Chengdu - Race weekend

[Kiwi3]

Circuit doesn't have a lot of runoff in places (I don't like the look of having a bridge on the inside of the first corner), and will be VERY dusty from lack of use. An onboard lap of the circuit can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk2ZrK1vhEg

And highlights from Renault V6 here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy1GZ...eature=related

GBR rookie James Winslow, IND rookie Armaan Ebrahim (not sure if he is in the car this Friday) and Satrio Hermanto from Indonesia have experience of the circuit. Funnily enough neither China driver does.

[Asa]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

Funnily enough neither China driver does.

That's because the circuit is comparatively new, the FV6A race was about the only race that was held there. For Tung Ho-Pin and Cheng Cong-Fu, they left for Europe long before the circuit was built.

[Kiwi3]

Live timing didn't seem to work during the rookie session. Not surprised, they will find uploading data slow due to the Great Firewall of China.

Anyway...combined rookie results:

Pos A1 Team Driver Time Gap
1 India Narain Karthikeyan 1'16.710 -
2 France Nicolas Prost 1'16.722 0.012
3 Switzerland Alexandre Imperatori 1'17.262 0.552
4 Brazil Felipe Guimarães 1'17.310 0.600
5 New Zealand Chris van der Drift 1'17.460 0.750
6 USA Marco Andretti 1'17.528 0.818
7 Great Britain Danny Watts 1'17.934 1.224
8 Indonesia Zahir Ali 1'17.936 1.226
9 Italy Christian Montanari 1'18.048 1.338
10 Lebanon Daniel Morad 1'18.166 1.456
11 Ireland Niall Quinn 1'18.486 1.776
12 Netherlands Dennis Retera 1'18.826 2.116
13 Malaysia Aaron Lim 1'19.473 2.763
14 Korea Jin-Woo Hwang 1'22.981 6.271
15 Mexico David Garza

Not sure how Narain can still be considered a rookie, presume they gave India permission to go out with Narain in the car since they have not had the opportunity to test.

Zahir Ali did Ok for Indonesia, I think he has more potential than Hermanto. Korea look to be out of their depth again.

[strider]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

Not sure how Narain can still be considered a rookie, presume they gave India permission to go out with Narain in the car since they have not had the opportunity to test.

Yes, see report here.

This season India is being run by David Sears Motorsport, rather than Arena Racing, so Narain should be an even more serious contender.

Danny Watts did as well as could be expected to be 7th, but will presumably drop down the order when the big guns come out to play. In the end, James Winslow has just been used in an advisory capacity.

I think Practice 2 has been run, but can't find any times yet.

[strider]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

Live timing didn't seem to work during the rookie session. Not surprised, they will find uploading data slow due to the Great Firewall of China.

That's really true isn't it? I guess you would know at first hand. When the F1 circus was in China I tried to send an email to an FIA bod and it just came bouncing straight back.

Yet a couple of of weeks later, when they were in Brazil a similar email sailed through.

Off-topic, I know, but slightly disturbing.

[cos]

Originally Posted by strider

I think Practice 2 has been run, but can't find any times yet.

Times here. Mexico didn't make it out again - new car troubles?

[Paddockman]

Looks like plenty of run-off to me. But probably only one overtaking spot.

[Zack]

Originally Posted by strider

Yes, see report here.

This season India is being run by David Sears Motorsport, rather than Arena Racing, so Narain should be an even more serious contender.

Danny Watts did as well as could be expected to be 7th, but will presumably drop down the order when the big guns come out to play. In the end, James Winslow has just been used in an advisory capacity.

I think Practice 2 has been run, but can't find any times yet.

Where you found that information? Does this Team share info with other team? if true, which team?

sorry ..first post ..with too many questions!

[Mak]

India, NZ, Brazil and Lebanon all part of same group and share all setup infomation and data. Whilst it is India's first run they do have all info from tests and races of its team 3 stable mates..

[Mak]

and engineering resourses, which should be an advantage for the start of the season. The cars are very restricted setup wise so this should become less important as all teams have time with the cars. These regulation restrictions mean this should be a drivers series and limit the engineers value.

[Zack]

Thanks Mak

[strider]

Sorry I didn't reply direct, Zack, and welcome to Facebook!

I was trying to find the DSM story, but failed so couldn't provide a link. IIRC, last year they looked after Germany and New Zealand, so what I was thinking was that with Germany taking a different direction this year, perhaps they had picked up India instead. The Team India website hasn't been updated yet; it still refers to Arena Motorsport, but I know that's not right as the guy who engineered Narain last year is not in Chengdu and still looking for a job.

[Kiwi3]

Strider - yes the Great Firewall of China is very real.

Weather forecast was originally cloudy for today (Sat) and showers + fog for tomorrow (Sunday), however it has been revised to just very cloudy to tomorrow. Some rain, added to the dusty and very bumpy circuit, would have been fun.

[Mak]

Just saw qualifying, and good show by GB who had been under the pump, getting car ready for race.. Do think that A1 need to re think choice of venue as chengdu looks a little run down and clubbie for what image A1 are trying to show..Considering the budgets and level it should be at for world wide TV.. Hope they can get back to where they were last year..( or improve) Street races always look more spectacular, so maybe should look that way.. hopefully Indonesia will be ready, as Durban has gone. Indy foer Oz next season would be good. sorry drifting off thread.
David Sears running same teams as last year, just swapped Germany for India

[Kiwi3]

The circuit is a bit run down, especially considering how new it is. The only thing that strikes me the most is that it is DUSTY. There is a layer of dust all over the paddock and pitlane, and the teams are constantly trying to hover it away. Goodness knows what the circuit is like.

All of the drivers are saying how bumpy the track is. Other thing I have realised today is that the car is not really big enough for some drivers. Adam Carroll says that he would like more room in the car, and Robert Doornbos also said in a post qualifying press conference that he has "not a milemetre to spare". No wonder that Adam Khan cannot fit, he is about a foot taller than Adam Carroll!

[jackschmidt]

I thought qualifying was okay. But golly they have to improve their methods of extracting cars. What took them so long to remove the Italian car and cost them to cross out Sprint Quali 2?

All in all though, I'm happy with the action and man, I feel for Nicolas Prost. What an error, though it is really his fault. Hope he learns from it. I think he'll be the dark horse in the feature race, well, assuming he still has that form.

Good to see there's a Cheng Du round. Mugello still stings for me, and I just cannot take A1GP's word anymore if there's an official round or not. Thank goodness we'll get another round in the championship.

[Mak]

Think it is a bit hard to blame Prost.. A more experienced driver( being passed) would have been more aware on cool down laps, and kept off the line at critical places.. Prost only had one shot so had to stay commited. Just a lapse by Korean driver but hope he learns from it.

[strider]

The teams seemed well aware of what might happen, which is why some of them went out earlier than usual. Personally I thought it was all a bit scrappy, but I have to be happy with my two favourite drivers sharing the pole positions!

As for Danny Watts,

Sprint race

Pos Driver                  Team           Time         Gap
 1. Adam Carroll            Ireland        1:15.423
 2. Robert Doornbos         Netherlands    1:15.492  +0.069
 3. Neel Jani               Switzerland    1:15.683  +0.260
 4. Danny Watts             Great Britain  1:15.799  +0.376
 5. Filipe Albuquerque      Portugal       1:16.124  +0.701
 6. Nicolas Prost           France         1:16.164  +0.741
 7. Adrian Zaugg            South Africa   1:16.268  +0.845
 8. Chris van der Drift     New Zealand    1:16.505  +1.082
 9. Narain Karthikeyan      India          1:16.553  +1.130
10. Clivio Piccione         Monaco         1:16.794  +1.371
11. John Martin             Australia      1:17.054  +1.631
12. Felipe Guimaraes        Brazil         1:17.131  +1.708
13. Daniel Morad            Lebanon        1:17.143  +1.720
14. Fairuz Fauzy            Malaysia       1:17.171  +1.748
15. Edoardo Piscopo         Italy          1:17.288  +1.865
16. Marco Andretti          USA            1:17.437  +2.014
17. David Garza             Mexico         1:18.025  +2.602
18. Ho-Pin Tung             China          1:18.126  +2.703
19. Satrio Hermanto         Indonesia      1:19.479  +4.056
20. Jin Woo Hwang           Korea          1:20.102  +4.679

Feature race

Pos Driver                  Team           Time         Gap
 1. Danny Watts             Great Britain  1:15.325
 2. Adam Carroll            Ireland        1:15.356  +0.031
 3. Filipe Albuquerque      Portugal       1:15.400  +0.075
 4. Neel Jani               Switzerland    1:15.621  +0.296
 5. Adrian Zaugg            South Africa   1:15.947  +0.622
 6. Fairuz Fauzy            Malaysia       1:15.963  +0.638
 7. Clivio Piccione         Monaco         1:16.016  +0.691
 8. Robert Doornbos         Netherlands    1:16.124  +0.799
 9. John Martin             Australia      1:16.289  +0.964
10. Felipe Guimaraes        Brazil         1:16.403  +1.078
11. Marco Andretti          USA            1:16.557  +1.232
12. Nicolas Prost           France         1:16.604  +1.279
13. Daniel Morad            Lebanon        1:16.702  +1.377
14. David Garza             Mexico         1:16.985  +1.660
15. Chris van der Drift     New Zealand    1:17.176  +1.851
16. Narain Karthikeyan      India          1:17.218  +1.893
17. Ho-Pin Tung             China          1:17.299  +1.974
18. Satrio Hermanto         Indonesia      1:17.759  +2.434
19. Edoardo Piscopo         Italy          1:17.845  +2.520
20. Jin Woo Hwang           Korea          1:18.875  +3.550

[LucaBadoer]

Was looking forward to seeing more of Earl Bamber this weekend. Don't New Zealand want to win this championship or something!?

To chop and change so much in one season and be so competitive in everything - he's going to be HUGE!

2008 season:
F3 AUS - 2 rounds, 1 podium, 1 fastest lap
F.Master - 1 round, 1 win
FV6 Asia - 4 rounds, 5 wins, 7 podiums, 2 pole positions, 6 fastest laps
GP2 Asia - 1 round, 1 podium
A1GP - 1 round, 2 podiums

Superstar! Giltrap will surely have to bring him back if Van Der Drift is as (relatively) poor on raceday as he was in quali!

[SALEEN S7R]

Nice to see Team GB up at the front of the time sheets once again, and with so little running time with the car! Will be interesting to see if Danny Watts can run and hide from the pack in the sprint race tommorow, starting from pole is definately a good start anyway.

Im starting to like the new cars too, didnt really see what they could do on a tight and twisty Zandvoort circuit in the wet. Going by the pace we saw today I would say they are about the same speed as a WSR car or Superleague formula machine. A nice step forward from the previous car, and will be good when all the teams start to close up, should make for some great racing. IMO.

[Peter Dunne]

Have to say a big "well done" to Adam (Pup) Carroll. Pole and second! Nice one!

[RichardRenes]

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

Nice to see Team GB up at the front of the time sheets once again, and with so little running time with the car! Will be interesting to see if Danny Watts can run and hide from the pack in the sprint race tommorow, starting from pole is definately a good start anyway.

Im starting to like the new cars too, didnt really see what they could do on a tight and twisty Zandvoort circuit in the wet. Going by the pace we saw today I would say they are about the same speed as a WSR car or Superleague formula machine. A nice step forward from the previous car, and will be good when all the teams start to close up, should make for some great racing. IMO.

At Donnington, the new A1 car proved to be better than the Superleague car, so I think you have to look, for comparison, to GP2 and/or the old Champcar series.

[Steevp]

Can anyone tell me what times the races are on Sky Sunday? All I can find live is a 30 minute show at 5:30am..

[Mak]

Not that it matters who is quickest, but I think you may find Ferrari turned up the wick and had extra push to past to increase the lap time. Just a good PR stunt.. What matters is the TV spectacle and racing which is always good in A1. Tomorrow we will see how the new cars are racing in the dry. I think they will be very good, especially with new improved push top pass.. Will be interesting with cars off that gripped up line... Can't really compare to GP2 as its a totally different concept.

[Mak]

Steevp... streamed direct from A1 web site..