DRIVERS NOMINATED FOR QUALIFYING
Excitement is building ahead of this weekend’s A1GP Shanghai, China with A1 Team New Zealand, the only team that can stop Germany claiming the championship title this weekend, topping the timing sheets in this morning’s final practice session while A1 Team Germany set only the ninth fastest lap time. With race winning Nico Hülkenberg back behind the wheel of the German car, the team put in a fastest lap of 1.36.874, nearly one second off pace setter Jonny Reid (1.35.878).
Last year’s Feature race winners, A1 Team Malaysia benefited from yesterday’s track time, taking the opportunity to learn the new section of the track, clocking the second fastest lap time, up from ninth yesterday afternoon. Switzerland rounded up the top three, again improving on their seventh place finish of yesterday.
For A1 Teams USA and India, consistency seemed to be the key as they remained in fourth and fifth respectively while for A1 Team Great Britain, yesterday’s pace failed to materialise. Driver Robbie Kerr, who is looking to match the Feature race win scored by team mate, Oliver Jarvis at the last event in Mexico, set a fastest lap time of 1.36.622, over one second slower than yesterday’s time (1.35.573).
The teams now have to decide on their set up before qualifying for the Sprint race begins at 14.15 this afternoon. Qualifying consists of four 15 minute sessions with a five minute break between each. Only one driver per A1 Team is allowed to take part in Qualifying and that driver must have completed at least three timed laps in an Official Practice session. Each driver is limited to three laps - effectively one “flying lap” - per session and must record at least two times, an aggregate of which will determine that A1 Team’s position on the grid for Sunday’s Sprint race. The grid for the Feature race will be determined by the outcome of the Sprint race.
Official Practice Session 3
POS DRIVER A1 TEAM TIME GAP_FIRST LAPS1 Jonny REID NEW ZEALAND 1:35.878 - 212 Alex YOONG MALAYSIA 1:36.264 +0.386 193 Sebastien BUEMI SWITZERLAND 1:36.405 +0.527 244 Narain KARTHIKEYAN INDIA 1:36.438 +0.560 215 Jonathan SUMMERTON USA 1:37.000 +0.674 236 Robbie KERR GREAT BRITAIN 1:36.622 +0.744 217 Jean Karl VERNAY FRANCE 1:36.730 +0.852 238 Renger VAN DER ZANDE NETHERLANDS 1:36.843 +0.965 249 Nico HÜLKENBERG GERMANY 1:36.874 +0.996 1710 Congfu CHENG CHINA 1:36.952 +1.074 2511 Alan VAN DER MERWE SOUTH AFRICA 1:36.989 +1.111 1912 Sergio PEREZ MEXICO 1:37.017 +1.139 1813 Vitor MEIRA BRAZIL 1:37.084 +1.206 2614 Sean McINTOSH CANADA 1:37.139 +1.261 2515 Enrico TOCCACELO ITALY 1:37.173 +1.295 1816 Ananda MIKOLA INDONESIA 1:37.314 +1.436 2317 Joao URBANO PORTUGAL 1:37.380 +1.502 2618 Richard LYONS IRELAND 1:37.735 +1.857 2619 Allam KHODAIR LEBANON 1:37.860 +1.982 2320 Ian DYK AUSTRALIA 1:38.219 +2.341 2121 Filip SALAQUARDA CZECH REPUBLIC 1:39.407 +3.529 1722 Nur ALI PAKISTAN 1:39.458 +3.580 25
Nominated drivers for Qualifying – A1GP Shanghai, China
A1 Team DriverAustralia Ian DykBrazil Vitor MeiraCanada Sean McIntoshChina Congfu ChengCzech Republic Filip SalaquadraFrance Jean Karl VernayGermany Nico HülkenbergGreat Britain Robbie KerrIndia Narain KarthikeyanIndonesia Ananda MikolaIreland Richard LyonsItaly Enrico ToccaceloLebanon Allam KhodairMalaysia Alex YoongMexico Salvador DuranNetherlands Renger van der ZandeNew Zealand Jonny ReidPakistan Nur AliPortugal Joao UrbanoSouth Africa Alan van der MerweSwitzerland Sebastien BuemiUSA Jonathan Summerton
