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A1GP Teams Making Final Prep for Upcoming Chinese Round

Several A1 Teams made final preparations this week for round two of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Chengdu, China on November 9th. Among them were the Chinese team and Pakistan, both appearing for the first time this year on the A1GP testing surface at the UK’s Silverstone circuit. They were joined by the teams from Brazil, France, Korea and Switzerland. Swiss Neel Jani was quickest in the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car in the truncated sessions, which were prematurely ended by severe weather.

A1GP.com: Teams Prep for Chinese Round; Switzerland Posts Fastest Test at Silverstone

Ho-Pin Tung and Congfu Cheng will partner for the upcoming season for the Chinese team, both having previous podium finishes in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport series to their credit. Tung raced for A1 Team China in the season-opening round at Zandvoort in September.

“These were the only dry laps we have done so far in this car” Tung said following the hail-storm-shortened testing sessions. “So we are still sorting out the base set up and things like that to be well prepared for our home race in Chengdu. It’s a very nice car to drive though, very stable and impressive at high speeds.”

“It all starts again in China though and you have to show you and your team mean business. Compared to many of the other teams, we still have less kilometres on the car but we are very happy to rack up some kilometres on the dry track today. It has been a good day to do some catching up so hopefully this will help us for Chengdu.”

Switzerland’s Neel Jani recorded a lap of 46.098-seconds, the quickest of the testing session, 0.371 seconds quicker than Portugal.

“We just carried on where we left off from the test last Thursday,” said Jani. “We tried different things and I’m pretty pleased with how we got on.

“Like last time, we didn’t really go for a lap time, we were trying different things with the set up and just learning. We would have liked to do a high fuel run this afternoon, but it started hailing so we’ll have to do that in Chengdu. Finally I have got some testing though so I understand more about the car, about the brakes and about how it should feel. There is still a lot of potential to go quicker though.”

Nicolas Prost returned to the cockpit of A1 Team France for the UK tester, though the French team has yet to announce a regular driver for the Chinese event. It was the rookie’s second day’s of testing with the team.

“The car is much more stable and much quicker than the old one, which is why it’s easier to drive,” said Prost, “but you have to go quick and really push very hard. We have been very competitive here and I got a grasp of the car pretty quickly.”

“I would be really proud to race for my country. It would be a lot of pressure though, as it means people believe in you, so you would have to deliver something good!”

Hinchcliffe and Binks Join A1GP Broadcast Team

A1GP World Cup of Motorsports regular television host team of John Watson and Ben Edwards will be joined in 2008/09 by Diana Binks and James Hinchcliffe. The pair have joined A1GP TV as world-feed pit lane reporters for the coming season.

A1GP.com: Binks and Hinchcliffe join A1GP World Feed for Coming Season

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Hinch, who raced for A1 Team Canada in 2006/07 and 2007/08. He also made an appearance as pitlane reporter last season in Sepang, Malaysia for A1GP TV.

“I am thrilled that A1GP has asked me to be part of the pit lane line up for Season Four,” he said on the announcement Monday (27 October). “I got the opportunity to work with A1GP TV last season and it’s great to now be on board full-time. This is shaping up to be the best season of A1GP yet, with the introduction of the new (powered by Ferrari) car, and it’s awesome to think that I get to watch all the action unfold from pit lane.”

Scot Diana Binks is no stranger to fans of BBC Channel 4 in the U.K. where she hosts a late-night sports show and a regular sports broadcast host in varied genres from auto racing to triathlon events. She cut her teeth during a grueling stint at the Le Mans 24-hour race in the pit lane.

“I am delighted to be joining the A1GP Team,” she said. “I am equally looking forward to teaming up again with Ben Edwards having worked with him previously in the British Touring Car Championship. To be joining the team is very exciting, it will present many new challenges and I can’t wait. I look forward to the prospect of working with John and James and hope that my experience will add to what is already a great team.”

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