France Tops Friday Practice in Taupo
Miroslav Sanytrák | 27.1.08 | A1GP
New Zealand - A1 Team France topped the time sheets in the second of today's two free practice sessions at Taupo as all 22 drivers took to the track with biofuel in their tanks, making history at round five of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season. Despite not taking part in the rookie session this morning, 25-year-old French driver Loic Duval clocked the best lap of the day, completing the 3.5km circuit in 1m15.545s in glorious sunshine.
"It was a good session for us especially without the rookie session this morning", Duval said. "We worked with the data from last year and I think the car was great, I feel really good here. Actually it means nothing to be on the front row on Friday, it happened many times last year and I didn"t get pole position, so that is my target for tomorrow."
The magnificent Lake Taupo provides the backdrop for one of the most picturesque races of the season and Duval sites the event as one of the highlights on the A1GP calendar:
"For me this is the best country we go to, it"s really good here. It feels more like a holiday. I love the track, the people, the mentality, it"s just perfect to be here."
Ireland"s Adam Carroll, who was the quickest man on track in the first 25-minute practice segment this morning, set the second fastest time of the day while championship leader Switzerland"s Neel Jani finished third, just over a tenth of a second off the emerald green car.
Defending champion Germany"s Christian Vietoris has been on strong form all day and the 18-year-old from Gönnersdorf set the fourth fastest time of the day while USA"s Jonathan Summerton took the fifth spot. A1 Team Great Britain driver Robbie Kerr finished the day in sixth place, closely followed by Canada"s Robert Wickens in seventh, who was on superb form in this morning"s rookie session.
Home nation A1 Team New Zealand"s Jonny Reid was eighth quickest this afternoon but remains optimistic for the weekend ahead. The 24-year-old from Auckland finished the day eighth fastest overall.
"It was a very tough session," Reid said. "Everyone was very very tight in the times but we"ve got some areas where we can improve. The track conditions were changing a lot and obviously we didn"t get as close as we would have liked, but there"s still plenty of time over these early days. There"s not too much to change overnight really. We had a small problem which we will improve but if we actually look at all my sector times I"m sure we"re very close to France, so we just need to capitalise on one small area and hopefully we will be there."
Australia"s new lead driver John Martin was an impressive second fastest in both sessions this morning, finally ending the day in 12th place behind Italy"s Edoardo Piscopo.
The times are just under a second slower than last year, largely due to Turn 12 being a much tighter corner, designed to increase overtaking opportunities.
| POS | A1 TEAM | DRIVER | TIME S1 | LAP S1 | TIME S2 | LAP S2 | TIME | GAP FIRST |
| 1 | CANADA | Robert WICKENS | 01:18.0 | 7 | 01:17.1 | 12 | 01:17.1 | |
| 2 | AUSTRALIA | John MARTIN | 01:17.3 | 13 | 01:17.2 | 16 | 01:17.2 | 0.167 |
| 3 | IRELAND | Adam CARROLL | 01:17.3 | 11 | 01:17.8 | 12 | 01:17.3 | 0.244 |
| 4 | GERMANY | Christian VIETORIS | 01:17.6 | 12 | 01:17.4 | 12 | 01:17.4 | 0.374 |
| 5 | NEW ZEALAND | Brendon HARTLEY | 01:17.8 | 14 | 01:17.5 | 16 | 01:17.5 | 0.382 |
| 6 | MEXICO | David GARZA | 01:18.2 | 13 | 01:17.7 | 15 | 01:17.7 | 0.636 |
| 7 | NETHERLANDS | Arie LUYENDYK | 01:17.8 | 12 | 01:18.2 | 15 | 01:17.8 | 0.77 |
| 8 | ITALY | Edoardo PISCOPO | 01:18.7 | 13 | 01:17.9 | 16 | 01:17.9 | 0.788 |
| 9 | LEBANON | Chris ALAJAJIAN | 01:18.2 | 10 | 01:18.0 | 9 | 01:18.0 | 0.91 |
| 10 | USA | Charlie KIMBALL | 01:19.5 | 12 | 01:18.0 | 10 | 01:18.0 | 0.929 |
| 11 | SOUTH AFRICA | Wesleigh ORR | 01:18.7 | 14 | 01:18.4 | 3 | 01:18.4 | 1.298 |
| 12 | GREAT BRITAIN | James WINSLOW | 01:19.6 | 11 | 01:18.4 | 14 | 01:18.4 | 1.349 |
| 13 | INDONESIA | Satrio HERMANTO | 01:19.4 | 14 | 01:18.8 | 12 | 01:18.8 | 1.767 |
| 14 | BRAZIL | Clemente DE FARIA JR. | 01:21.0 | 14 | 01:19.0 | 16 | 01:19.0 | 1.94 |
| 15 | SWITZERLAND | Tom DILLMAN | 01:19.3 | 15 | 01:19.1 | 12 | 01:19.1 | 2.046 |
| 16 | MALAYSIA | Aaron LIM | 01:20.6 | 12 | 01:19.7 | 8 | 01:19.7 | 2.672 |
| 17 | PORTUGAL | Federico DUARTE | 01:24.0 | 6 | 01:21.3 | 2 | 01:21.3 | 4.197 |
| 18 | INDIA | Parthiva SURESHWAREN | 01:23.9 | 6 | 0 | 01:23.9 | 6.832 | |
| 19 | CZECH REPUBLIC | Jarek JANIS | 01:31.8 | 3 | 0 | 01:31.8 | 14.74 |
A1GP Taupo, New Zealand - A1 Teams Nominated Drivers
| POS | DRIVER | A1 TEAM | TIME | GAP_FIRST | LAPS |
| 1 | Loic DUVAL | FRANCE | 01:15.5 | - | 23 |
| 2 | Adam CARROLL | IRELAND | 01:15.8 | 0.254 | 19 |
| 3 | Neel JANI | SWITZERLAND | 01:15.9 | 0.374 | 19 |
| 4 | Christian VIETORIS | GERMANY | 01:16.0 | 0.441 | 23 |
| 5 | Jonathan SUMMERTON | USA | 01:16.0 | 0.455 | 26 |
| 6 | Robbie KERR | GREAT BRITAIN | 01:16.0 | 0.482 | 19 |
| 7 | Robert WICKENS | CANADA | 01:16.1 | 0.52 | 18 |
| 8 | Jonny REID | NEW ZEALAND | 01:16.1 | 0.529 | 29 |
| 9 | Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN | NETHERLANDS | 01:16.2 | 0.683 | 22 |
| 10 | Adrian ZAUGG | SOUTH AFRICA | 01:16.3 | 0.723 | 20 |
| 11 | Edoardo PISCOPO | ITALY | 01:16.4 | 0.892 | 26 |
| 12 | John MARTIN | AUSTRALIA | 01:16.5 | 0.918 | 25 |
| 13 | Sergio JIMENEZ | BRAZIL | 01:16.6 | 1.008 | 28 |
| 14 | Alex YOONG | MALAYSIA | 01:16.6 | 1.029 | 27 |
| 15 | Narain KARTHIKEYAN | INDIA | 01:16.6 | 1.045 | 25 |
| 16 | Chris ALAJAJIAN | LEBANON | 01:16.8 | 1.232 | 20 |
| 17 | David GARZA | MEXICO | 01:16.8 | 1.265 | 23 |
| 18 | Tomas ENGE | CZECH REPUBLIC | 01:17.0 | 1.422 | 25 |
| 19 | Joao URBANO | PORTUGAL | 01:17.1 | 1.544 | 30 |
| 20 | Congfu CHENG | CHINA | 01:17.3 | 1.771 | 27 |
| 21 | Adam KHAN | PAKISTAN | 01:17.7 | 2.129 | 26 |
| 22 | Satrio HERMANTO | INDONESIA | 01:18.3 | 2.74 | 26 |
| A1 Team | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
| Australia | John Martin* | |
| Brazil | Sergio Jimenez | Clemente de Faria Jnr* |
| Canada | Robert Wickens* | |
| China | Congfu Cheng | |
| Czech Republic | Jarek Janis* | Tomas Enge |
| France | Loic Duval | |
| Germany | Christian Vietoris* | |
| Great Britain | Robbie Kerr | James Winslow* |
| India | Narain Karthikeyan | Parthiva Sureshwaren* |
| Indonesia | Satrio Hermanto* | |
| Ireland | Adam Carroll* | |
| Italy | Edoardo Piscopo* | |
| Lebanon | Khalil Beschir | Chris Alajajian* |
| Malaysia | Alex Yoong | Aaron Lim* |
| Mexico | David Garza* | |
| Netherlands | Jeroen Bleekemolen | Arie Luyendyk Jr* |
| New Zealand | Jonny Reid | Brendon Hartley* |
| Pakistan | Adam Khan | |
| Portugal | Joao Urbano | Frederico Duarte* |
| South Africa | Adrian Zaugg | Wesleigh Orr* |
| Switzerland | Neel Jani | Tom Dillmann* |
| USA | Jonathan Summerton | Charlie Kimball* |
A1GP Taupo, New Zealand Drivers Nominated for Qualifying
New Zealand - A1 Team France continued to dominate the on-track action at Taupo, setting the pace in the third and final practice session this morning in sunny but blustery weather conditions, ahead of qualifying in New Zealand this afternoon.
Loic Duval stormed to the top of the time sheets early on, improving throughout the hour to finish the session with a best lap of 1m15.292s around the picturesque 3.5km circuit. Duval was closely followed by Great Britain"s Robbie Kerr in second and Germany"s Christian Vietoris in third.
Despite spending the first half of the session confined to the garage with a technical problem, championship leader Switzerland"s Neel Jani set the fourth quickest time of the hour, just ahead of home nation New Zealand"s Jonny Reid in fifth. China"s Congfu Cheng was on fine form this morning, ending the session in a strong sixth position.
Canada"s Robert Wickens finished the session seventh with exactly the same lap time as China while Sergio Jimenez clocked the eighth fastest lap in the Brazilian car. Australia"s John Martin and the Netherland"s Jeroen Bleekemolen ended the morning ninth and 10th quickest respectively in what was an incredibly close session, with just over a second separating the top 14 teams.
The 22 nations now have to decide on their set ups before qualifying for the Sprint and Feature races starts at 14.15 this afternoon. Qualifying consists of four 15 minute sessions with a five minute break between each one. The fastest lap time set by each team"s nominated driver in the first two qualifying segments will determine the grid for the rolling start Sprint race, while the fastest times set in the final two segments will determine how the 22 cars will line up on the grid for the standing start Feature race. Each driver is limited to one "flying lap" per 15 minute session.
| POS | DRIVER A1 | TEAM | TIME | GAP_FIRST | LAPS |
| 1 | Loic DUVAL | FRANCE | 01:15.292 | - | 27 |
| 2 | Robbie KERR | GREAT BRITAIN | 01:15.410 | 0.118 | 29/td> |
| 3 | Christian VIETORIS | GERMANY | 01:15.515 | 0.223 | 30/td> |
| 4 | Neel JANI | SWITZERLAND | 01:15.590 | 0.298 | 26/td> |
| 5 | Jonny REID | NEW ZEALAND | 01:15.601 | 0.309 | 27/td> |
| 6 | Congfu CHENG | CHINA | 01:15.752 | 0.46 | 32/td> |
| 7 | Robert WICKENS | CANADA | 01:15.752 | 0.46 | 23/td> |
| 8 | Sergio JIMENEZ | BRAZIL | 01:15.778 | 0.486 | 24/td> |
| 9 | John MARTIN | AUSTRALIA | 01:15.800 | 0.508 | 31/td> |
| 10 | Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN | NETHERLANDS | 01:15.982 | 0.69 | 22/td> |
| 11 | Jonathan SUMMERTON | USA | 01:15.999 | 0.707 | 30/td> |
| 12 | David GARZA | MEXICO | 01:16.125 | 0.833 | 34/td> |
| 13 | Adam CARROLL | IRELAND | 01:16.187 | 0.895 | 24/td> |
| 14 | Narain KARTHIKEYAN | INDIA | 01:16.324 | 1.032 | 29/td> |
| 15 | Edoardo PISCOPO | ITALY | 01:16.594 | 1.302 | 28/td> |
| 16 | Alex YOONG | MALAYSIA | 01:16.633 | 1.341 | 32/td> |
| 17 | Joao URBANO | PORTUGAL | 01:16.755 | 1.463 | 24/td> |
| 18 | Adrian ZAUGG | SOUTH AFRICA | 01:16.834 | 1.542 | 18/td> |
| 19 | Satrio HERMANTO | INDONESIA | 01:16.977 | 1.685 | 15/td> |
| 20 | Chris ALAJAJIAN | LEBANON | 01:17.034 | 1.742 | 23/td> |
| 21 | Tomas ENGE | CZECH REPUBLIC | 01:17.089 | 1.797 | 19/td> |
| 22 | Adam KHAN | PAKISTAN | 01:17.319 | 2.027 | 30/td> |
| A1 TEAM | DRIVER |
| Australia | John Martin |
| Brazil | Sergio Jimenez |
| Canada | Robert Wickens |
| China | CongFu Cheng |
| Czech Republic | Tomas Enge |
| France | Loic Duval |
| Germany | Christian Vietoris |
| Great Britain | Robbie Kerr |
| India | Narain Karthikeyan |
| Indonesia | Satrio Hermanto |
| Ireland | Adam Carroll |
| Italy | Edoardo Piscopo |
| Lebanon | Chris Alajajian |
| Malaysia | Alex Yoong |
| Mexico | David Garza |
| Netherlands | Jeroen Bleekemolen |
| New Zealand | Jonny Reid |
| Pakistan | Adam Khan |
| Portugal | Joao Urbano |
| South Africa | Adrian Zaugg |
| Switzerland | Neel Jani |
| USA | Jonathan Summerton |
New Zealand and France on Pole at Taupo
New Zealand - Home nation A1 Team New Zealand qualified in pole position for tomorrow morning"s Sprint race at Taupo while France took the Feature race pole. It was an unusual qualifying hour as the majority of teams waited as late as possible to take to the windy, dusty track during each of the four 15-minute qualifying segments.
Sprint race qualifying
The crowds roared as New Zealand"s Jonny Reid set the fastest lap in the closing minutes of the second 15-minute qualifying segment to snatch pole position for tomorrow morning"s Sprint race.
South Africa"s Adrian Zaugg will line up alongside the home nation hero on the front row, after an incredible last lap charge during Q2 moved him up to second place. France"s Loic Duval, who has been the man to beat all weekend, will start the race from third position on the second row while Germany"s Christian Vietoris qualified fourth.
The Netherlands" Jeroen Bleekemolen and USA"s Jonathan Summerton will line up on the third row of the grid in fifth and sixth place respectively.
Feature race qualifying
The teams continued to play a waiting game due to the dusty conditions, finally taking to the track with just over two minutes of the final qualifying segment remaining. France"s Loic Duval put in a sensational performance to secure pole for the Feature race ahead of Germany"s Christian Vietoris who will line up alongside him on the front row.
Current championship leader Switzerland"s Neel Jani qualified in third position, closely followed by Canada"s Robert Wickens who will start from fourth on the grid. Home nation New Zealand"s Jonny Reid took the fifth spot while Portugal"s Joao Urbano recorded an incredible lap around the 3.5km circuit to secure sixth position ahead of South Africa.
New Zealand"s Jonny Reid is delighted to be starting tomorrow"s Sprint race from pole position and is aiming for a win in front of his home crowd:
"It was a fantastic feeling to see everyone on their feet in the grandstands as I came across the line. I had no radio communication during the session but I could see the crowd were pretty excited and I was hoping it was at least the front row. It was a very clean lap in Q2 and not many mistakes which is pleasing. We slipped up a bit for the Feature race qualifying but we"ll be there when it comes to the racing tomorrow. I have the home support and I really want this one."
Season one champion France"s Loic Duval has been on superb form all weekend and has high hopes for tomorrow"s Feature race, which he is starting from pole:
"The first part of qualifying was ok because I was first in the first segment, but the set up of the car wasn"t really as good as this morning. It was quite difficult to find a good set up which is why I just took pole for the Feature race. The average of today is not too bad though - first and third - and at the end of the weekend the most important thing is the number of points we can score."
Germany"s Christian Vietoris, who will start the Sprint race from fourth and the Feature race from second on the grid, commented on the dirty, dusty track conditions:
"It is a big problem because you don"t know what to expect at the next corner. Today it was ok but yesterday it was a lot worse and nearly everybody went off the track at some point."
Tomorrow"s Sprint race at Taupo, New Zealand will start at 11.00 local time and the 70-minute Feature race will start at 15.00.
| POS | A1 TEAM | DRIVER | TIME S1 | TIME S2 | BEST TIME | GAP FIRST |
| 1 | NEW ZEALAND | Jonny REID | 01:16.533 | 01:15.241 | 01:15.241 | |
| 2 | SOUTH AFRICA | Adrian ZAUGG | 01:17.423 | 01:15.522 | 01:15.522 | 0.281 |
| 3 | FRANCE | Loic DUVAL | 01:16.340 | 01:15.628 | 01:15.628 | 0.387 |
| 4 | GERMANY | Christian VIETORIS | 01:16.495 | 01:15.724 | 01:15.724 | 0.483 |
| 5 | NETHERLANDS | Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN | 01:17.700 | 01:16.036 | 01:16.036 | 0.795 |
| 6 | USA | Jonathan SUMMERTON | 01:19.515 | 01:16.101 | 01:16.101 | 0.86 |
| 7 | IRELAND | Adam CARROLL | 01:16.846 | 01:16.182 | 01:16.182 | 0.941 |
| 8 | CANADA | Robert WICKENS | 01:17.612 | 01:16.201 01:16.201 | 0.96 | |
| 9 | MALAYSIA | Alex YOONG | 01:19.409 | 01:16.386 | 01:16.386 | 1.145 |
| 10 | BRAZIL | Sergio JIMENEZ | 01:17.516 | 01:16.408 01:16.408 | 1.167 | |
| 11 | SWITZERLAND | Neel JANI | 01:16.978 | 01:16.423 | 01:16.423 | 1.182 |
| 12 | ITALY | Edoardo PISCOPO | 01:17.654 | 01:16.472 | 01:16.472 | 1.231 |
| 13 | GREAT BRITAIN | Robbie KERR | 01:17.876 | 01:16.731 | 01:16.731 | 1.49 |
| 14 | PORTUGAL | Joao URBANO | 01:23.471 | 01:17.147 | 01:17.147 | 1.906 |
| 15 | AUSTRALIA | John MARTIN | 01:18.875 | 01:17.309 | 01:17.309 | 2.068 |
| 16 | CHINA | Congfu CHENG | 01:17.340 | 01:17.340 | 2.099 | |
| 17 | LEBANON | Chris ALAJAJIAN | 01:17.682 | 01:17.682 | 2.441 | |
| 18 | MEXICO | David GARZA | 01:17.809 | 01:17.809 | 2.568 | |
| 19 | CZECH REPUBLIC | Tomas ENGE | 01:19.736 | 01:17.811 | 01:17.811 | 2.57 |
| 20 | INDIA | Narain KARTHIKEYAN | 01:50.053 | 01:17.961 | 01:17.961 | 2.72 |
| 21 | INDONESIA | Satrio HERMANTO | 01:20.597 | 01:18.421 | 01:18.421 | 3.18 |
| 22 | PAKISTAN | Adam KHAN | 01:19.325 | 01:18.635 | 01:18.635 | 3.394 |
| POS | A1 TEAM | DRIVER | TIME S1 | TIME S2 | BEST TIME | GAP FIRST |
| 1 | FRANCE | Loic DUVAL | 01:15.974 | 01:15.296 | 01:15.296 | |
| 2 | GERMANY | Christian VIETORIS | 01:15.869 | 01:15.331 | 01:15.331 | +0.035 |
| 3 | SWITZERLAND | Neel JANI | 01:16.351 | 01:15.476 | 01:15.476 | +0.180 |
| 4 | CANADA | Robert WICKENS | 01:15.922 | 01:15.588 | 01:15.588 | +0.292 |
| 5 | NEW ZEALAND | Jonny REID | 01:15.618 | 01:15.649 | 01:15.618 | +0.322 |
| 6 | PORTUGAL | Joao URBANO | 01:16.627 | 01:15.620 | 01:15.620 | +0.324 |
| 7 | SOUTH AFRICA | Adrian ZAUGG | 01:15.651 | 01:15.651 | +0.355 | |
| 8 | NETHERLANDS | Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN | 01:15.988 | 01:15.795 | 01:15.795 | +0.499 |
| 9 | GREAT BRITAIN | Robbie KERR | 01:16.485 | 01:15.895 | 01:15.895 | +0.599 |
| 10 | USA | Jonathan SUMMERTON | 01:16.185 | 01:15.898 | 01:15.898 | +0.602 |
| 11 | BRAZIL | Sergio JIMENEZ | 01:16.647 | 01:16.024 | 01:16.024 | +0.728 |
| 12 | AUSTRALIA | John MARTIN | 01:16.658 | 01:16.106 | 01:16.106 | +0.810 |
| 13 | IRELAND | Adam CARROLL | 01:16.271 | 01:16.115 | 01:16.115 | +0.819 |
| 14 | MALAYSIA | Alex YOONG | 01:16.198 | 01:16.303 | 01:16.198 | +0.902 |
| 15 | MEXICO | David GARZA | 01:17.977 | 01:16.313 | 01:16.313 | +1.017 |
| 16 | ITALY | Edoardo PISCOPO | 01:16.592 | 01:16.524 | 01:16.524 | +1.228 |
| 17 | LEBANON | Chris ALAJAJIAN | 01:17.871 | 01:16.556 | 01:16.556 | +1.260 |
| 18 | CHINA | Congfu CHENG | 01:17.625 | 01:16.761 | 01:16.761 | +1.465 |
| 19 | INDIA | Narain KARTHIKEYAN | 01:17.248 | 01:16.791 | 01:16.791 | +1.495 |
| 20 | CZECH REPUBLIC | Tomas ENGE | 01:18.217 | 01:17.526 | 01:17.526 | +2.230 |
| 21 | PAKISTAN | Adam KHAN | 01:18.338 | 01:17.556 | 01:17.556 | +2.260 |
| 22 | INDONESIA | Satrio HERMANTO | 01:18.106 | 01:18.395 | 01:18.106 | +2.810 |
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