Worst Ever A1GP driver

Kiwi3 · 16 Dec 2008, 03:40 (Ref:2355700)

Contenders that spring to mind:

Ma Qinghua (CHN) - basically straight out of karting, and was therefore well over his head. Only had two races to prove how slow he was, but to his credit seemed to be able to keep it on the track.

Christian Jones (AUS) - Came to A1GP with the credentials of winning the Asian F3 series, but apparently with significantly better equipment than what his competitors had. Found space on the back row of the A1GP grid, leading dad to even comment on live TV that Australia's poor form might be "something to do with the driver".

Mathius Lauda (AUT) - Another famous "son of", but same dire lack of speed as Jones Jnr. From memory didn't score any points, a feat achieved by Patrick Friesacher in his first race when Lauda wasn't available.

Nur Ali (PAK) - Regularly three or four seconds off the pace, and not only that also could not seem to keep it in a straight line. Spinning on the front straight at Zandvoort and as a result blocking the pit entrance was not a good start, and it didn't really get any better. A nice guy off the track though.

Jin-Woo Hwang (KOR) - So far looks like a Korean version of Nur Ali, i.e. slow and prone to spinning. Makes one wonder why someone spends millions on an A1GP franchise and then guarantees coming last with a no-hope driver.

If making this a vote I'd give it to Nur Ali for the number of spins, but give Jin-Woo Hwang time, he may yet fail to improve.

Malfunction Junction · 16 Dec 2008, 03:52 (Ref:2355704)

Basil Shaaban or Hayanari Shimoda

The Takae Inoue's of their team & time.

Kiwi3 · 16 Dec 2008, 04:16 (Ref:2355709)

Shaaban was pretty bad, Shimoda would win biggest shunt award?

Peat · 16 Dec 2008, 07:56 (Ref:2355769)

I wouldnt class Shimoda as terrible. But in A1GP alone, i would say unfortunate. He has a few accolades under his belt that anyone should be proud of.

Francis Albert · 16 Dec 2008, 08:08 (Ref:2355779)

Nur Ali, no doubt about it.

kipper · 16 Dec 2008, 08:56 (Ref:2355803)

Alexei Vasiliev also springs to mind as a possible contender for the 'worst driver' tag.

Mystery · 16 Dec 2008, 14:15 (Ref:2356085)

I thought Shaaban was ok-ish really. He started off very poor but seemed to learn quite quickly I thought. Will always be average mind.....

RichardRenes · 16 Dec 2008, 16:27 (Ref:2356209)

Al Unser Jr. was so bad at the pre-season 2 test that he 4 seconds slower than teammates Phil Giebler and Jonathan Summerton. Note that we are talking about an Indycar legend. That was enough for Rick Weidinger not to invite him anymore and er.. keep him as advisor.

hrug:

Buddy Rice needed 100 laps to come up to speed.. which is good in Indycar where you have 200 lap races but you never have 100 laps time to do that in A1. No wonder it was over for him after 2 races.

Worst driver for me: Mathias Lauda. Even 3 years after A1, he still hasn't improved a bit.. He's allmost allways the slowest Mercedes in the DTM, and generally the one to be driving last (if not finishing last... Usually he knocks Albers off before retiring ).

N.A-D.R · 17 Dec 2008, 11:28 (Ref:2356723)

Ali in pakistan. He always spun in qualifying and the races, or was 5 seconds off the 2nd last fastest driver.

Alex K · 19 Dec 2008, 01:58 (Ref:2358010)

Ma quin ha was nearly straight from karting and low BHP formulae ladder when he drove A1, he did show his speed, and shows it this year in Spanish F3, I think you must look out for him in years to come, he is good and decent driver.

Kiwi3 · 20 Dec 2008, 12:00 (Ref:2358782)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex K

Ma quin ha was nearly straight from karting and low BHP formulae ladder when he drove A1, he did show his speed, and shows it this year in Spanish F3, I think you must look out for him in years to come, he is good and decent driver.

I didn't realise he was still driving.

I see he finished 18th in the Spanish F3 series this year.

JohnMiller · 20 Dec 2008, 12:09 (Ref:2358788)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

I didn't realise he was still driving.

I see he finished 18th in the Spanish F3 series this year.

He also finished sixth in the Copa de Espana, having missed the first third of the season as well as all of the pre-season testing. Each time he went to a race weekend, the track was new to him. He actually did a very good job.

RF_Racer · 20 Dec 2008, 12:39 (Ref:2358807)

Alex something or another for team Lebanon, and Ali for tam Pak.

RichardRenes · 20 Dec 2008, 19:38 (Ref:2358966)

I think you mean Alex Khateeb

rotorrex7 · 23 Dec 2008, 03:53 (Ref:2360006)

Nur Ali from team pakistan has been testing an ARCA stock car in the U.S.
Now iv'e seen everything
http://www.motorsport.com/photos/pop...1:83499&S=ARCA

kerrmanningjarv · 23 Dec 2008, 11:17 (Ref:2360105)

He has actually been racing in the USA for years and has actually won some races in lower categories.

Kiwi3 · 23 Dec 2008, 13:02 (Ref:2360160)

I knew he was racing Star Mazda at one point, did not know he has managed to win anything. His accent is as American as Adam Khan's is British.

ss_collins · 23 Dec 2008, 14:29 (Ref:2360203)

If only they had not introduced the new car I'd have been top of this list!

Mekola · 23 Dec 2008, 19:47 (Ref:2360388)

Christian Jones.

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