A1 Team Malaysia faces Wet Weekend In Indonesia

Team Malaysia in Proton livery...(click image to enlarge)

Sentul, Indonesia 8 February 2006 - The eighth event in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix Series takes place this weekend in Sentul, Indonesia. With the rainy season coming to an end, A1 Team Malaysia is expecting to be racing in heavy rain mixed with bright sunshine.

A1 Team Malaysia arrives in Indonesia after the first race weekend of 2006 held on a street track in Durban, South Africa two weeks ago. The team endured a difficult weekend at this tricky circuit and are now looking forward to returning to a purpose-built racing circuit.

Driver for A1 Team Malaysia, Alex Yoong, says of the forthcoming weekend, “I enjoyed my taste of street racing in Durban where the concrete walls dominate the landscape, but I’ll also enjoy the wide track in Sentul. The street track didn’t bring much good fortune to the Malaysian team, so we’re hoping that we’ll fare better at this track. We’ve had some strong results in the Series so far, but really need to get back to the form that we know we’re capable of achieving, and putting in the levels of performance that will bring us World Cup of Motorsport points.”

Jack Cunningham, Team Principal, A1 Team Malaysia, adds, “We’ve put the Durban race weekend behind us and our focus is on the weekend ahead. We have the crew, the driver and the engineers that are all capable of putting a top-five car on the track and racing hard for a strong finish in each race. Motor racing is a fickle sport and there are so many factors that come into play at each event, and particularly this weekend in Sentul, where the weather is so unpredictable. We’ll be putting all our efforts into performing well and getting the results that we know are possible.”

The Sentul circuit is located 45 minutes from Jakarta and 8 km from Bogor in West Java. It is 3.9 km long, has 11 turns and runs in a clockwise direction. The circuit has been used predominantly for bike racing and the Asian F3 series, with A1 Grand Prix the largest international motor racing series to visit the circuit. It is fast and wide with very high speeds. Extreme heat, humidity and the unpredictable wet weather at the end of the rainy season are added challenges for the international field of drivers in the Series.

A1 Grand Prix was introduced into the international motor racing calendar in 2005, with nations competing against nations in races around the globe in the winter months, complimenting the traditional summer season of motorsport. The Series has visited Europe, Australasia, the Middle East, and South Africa, and will move on to Central and North America before the season finale in Shanghai, China.

From A1 Team Malaysia

Sentul, Indonesia - Programme [GMT + 7 Hours]

Friday

10 Feb13:00 - 14:00 Practice 1

16:00 - 17:00 Practice 2

Saturday

11 Feb11:00 - 12:00 Practice 3

14:15 - 15:45 Qualifying

Sunday

12 Feb13:30 - 14:00 Race 1

15:00 - 15:50 Race 2

Live timing go HERE