 miles lasting up to 30 minutes in duration. With a rolling start at 13.30 BST (8.30pm Malaysian time), tomorrow's Sprint race will be run over 18 laps of the Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch.

The outcome of the Sprint race determines the grid position of the Main Feature race which will start at 15.00 BST (10pm Malaysian time) with a standing start. The Feature race will be run over 100 miles (36 laps) lasting up to 60 minutes in duration.

Malaysians following the A1GP sries should tune to either 8TV or Star Sport where the races will be telecast live.

A1GP - BRANDS HATCH, GREAT BRITAIN (23-25 SEP 05) QUALIFYING RESULTS FOR ROUND 1 RACE 1 (SPRINT RACE)
Pos/A1 Team/Driver/Aggregate/(From Best 2 Times Of)
1 Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 2'30.789 (1'15.824, 1'14.965)
2 New Zealand Matt Halliday 2'31.117 (1'15.389, 1'15.728)
3 France Alexandre Premat 2'31.206 (1'16.043, 1'15.163)
4 Australia Will Power 2'31.388 (1'15.774, 1'15.614)
5 Great Britain Robbie Kerr 2'31.714 (1'15.878, 1'15.836)
6 Switzerland Neel Jani 2'31.729 (1'16.142, 1'15.587)
7 Mexico Salvador Duran 2'32.307 (1'16.056, 1'16.251)
8 Pakistan Adam Khan 2'32.596 (1'16.457, 1'16.139)
9 Malaysia Alex Yoong 2'32.632 (1'16.362, 1'16.270)
10 Japan Ryo Fukuda 2'32.689 (1'16.544, 1'16.145)
11 Portugal Alvaro Parente 2'32.705 (1'16.528, 1'16.177)
12 Ireland Michael Devaney 2'32.811 (1'16.576, 1'16.235)
13 Germany Timo Scheider 2'32.981 (1'16.624, 1'16.357)
14 Netherlands Jos Verstappen 2'33.075 (1'16.472, 1'16.603)
15 South Africa Stephen Simpson 2'33.086 (1'16.612, 1'16.474)
16 Italy Enrico Toccacelo 2'33.232 (1'16.402, 1'16.832)
17 USA Scott Speed 2'33.317 (1'16.950, 1'16.367)
18 Indonesia Ananda Mikola 2'33.424 (1'16.864, 1'16.560)
19 India Karun Chandhok 2'34.126 (1'17.341, 1'16.785)
20 Czech Republic Jan Charouz 2'34.786 (1'17.813, 1'16.973)
21 Canada Sean McIntosh 2'36.656 (1'18.189, 1'18.467)
22 Austria Mathias Lauda 2'36.878 (1'18.186, 1'18.692)
23 Lebanon Khalil Beschir 2'37.104 (1'18.671, 1'18.433)
24 China Tengyi Jiang 2'38.750 (1'19.071, 1'19.679)
25 Russia Alexey Vasiliev 2'41.303 (1'20.597, 1'20.706)

Crashes Galore in First Day of A1GP Official Practices

Alex Yoong at Brands on Friday (click image to enlarge)

As expected rookies are a big problem as Malaysia finished 5th of 25 nations (updated...)

Brands Hatch, U.K. - Friday, 23rd Sep 05 - The new A1 Grand Prix series kicked off with official practices at Brands Hatch today with Malaysia finishing fifth of 25 nations.

The new FIA sanctioned championship, billed as a World Cup of motorsport, pits nation against nation on the track, with a key feature being that nations entered MUST use their own nationals to man the offices in the cockpits.

However with 25 nations entered with some countries without much motorsports history to shout about simply cannot find national drivers with the adequate race experience at the top level to representing them.

The first ever official A1GP race weekend action today saw alot of carnage caused by rookie errors, causing the first official practice session to be red-flagged three times.

India's Karun Chandhok caused the most spectacular accident when he turned in on ex-Formula One driver Jos Verstappen at Druids hairpin. The two cars made contact, pitching Chandhok into the air and badly damaging his car. Chandhok had already allowed another Formula One refugee, Alex Yoong, to pass him but inexplicably failed to notice the bright orange Netherlands car of Verstappen, causing the pile-up.

China's drivers have struggled to match their more experienced rivals in testing clocking times completely out of the pace of the other teams. They were caught out again in practice today with their number one driver Qinghua Ma making a hash of things at the fast Paddock Hill bend and brought out the red flags once again.

Collisions are usually rare in practice, with drivers concentrating on finding the perfect set-up for their cars, but today's A1GP debut bucked that trend. Russian Alexey Vasilev caused yet another stoppage when he crashed into Ireland's Michael Devaney.

Despite promises of an equal playing field with even drivers from countries with little motorsport pedigree being able to compete, the timing sheets at the end of first practice told a different story. Scott Speed set the pace for the United States, setting a fastest lap of one minute 16.516 seconds.

Nelson Piquet Jr was six tenths of a second behind for Brazil while Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre took third. Britain's Robbie Kerr and Malaysian driver Alex Yoong also acquitted themselves well with fourth and fifth respectively only one second adrift.

At the rear end of the field, Russia was 6 seconds off the pace and China 10 seconds behind the leader despite having circulated the Brand's GP circuit 14 times and 15 times respectively.

[Others who encountered problems on Friday are: Tengyi Jiang (China), Ryo Fukuda (Japan) and Jan Charouz (Czech), Nikolay Fomenko (Russia), Adrian Sutil (Germany) and Christian Jones (Australia) all either spun off or shunted.]

The saving grace is at the front the competition this weekend - with the top 12 nations seperated by less than 2 seconds - the competition is going to very intense.

Brands Hatch Official Practice Session 1
(Friday, 23rd Sep - Dry track)
Pos/A1 Team/Driver/Time/No. Laps
1. USA Scott Speed 1m16.516 19
2. Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr. 1m17.156 13
3. France Nicholas Lapierre 1m17.216 20
4. Great Britain Robbie Kerr 1m17.463 21
5. Malaysia Alex Yoong 1m17.579 17
6. Australia Will Power 1m17.673 30
7. Switzerland Neel Jani 1m17.731 22
8. Portugal Alvaro Parente 1m17.740 19
9. Netherlands Jos Verstappen 1m17.970 20
10. Mexico Salvador Duran 1m17.997 27
11. New Zealand Matt Halliday 1m18.157 24
12. Germany Timo Scheider 1m18.344 13
13. Canada Sean MacIntosh 1m18.470 28
14. South Africa Stephen Simpson 1m18.640 21
15. Japan Ryo Fukuda 1m18.859 27
16. Pakistan Adam Khan 1m18.932 14
17. Czech Republic Jan Charouz 1m19.396 20
18. Lebanon Basil Shaaban 1m19.491 24
19. Ireland Michael Devaney 1m19.542 16
20. Austria Mathias Lauda 1m19.674 14
21. Indonesia Ananda Mikola 1m20.126 16
22. Russia Alexey Vasiliev 1m22.905 14
23. Italy Enrico Toccacelo 1m25.320 5
24. China Quinghua Ma 1m26.555 15
25. India Karun Chandhok 1m28.607 2

A1 Team Malaysia's Battle of Britain

Ready to tackle the famous Brands Hatch circuit and 24 other national teams

Brands Hatch, U.K. - Friday, 23rd Sep 2005 - The A1 Team Malaysia have landed in Britain at Brands Hatch circuit located southeast of London – ready for the ‘Battle of Britain’ – where team drivers Alex Yoong and Fairuz Fauzy will attempt to pitch Malaysia’s prowess against 24 other nations from six continents in the A1 Grand Prix opening round.

Alex and Fairuz, have been extremely busy walking the circuit, consulting and conferring with their technical team as well as spending most of Thursday huddled over their Malaysian-made FTec laptops with the team’s Chief Engineer, Greg Wheeler, analyzing past data of the circuit from other race series.

And while they are doing that it’s appropriate to reflect on the history and characteristics of this great Brands Hatch circuit.

Ever since Brands Hatch was built in 1926, there have been many fewer races run in the full 4.22km Grand Prix version of the circuit than in the much shorter 1.92km Indy circuit because of the close proximity of residential homes at the far end of the Grand Prix circuit.

The heritage of Brands is vast – name any famous driver from the last 50 years or so and they are bound to have cut their teeth racing there. Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Barry Sheene, Jack Brabham, Derek Minter, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna are among the countless drivers to have raced and won at Brands in front of huge crowds over the years. Nigel Mansell scored his first Grand Prix victory there, also winning the final F1 race at Brands in 1986.

And, fittingly so, for the first ever World Cup of Motorsport, the A1 Grand Prix opening round in Britain, will use the Grand Prix circuit – where the 4.22km unique combination of huge dip of Paddock Hill, cambers, fearsome corners and hills combined with the challenging Dingle Dell far end sections will test the Malaysian team’s drivers to the full.

A1GP’s round will be amongst the only four elite events to be held on the full Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in 2005 together with the World & British Superbikes and the British Touring Car Championship.

We asked Yoong what his feeling of his first day at the first round’s venue was and, animatedly, he said: “It is one of relief actually. Finally we are about to start the first race of the season and everyone in the team has worked extremely hard to get the Malaysian team here. We are all naturally delighted that we are in a position to start racing and we look forward to rewarding our efforts with a good weekend.”

Yoong added, “There is a fantastic atmosphere here at the track. We expect 40,000 to attend on Sunday alone, which will make an incredible debut for the A1 GP series. It will be an amazing race for all of us to be a part of. A1 Team Malaysia is ready to go, and looking forward to the support of our Malaysian fans.”

As for whether it will be Yoong or Fairuz who will be driving for Malaysia this weekend, the Malaysan team principal, Jack Cunningham, intimated that, “A decision will be made after Saturday’s practices when both drivers will have taken to the track. Alex and I have agreed that the best interests of the team are paramount and it depends on which driver is more ready on the particular weekend on the particular race track who will do driving duties for any round. We are all certain that over the 12 rounds of the first year both Alex and Fairuz will be driving various rounds.”

Both A1 Team Malaysia drivers had turned impressive performances at the two A1GP official tests held recently with Yoong finishing overall third in Silverstone’s final day and Fairuz ninth in Paul Ricard’s final day.

Fairuz is delighted to be in the thick of the team actions after testing with favourable results in Paul Ricard in France two weeks ago. He said, “I am pleasantly surprised at the environment and the infrastructure and how well organized this series is. I hope that all will go as planned for the team for this weekend. It will be the hardest weekend for everyone as it is the first A1GP race. We will all keep our chins up and do our best for Malaysia.”

Two one hour practices will be held on Friday with one session on Saturday and the unique qualifying session of four fifteen minutes runs after that. Sunday’s races will comprise the short sprint race followed by the main hour long race using the results of the sprint race as the starting grid.

For Malaysian fans Star Sports and TV8 have live and delayed telecasts for the Brands Hatch A1GP round 1. Please check programme listing at their respective websites.

A1 Grand Prix Facts, Drivers, Calendar Etc...

Here in this section, you will find all you need to know about A1 Grand Prix. (This page will be constantly updated.)

WHAT IS A1 GRAND PRIX?

A1 Grand Prix is the first opportunity in any area of motorsport for nations to compete on a level playing field. It is a series where technology and innovation are deliberately equalised and performance is determined by human bravery, skill and excellence. Team and driver combine to create their advantage and the winning nation raises its flag in celebration.A1 Grand Prix is more than just another motorsport phenomenon; it's an entirely new sport - The World Cup of Motorsport. Pitting driver against driver and country against country for the first time in history, A1 Grand Prix will bring together 25 nations representing 80 per cent of the world's population to actively compete on a level playing field.A1 Grand Prix has created a new medium for national and international brands and organisations to promote themselves on a global scale. Through the World Cup of Motorsport, they can join forces with their national teams to be part of this unique sporting event.The World Cup of Motorsport promotes countries and utilises the national patriotism instilled in every person on the planet not only attracting traditional motorsport and sporting fans but exciting anyone who is passionate about their heritage, country and population.

WHAT IS AN A1 GRAND PRIX EVENT?

A fast, exciting, adrenaline fuelled weekend full of entertainment in a glamorous and exclusive environment, affordable and accessible to all the family.With three days of on-track action, an A1 Grand Prix event offers a rare opportunity for fans to interact with teams and drivers. Exclusively inclusive, The World Cup of Motorsport brings the thrill of international motorsport to billions of fans across the globe.Taking in a mix of established world-famous venues, exciting new state-of-the-art facilities and tight twisty street circuits, A1 Grand Prix promises to deliver high-speed action at every turn.An A1 Grand Prix event is a fast, exciting, adrenaline fuelled weekend in a glamorous and exclusive environment, affordable and accessible to all.

RACE WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Friday:

09:00 Gates open

13:00-14:00 Official Practice Session 1

16:00-17:00 Official Practice Session 2

Saturday:

The average of the two best times of the four qualifying sessions will form the grid for the sprint race. All teams must participate timed in at least two timed qualifying sessions. Within each 15 minute session each team may only complete three laps (outlap, flying lap, in lap).

11:00-12:00 Official Practice Session 3

14:00 -15 min Qualifying Session 1 (10 min break)

15 min Qualifying Session 2 (10 min break)

15 min Qualifying Session 3 (10 min break)

15 min Qualifying Session 4

Each session is followed by a 10 minute "break" containing adverts and commentary. At the end of each 10 minute break fans on track and at home are brought up to date with the times.

Sunday:

09:00 Gates open

10:00-10:15 Warm up (optional)

TbcDriver Parade

13:00 Pit Lane opens

13:30-14:00 Sprint Race (rolling start)

14:30 Pit Lane opens

15:00 Feature Race (standing start)

Sprint Race:

The grid (from Saturday's qualifying above) for the sprint race which will be a "rolling start". The sprint race will be between 20 and 30 minutes long.

1st place will receive 10 points, 2nd place will receive 9 points, 3rd place will receive 8 points, 4th place will receive 7 points, 5th place will receive 6 points, 6th place will receive 5 points, 7th place will receive 4 points, 8th place will receive 3 points, 9th place will receive 2 points, 10th place will receive 1 points.

The results of the sprint race will determine the grid for the feature race.

Feature Race:

The results of the sprint race will determine the grid for the feature race. The feature race will be between 45 and 60 minutes.

1st place will receive 10 points, 2nd place will receive 9 points, 3rd place will receive 8 points, 4th place will receive 7 points, 5th place will receive 6 points, 6th place will receive 5 points, 7th place will receive 4 points, 8th place will receive 3 points, 9th place will receive 2 points, 10th place will receive 1 points.

One point will be allocated to the fastest lap achieved by a team during the sprint race or feature race.

All points are allocated to the winning Nation and there are no driver points. A1GP is a team effort and a team sport. The winner is the driver, team and most importantly the Nation is the winner.

Drivers:

Only drivers who take part in at least one of the three practice sessions can take part in the races. Therefore a maximum of three drivers can take part at a race weekend.

Team:

The Nations technical team who work in the pits cannot exeed more than ten people to make sure that all teams have a level playing field.

DECLARED A1 DRIVERS (from rd. 1):

Australia – Christian Jones, Will Power & Will Davison

Austria – Mathias Lauda

Brazil – Nelson Piquet Jr & João Paulo Oliveira

Canada – Sean McIntosh

China – Ma Qinghua & Teng Yi Jiang

Czech Rep – Tomas Enge, Jarek Janis & Jan Charouz

France – Alexandre Premat & Nicolas Lapierre

Germany – Timo Scheider

Great Britain – Robbie Kerr & Alex Lloyd

India – Karun Chandok & Armaan Ebrahim

Indonesia – Ananda Mikola

Ireland – Ralph Firman & Michael Devaney

Italy – Matteo Bobbi, Gianmaria Bruni & Daniel La Rosa

Japan – Ryo Fukuda & Hideki Noda

Lebanon – Kalil Beschir & Basil Shaaban

Malaysia – Alex Yoong & Fairuz Fauzy

Mexico – Salvador Duran

Netherlands – Jos Verstappen & Jeroen Bleekemolen

New Zealand – Jonny Reid & Matt Halliday

Pakistan – Adam Khan & Nur B. Ali

Portugal – Pedro Lamy, Alvaro Parente & Joao Urbano

Russia – Nicolai Fomeńko & Alexey Vassiliev

South Africa – Stephen Simpson

USA – Scott Speed

2005/2006 CALENDAR:

Rd. 1: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Brands Hatch, Great Britain. Date: Sep 25, 2005 - Distance: 4.22 km

Rd. 2: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, EuroSpeedway, Lausitz, Germany. Date: Oct 09, 2005 - Distance: 4.53 km

Rd. 3: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Circuito Estoril, Portugal. Date: Oct 23, 2005 - Distance: 4.36 km

Rd. 4: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Eastern Creek, Sydney, Australia. Date: Nov 06, 2005 - Distance: 3.93 km

Rd. 5: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia. Date: Nov 20, 2005 - Distance: 5.54 km

Rd. 6: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Dubai Autodrome, UAE. Date: Dec 11, 2005 - Distance: 5.39 km

Rd. 7: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Sentul Circuit, Indonesia. Date: Jan 15, 2006

Rd. 8: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa. Date: Jan 29, 2006

Rd. 9: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Autodromo Internacional de Curitiba, Brazil . Date: Feb 12, 2006 - Distance: 3.38 km

Rd. 10: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Parque Fundidora Monterrey, Mexico. Date: Feb 26, 2006 - Distance: 3.38 km

Rd. 11: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Laguna Seca, California, USA. Date: Mar 19, 2006

Rd. 12: A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Shanghai International Circuit, China. Date: Apr 02, 2006