After dominating practice on Friday and Saturday on the Taupo circuit in New Zealand, A1 Team France will start from pole for the Feature race and third for the Sprint event. A few minutes before qualifying, a strong wind blew a lot of sand onto the track, completely modifying the grip.

 This unforeseen situation led to four unusual sessions, as the majority of teams waited until the very last moment to go out. At the start of practice the balance of the A1 Team France car was not optimal and Loïc Duval could do no better than third. The team reacted instantaneously. A new set-up and a revised strategy enabled Loïc to get back on the pace.

The result was the fastest time in the last 2 sessions that gave him pole for the Feature race. Two podium finishes look on the cards for the team, which will try not to make any mistakes during  the  rest  of  the  weekend  and  fulfil  its  mission:  namely,  to  close  the  gap  to  the championship leader. Olivier Panis, Sporting Director:  “The sandstorm that hit the circuit just before qualifying really  put  the  cat  among  the pigeons, and all the teams that had been competitive in free practice paid the price for this unexpected turn of events.

We managed to limit the damage and set the third-quickest time for the Sprint Race. Loïc bagged pole for the Feature Race after we revised the set-up and sent him out earlier in the final practice session on a cleaner track.

Congratulations to the whole team, which reacted perfectly to the changing conditions. Tomorrow’s   aim   is   a   couple   of   podium   finishes,   and   also   to   close   the   gap   to   the championship leader.” Loïc  Duval:  “It’s  been  a  good  day  for  A1  Team  France.  We  showed  our  speed  in  the morning’s free sessions, and we felt pretty optimistic about qualifying. Unfortunately, the wind and the sand upset our programme. It’s a bit annoying, as in normal conditions we’d have bagged pole for both races.

Today’s results, though, are good and we can tackle tomorrow’s two races with a fair chance of scoring a harvest of points. Switzerland, the championship leader, will start behind us twice. This should enable us to close the gap.”