A1GP: Australia '07
What a weekend for A1GP! I must confess to falling asleep before the coverage started live on both the qualifying and the race, so had to catch the highlights later on both days!
Qualifying went well for Team GB, ending up third behind the dominant Germany and New Zealand, if only the sprint race had gone so well! Instead Robbie Kerr tagged the french car during the battle for third through turns 1 and 2 which caused a slow puncture. Never the less, he managed to stay in third until the safety car came out, unfortunately the tyre lost heat and pressure whilst running at the slower speed and soon after the restart the tyre blew ending his race and leading to a feature race starting position of 19th. Germany lead from start to finish, with New Zealand untroubled in second.
The Feature Race is where most of the action was with New Zealand taking the lead from the start using his 'Power to Pass' button, followed by three cars going wide on turn one - including Team GB - and then at turn 4 Canada had just been passed under braking by Australia when Singapore tried to follow the Australian through, unfortunately Canada didn't see him and turned in resulting in a barrel rolling Canadian! Both drivers were fine whilst their cars retired on the spot and the Safety Car came out. Inexplicably on lap 5 whilst following the Xafety Car, South Africa climbed over the top of Pakistan, forcing the Race to continue under Caution for a further two laps.
After the Pit Stops, Germany was leading from New Zealand again and that's how it would stay until the finish. Team GB managed to pick up a single point by finishing tenth. China had a great race, staying out for longer than everyone else, and pulling off a magnificent overtake around the outside of turn one to claim third - China's first ever A1GP Podium finish.
Nico Hulkenburg of Germany is so far ahead of anyone else that's running it's amazing, the toal dominance of this guy is not what A1GP is supposed to be about! It's supposed to be about close racing, but along with New Zealand's Jonny Reid (unsuprisingly Germany and New Zealand's cars are both looked after by the same Race outfit), this guy is untouchable. Expect big things in the future for him - he's already being called the next Michael Schumacher!
Qualifying went well for Team GB, ending up third behind the dominant Germany and New Zealand, if only the sprint race had gone so well! Instead Robbie Kerr tagged the french car during the battle for third through turns 1 and 2 which caused a slow puncture. Never the less, he managed to stay in third until the safety car came out, unfortunately the tyre lost heat and pressure whilst running at the slower speed and soon after the restart the tyre blew ending his race and leading to a feature race starting position of 19th. Germany lead from start to finish, with New Zealand untroubled in second.
The Feature Race is where most of the action was with New Zealand taking the lead from the start using his 'Power to Pass' button, followed by three cars going wide on turn one - including Team GB - and then at turn 4 Canada had just been passed under braking by Australia when Singapore tried to follow the Australian through, unfortunately Canada didn't see him and turned in resulting in a barrel rolling Canadian! Both drivers were fine whilst their cars retired on the spot and the Safety Car came out. Inexplicably on lap 5 whilst following the Xafety Car, South Africa climbed over the top of Pakistan, forcing the Race to continue under Caution for a further two laps.
After the Pit Stops, Germany was leading from New Zealand again and that's how it would stay until the finish. Team GB managed to pick up a single point by finishing tenth. China had a great race, staying out for longer than everyone else, and pulling off a magnificent overtake around the outside of turn one to claim third - China's first ever A1GP Podium finish.
Nico Hulkenburg of Germany is so far ahead of anyone else that's running it's amazing, the toal dominance of this guy is not what A1GP is supposed to be about! It's supposed to be about close racing, but along with New Zealand's Jonny Reid (unsuprisingly Germany and New Zealand's cars are both looked after by the same Race outfit), this guy is untouchable. Expect big things in the future for him - he's already being called the next Michael Schumacher!
Labels: A1GP
posted by Leo @ 3:05 pm
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