A1GP: Malaysian Fans - The Greatest and The Loudest!

The fans that mattered were definitely there...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from A1GP
So were the Jalur Gemilang...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from A1GP
Mostly dressed in A1 Team Malaysia teeshirts...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from Max Revson
and with their huge banners...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from Max Revson
and no less than two Miss Malaysia and one multiple best actress award winner...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from A1GP
as well as die hard friends...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from Max Revson
AND our Malaysian team drivers duly acknowledge them all gratefully...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from HBL Network

Fans' written response and latest photos

Don't let anybody kid you that the Malaysian fans were not there to cheer A1 Team Malaysia's Alex Yoong and Fairuz Fauzy on...they were out there in their throngs...they were fantastic...and man, were they loud...they were electrifying...and they were the ones that mattered to Alex and Fairuz.

Sure, we could have had more fans turning up last Sunday but for the A1 Team Malaysia, they loved those who came for they were the ones whom they raced their hearts out for as well as for those hundreds of thousand Malaysians who watched out of the box in their homes, whether through live or delayed telecasts.

The young and the old were there in Sepang, the government was well represented and there were more than enough fans in the stands to drown out the world. Of course the team wouldn't mind a sell-out crowd at all...and this will surely happen next year as the sceptics would now have been converted while others who missed being there are disappointed...what a show they missed from the A1 Grand Prix of Nations and what a gutsy performance they missed from our team.

Published below are just some of the huge avalanche of positive fans' response from just two sites. Many more appeared in other Malaysian and international forum sites following last Sunday's Malaysia A1 Grand Prix of Nations at the Sepang International circuit.

Max Revson - Racing for Malaysia

Fans' Write-in Reactions:

From: Racing For Malaysia

well done to Alex, Fairuz and Team Malaysia. Alex was splendid in the feature race. Even a brief off and a few lurid sideways moments did not slow him down in hunting New Zealand down. Shame about the pitstops again. Malaysia is looking strong and promising.

TheFazz: 11/22/2005 10:59:50 PM

The presence of PM and HRH Sultan made the moment of Malaysia Boleh shout out sweeter!! Alex looked pretty confident before the race when seen in Paddock..Nobody dared to bet with me before the race that Alex will get podium ..It shows they pretty much thought he could do it too..Max, tell Alex he's shut up plenty of self-declared critics and won plenty more fans!!!

SRV8:37 PM

Spot on Jack (Cunningham)..Hopefully, Malaysia will end the season high so that sponsors will open their eyes on this exciting series which is a lot cheaper than F1 to enter..Being at the track on Sunday made me goosebumped with the fans reaction..Good Luck for Dubai!!

SRV8:30 PMDear journey man,I was there for the race on sunday and it was so great to see the fans all supporting team Malaysia. Being in the stands was eletricifying!! almost like a football atmosphere, i must say i've enjoyed this race more than the F1 races in sepang!, and i would like to commend your site for keeping me and other fellow supporters informed about the progress of team malaysia. Other than this site, i really don't know where to get info about A1 and Team Malaysia. I feel the only thing that A1 needs is abit more promotional and on ground Hype. Keep up the great work.looking forward to more updates:)

- Kelvin Long12:39 PM

Anonymous said...i was there at the race. despite the very poor crowd turn out, i have to say that the crowd that actually attended was super great! it was unbelieveable of all the cheers and support for the national team. (such a goodsport they are, they also cheer once Brazil car able to start at the grid).And it was a really brilliant gesture when the whole team came up to the wall to appreciate the supporters at the grandstand and later on came Alex & Fairuz doing the same thing.fan in yellow.

2:41 PM

f1 @ c.c.c.p. said...i agree. all those fans support is really brilliant. team malaysia is really worthed supporting, and i'm very proud of how well the team is doing. i hope they keep up the good work.joint sixth and potentially able to overtake team gbr is awesome. what more, m'sia is the best asian team on the grid. finally, it takes a fantastic race track to produce a fantastic race. there were so many overtakings going on, it was such a thrill. best a1 race yet.

3:39 PM

Anonymous said...If this keeps up, i wouldn't be suprised if A1 had more publicity than F1. So much action! Controversial ones too, eg: India and Pakistan. But F1 has plans to bring back overtaking in 2006 with the new wing design.Oh, what fun, F1 and A1 all together!

5:13 PM

Rikeys said...congrats to Alex & Fairuz keep up our nations pride!7:52 PMGO GO GO! said...WOOHOO!! Sepang nicest race of the season hands down! It looks as if you don't have to win the race to be a winner! Case in point, Alex Yoong and the cheers from the Malaysian crowd. Good drive nonetheless. Go Team Malaysia!

9:09 PM

f1 @ c.c.c.p. said...what happened during m'sia pit? i missed the action. pls explain

3:42 PM

Anonymous said...Right rear wheel nut got stuck, or something like that. But 5th is still good!5:09 PM

Anonymous said...hey, journey man. Are you one of the crew or what? you always get the best pix and story. I was taking video just acorss from the pit at the grandstand. Maybe can see who took the pix. Anyway, excellent job Alex. Heard on the 4th qualifying segment, you actually get the top 3 place. well done. Malaysia are proud.

9:55 PM

From: Pitstop Forum

Matfoo 22 Nov 2005 : 5:03:19 PMThe atmosphere was fantastic, especially when Alex passed Matt at the last lap to gain back his 5th place. Though I couldn't see it from where I was sitting but the loud cheer of the crowd told the whole story that Alex overtook him.
Being in the garage and see Alex drove off to do his qualifying was also a good experience. Overall, it was an exciting race and I can say the best A1 race so far after 4 rounds. Not only Malaysia did well, the battle between Alexandre and Neel is also heart beating.The proudest moment is when both Alex and Fairuz stand on the pit wall and wave to the cheers of the Malaysian crowd. Superb job team Malaysia.

HYMS 21 Nov 2005 : 09:26:11 AMI don't really count how many times the crowd shouted the "MALAYSIA BOLEH" but it was the first times I ever heard in Sepang for many years.

TheFazz 21 Nov 2005 : 11:43:44 AMThe Malaysian round of A1GP was to me was the most exciting race so far. I was really pleased that the crowd acknowlegded the achievement by Team Malaysia. We have been consistent and fairly competitive. There are a few areas to improve on particularly the car setup and pitstops, but overall they have been doing a great job so far.Kudos to Alex for a strong race and the last lap pass on New Zealand was excellent despite the car being very tail happy towards the end with the drizzle and tyre wear.
HYMS - great picture! I love the crowd rallying for Alex & Fairuz! This is great encouragement - I am sure both Fairuz and Alex would be delighted by this.Now - support from the media and corporates. My media watch: The Star had a 1/3 page report on the race and a bit on Malaysia's performance and Alex comments. Would have liked it to feature HYMS' picture and capture the electric atmosphere as both Alex and Fairuz stepped up on the barriers to the acknowledgement of the crowd. That magic should have been captured.

grs8k8ergal 21 Nov 2005 : 11:54:14 AM
it was the bestest race!!!!!.......now, i'm totally hooked to A1.....i was jumping up and down cheering team malaysia...something i have not been doing for some time now.....i'm definitely going next year!!!!.....congrats to the whole team malaysia!!

SRV 21 Nov 2005 : 09:11:21 AMAs I've told you earlier, the crowd will not exceed 10,000..This is pretty bad for an entertaining series like A1..A lot of free tickets given out and hillstand ticket holders have option to join in at Main G/Stand.. On a positive note, A1GP will definitely be bigger next year..I'm 110% confident..Alex could've been on podium should the pitstop went a ok..Italy & Czech started 16 & 17 but came home higher than Malaysia. On thing I noticed is that the A1 is way different from F1 and the patriotism for Malaysia really shows..Alex & Fairuz got great reception from crowd..I'm sure deep down Alex feels that he's shut up few critics. Hopefully, after last race in Shanghai in April 2006, Malaysia will be at top 5 overall...This will open eyes of corporations who intend to go international and do their bit in sponsoring Malaysian team..After all, the A1 world coverage is tremendous and definitely 70-80% cheaper than investing in F1..

Brandon 19 Nov 2005 : 10:22:36 PMCongratulation! to those who made it to the garage visit, the experiences can only be explained if u were there! We will post up the pictures ASAP.

A1GP Malaysia: YAB Tun Dr. Mahathir, As Always, Still A Hardcore Motorsport Fan

Tun Mahathir with our drivers together with his family members and the chairman of the Sepang circuit, Dato Mokhzani...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from Max Revson
Some words of advice from Tun?...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from Max Revson

Malaysia's former Prime Minister, YAB Tun Dr. Mahathir who brought Formula 1 to Malaysia was also there at Sepang last Sunday with his family and grandchildren to lend his support to the A1 Team Malaysia.

He took the time to chat with both Alex Yoong and Fairuz Fauzy and wished the team good luck before Fairuz tackled the Sprint race.

A1GP Malaysia: Thank You YAB Prime Minister & HRH Sultan Selangor!

YAB Prime Minister with Alex Yoong...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from HBL Network
Malaysian drivers with YAB PM and HRH Sultan Selangor...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from HBL Network
"This is how we are going to do it."...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from HBL Network
HRH Sultan gives a word of encouragement...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from Max Revson
"One final request, sir..."...(click image to enlarge) - Pic from HBL Network

For gracing the A1GP Malaysia race which greatly encouraged our Malaysian warriors.

A1GP: A1 Team Malaysia Quotes From Sepang

Great support from Malaysians

Fairuz Fauzy: "I had a good race out there today, equalling my best result in the Series so far. We have a good car, and I think there are a few improvements we can make for Alex; he'll start from eighth, so he'll be towards the front of the grid, which should give us a good start."

Alex Yoong: "It was an exciting race. I had a really good start. I think I could have been third or fourth but unfortunately Brazil stalled in front of me and I had to get right off the throttle, but we were still sixth and looking good. I was happy with our race pace today. I could be aggressive with the car, I could attack. I overtook New Zealand , but then they got me back in the pitstop, so I had to overtake him again. I was working hard to close down on Italy which I was starting to do, but then when I was pushing hard and the rain started I made a small mistake and I ran wide into the gravel. New Zealand overtook me again, so I had to take him which I did on the last lap. All in all, I'm pleased with fifth and I think we've shown today we have the pace to be on the podium. That must be our target from now on."

Jack Cunningham (Team Principal): "Alex and Fairuz did a superb job for us today. I would like to congratulate them on their excellent performances. I would though especially like to thank the fans of the Team who came to Sepang today. They have been truly wonderful in their support - I hope they realised as they left the circuit how appreciative we were of their encouragement. I have no doubt that our 5th place was the result of the impact of the fans constant encouragement of Alex throughout the hour-long race. It's been a busy week for us here in Kuala Lumpur, but I think we've brought to the city an exciting new motor racing series, which has everything the fans want - close racing, plenty of thrills and spills, entertainment and the chance to meet their favourite drivers. I hope that the fans enjoyed their visit to Sepang as much as we have."

A1GP: Malaysia Now Lies Joint Sixth In Championship

Alex preparing for the start of the Malaysian Feature race...(click image to enlarge)

Detailed race report and Championship standings from Sepang

Sepang, 20 November - The local Malaysian fans turned out in force at the Sepang International circuit today, the majority of whom were wearing A1 Team Malaysia t-shirts waved their flags enthusiastically every time Alex Yoong's bright yellow car passed them.

For them, the last lap was particularly sweet as Alex came up behind A1 Team New Zealand and used all his experience to snatch fifth place, matching the team's highest finishing place achieved in the Feature races of Britain and Australia.

The 5th position achieved is also a record of sorts as this is the highest position achieved by a team in it's home race after 5 rounds of the inaugural A1 Grand Prix which has been run in Britain, Germany, Portugal, Australia and Malaysia.
With the three points from Fairuz in the Sprint race and nine from Alex in the Feature race, Malaysia now lies in joint 6th overall position out of 24 teams, up from joint ninth before the Malaysian round.

"The Malaysian fans are fantastic. I could see their reaction each time we passed the grandstands was electrifying. It is appropriate that we thank them all for turning up to give us their support and this is from every member of A1 Team Malaysia. We are happy that we didn't disappoint them with our performance in the Feature race as well as in the Sprint race. The team has done their best - everyone of the team members - and Fairuz has done a good job to bring the car home in eighth. We are now all hungry for even better days to come." said Alex after the race.

Eight has proved a lucky number in Malaysia for A1 Team France who won the Feature race after starting from pole position while A1 Team Switzerland again followed home in second place. However, there was a newcomer to the podium with A1 Team Czech Republic finishing in third, one place higher than their previous best.

This time France made no mistake by getting away and into an early and unchallenged lead with A1 Team GBR taking second. It was Switzerland who pressured Britain's Robbie Kerr but was not able to overtake him until lap 12 after the two of them had been racing wheel to wheel for about one third of a lap.

It was again an action-packed race with the first casualty being A1 Team China when their A1 race car rolled several times after contact with Portugal on lap two. Luckily Tengyi Jiang was soon out of the car that landed on its wheels and A1 Team Portugal was able to continue after visiting the pits for repairs. Soon after this it was India and Pakistan who collided with Armaan Ebrahim running into the back of the car driven by Adam Khan. India continued in the race although it was eventually excluded after receiving a push start from the marshals while Pakistan never made it back to the pits.

Battles down the field were fast and furious with Mexico and Australia driving side by side on lap eight while contesting fourteenth position. Two teams who had an awful lot of hard work to do were A1 Teams Netherlands and Brazil who both failed to get away from the grid with the other cars. Nelson Piquet Jr was particularly lucky as cars swerved around him on the grid but he soon started to make his way up the field and scored a point for his team.

Italy, USA, Canada and the Czech Republic were also doing battle and for several laps the four were only separated by 1.5 seconds. The pit stops came relatively late in the race with A1 Team France waiting until the end of lap 16. Until that point the order at the top had been France, Switzerland and Great Britain but of these three, only France managed a trouble-free pit stop. Theirs took just 40.5 seconds while for A1 Team GBR it was problems both getting the wheel off and putting the wheel nut on that kept them there for nearly two minutes. When the car lost all its drive a short while later it was all over for the British team. The Swiss stop at the end of lap 18 was 53.11 seconds.

Mexico was the last of the teams to pit and therefore its top three position as the race drew to a close was unrepresentative. At the end of lap 28, they came in from fourth and dropped down to sixteenth. The other late stopper was A1 Team Netherlands with their stop at the end of lap 26 when lying in eleventh place.

A1 Team Canada was on for a top six finish but when Sean McIntosh decided to try an overtaking manoeuvre for fifth on lap 22 that was the of the end of his race as he clipped the rear of Enrico Toccacelo's Italian car and afterwards accepted total responsibility for an error in judgement.

The sixth round of A1 Grand Prix, the World Cup of Motorsport will be held at the Dubai Autodrome on 9 - 11 December 2005.

Max Revson - Racing For Malaysia

2005/2006 A1GP Rd. 5 Malaysia
Feature Race Results
A1 Team/Driver/Total Time

1 France Alexandre Premat 1.00.06.495

2 Switzerland Neel Jani 1.00.11.051

3 Czech Rep Tomas Enge 1.00.22.184

4 Italy Enrico Toccacelo 1.00.30.233

5 Malaysia Alex Yoong 1.00.38.136

6 New Zealand Matt Haliday 1.00.39.192

7 USA Bryan Herta 1.00.39.832

8 Germany Timo Scheider 1.00.41.876

9 Ireland Ralph Firman 1.00.42.240

10 Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 1.00.45.883

11 Australia Will Davison 1.00.56.978

12 S. Africa Stephen Simpson 1.00.59.334

13 Japan Hayanari Shimoda 1.01.04.243

14 Indonesia Ananda Mikola 1.01.11.734

15 Mexico Luis Diaz 1.01.28.935

16 Netherlands Jos Verstappen 1.01.53.803

17 Lebanon Khalil Beschir 29 laps

18 Portugal Alvaro Parente 29 laps

19 Canada Sean McIntosh 21 laps

20 Great Britain Robbie Kerr 20 laps

21 Austria Mathias Lauda 17 laps

22 India Armaan Ebrahim 11 laps

23 Pakistan Adam Khan 4 laps

24 China Tengyi Jiang 1 lap

Championship Points to date after Malaysia

1 France 92

2 Switzerland 65

3 Brazil 60

4 New Zealand 42

5 Great Britain 38

6 Malaysia 32

7 Netherlands 32

8 Ireland 29

9 Portugal 29

10 Australia 26

11 Canada 20

12 Czech Republic 16

13 Mexico 16

14 USA 13

15 Italy 12

16 Germany 11

17 Japan 6

18 South Africa 6

19 Indonesia 5

20 Pakistan 4

21 Austria 1

A1GP: Alex Scores Another 5th For Malaysia In Home Feature Race

Alex in Feature race pitstop...(click image to enlarge)

An exciting race which saw Malaysia finish 5th from 8th on the grid.

The team had a pitstop which was about 12 seconds longer than most teams running in the top 10 which might have cost Malaysia a couple of positions and maybe a possible podium spot...but the crew cannot be faulted as this is the vagarrities of motor racing...you also need some luck.

More detailed report later.

start: bra stalls! alex took evasive action nearly crashed into piquet...despite that good start 8th to 6th...
lap1: fra leads, gbr, sui, ire, nzl, mal (6th), ita, usa, can, cze (10th)...
lap2: chn and mex clashed with chn flipping over...
lap3: mal hounding nzl for the 5th spot less than 0,9s apart...
lap4: fra still leads from gbr, sui, ire, nzl, mal, ita, usa can czec top 10...ger, pak jpn, ind, aut, aus, mex, ina, rsa, lib next 10...ind hits pak!!...pak out...ind into pit...
lap6: no change in top 10...mal still tracking nzl now 0.3s apart...
lap8: mal takes nzl for 5th!
lap12: ind black flagged for crshing into pak...
lap13: mal 8s away 5th...
lap15: mal pits...52.2s...12s too long!
lap17: gbr fumbled pitstop...aut off parked on grass verge...
lap18: sui also has a longer than average pitstop!
lap19: mal in 9th took nzl for 8th...2 more cars in front of mal, bra and mex yet to make their pitstops...which means mal effectively in 7th now...
lap20: can drove into back of italy at the front straight...
lap22: mal now 7th with mex in front in 2nd yet to stop...
lap23: can pits from damage...mal in 6th now...effectively mal in 5th with mex yet to pit...
lap24: fra leads from mex who has yet to pit,...mal in 6th 5s from ita in 4th...mex now pits...
lap25: fra leads, sui, mex, cze, ita, mal (6th), nzl, ger, usa, ire, ned, bra, aus, rsa, jpn, ina, lib, por (18th),...the rest dnf...
lap26: mal had a massive oversteer and nearly went off!...lost a position to nzl...mal now in 7th with mex yet to stop...
lap27: ned pits...bad stop and then verstappen stalls...
lap28: mal 0.8s from nzl trying to take back 6th....mexpits and changed to wets...
lap29: fra leads, sui, cze, ita, nzl, mal (6th), usa, ger, ire, bra top 10...
lap30 last lap: mal's alex takes mal for 5th!! a huge roar from the crowds!
chequered flag: 1st fra, 2nd sui, 3rd cze, 4th ita, 5th mal, 6th nzl, 7th usa, 8th ger, 9th ire and 10th bra...

Max Revson - Racing For Malaysia

A1GP Malaysia: Fairuz Brings Home 3 Points With 8th In Sprint Race

Fairuz drove a steady race to score 3 points for Malaysia...(click image to enlarge)

France made a late move in the final lap to take an exciting win from Switzerland in the 15 lap Sprint race.

Third finishing Great Britain held off Brazil for third with Netherlands fifth.

Malaysia's Fairuz Fauzy had a goo dstart and moved ahead to 6th momentarily in the rolling start but dropped a couple of spots to 8th.

He made several moves to try to get back his seventh spot from Ireland and one a couple of occasions nearly made the move stick in turn 1.

He maintained 8th to the chequered flag and adds another 3 points to Malaysia's tally.

Malaysia will turn out with Alex Yoong in the Feature race which will be held over twice the distance as the Sprint race.

Tyre wear and fitness of drivers will be big factors in the long Feature race where Alex is hopeful of a podium place if all goes well in the pitstop.

Max Revson - Racing For Malaysia

Malaysia Sprint Race Results
1. FRA
2. SUI
3. GB
4. BRA
5. NED
6. NZL
7. IRE
8. MAL Fairuz Fauzy
9. POR
10. USA
11. IND
12. GER
13. PAK
14. JPN
15. CDN
16. CZE
17. ITA
18. AUT
19. MEX
20. CHN
DNF: RSA, LIB, INA, AUS

A1GP: Malaysia Qualified With Best Ever 7th

Saturday in Malaysia - Greg Wheeler, Fairuz Fauzy and Alex Yoong

in dry-wet qualifying session of Malaysia A1GP

Sepang, Malaysia - Saturday, 19 November 2005 - It was an exciting afternoon's qualifying which saw the dark clouds threatening during the first of four qualifying segments with Malaysia, piloted by Alex Yoong lying in 16th position after the first timed lap. When the window opened for the second qualifying segment all the cars filed up at the pitlane, jostling to get out to beat the rain - it was still dry. Midway into the flying lap the heavens opened with some drivers spinning out. Malaysia's Yoong kept his cool and still beat his first qualifying time to haul the A1 Team Malaysia to a splendid best ever qualifying in 7th to allow Fairuz Fauzy to line up on the fourth row for tomorrow's Sprint race.

After that the results of the third and final flying lap timed sessions were just academic with drivers taking to the track in soaking conditions which turned corners into streams, to just test out the wet conditions of the Sepang International Circuit at the Malaysia A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Sepang International Circuit, 2005 presented by Astro.

A1 Team Switzerland took it's first ever A1GP position over France in second followed by Ireland, Great Britain, New Zealand and Netherlands in 3rd to 6th position.A1 Team Malaysia, are the only team that will take advantage of A1 Grand Prix's unique rule which allows them to swap drivers between qualifying and the two races. While Yoong qualifiedin seventh position, Fairuz will drive in tomorrow's Sprint Race and Alex in the Feature Race.

Alex described the conditions of the second run as very treacherous, saying, "We have expected more from the team as we have three sets of new tyres and my first run was exploratory as I had not done any practice in new tyres. The rains, however, came down hard by turn 7 of my second qualifying and cars were snaking everywhere ahead of me. I am therefore pleased with the seventh for Malaysia as despite of running half the lap in the wet we still beat the first run's time."

Malaysia is in good shape for both the Sprint race as well as the Feature race. The Sprint race will be contested over 50 miles lasting up to 30 minutes in duration. With a rolling start at 13.30 local time, tomorrow's race will be run over 15 laps of the full Sepang International Circuit. The outcome of the race determines the grid position for the Feature race which will start at 15.00 local time with a standing start. The Feature race will be run over 100 miles (30 laps) lasting up to 60 minutes in duration.

Max Revson - Racing For Malaysia

MALAYSIA - QUALIFYING RESULTS
A1 Team/Driver/Aggregate Time
1 Switzerland Neel Jani 3.48.962
2 France Alexandre Premat 3.49.868
3 Ireland Ralph Firman 3.49.969
4 G.Britain Robbie Kerr 3.49.972
5 New Zealand Matt Halliday 3.50.569
6 Netherlands Jos Verstappen 3.51.036
7 Malaysia Alex Yoong 3.51.199
8 Brazil Nelson Piquet 3.51.398
9 Portugal Alvaro Parente 3.51.547
10 Italy Enrico Toccacelo 3.51.894
11 Indonesia Ananda Mikola 3.51.996
12 USA Bryan Herta 3.52.013
13 S. Africa Stephen Simpson 3.52.118
14 Pakistan Adam Khan 3.52.200
15 India Armaan Ebrahim 3.52.829
16 Germany Timo Scheider 3.53.267
17 Mexico Luis Diaz 3.53.656
18 Czech Rep Tomas Enge 3.53.766
19 Japan Hayanari Shimoda 3.53.948
20 Austria Mathias Lauda 3.54.989
21 China Tengyi Jiang 3.56.047
22 Canada Sean McIntosh 4.00.397
23 Lebanon Khalil Beschir 4.17.659
24 Australia Will Davison 4.17.860

A1GP: Malaysia Friday Practices - Fairuz 8th and 9th

Sepang, 18 November - The A1 drivers and A1 Cooper tyres were tested to the limit today in the searing heat of the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. With a track temperature of 39ºC and an ambient temperature of 32ºC, this was A1 Grand Prix's hottest two sessions to date.

A1 Team Malaysia are among only three teams that are preparing to share the driving duties this weekend, with both Alex Yoong and Fairuz Fauzy taking their turn in the yellow A1 car.

Fauzy, who drove in both of today's practice sessions said: 'During the first session we had a problem with the rear suspension and by the time we had solved it the session had finished. The tyres started to go away during the second session and by the end of the session, I could not push anymore.'

Asked if the publicity surrounding his home race was distracting, Alex Yoong who will be in the Malaysian car for tomorrow's session, said 'I am doing promotional activity, but I'm here as a racing driver and that is what I concentrate on. Both Fairuz and I have raced here before so we both have experience on the track.

'In a relatively trouble free day, with no red flags, the drivers took their time to learn their way around this highly technical circuit. The fastest lap time of the day was put in by a master of the Sepang circuit, A1 Team Netherland's Jos Verstappen. Verstappen last raced at Sepang with F1 in 2001 when he went from seventeenth to sixth in the first lap of the race and then worked his way up tosecond place as the rain fell. A slow pit stop and drying track saw Verstappen finish the race in seventh.

Commenting on his performance Verstappen said: 'We were trying a lot of different set ups with the car, but not a lot of things worked as the grip level was falling and the track was very slippery. It will certainly make for a very interesting qualifying session tomorrow.'

A1 Team Brazil recorded the day's second fastest lap time in practice session one despite a run in with A1 Team Canada. Commenting on the collision Nelson Piquet Jr said 'I was doing a quick lap and I think Sean had just left the pits. I saw him going slower in front of me and came off the throttle, which put the car into a spin. Unfortunately I hit Sean slightly, although our car had littledamage. We always do well in the practice sessions with new tyres, and I think we will do well in the qualifying tomorrow.'

Another master of the Sepang circuit, Ralph Firman put in the fastest lap of practice session two, with a time of 1.56.663. He said, 'It's great now that I will be able to concentrate on A1GP for the rest of the season. We had a good day today, even though it was hard and there was little grip. It isn't quite as hot here as it is in Japan where I have raced before, but it will be very difficult towards the end of the second race on Sunday. The main difficulty will be to keep hydrated. Drivers who have a good level of fitness should be fine.'

Malaysia - Official Practice 2 Classification
Pos/Team/Driver/Time/Gap/Laps
1 IRL Ralph FIRMAN 1'56.663 - 20
2 CAN Sean McINTOSH 1'56.952 +0.289 18
3 USA Bryan HERTA 1'57.188 +0.525 19
4 CZE Tomas ENGE 1'57.273 +0.610 23
5 FRA Alexandre PREMAT 1'57.316 +0.653 19
6 BRA Nelson PIQUET 1'57.344 +0.681 15
7 GBR Robbie KERR 1'57.347 +0.684 18
8 SUI Neel JANI 1'57.374 +0.71117
9 MAL Fairuz FAUZY 1'57.506 +0.843 18
10 NED Jos VERSTAPPEN 1'57.525 +0.862 16
11 INA Ananda MIKOLA 1'57.605 +0.942 13
12 RSA Stephen SIMPSON 1'57.871 +1.208 20
13 ITA Enrico TOCCACELO 1'57.918 +1.255 13
14 JPN Hayanari SHIMODA 1'57.929 +1.266 17
15 CHN Tengyi JIANG 1'57.959 +1.296 19
16 NZL Matt HALLIDAY 1'57.994 +1.331 21
17 AUS Will DAVISON 1'58.040 +1.377 19
18 PAK Adam KHAN 1'58.066 +1.403 12
19 POR Alvaro PARENTE 1'58.488 +1.825 15
20MEXLuis DIAZ1'58.796+2.13320
21 IND Armaan EBRAHIM 1'59.043 +2.380 22
22 LIB Khalil BESCHIR 2'00.146 +3.483 5
23 AUT Mathias LAUDA

Malaysia - Official Practice 1 Classification
Pos/Team/Driver/Time/Gap/Laps
1 NED Jos VERSTAPPEN 1'56.342 - 17
2 BRA Nelson PIQUET 1'56.351 +0.009 12
3 IRL Ralph FIRMAN 1'56.737 +0.395 10
4 FRA Alexandre PREMAT 1'56.917 +0.575 16
5 POR Alvaro PARENTE 1'57.272 +0.930 16
6 NZL Matt HALLIDAY 1'57.282 +0.940 19
7 PAK Adam KHAN 1'57.393 +1.051 18
8 MAL Fairuz FAUZY 1'57.494 +1.152 9
9 SUI Neel JANI 1'57.564 +1.222 19
10 CAN Sean McINTOSH 1'57.818 +1.476 12
11 CZE Jaroslav JANIS 1'57.899 +1.557 18
12 GBR Robbie KERR 1'58.002 +1.660 19
13 RSA Stephen SIMPSON 1'58.246 +1.904 16
14 USA Bryan HERTA 1'58.251 +1.909 16
15 JPN Hayanari SHIMODA 1'58.324 +1.982 20
16 INA Ananda MIKOLA 1'58.379 +2.037 9
17 AUT Mathias LAUDA 1'58.414 +2.072 18
18 ITA Enrico TOCCACELO 1'58.507 +2.165 18
19 AUS Christian JONES 1'58.968 +2.626 19
20 LIB Khalil BESCHIR 1'59.139 +2.797 19
21 MEX Luis DIAZ 1'59.562 +3.220 18
22 IND Armaan EBRAHIM 1'59.791 +3.449 21
23 CHN Tengyi JIANG 2'00.019 +3.677 8

A1GP: Fairuz To Drive Free Practice 1 and 2 Today While Alex Will Drive Free Practice 3 On Saturday

Russia will not appear in Malaysia while Germany will miss Friday action as teams nominate drivers.

Sepang, Malaysia - 18 November 2005 - and A1 Team Malaysia will use Fairuz Fauzy for the first two sessions today (Friday) and Alex Yoong for tomorrow's final morning practice session.
As to who will qualify for Malaysia, it is speculated that the faster of the pair maybe nominated. Alex will probably race in the longer hour long Feature race while Fairuz do the Sprint race.
A1GP announced that the following drivers have been named for the Malaysia A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Sepang International Circuit.

A1 Team/Driver 1/Driver 2
Australia Christian Jones, Will Davison
Austria Mathias Lauda
Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr, Tuka Rocha
Canada Sean McIntosh
China Tengyi Jiang
Czech Republic Tomas Enge, Janis Jaroslav
France Alexandre Premat ,Nicolas Lapiere
Germany Timo Scheider
Great Britain Robbie Kerr
India Armaan Ebrahim
Indonesia Ananda Mikola
Ireland Ralph Firman, Michael Devaney
Italy Enrico Toccacelo
Japan Hayanari Shimoda
Lebanon Khalil Beschir, Basil Shaaban
Malaysia Alex Yoong, Fairuz Fauzy
Mexico Luis Diaz
Netherlands Jos Verstappen, Jeroen Bleekemolen
New Zealand Matt Halliday, Jonny Reid
Pakistan Adam Khan
Portugal Alvaro Parente, Joao Urbano
South Africa Stephen Simpson
Switzerland Neel Jani
USA Bryan Herta

A1 Team Indonesia re-join the World Cup of Motorsport with their driver Ananda Mikola who missed the Australian round of the A1GP series to take part in the final round of the Asian F3 Championship, which saw him take the title.
A1 Team Germany will miss today's two practice sessions as their driver Timo Scheider travels from Dubai after competing in the 5,500 kilometre endurance race. Adrian Sutil, scheduled to drive in this weekend's race is unable to take part after breaking the thumb on his right-hand during the Sprint race at the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Eastern Creek, Sydney.
Due to prior commitments made before joining the World Cup of Motorsport, along with a number of technical reasons, A1 Team Russia will not take part in this weekend's event. The team is determined to return to the World Cup of Motorsport for the Dubai round, with a realigned strategy to further strengthen their performance.
Other A1 Teams will who will have drivers sharing practice session duties are A1 Team Australia will use Christian Jones in the first session and Will Davison in the second and third and A1 Team Czech Republic which will use new driver Janis Jaroslav for the first practice session and Tomas Enge for the second and third.
Programme:
Sepang International Circuit, MalaysiaCircuit Length: 5,542 km GMT+8
Friday 18 Nov
13:00 - 14:00 Practice 1
16:00 - 17:00 Practice 2
Saturday 19 Nov
11:00 - 12:00 Practice 3
14:15 - 15:45 Qualifying
Sunday 20 Nov
10:00 - 10:15 Warm-up
13:30 - 14:00 Race 1
15:00 - 15:50 Race 2
Max Revson - Racing For Malaysia

Latest A1 Team Malaysia Photos

Pitstop simulation in Berjaya Time Square...(click image to enlarge)
A1 team Malaysia hosting sponsors & media at Soul-ed Out, Mount Kiara...(click image to enlarge)
Pitstop scene - wide view...(click image to enlarge)
Signing autographs for fans...(click image to enlarge)
Alex with one of his many young ardent fans, Aaliyah...(click image to enlarge)

from this week's Kuala Lumpur Malaysia A1GP event promotions. All photos supplied by HBL Network and Max Revson.

A1GP: Heat Will Be A Big Factor In Malaysia

Malaysia 5th in Australia looking for podium at home...(click image to enlarge)

and A1 Team Malaysia can take advantage of this

This weekend's round 5 of the 1005 A1 Grand Prix of Nations will literally put many of the top 10 teams in the "broiling pot" for the first time at the Sepang International Circuit near Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and A1 Team Malaysia to feature both Alex Yoong and Fairuz Fauzy must take advantage of this.

Drivers of the top 5 teams placed in the championship so far - France, Brazil, Switzerland, New Zealand and Great Britain - and favourites again for this round have never raced under such hot and humid conditions before in their racing careers while Malaysia's Alex and Fairuz have experienced many races in hot equatorial conditions and have even done 12 hour endurance races in closed cockpit GT cars at their home venue.

The Lola built and Zytek powered A1 cars will also be subjected to this new environ which may affect their performance with all eyes on their reliability especially in the hour long Feature race. A1 Team Malaysia is however ready for this challenge in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series.

A1 Team Malaysia has been producing good results and the team’s two drivers are eager to put on a strong showing for the home crowd. It is planned for both drivers to share driving duties with Fairuz Fauzy, who missed the Sydney race weekend, eager to return to the car, saying, “There is definitely something special about driving in your home country, particularly in this Series which is based on nations competing against each other. I hope that my knowledge of the Sepang circuit will prove to be valuable.”

Alex Yoong will be joining Fairuz in the A1 Team Malaysia car and adds, “It’s been a hectic build-up to this race weekend, with a non-stop programme of media activities and fan promotions. I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel in front of all our supporters and showcasing the A1 Grand Prix series. I hope we’re going to see plenty of Malaysian flags flying at the circuit and that all support we get can will help us to bring home the A1 Team Malaysia car with good results.”

Jack Cunningham, Team Principal, A1 Team Malaysia says of Sepang, “This is an fabulous venue for A1 Grand Prix. It’s a wonderful track and facility and also our home race, so it is quite special for us.”

A1 Team Malaysia is one of 25 national teams represented on the A1 Grand Prix grid - the team lies equal 9th in the Championship. With UK, Germany, Portugal and Australia completed, the Series now in Malaysia will travel on to Dubai for the last race of 2005 before continuing the present championship season into the new year of 2006 with races in Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, USA and China.
Astro's StarSports and 8TV will provide live coverage of the weekend’s activities.

Max Revson - Racing For Malaysia

A1 Team Malaysia Will Give Out Team Tee-Shirts To All Spectators

Attending this weekend's Malaysian A1GP raceday on Sunday, 20th November

The A1 Team Malaysia announced that they will attempt to create one of the world's biggest fan club by giving away one free team teeshirt to every spectator who goes through the Sepang International Circuit turnstiles this coming Sunday, 20th November 2005, for the A1 Grand Prix Of Nations - Malaysia.

This is indeed good news for the fans of the team in Malaysia as they have plenty to cheer for as the team is determined to wrest a podium spot or two this round at their home track.

The whole team will be at "Souled Out", a favourite Kuala Lumpur nightspot in Mount Kiara, from 6pm to 10pm tonight (Monday, 14th Nov) with their chassis number 41 car on display.

The public are invited to meet the drivers, Alex Yoong and Fairuz Fauzy as well as the Malaysian and other technical team members if they have any questions to ask or want autographs signed.

Tomorrow, the team will conduct start up and short runs at the Berjaya Times Square both in Bukit Bintang (10am to 2pm) with Alex in attendance and at One-Utama complex in TTDI (4pm to 8pm) with Fairuz in attendance.

Max Revson - Racing for Malaysia

A1 Team Malaysia Hits Kuala Lumpur With Numerous PR Promotions

Both Alex and Fairuz will make appearances with race cars...(click image to enlarge)

Plenty of opportunity to catch the drivers, race cars and team as well as see live demo

The A1 Team Malaysia will hit the City of Kuala Lumpur after having both their running cars (chassis no.18 and no.41) off-loaded from the MASKargo plane into the Sepang International Circuit yesterday.

An extensive PR programme to bring the team to the city folks of the Klang Valley has been planned by the home team ahead of next weekend's A1 Grand Prix of Nations - Malaysia.

The race cars will be displayed with drivers present at the Berjaya Times Square, Shangri La Hotel, Sri Pentas/8TV and Souled Out at Mount Kiara on this Sunday and coming Monday.

Team crew will fire up the cars' engines and some spectacular live running will also be done at the Berjaya Time Square and I-Utama with Alex Yoong and Fairuz Fauzy in attendance in Berjaya Times Square and I-Utama respectively on Tuesday afternoon.

Then on the same evening of Tuesday, the team car will conduct a "Rush Hour City Tour" on a driven flatbed in Kuala Lumpur downtown area between 4pm and 8pm with live radio shows.

The promotions will end with a A1 Team Malaysia presentation to the media and guests by Sheikh Maktoum, the President and Founder of A1 Grand Prix on Thursday evening.

So, don't tell us we haven't alerted you of these exciting promotions where you can meet the team members and see as well as hear for yourself this exciting national team of ours which is presently challenging for the top 5 in almost every A1GP race so far held.

Most of these PR happennings are held in areas with great attractions and good accesses for the general public and fans and even for those private functions like the Thursday Presentation, there's no stopping anyone to catch a word or two with the drivers and team members outside the function room at the hallway.

Max Revson

A1 TEAM MALAYSIA PR PROGRAMME
Sunday, 13/11/05
1. 12h00 – 16h00 Berjaya Times Square, A1TM chassis 18 on display, whole team, both drivers will attend Autograph Sessions
2. All day Shangri-La lobby, A1TM chassis 41 on display, local print media and photographers invited by A1TM, interviews on site with team and drivers
Monday14/11/05
1. Up to 15h00 Shangri-La lobby, A1TM chassis 41 on display, local print media and photographers invited by A1TM, interviews on site with team and drivers
2. 15h00 – 17h00 Sri Pentas 8TV – Taman TDI, A1TM Chassis 18 on display and engine started, Press Conference, both drivers & 8TV
3. 18h00 – 22h00 Souled Out Mount Kiara, “Meet The Team”, A1TM chassis 41 on display, whole team, both drivers, local TV, Print and radio media invited. public invited via AMP radio stations broadcasts, interviews, autograph sessions,
Tuesday, 15/11/05
1. 10h00 – 14h00 Berjaya Times Square, A1TM Chassis 41, Start up car and pit stop demo, small support team, Alex present, autograph sessions
2. 16h00 – 20h00 1 Utama - Taman TDI, A1TM chassis 18, Start up car and pit stop demo, small support team, Fairuz present, autograph sessions
3. 16h00 – 20h00 Rush Hour City TOUR, A1TM chassis 41 on flatbed touring peak hour down town, small Support team, Alex present on board radio broadcast – live link to ERA FM / HITS FM / MIX FM
Thursday, 17/11/05
1. 14h00 – 16h00 Shangri-La Ballroom, H.H. Sheikh Maktoum and drivers Malaysia media briefing, all media

F1 Champs Fittipaldi & Jones To Race In Malaysian A1GP

in Proton Satria support race

Apparently there is a real strong "whiff" of a possible Proton Satria support race of ex-F1 champions and other international and local celebrity stars for the A1GP of Nations Malaysian round at the Sepang International circuit scheduled for the 18-20 Nov 2005. (See NST page 39 today).
Slotted to drive are former Formula champions Emerson Fittipaldi, twice world champion in 1972 and 1974 as well as double Indy 500 winner and Australia's only world champion, Alan Jones who won the title in 1980. Former Dutch Formula 1 star, Jan Lammers have also confirmed himself for this event in Sepang.
In addition the report said that A1GP founder and President, Sheikh Maktoum who is not short of racing experience himself and the A1GP General Manager and former F3000 racer, Stephen Watson have also confirmed and will use their advantage of age to push these middle aged F1 stars to their limits in the race tuned Proton Satria GTIs.
From the local scene, our own flying sikh FIA Group N world rally champion, Karamjit Singh and Malaysia's fastest lady racer and Merdeka Millenium endurance racer as well as Channel V manager, Phillipa Yoong have also confirmed along with local Proton manager and racer Tengku Djan Ley.
This site wants to suggest that other locals whom the organisers should look towards topping the field should include Yasmin Hani, the "Wachaaa!" girl in Astro's Muzik @ Ria programme and Phillipa's racing team-mate, TV host and Anna and the King star, Deanna Yusof who have both raced in the endurance races before. The more pretty Malaysian girls who might beat these champs the better eh?
How many more celebrities both local and international are included in the final line-up or how many cars will start this exhibition race which will be run on the A1GP raceday Sunday of 20th November is not known yet but we certainly feel that if anything less than 20 cars around the full length of the very long F1 circuit at Sepang may be a tad boring even if there may be ex-F1 champions and beautiful local girl racers lined up.
We certainly hope that if this proposed race becomes a reality, Proton will get more local celebrity racers like rock-star Amy Search and real racers like Saladin Mazlan and former production car champions Y.S.Khong and Kan Chee Hong as well as more regional racing stars involved to ensure a line-up of 20 or more cars for this potentially very attractive support programme for our home A1GP event.
See you guys and gals at Sepang in a week's time - are you going? I certainly will be there!
Max Revson

Horrific A1GP Crash In Sequence Photos

Hayanari Shimoda off at turn 1 at 240kph...(click image to enlarge)
Flips across the gravel trap...(click image to enlarge)
The Team Japan car starts to disintegrate (click image to enlarge)
As the engine seperates from the cockpit...(click image to enlarge)
Then smashes into the concrete barriers almost head-on...(click image to enlarge)
Bounces off the wall after the huge impact...(click image to enlarge)
Comes to a rest in a mangled heap as safety marshalls sped to the scene...(click image to enlarge)
Medical doctors took care to extricate Shimoda...(click image to enlarge)
Shimoda conscious as he left for the hospital...(click image to enlarge)

Lola Chassis Tub Intact and Driver Survived

A1 Team Japan Hayanari Shimoda should count himself very lucky to survive this horrific crash at 280kph in Australia's Eastern Creek circuit.
The Lola built car hurtled itself off the track, skimmed across the sand track, with the car breaking up into 2 sections before smashing into the turn 1 wall head-on!
It was a clear testimony of how good the integrity of the Lola tub is.
In a media statement by A1GP, we have been informed that Hayanari Shimoda has been declared fit this morning following his high-speed accident in the A1 Grand Prix of Nations race held yesterday at the Eastern Creek Raceway. He has spent the night in the High Dependency Unit of Westmead hospital under the care of the trauma team who discharged him today after confirming all the tests they ran on him were fine.
A1 Team Japan’s Team Manager, Malcolm Swetnam said: ‘We were concerned about his condition after such a heavy impact, however, the news we received this morning that he was recovering well was just what we wanted to hear.’
A1 Grand Prix’s Global Operations Manager, John Wickham, responsible for all the A1 race cars said: ‘The massive accident that Hayanari Shimoda suffered proved the strength of the A1 chassis. We have always made driver safety one of the prime concerns of the A1 Grand Prix series and everyone involved in the building of our cars felt yesterday’s accident proved the strength of these cars. We are all delighted that he is recovering well.
The 21-year-old who was having his first drive for A1 Team Japan was born in Tokyo and started his racing career in karts at the age of 13. He raced in Formula Renault series and sports cars in Europe and Japan from 2001 to 2004 and when he raced in Le Mans in 2003, he was the youngest driver in the race.
Max Revson
Photos with thanks from Chris Ormerod and Trent Wallis

A1GP: Malaysia 5th in Australian Feature Race

Alex in practice on Saturday in Australia...(click image to enlarge)

and Alex achieved his country's best results over a A1GP race weekend...

The 40 lap Feature race was reduced to 35 laps as the maximum one hour of racing was applied when three safety car periods prolonged the race time period with a number of incidents from various teams as Malaysia recorded the country's best weekend result by Alex Yoong with a fifth in this race following an eighth in the Sprint race earlier.

A spectacular and potentially very serious accident involving Japan's driver Hayanari Shimoda sent shivers down the spines of millions watching the race from the comfort of their homes. But thankfully, he was pronounced OK although somewhat suffering from concussion and a huge headache. The A1GP car was broken into two parts following the mega shunt onto the barriers.

Earlier, Alex starting from eighth on the grid, when interviewed by the start-grid TV predicted that, "A top 5 is within the team's capability this weekend...lets wait and see...". True to his words he drove steadfastedly following another good start to make true his promise for the Malaysian fans at home ahead of his country's home round in two weeks time.

France consolidated their championship lead with yet another win followed by Great Britain and Switzerland.

Malaysia moves up to 10th in the championship after collecting 6 points in the Feature race's fifth to add to the 3 points from the Sprint race earlier. The next highest Asian nation is Japan in 16th position of 25 nations with 6 points.

The next round will be held at Malaysia's home track, Sepang International circuit on the 18th to 20th of November 2005.

Max Revson

Feature race lap by lap transcript:

lap1: lights green...great start from alex once again...from 8th to 6th...por leads from fra, bra, gb, sui, mal, aus, ned, nzl and pak in 10th...ire into the gravel from 4th!

lap2: gb takes bra for 3rd...ire, ger, ind and can pits...

lap3: usa pits...lap5: top 10 remains unchanged...top 10 yet to make pitstops...

lap6: rsa shunted out of t7...hard into the wall...ita in the pits with mechanical problems.. por penalised drive-through penalty for jump start...

lap7: ger off grass cutting...bra makes pitstop...mex braked too late and rode over rus and both crashed out...top3 are fra, gb, sui, with mal in 4th!

lap8-11: sc...mal went into pit in 4th but emerged in 6th...top 10 are lib (not pitted yet), fra, gb, sui, ned, mal, ire, aus, por, and nzl 10th...

lap12: green...mal tried a move on ned but didn't make it...

lap14: top 5 are fra, gb, sui, ned and mal 5th...followed by aus, por, lib, ire and bra in 10th...bra informed of drive through penalty for pitlane infringement...

lap15: op 10 are fra, gb, sui, ned, mal, aus, por, nzl, irl, and can 10th...

lap17-20: cze and aut contact...sc called out to clear cze and aut cars...17 cars left running with 7 cars out of running...aut, cze, rus, mex, ger, ita and rsa out...

lap21: green...top 5 are fra, gb, sui, ned and mal...aus behind mal has 3 power boost chances with mal with 5 power boost chances...

lap22: china locked out big time and off into gravel...lap25: mal still 5th, 6s from leader...

lap26: huge huge accident from jap...car split into 2...driver hardly moving...sc...can pulled off to grass verge...was it a contact between can and jap that caused the huge shunt by jap???lap27-32: sc...medical doctors announced jap driver shimoda ok, phew...14 cars left running...full running order on lap 32 is 1st fra, 2nd gb, 3rd sui, 4th ned, 5th mal, 6th aus, 7th por, 8th ire, 9th nzl, 10th bra, 11th usa, 12th pak, 13th ind and 14th lib...

lap33: green...but 2 minutes to the hour...so maybe one or two laps left of racing...racing! lap35: final lap...top 5 fra, gb, sui, ned and mal...

chequered flag: fra wins from gb second, sui third, ned fourth and mal (alex yoong) fifth!

Rd 4 Australia - Feature Race Results

Pos/Team/Driver/Laps/Time/Gap F/Gap P

1 FRA Nicolas Lapiere 35 1:00:54.068 - -

2 GB Robbie Kerr 35 1:00:56.547 +2.479 +2.479

3 SUI Neel Jani 35 1:00:57.086 +3.018 +0.539

4 NED Jos Verstappen 35 1:00:57.593 +3.525 +0.507

5 MAL Alex Yoong 35 1:00:58.955 +4.887 +1.362

6 AUS Will Davison 35 1:00:59.499 +5.431 +0.544

7 POR Alvaro Parente 35 1:01:00.070 +6.002 +0.571

8 IRE Michael Daveney 35 1:01:01.140 +7.072 +1.070

9 NZL Jonny Reid 35 1:01:02.989 +8.921 +1.849

10 BRA Nelson Piquet 35 1:01:03.108 +9.040 +0.119

11 USA Bryan Herta 35 1:01:03.896 +9.828 +0.788

12 PAK Adam Khan 35 1:01:05.010 +10.942 +1.114

13 LIB Basil Shaaban 35 1:01:07.071 +13.003 +2.061

14 IND Armaan Ebrahim 35 1:01:08.343 +14.275 +1.27

DNF: CAN, JAP, CHN, AUT, CZE, RUS, MEX, GER, ITA, RSA

A1GP: Malaysia 8th in Australian Sprint race and garners 3 points

France wins untroubled from Portugal and Brazil

Great race with two safety car periods in the early laps activated. Great TV imagery of very good crowd attendance in bright early summer sunshine.
Malaysia with Alex Yoong driving had a good start to gain 2 spots but because of the defensive inside line for turn 1 lost a spot back before turn 2.
Malaysia eventually finished 8th after starting 9th on the grid.
France won the Sprint race untroubled from Portugal and Brazil.Below is the lap by lap transcript of the Sprint race.
Sprint race lap by lap transcript:
lap1: start - mal jumped 2 spots at start from 9th to 7th thru t1 then back to 8th into t2...mal alex and ned jos touched before braking for t2...top 10 - fra, por, bra, irl, gb, sui, ned, mal, can, ita....cze in gravel trap and out of race...
lap2-3: sc...
lap4: green...ger and mex clashed in t2, both cars out with drivers discussing how it happened on grassy knoll...mal 8th...
lap5-6: sc...
lap7-8: green...top 10 fra, por, bra, ire, gb, sui, ned, mal, can, aus....rsa pits with damaged car and out of race...
lap9-14: top 10 order remained unchanged...
lap15: nzl passed jpn...chn off into gravel and continued...
lap16: 3 power boost still available to mal which is still 8th...
lap17: mal still 8th 20s back...lap18: top 10 same...
lap19: race finished fra wins by 8.699s, por 2nd, bra 3rd, ire 4th, gb 5th, sui 6th, ned 7th, mal 8th (26s back), can 9th, ita 10th, aus 11th, pak 12th, rus 13th, nzl 14th, usa 15th, chn 16th, ind 17th, jap 18th, aut 19th...leb, rsa, mex and ger dnf.
Feature race will be 40 laps or one hour long whichever comes first.
Max Revson

Rd 4 Australia-Sprint Race Results
Pos/Team/Laps/Time
1 FRANCE 19 30:32.582
2 PORTUGAL 19 30:41.281
3 BRAZIL 19 30:41.677
4 IRELAND 19 30:45.067
5 GREAT BRITAIN 19 30:50.055
6 SWITZERLAND 19 30:52.566
7 NETHERLANDS 19 30:57.138
8 MALAYSIA Alex Yoong 19 30:59.418
9 CANADA 19 31:00.468
10 ITALY 19 31:02.402
11 AUSTRALIA 19 31:03.008
12 PAKISTAN 19 31:10.694
13 RUSSIA 19 31:11.600
14 NEW ZEALAND 19 31:12.646
15 USA 19 31:22.492
16 CHINA 19 31:23.701
17 INDIA 19 31:25.335
18 JAPAN 18 29:51.428
19 AUSTRIA 18 29:51.690
DNF
20 LEBANON 11 20:27.284; 21 SOUTH AFRICA 8 16:34.442; 22 MEXICO 3 6:08.176 23 GERMANY 3 6:08.645; 24 CZECH REP 0 18 Laps.

A1GP: Malaysia Bumped From 6th to 9th In Qualifying

by slowing car in final flying lap in Australia

A slowing car in the midst of Malaysia's final flying lap in Australia's round 4 of the A1GP championship cost Alex Yoong a certain 6th qualifying position.
Instead the Malaysian team has to be content with a top-ten ninth position for the Sprint race tomorrow.
Less than a tenth of a second faster would have got the Malaysian team a third row start grid in 6th. The baulk by the slowing Team Mexico car right in the middle of a corner cost Alex at least three tenths of a second or maybe more.
All is not lost however as Malaysian fans can hopefully see Yoong gift us his normally quick rolling start to move up the ranks of the first lap in the Sprint race and score points in both the races tomorrow or even better gets a first podium in the inaugural A1 GP of Nations for our country.
France and Portugal will start from the front row in pole and second respectively with Switzerland and Brazil in the second row.
Max Revson
Rd 4 Eastern Creek, Australia - Qualifying
Pos/Team/Driver/Aggregate/Gap F/Gap P.
1 FRA Nicholas Lapierre 2'37.036 - -
2 POR Alvaro Parente 2'37.526 +0.490 +0.490
3 SUI Neel Jani 2'37.636 +0.600 +0.110
4 BRA Nelson Piquet 2'38.082 +1.046 +0.446
5 GB Robbie Kerr 2'38.122 +1.086 +0.040
6 IRE Michael Devaney 2'38.627 +1.591+0.505
7 CAN Sean McIntosh 2'38.636 +1.600 +0.009
8 NED Jos Verstappen 2'38.669 +1.633+0.033
9 MAL Alex Yoong 2'38.720 +1.684 +0.051
10 MEX Salvador Duran 2'38.959 +1.923 +0.239
11 ITA Enrico Toccacelo 2'39.184 +2.148 +0.225
12 GER Adrian Sutil 2'39.379 +2.343 +0.195
13 AUS Will Davison 2'39.402 +2.366 +0.023
14 NZL Jonny Reid 2'39.514 +2.478 +0.112
15 RSA Stephen Simpson 2'39.895 +2.859 +0.38
16 CZE Tomas Enge 2'40.109 +3.073 +0.214
17 PAK Adam Khan 2'40.397 +3.361 +0.288
18 RUS Roman Rusinov 2'40.671 +3.635 +0.274
19 JAP Hayanari Shimoda 2'40.889 +3.853 +0.21
20 CHN Tengyi Jiang 2'41.781 +4.745 +0.892
21 LIB Basil Shaaban 2'42.014 +4.978 +0.233
22 USABryan Herta 2'42.133 +5.097 +0.119
23 AUT Mathias Lauda 2'42.142 +5.106 +0.009
24 IND Armaan Ebrahim 2'42.546 +5.510 +0.40

A1GP: Alex Takes Malaysia To The Top In Australia

with 20 minutes to go in the final free practice before a final spurt by Brazil...
With 20 minutes to go before the end of the final and third practice session of the A1GP round 3 at the Eastern Creek circuit in Australia, A1 Team Malaysia, piloted by former F1 driver Alex Yoong, leapt to the top of the time sheets with a time of 1m 19.840s followed by Team Great Britain and Portugal 0.031s and 0.046s behind in second and third respectively.
Then Brazil put in a time of 1m 19.476s with 8 minutes to go passing Malaysia for the fastest time but Malaysia remained solidly in second spot followed in tow by Great Britain, Portugal and Germany in fifth. Surprisingly, championship leader France, was placed just outside the top-10 in eleventh position.
With the circuit described by most teams as being bumpy and abrasive, most teams including Malaysia decided not to sacrifice a second set of new tyres to save them for the races.
Alex was true to his words and bettered his top-five prediction when he said after the second practice yesterday (Friday), "Our time this morning wasn't reflective of our performance as we missed out on running in the dry when other teams set their quickest lap. I'm happy with our performance this afternoon. We tried a lot of new things and I think we've learnt something about the car. We weren't going for times today; we were just trying various things on the car and we didn't put on new rubber. I'm optimistic for tomorrow (Saturday, today). I think we can qualify in the top ten, and might even improve on that and sneak into the top five."
This is Malaysia's best ever official practice result and things appear to look good for a front 2 row qualifying in a few hours time.
Good luck Malaysia!
Max Revson
RD 4 EASTERN CREEK - Official Practice 3 (Top 10)
Pos/Team/Driver/on Lap/Time /Gap F/Gap P/kmh/Laps
1 BRA Nelson Piquet 15 1'19.476 - - 178.02
2 MAL Alex Yoong 11 1'19.840 +0.364 +0.364 177.21
3 GB Robbie Kerr 15 1'19.871 +0.395 +0.031 177.11
4 POR Alvaro Parente 14 1'19.886 +0.410 +0.015 177.11
5 GER Adrian Sutil 19 1'19.922 +0.446 +0.036 177.0 23
6 AUS Will Davison 7 1'20.029 +0.553 +0.107 176.82
7 IRE Michael Daveney 14 1'20.185 +0.709 +0.156 176.42
8 ITA Andrea Montermini 21 1'20.325 +0.849 +0.140 176.12
9 NZL Jonny Reid 15 1'20.502 +1.026 +0.177 175.72
10 RSA Stephen Simpson 7 1'20.768 +1.292 +0.266 175.22

A1GP: Malaysia 7th At The Creek In Day 1 Practices

Alex studying the data...(click image to enlarge)

less than a second seperates the top 11

Day one of round 4 at Sydney's Eastern Creek circuit, Australia saw Malaysia going through their test programme ending in a positive note with Alex Yoong finishing 7th of 24 teams.

The fastest time set by Alex was achieved early in the session unlike other teams going for new rubber towards the end of the two sessions for a good time.

This demonstrated that more will come from Team Malaysia as most of the session, after setting their best time very early in the session, was devoted to the test programme for an ideal set-up for qualifying tomorrow and the races on Sunday.

Meanwhile France, Brazil and Switzerland grabbed the top 3 spots.

Malaysia's best time was a less than nine hundredths of a second from fourth placed Netherlands.

Max Revson
RD 4 EASTERN CREEK-Official Practice 2

Pos/Team/Driver/LapTime/Gap First/Gap Prev

1 FRA Nicolas LAPIERRE 1'21.037 - -

2 BRA Nelson PIQUET 1'21.271 +0.234 +0.234

3 SUI Neel JANI 1'21.592 +0.555 +0.321

4 NED Jos VERSTAPPEN 1'21.882 +0.845 +0.290

5 MEX Salvador DURAN 1'21.953 +0.916 +0.071

6 NZL Jonny REID 1'21.956 +0.919 +0.003

7 MAL Alex YOONG 1'21.970 +0.933 +0.014

8 GER Adrian SUTIL 1'21.984 +0.947 +0.014

9 CZE Tomas ENGE 1'21.998 +0.961 +0.014

10 CAN Sean McINTOSH 1'22.010 +0.973 +0.012

11 POR Alvaro PARENTE 1'22.021 +0.984 +0.011

12 USA Bryan HERTA 1'22.084 +1.047 +0.063

13 GBR Robbie KERR 1'22.173 +1.136 +0.089

14 IRL Michael DEVANEY 1'22.174 +1.137 +0.001

15 IND Armaan EBRAHIM 1'22.567 +1.530 +0.393

16 AUS Will DAVIDSON 1'22.581 +1.544 +0.014

17 RSA Stephen SIMPSON 1'22.785 +1.748 +0.204

18 AUT Mathias LAUDA 1'23.101 +2.064 +0.316

19 PAK Adam KHAN 1'23.127 +2.090 +0.026

20 RUS Roman RUSINOV 1'23.230 +2.193 +0.103

21 JPN Hayanari SHIMODA 1'23.512 +2.475 +0.282

22 LIB Basil SHAABAN 1'23.513 +2.476 +0.001

23 CHN Tengyi JIANG 1'23.917 +2.880 +0.404

24 ITA Andrea MONTERMINI 1'24.118 +3.081 +0.201