Sepang thread

cos · 24 Nov 2006, 04:19 (Ref:1773670)

Driver nominations are in and practice begins shortly. No great surprises in the lineup, good to see Briscoe back though and even better to see Alan van de Merwe nominated as one of SA's drivers - how long has it been since he had a regular ride?

On another note I see A1 have made a few options available to listen/watch the race over the internet on Sunday: http://www.a1gp.com/stream/index.php

edit: I'm a bit late, practice has already started! Germany on top in the first session (results)

Kiwi3 · 24 Nov 2006, 06:15 (Ref:1773704)

It is a pretty strong entry list. Good to see Neel Jani back these days as well.

Any number of countries could win, makes the prediction competition tricky...

The top four in the first practice are all close, including NZ...wooohhooo!

strider · 24 Nov 2006, 11:59 (Ref:1773967)

More times available now. Combined rookie sessions results and most importantly the first of the official sessions for the race drivers. Results.

They're slightly misleading, though, because although the session started in dry conditions, it soon began to rain. The top three all set their times before then, which perhaps explains China's performance, although Frankie Cheng does know the circuit. Germany are looking very strong, though.

nev · 24 Nov 2006, 12:39 (Ref:1774006)

Quote:

Originally Posted by strider

They're slightly misleading, though, because although the session started in dry conditions, it soon began to rain. The top three all set their times before then, which perhaps explains China's performance, although Frankie Cheng does know the circuit. Germany are looking very strong, though.

Also when it went damp the teams went out on older tyres !!

Mystery · 24 Nov 2006, 13:20 (Ref:1774051)

Once again no sign of the Greece entry. The nominations for the race around the Chinese car park said they were expecting them to return this round, but doesn't look good any more.

cos · 24 Nov 2006, 13:47 (Ref:1774070)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystery

Once again no sign of the Greece entry. The nominations for the race around the Chinese car park said they were expecting them to return this round, but doesn't look good any more.

Autosport quotes Mike Earle as being "reasonably confident" Greece will see out the rest of the season despite missing China and Malaysia.

Go_For_Pole · 24 Nov 2006, 14:13 (Ref:1774091)

He is an optimistic guy, that's all

strider · 24 Nov 2006, 14:31 (Ref:1774103)

Quote:

Originally Posted by cos

...even better to see Alan van de Merwe nominated as one of SA's drivers - how long has it been since he had a regular ride?

I couldn't agree more! It's bugged me for a season and a half that he has not been given a chance.

Apparently he won't get to drive the car until the Rookie session in Sentul - don't ask me why - but he will need all the seat time he can get. As you say, I don't think he's driven much at all for the last couple of years, apart from an occasional test for BAR Honda, as it was then, and the wild ride across the salt flats at a fraction under 400 km/h this summer in the Honda.

He did test the A1GP car at Silverstone, but was only given a couple of short runs as far as I could see.

Kiwi3 · 25 Nov 2006, 10:13 (Ref:1774649)

Qualifying was interesting. Malaysia clearly put their new tyres on for the wrong sessions, ending up the only ones who set their quickest times in the 3rd and 4th sessions.

France were pretty average, amazing how they have dropped from last year's dominance to midfield.

Neel Jani was impressive - F1 testing obviously hasn't done him too much harm. Good qualifying from Johnny Reid again, why Halliday is usually the #1 driver for NZ is beyond me. Hopefully this time Johnny won't run into Neel Jani at the start!

A big shock for Italy, from winning the last race to 20th.

And when are Ireland ever going to get a break?

Kebab · 25 Nov 2006, 10:57 (Ref:1774667)

Are France and Switzerland still sharing data, etc.? If so I really don't understand why France did so badly.

Looking at the times you'd have to say only Switz, Ger & NZ (who we know have the top engineer from DAMS last year) and GB are the only ones with the right sort of setup ... big gap back to 5th place after those guys!

Mr Happy · 25 Nov 2006, 11:34 (Ref:1774681)

Why has nothing been done about the Germany-Ireland incident during the 1st Qulifying segment?

Surely Germany should have a penalty?

nev · 25 Nov 2006, 12:11 (Ref:1774690)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Happy

Why has nothing been done about the Germany-Ireland incident during the 1st Qulifying segment?

Surely Germany should have a penalty?

considering what penalties have been dished out in the past im suprised nothing has happened, the only thing is, if they did take off thier fastest time they would still be 3rd on the grid !! i think

strider · 25 Nov 2006, 12:33 (Ref:1774702)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kebab

Are France and Switzerland still sharing data, etc.? If so I really don't understand why France did so badly.

Looking at the times you'd have to say only Switz, Ger & NZ (who we know have the top engineer from DAMS last year) and GB are the only ones with the right sort of setup ... big gap back to 5th place after those guys!

This year it's Switzerland and New Zealand who are sharing data.

Team Germany is the real revelation this year, although I do think Hulkenberg should have been penalised for that segment 1 clash with Ireland.

cos · 25 Nov 2006, 12:38 (Ref:1774704)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Happy

Why has nothing been done about the Germany-Ireland incident during the 1st Qulifying segment?

Surely Germany should have a penalty?

Germany have had their fastest time taken away, but as Nico was so consistent it keeps him 3rd on the grid. SA and Indonesia have also been similarly penalised, meaning SA are down to 11th and Indonesia down to 19th.

outflat · 25 Nov 2006, 13:38 (Ref:1774734)

Quote:

Originally Posted by strider

This year it's Switzerland and New Zealand who are sharing data.

No, it's Germany and New Zealand

Britain/Canada, France/South Africa, Czech Republic/Brazil are some of the other pairings

Kebab · 25 Nov 2006, 13:56 (Ref:1774742)

So who is running Switzerland?

kipper · 25 Nov 2006, 17:50 (Ref:1774809)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kebab

So who is running Switzerland?

I believe the franchise runs itself. When the DAMS agreement come to an end, Max Welti set up a team whose sole activity would be the Swiss A1GP team.

Armco Bender · 25 Nov 2006, 19:23 (Ref:1774843)

Quote:

Good qualifying from Johnny Reid again, why Halliday is usually the #1 driver for NZ is beyond me.

Me too,Reid obviously has some speed,Matt is only a mid fielder it seems.

SALEEN S7R · 25 Nov 2006, 19:38 (Ref:1774853)

Interesting results from qualifying, nice to see GB up there in a good solid 4th postition, hopefully Kerr can improve on that and perhaps make it onto the podium. If what I've been reading over at crash.net is true Jani seems quite confident of getting some good results saying that he is far from the limit of the car at the moment. Lets hope that is true of some of the other teams also...

Christopher · 26 Nov 2006, 08:50 (Ref:1775103)

Enjoyable race, Germany and Nico in a class of there own, very talented driver for someone so young. Too bad Ryan Briscoe broke his front spoiler, he could have been dicing up the front.

Kiwi3 · 26 Nov 2006, 09:08 (Ref:1775105)

A bit of a strange race where some teams were at times very quick, and at other times very slow. According to a post race interview with Alex Yoong tyre pressures might have had a lot to do with it.

Germany, Britain, USA seemed to have it right, NZ sunk to 8th.

Mr Happy · 26 Nov 2006, 10:19 (Ref:1775140)

Very impressive race, some incredible drives!

Who would you put as driver of the day??
I feel its between Hulkenberg and Kerr, although there were some other very solid drives today especially from the rookies who kept it on the tarmac, It was good to see Yooung make a come-back towards the end too.

The championship looks really exciting too:
Germany 37
GBR 31
France 24
Malaysia 24
Mexico 24

Its wide open!

nev · 26 Nov 2006, 10:58 (Ref:1775165)

Just a point - not to dampen the germans win to much but are you allowed to bump start a car in the pit lane. Watch this space, other than that he drove great race

Kebab · 26 Nov 2006, 16:13 (Ref:1775314)

Not sure Kerr could've kept up with Germany even if he hadn't been held up and had to pass several cars ... the A1 Web site says something about the Team GB car having a problem that was getting worse throughout the race.

France recovered very well, are they back in business?

I like wet races, allows the real talent to shine through. Exciting stuff.

Feel a bit sorry for Jani, how sick must he have been getting passed by France again?

strider · 26 Nov 2006, 22:25 (Ref:1775481)

Quote:

Originally Posted by strider

This year it's Switzerland and New Zealand who are sharing data.

Quote:

Originally Posted by outflat

No, it's Germany and New Zealand

You're quite right, of course. I did know, but for some reason just wrote it down incorrectly. I blame the fact that I was in a mad panic to get on the road to spend the weekend with some friends!

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