Charging McIntosh Claims Debut A1 GP Victory
Canadian driver Sean McIntosh (Vancouver) became the first Formula Renault UK Championship graduate to win a race in the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, after a stunning ‘last to first’ win in round eight at Sentul International circuit, Indonesia on Sunday, February 12th.
The 20-year-old secured a drive with Team A1 Canada thanks to finishing second overall in the 2005 Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin. His championship-leading tally of five wins, including four in a row to start the second half of the season, meant he finished just 19 points behind Champion Oliver Jarvis.
A consistent start to the A1 Grand Prix season saw McIntosh win one podium position and lie in 10th place overall before the Indonesian round. A collision on the first lap of the sprint race left McIntosh at the back of the grid for the feature race, but a stellar drive saw him take maximum points.
Lying in 10th place after the opening lap, the 2004 Formula Renault UK Graduate Cup Champion peeled off into the pits for his mandatory stop as the safety car was deployed on lap two. He was then forced to take a drive-through penalty for crossing the pitlane exit line following the first stop, but soon showed the true pace of his car.
A gutsy series of overtaking moves, passing the likes of the USA, Netherlands, Brazil, Switzerland and Australia lifted McIntosh into the top 10 and up to fourth by the halfway mark. By the time the safety car made its third appearance, McIntosh had darted past the Czech Republic’s Tomas Enge and when Great Britain and South Africa made their pitstops, McIntosh assumed the lead to take the first chequered flag for A1 Team Canada.
A jubilant McIntosh said: “This is unbelievable. It was an honour to be on the top step of the podium singing ‘Oh Canada’. The team did a great job and I want to thank them and Wade Cherwayko for the opportunity to race for A1 Team Canada. It certainly wasn’t an easy victory but it sure feels good.”
The win is the perfect send-off for McIntosh, who will now make way for countryman Patrick Carpentier for the next two rounds of the series, which will be held in Mexico and the USA. McIntosh will return for the final round in China on April 2nd.
Stephen Simpson (Poole, Dorset), who also raced in the 2005 Formula Renault UK Championship, led the race for 10 laps representing Team South Africa but fell back to 11th after making his compulsory pitstop with just two laps remaining.
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