Qualifying Snafu Shapes Grid at Season-Opening A1GP
Written by Allan Brewer · September 30, 2006
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Photo: A1GP
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South Africa claims pole for Circuit Zandvoort Sunday
You’ve got to follow the rules, lads.
A1GP kicks off its second season, and first without co-founder Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, on Sunday at the 4.18 kilometer Circuit Park Zandvoort outside Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Team South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg was awarded pole for the race after a qualifying controversy involving Team Switzerland was adjudicated. A rookie in the A1GP series, Zaugg’s best official time over the sea-side, dune-drifting course was 1:27.349 seconds
The Swiss team ran only one rear-end anti-roll canister on their car in violation of the mandated two canisters. Stewards acknowledged the team gained no performance advantage in doing so, but stressed the importance of “following the rules” by moving the team’s entry back to eleventh spot on the grid.
Mexico’s Salvador Duran and France’s Nicolas Lapierre will occupy the second and third starting positions for the start of the season-opening sprint race at 11AM local time.
The A1GP format remains the same as last year: twenty-three countries represented by car and driver fight it out on the track over first a sprint race, and then a final Sunday feature race to determine the weekend’s winner.
The 1100 pound, V-8 powered open-wheel racers have around five hundred and fifty horsepower, making them significantly less powerful than IndyCars or Formula 1 machines. They also lack electronic driving aids in order to shift the performance emphasis away from car and technician and towards driver “bravery and skill.”
Driving for the United States’ entry are A1GP familiar Philip Giebler and rookie Jonathan Summerton. Gieblier qualified the U.S. team’s car in sixth for the opening sprint race.
Other recognizable names from recent American open-wheel racing include Ryan Briscoe piloting the Australian machine, and Darren Manning behind the wheel of the Team Great Britain entry.
Friday afternoon gave fans a look at some much-anticipated on track action as Team Canada’s John Hinchcliffe took honors in the series’ first competitive practice of the 2006 season. In the second session, Team France was led by Loic Duval to the front position in the standings.
Dutch popular Jos Verstappen will not be competing in the race after a series of last-minute contract negotiations to put him in the seat of the Team Netherlands car failed.
The series will continue over a twelve-race schedule for the next seven months, swinging into the southern hemisphere following next months’ Czechoslovakian Grand Prix. In all, the teams will contest eleven Grand Prix of Nations events on five different continents, and visit the Chinese mainland twice during the season. The year ends on April 29th, 2007 at Brands Hatch raceway in England.
There is no stateside venue for the A1GP series this year. The tour will touch down in Mexico during March of next year for its only North American appearance.
In an interesting side-note, all of the cars will sport the numeric “46664″ this year in honor of Nelson Mandela’s HIV Foundation. The number was Mandela’s while he was held captive in South Africa’s prisons during the era of apartheid.
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