Lola Heritage

12/11/06 - BEIJING, CHINA: SPRINT & FEATURE RACES

SPRINT RACE

A1 Team Netherlands have became the fourth different team to win a round of the 2006/07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport as Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen secured a lights-to-flag victory at the Jingkai street circuit, just under 1.5secs from A1 Team Mexico’s Salvador Duran and Italy’s Enrico Toccacelo.

Following a difficult opening two days of the A1GP Beijing, China round, Bleekemolen roared away from pole position to pull out a one second lead by the end of the first lap from Duran and Toccacelo. The Italian tried to squeeze through the inside of Duran going through Turn Eight, the tight hairpin at the end of the back straight, but had to settle for third as Duran kept the racing line. Further down the racing order A1 Team France made a bold move on Lebanon to move up to 20^th position.

France and Italy’s charges were however halted the next lap when the safety car was deployed following a spin out of the final corner from South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg. With the Vulindlela car in a dangerous position, a rescue vehicle was sent to recover the machine to the pit lane.

When the safety car pulled off, it was a true Sprint to the finish with only four minutes of racing action remaining. Toccacelo resumed his pursuit of Duran, but ran out of time and was forced to settle for third, Italy’s first podium finish of the year. Behind the top three, Canada, Germany and Brazil completed the top six, Matos posting Brazil’s best season result so far. France gained two more positions on the final two laps to seal 17^tth overall.

Delighted with his win, Bleekemolen commented, “It was really great. We started form pole so you know you have a good chance of winning, especially on a street race. I was able to create a small gap to Salvador after the safety car and was able to control it. In the morning I was fast and I had a very heavy car but did not know how quick we were compared to the others. I now think we have a good chance for the next one.”

Second place Duran added, “Everyone knows these sort of incidents happen on tracks like this, but I think for us the main thing is we have been quick all weekend and are in the lead of the points which for Team Mexico is very good. All my team have worked perfectly and done a great job and deserve this second place in the race. It is only the driving I have to do and I am happy to do this with such an awesome team behind me.”

Toccacelo, who now starts the Feature race from third position on the grid, said, “That was a really good start for me and I was also faster than Salvador Duran but here it is impossible to overtake. I just had to be careful and not crash as it is easy to do that here. We have to wait and see what happens in the Feature race as I may be able to get by – you never know what happens.”

Winners Netherlands will now start the 70-minute Feature race from pole position. Mexico will complete the front row, with Italy and Canada on row two. The race will start behind the safety car at 15.00 local time.

	A1 Team	Driver	Time	No. Laps	Gap first
1	Netherlands	Jeroen Bleekemolen	20.28.420	15
2	Mexico	Salvador Duran	20.29.884	15	+1.464
3	Italy	Enrico Toccacelo	20.30.731	15	+2.311
4	Canada	James Hinchcliffe	20.31.795	15	+3.375
5	Germany	Nico Hulkenburg	20.32.363	15	+3.943
6	Brazil	Raphael Matos	20.32.820	15	+4.400
7	Great Britain	Oliver Jarvis	20.35.797	15	+7.377
8	Czech Republic	Tomas Enge	20.36.817	15	+8.397
9	Switzerland	Neel Jani	20.37.269	15	+8.849
10	New Zealand	Matt Halliday	20.37.685	15	+9.265
11	USA	Phil Giebler	20.38.842	15	+10.422
12	Australia	Karl Reindler	20.40.340	15	+11.920
13	China	Cong Fu Cheng	20.41.636	15	+13.216
14	Malaysia	Alex Yoong	20.45.447	15	+17.027
15	Indonesia	Ananda Mikola	20.46.889	15	+18.479
16	Singapore	Christian Murchison	20.49.079	15	+20.659
17	France	Nicolas Lapierre	20.49.222	15	+20.802
18	India	Armaan Ebrahim	20.50.673	15	+22.253
19	Lebanon	Basil Shaaban	20.51.203	15	+22.783
20	Ireland	Michael Devaney	20.51.667	15	+23.247
21	Pakistan	Nur Ali	21.15.961	15	+47.541
22	South Africa	Adrian Zaugg	2 laps	2 laps	13 laps

FEATURE RACE

A1 Team Italy has secured its first-ever A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Feature race victory in an incident-filled event in Beijing, China. A1 Team Great Britain claimed second position behind Italy’s Enrico Toccacelo, with Australian Karl Reindler third after Sprint race victor Netherlands crashed out of the lead with only nine laps remaining. France was a startling fourth after starting 17^th on the grid, with South Africa and the Czech Republic fifth and sixth respectively.

Polesitter Netherlands’ Jeroen Bleekemolen got away cleanly from the start behind the pace car with Mexico’s Salvador Duran in touch in second, however the race was interrupted on lap two when A1 Team Pakistan’s Nur Ali went into the barrier at turn three, damaging his front wing and stalling the engine. With the car in a dangerous position, the safety car was deployed to allow rescue vehicles to recover the Pakistani machine. There were also problems on the same lap for Ireland, as Michael Devaney attempted to return to the pit lane to change a flat rear right tyre. The Irishman clipped the entrance of the pit lane, stalling the engine, and marshalls were forced to push him back into a run-off area.

When the safety car pulled off on lap nine, Bleekemolen and Duran resumed their battle for the lead, however the Mexican’s charge was prematurely halted when he lost second gear, touched the barrier and slowed. Italy and Germany seized the opportunity to dive in front of Duran, relegating the Mexican to fourth position. Unable to turn into the tight corners, Duran retired the following lap.

Netherlands and Italy remained closely matched until the first round of pit stops on lap 20. Their early stop advantage was however negated when the safety car was deployed on their out laps to allow marshalls to recover the Swiss car of Neel Jani, who had spun close to the entrance of the pit lane.

When the safety car pulled off on lap 27, Canadian James Hinchcliffe was forced to defend his inherited lead from hard-charging Brazilian Raphael Matos. The Brazilian almost pulled off a bold move on the Canadian through the hairpin, but Hinchliffe held his line and his nerve to keep the lead. Nineteen-year-old Hinchliffe remained in front until his pit stop and looked set to extend his season points haul until a tussle with France’s Nicolas Lapierre on the penultimate lap put the Canadian into the wall and into retirement from the race.

A1 Team Germany lost the series’ lead when Nico Hülkenberg retired in the pits on lap 53 with a gearbox problem. Hülkenberg’s misfortune was Italian Toccacelo’s gain as he was elevated into the lead of the race following the German and Dutch retirements. The Italian was delighted to hold onto the lead until the flag fall, “This is a really good result for us and I am really happy to be back here in A1GP, in Beijing and winning the race. In the first race I was third and was really pleased because I was pretty confident as the car was quite good. I have been a little bit lucky in the last laps but anyway I feel the car was good and I was the quickest in the race. It is really great and I want to say thank you to Team Ghinzani.”

Great Britain’s rising star, Oliver Jarvis, similarly benefited from Germany’s problems as he moved into second overall, a stunning result for the young Brit on his A1GP race debut. “At the start of the race the team discussed the strategy and we knew it was all going to be about being there at the end as it is a street circuit. A lot of people made mistakes and also the car struggled to get over the kerbs and the bumps. I am delighted with second for myself and the team. I think we could have had a better run in the first race but at the end of the day we have ended up on the podium and that is where we want to be.”

Karl Reindler completed the top three, the Australian having a stunning race to move up nine places over the 63 lap race, “It was quite a race. I had no idea where I was until the final safety car. The race just fell into our hands pretty much, we had a great strategy and we had a briefing before the race and decided to wait to pit and it worked out in the end. It has been a bit of a mixed up weekend and a mixed up race but it is great to be up here.”

South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg just pipped Tomas Enge to fifth place after the Capetonian made an audacious move round on the inside of the hairpin. Brazil and Singapore completed the top eight, Christian Murchison securing the Asian nation their first-ever points in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.

Mexico now head the series’ title race going into the next A1GP round in Sepang, Malaysia, which will be held on 24 – 26 November 2006.

	A1 Team	Driver	Time	No. Laps	Gap first
1	Italy	Enrico Toccacelo	1.10.15.919	63	-
2	Great Britain	Oliver Jarvis	1.10.20.427	63	+4.508
3	Australia	Karl Reindler	1.10.21.836	63	+5.917
4	France	Nicolas Lapierre	1.10.28.819	63	+12.900
5	South Africa	Adrian Zaugg	1.10.29.197	63	+13.278
6	Czech Republic	Tomas Enge	1.10.29.603	63	+13.684
7	Brazil	Raphael Matos	1.10.30.758	63	+14.839
8	Singapore	Christian Murchison	1.10.32.405	63	+16.486
9	New Zealand	Matt Halliday	1.10.32.924	63	+17.005
10	Canada	James Hinchcliffe		62	1 lap
11	India	Armaan Ebrahim		62	1 lap
12	Malaysia	Alex Yoong		61	2 lap
13	Lebanon	Basil Shaaban		61	2 laps
14	Netherlands	Jeroen Bleekemolen		53	10 laps
15	Germany	Nico Hulkenberg		53	10 laps
16	Indonesia	Ananda Mikola		36	27 laps
17	China	Congfu Cheng		28	35 laps
18	USA	Phil Giebler		21	42 laps
19	Switzerland	Neel Jani		20	43 laps
20	Mexico	Salvador Duran		14	49 laps
21	Ireland	Michael Devaney		3	60 laps
22	Pakistan	Nur Ali		1	62 laps

The bonus point for the fastest race lap of the day went to A1 Team Canada who recorded a time of 58.107 on lap 39 of the Feature race, with a speed of 136.3kph.

Series points after round three of 12

1	Mexico	24
2	Germany	22
3	Great Britain	20
4	Italy	19
5	Malaysia	17
6	Canada	16
7	Czech Republic	16
8	Australia	16
9	Netherlands	15
10	France	15
11	South Africa	13
12	USA	10
13	China	8
14	New Zealand	7
15	Brazil	5
16	Switzerland	4
17	Singapore	3
18	Indonesia	1