2005/2006 A1 GRAND PRIX

• 1. France 172
  2. Switzerland 121
  3. Great Britain 97
  4. New Zealand 77
  5. Malaysia 74
  6. Brazil 71
  7. Netherlands 69
  8. Ireland 68
  9. Portugal 66
  10. Mexico 59
  11. Canada 59
  12. Czech Republic 56
  13. Australia 51
  14. Italy 46
  15. Germany 38
  16. USA 23
  17. South Africa 20
  18. Indonesia 16
  19. Austria 14
  20. Pakistan 10
  21. Japan 8
  22. China 6

A1 GP RESULT & CALENDAR (2005/2006)

• 12 round championship:
• 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------
• R1, 25 Sep: Brands Hatch, (UK) - won by Brazil (Piquet Jr)
• R2, 9 Oct: EuroSpeedway, Lausitz (GER) - won by France (Lapierre)
• R3, 23 Oct: Circuito Estoril (POR) - won by France (Premat)
• R4, 6 Nov: Eastern Creek, Sydney (AUS) - won by France (Lapierre)
• R5, 20 Nov: Sepang International Circuit (MAL) - won by France (Premat)
• R6, 11 Dec: Dubai Autodrome (UAE) - won by France (Lapierre)
• 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------
• R7, 15 Jan: Sentul Circuit (IND) *** cancelled due to death of Dubai Emir, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum ***
• R8, 29 Jan: Durban, (S Africa) - won by Netherland (Jos Verstappen)
• R9, 12 Feb: Sentul (IND) - won by Canada (Sean McIntosh)
• R10, 26 Feb: Parque Fundidora, Monterrey (MEX) - won by France (Premat)
• R11, 19 Mar: Laguna Seca, California (US)
• R12, 2 Apr: Shanghai International Circuit (CHN)

A1GP RACE FORMAT:

• Sprint Race: from a rolling start, 18 lap race
• determines the final grid positions
• Feature Race: 36 laps

A1GP POINTS SYSTEM: 1st = 10 points 2nd = 9 3rd = 8 4th = 7 5th = 6 6th = 5 7th = 4 8th = 3 9th = 2 10th =1

A1GP TOTAL PRIZE MONEY:

• $1,000,000 USD

A1 GP DRIVERS

• Australia : Christian Jones, Will Power & Will Davison
• Austria : Mathias Lauda
• Brazil : Nelson Piquet Jr & João Paulo Oliveira
• Canada : Sean McIntosh
• China : Ma Qinghua & Teng Yi Jiang
• Czech Rep : Tomas Enge, Jarek Janis & Jan Charouz
• France : Alexandre Premat & Nicolas Lapierre
• Germany : Timo Scheider
• Great Britain : Robbie Kerr & Alex Lloyd
• India : Karun Chandok & Armaan Ebrahim
• Indonesia : Ananda Mikola
• Ireland : Ralph Firman & Michael Devaney
• Italy : Matteo Bobbi, Gianmaria Bruni & Daniel La Rosa
• Japan : Ryo Fukuda & Hideki Noda
• Lebanon : Kalil Beschir & Basil Shaaban
• Malaysia : Alex Yoong & Fairuz Fauzy
• Mexico : Salvador Duran
• Netherlands : Jos Verstappen & Jeroen Bleekemolen
• New Zealand : Jonny Reid & Matt Halliday
• Pakistan : Adam Khan & Nur B. Ali
• Portugal : Pedro Lamy, Alvaro Parente & Joao Urbano
• Russia : Nicolai Fomenko & Alexey Vassiliev
• South Africa : Stephen Simpson
• USA : Scott Speed

PRESS RELEASE:

Six former F1 drivers and Four Champ Car drivers Line Up For Mexico - A1 Grand Prix field is getting stronger by the day

• Patrick Friesacher, Minardi F1 race driver in 2005, will replace Mathias Lauda in this weekend's Mexico A1 Grand Prix round, A1 Team Austria announced yesterday.
• ChampCar winners, Patrick Carpentier and Bryan Herta have also been announced to drive for Team Canada and USA respectively in Mexico for the first time.
• The A1GP drivers lineup is looking increasingly stronger by the day as there are now 6 former Formula 1 drivers (Jos Verstappen-Ned, Tomas Enge-Cze, Ralph Firman-Irl, Christian Fittipaldi-Bra, Friesacher-Aut and Alex Yoong-Mal) and 4 ChampCar drivers (Carpentier-Can, Herta-USA, Marcus Marshall-Aus and Salvador Duran-Mex) not to mention F1 tester, Neel Jani of Switzerland as well as F1 hopes Alex Premat of France, Robbie Kerr of GBR and Timo Scheider of Germany.
• So, how can Max Mosley, FIA's President, say that the A1GP driver lineup is weak?
• The competition in A1 Grand Prix is second to none bar Formula 1 and arguably ChampCar, AND it is mere fear of it going to greater heights that draw this sort of criticisms.
• Meanwhile, it was reliably learnt that A1 Team India will not be at Mexico as it continues to be embroiled in a management tussle over driver choice. Rumours also have it that the management will be changed and a more experienced driver be appointed for the USA round. (Max Revson) FEB 21, 2006
• A1 TEAM AUSTRALIA APPOINTS NEW BUSINESS HEAD - NOV 13, 2005

A1GP: BRITISH DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT (APR 14, 2005)

A1 TEAM GREAT BRITAIN TO BE RUN BY ARDEN MOTORSPORT FOUR DRIVERS TO COMPETE IN SHOOT OUT FOR THE SEAT

A1 Team Great Britain Chairman, John Surtees, has announced details of the team that will run for Great Britain in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix Championship, and the drivers who will take part in a shoot out for the prestigious drive in the first World Cup of Motorsport.

The Arden International Motorsport team, owned by Christian Horner, and based in Banbury, Oxon, will run the Lola chassis car in the A1 Grand Prix championship. They will also carry out driver evaluation, in conjunction with John Surtees, at Brands Hatch on the 23rd and 24th May when four of Great Britain's top international drivers, Adam Carroll, Ralph Firman, Robbie Kerr and Alex Lloyd, will compete for the chance to represent their country against nations from the four corners of the world.

Explaining the importance of A1 Grand Prix, John said: "The British motorsport industry is worth over £4 billion to this country. It largely sprung from that first success inspired by Tony Vandervell. A1 is an example of British engineering and technology being at the forefront, with Sheikh Maktoum having placed his faith in the purchase of 50 Lola A1 cars and an equivalent number of engines plus spares from Zytek. Apart from the championship promoting British products, the important message is that there are opportunities for British business to get behind the British team in what will become the World Cup of Motorsport. One only has to see the political involvement and the business persons who have backed the teams that have been launched in South Africa, Mexico, Australia, China, Pakistan and Lebanon, to realise that this championship revolves around big business and big opportunities. To those that have talked about it being a rival or replacement to Formula One I say, no. Formula One has its own special part to play in the world of motorsport. A1 is different and if anything complements Formula One and of course happens at a different time of year."

A1 Grand Prix Founder, President and Chairman, Sheikh Maktoum commented: "I'm happy and delighted that the British team is gearing up to take on the challenge of A1 Grand Prix. Both John Surtees and Christian Horner have a history of successes in motorsport and I wish them both the best of luck in the championship."

Six months ago, in London, A1 Team Great Britain was the first A1 Grand Prix team to hold its official launch. Since then John and his team, together with the other members of the consortium backing the project, have been working hard to put together a group that they feel will be both successful and a credit to the UK. As the only man ever to have won world championships on both two and four wheels, John knows what it takes to win in motorsport. After a successful career on bikes, that saw him clinch seven world championships, he not only raced cars, but also built them. Team Surtees produced Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 5000 cars that were to race and win titles round the world. Arden International Motorsport founded in 1997 by racing driver Christian Horner, has won the Drivers' title twice and Teams' title three times in the FIA Formula 3000 Championship, and is running two cars in the new GP2 series. The four drivers represent the best of British motorsport.

Former Grand Prix driver, Ralph Firman, was also the first A1 Grand Prix test driver. In his racing career he has won the British Formula 3 Championship, the Formula Nippon Championship and the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award. Another winner of this prestigious Autosport award is Alex Lloyd who, at the age of 20, has already tested a Formula One car and raced in the European Formula 3000 and Formula Renault Championships.

Robbie Kerr, who has also been on testing duty for A1 Grand Prix, won the British Formula 3 Championship in 2002, having won the Scholarship class the year before. Adam Carroll has a string of championship titles to his name. He also won the British F3 Championship scholarship class and, in 2004, was runner up in the overall championship in what turned out to be an extremely competitive series.

The announcement was made at a Motorsport Industry Association dinner in Oxfordshire, where the A1 Team China car was on display alongside the Lola Mk 4, the first Formula 1 car built by that company on the inspiration of John in 1962. The car gained 4th place in the Formula One World Championship in that year in front of such illustrious names as Ferrari and Porsche. The China car, in its country's livery, was flown directly from Beijing following the official launch of the Chinese team earlier this month. Background on A1 Grand Prix One year ago, in his home land of Dubai, the A1 Grand Prix championship Founder, President and Chairman, His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum launched the unique concept of a World Cup of Motorsport where the two worlds of business and motorsport would meet.

The championship will create a level playing field for teams with identical cars that owe much to UK motorsport technology. The chassis is produced by Huntingdon's Lola International and the engine by Zytek Engineering, who are based in Repton, Derbyshire. The cars will all run on the same tyres from the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, based in the USA, but whose racing operation is run by Avon Tyres Racing out of the company's UK premises in Melksham, Wiltshire. The first race of the A1 Grand Prix championship will be at Brands Hatch on the 25th September and this, along with all the rounds, will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports.

The full calendar is yet to be released, but A1 Grand Prix has already announced China and Australia will host rounds of the championship that is to be run over the northern hemisphere's winter months -- motor racing's traditional off season. Sixteen nations -- Great Britain, China, South Africa, Pakistan, Portugal, Lebanon, Canada, Malaysia, Australia, Mexico, South Korea, Turkey, Netherlands, India, Brazil and New Zealand -- have already signed up. Many more are in the pipeline and each race will see the national pride of at least eighty per cent of the world's population represented on the grid.

A1GP: AUSTRALIAN A1GP ANNOUNCEMENT (MARCH 30, 2005)

A1 GRAND PRIX MARKS FIRST BIRTHDAY WITH AUSTRALIAN RACE ANNOUNCEMENT (MAR 30, 2005)

A1 Grand Prix marked its first birthday today with the launch of A1 Team Australia exactly one year on from the championship's official launch in Dubai. With 15 national teams signed up so far and another 10 teams in the final stages of negotiations, A1 Grand Prix is now counting down to its first race this September. To date, some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, with an estimated net worth of 50 billion US dollars, have demonstrated their commitment to the championship by investing in their national teams. Presidents, Prime Ministers and numerous government ministers, statesmen and high-profile celebrities have backed A1 Grand Prix through attendance at the five national launches which have taken place so far.

In the latest high-profile ceremony, Australia became the sixth country to unveil its A1 Grand Prix race car and the second nation to be announced as an A1 Grand Prix race venue. A1 Grand Prix Founder, President and Chairman Sheikh Maktoum took the opportunity to confirm Australia would host an A1 Grand Prix race at a location and date that will be confirmed when the final calendar is announced. Speaking of his country's involvement in the new championship, A1 Team Australia Chairman Alan Jones commented, 'There is no doubt that Australians love their sport and their motor racing. To compete in an international series and to have one race in Australia is very exciting. We are here not just to win but to use this as an opportunity for Australia's up and coming drivers'.

A1 Grand Prix Founder, President and Chairman Sheikh Maktoum spoke of his excitement for Australia's involvement in the championship. 'With over 200 countries in the world and only 25 places on the A1 Grand Prix grid, I'm delighted and honoured to have A1 Team Australia launch this evening with such national support from its government, businesses and people.' Sheikh Maktoum took the opportunity of the launch of the Australian A1 Team to announce the participation in A1 Grand Prix of Australia's closest rival, New Zealand. The franchise, which brings the total to 16, has been bought by entrepreneur businessman Colin Giltrap of Giltrap Group Holdings Limited. Christian Jones will take the wheel of the Australian A1 Grand Prix race car for a media demonstration at the Eastern Creek circuit on Thursday 31 March.

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