Teams and drivers 06/07

[cos]

Renger van der Zande has been announced as Netherlands' "rookie" driver for the rest of the season. Can't say I've heard of him before, but then again I'd heard almost nothing about Zaugg or Hülkenberg before they signed for A1...!

[Francis Albert]

That's really great news for Renger!

He won the Dutch FR Championship in 2005, and did really well in the German.

This year he finished 3rd or 4th in the German F3 Championship.

[Suze]

Is Ferdinand Kool (also was in Geman F3 this tear) Dutch? Or possibly French? Can't remember!

[Francis Albert]

Yep, he's Dutch.
I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up in a Megane next year.

[Suze]

I just wandered as thought he was, but thought he is better than van der Rande...though to be fair, I've only seen both race firsthand over one weekend.

[Francis Albert]

Could be. He has a lot more experience at least. 3 years in F3, plus one or two in Dutch Formula Renault, and I'm not sure if he did F. Ford before that.

[Suze]

But who's quicker?

Didn't think he was half bad, seemed to have a lot of experience from what he said, so just wondered...ah well, not to be for him or so it seems!

[Francis Albert]

Well I don't know, to be honest!

Anyway, I think Renger is really talented, and I'm happy that he got this chance.

Kool has a younger brother, by the way, Mervyn. He did Formula Renault for the past two years. The best result was a win this year in Spa, for the NEC.

[madmed]

Nur Ali will be driving in Brno:
http://www.a1podium.com/news.php?sub...56579&archive=
Adam khan will not race this year:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Khan

[strider]

Robbie Kerr is to take over the Team GBR seat from Darren Manning this weekend.

[Go_For_Pole]

Takis Kaitatzis and Nikos Zahos will be the Greek drivers in Brno

[Valker]

Now I know who's Kaitatzis, but where's Zahos coming from?

[strider]

Greece?

In other news, Sean McIntosh will be back representing Team Canada, but James Hinchcliffe, who made a fine debut last weekend, will be driving the car in the Friday morning Young Driver sessions.

[Kiwi3]

That is a shame for Pakistan. I am all for bringing on new countries, however at some point you have to wonder about the safety aspect of having someone like Nur Ali providing a mobile chicane.

[Fiorentina 1]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

That is a shame for Pakistan. I am all for bringing on new countries, however at some point you have to wonder about the safety aspect of having someone like Nur Ali providing a mobile chicane.

Ya, no kidding. What happened to Adam Khan, he was starting to get pretty good?

[Go_For_Pole]

Originally Posted by Valker

Now I know who's Kaitatzis, but where's Zahos coming from?

Hehehe, as Strider says it is Greece. But I suppose you are more interested in his background right?

Nikos Zahos was multiple Greek karting champion, in fact their battles with Kaitatzis and some other good guys of the same generation (amongst them John Antoniadis who raced for about half a year in British F3 with Duma) were probably the best we ever saw in this country. Then Zahos and Kaitiatzis moved to Greek F3 (Takis won the championship, Nikos some races) and when that died they tried various one-make cups in which they won everything between them. As circuit racing was suffering over here they got bored with the level of competition so they both moved to rallying with Takis racing an Evo and Nikos staying with A5 class cars.

The last couple of years Takis has been completely inactive (after destroying his car), while Nikos stayed out in 2005 before landing a (sort of) works deal to drive a Chevrolet, again in rallies. All in all, their talent is way beyond the level of your typical Greek racing driver and I dare say it doesn't look out of place in the A1 grid. Of course being out of single seater competition for so long is not helping them at all but to put things in perspective Takis got within 2,5 secs of pole within 20 laps without knowing the circuit, the car or being anywhere near familiar with the downforce and power levels on offer. I would say that's as good as it could realistically get and now things can only get better.

[cos]

A few A1-related news bits tucked away in this weeks' Autosport:

• Japan to return, probably at the New Zealand round. A FNippon team is tipped to run it
• Turkey set to enter either at Sentul or New Zealand
• Greece still hoping to be back at Indonesia
• No A1 Ireland outing for Lyons
• Hunter-Reay still planning on having an outing with USA
• Christian Vietoris to run rookie session for Germany at Sentul

[Kiwi3]

Good news about Turkey and Japan. There is Turkey merchandise on sale and in Beijing I saw team Turkey branded packing cases etc so it must be reasonably serious.

I read a blog yesterday that quoted a Singapore newspaper (so third hand information sorry - might be totally unreliable!) saying that A1 Team Singapore cannot find sponsorship (familiar story) so A1GP is 'providing support'. Last year A1GP bankrolled a few teams which is why reason why they lost a very large sum of money. They told the franchise holders before the start of this season that they were not going to do that this year - looks like they still are. Hopefully if Turkey and Japan are properly organised & funded they can drop a couple of countries that are not. I would rather see 18 stable teams than 24 just for the sake of having 24.

[madmed]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

I read a blog yesterday that quoted a Singapore newspaper (so third hand information sorry - might be totally unreliable!) saying that A1 Team Singapore cannot find sponsorship (familiar story) so A1GP is 'providing support'. Last year A1GP bankrolled a few teams which is why reason why they lost a very large sum of money. They told the franchise holders before the start of this season that they were not going to do that this year - looks like they still are. Hopefully if Turkey and Japan are properly organised & funded they can drop a couple of countries that are not. I would rather see 18 stable teams than 24 just for the sake of having 24.

that's true:
http://www.a1podium.com/news.php?sub...38932&archive=

[karting legend]

Richard Lyons to drive for Team Ireland great news.

[cos]

Good choice for Ireland there; curiously Autosport last week quoted Ireland's bosses as saying Lyons would only remain an advisor to drivers/engineers and wouldn't actually be racing!

[cos]

Zaugg has a muscle problem in his arms that might require surgery so he's a question mark for this weekend. Hopefully this means Alan VDM will finally get a chance in the car...

[Kiwi3]

I have also just read on RTE that Devaney is dropped. It does not say if it is temporary or permanent.

I think Ireland has more problems than just the driver actually. Devaney seemed quite impressive when he drove last season.

[Kiwi3]

I should finish web surfing before I post! Autosport provides more details, stating that Lyons will be supported by O'Hara and Devaney, so the latter is obviously not completely dropped.

The reason given by Mark Kershaw is that Lyons can run in all of the sessions, allowing him to maximise car setup and giving the team consistency over the weekend. They quote this as one of the advantages that Germany have benefitted from.

[strider]

Originally Posted by cos

Zaugg has a muscle problem in his arms that might require surgery so he's a question mark for this weekend. Hopefully this means Alan VDM will finally get a chance in the car...

I really hope so, although he is bound to be quite rusty, not having driven much for so long. He may be too old to be eligible for the rookie sessions, too...