2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season

2006–07 A1 Grand Prix of Nations
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The 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season was the second season for the A1 Grand Prix series. It began on 1 October 2006, at Circuit Park Zandvoort, and the season ended at Brands Hatch on 29 April 2007. A1 Team Germany won it with 128 points, 35 points lead ahead Team New Zealand.

Teams

24 teams, each representing a different country, signed up for the second A1 Grand Prix season. All teams and drivers competed in Zytek-powered, Cooper Avon-shod and Lola chassis. The following teams competed in the 2006-07 championship:

Race Team Team Seat holder Race drivers Rounds Others drivers
United Kingdom Alan Docking Racing Australia A1 Team Australia Alan Jones Australia Ryan Briscoe 1, 4-5
Australia Karl Reindler 2-3, 6-8
Australia Ian Dyk 9-11
United Kingdom Arena Motorsport Greece A1 Team Greece Stathis Basios Greece Takis Kaitatzis 1-2
Greece Nikos Zakos 2
India A1 Team India Atul Gupta India Armaan Ebrahim 1-5
India Narain Karthikeyan 6, 8-11
India Parthiva Sureshwaren 7
United Kingdom Carlin Motorsport Lebanon A1 Team Lebanon Tameem Auchi Lebanon Basil Shaaban 1, 3, 5
United States Graham Rahal 2
Lebanon Khalil Beschir 4
United Kingdom Alexander Khateeb 6-7
Brazil Allam Khodair 8-11
Czech Republic Charouz Racing System Brazil A1 Team Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Tuka Rocha 1-2, 5, 7 Brazil Ruben Carrapatoso
Brazil Alexandre Negrão
Brazil Luiz Razia
Brazil Raphael Matos 3-4, 6
Brazil Bruno Junqueira 8-9, 11
Brazil Vitor Meira 10
Czech Republic A1 Team Czech Republic Antonin Charouz Czech Republic Tomáš Kostka 1 Czech Republic Jaroslav Janiš
Czech Republic Tomáš Enge 2-4, 6-8
Czech Republic Jaroslav Janiš 5, 9
Czech Republic Filip Salaquarda 10
Czech Republic Jan Charouz 11
France DAMS France A1 Team France Jean Paul Driot France Nicolas Lapierre 1-5
France Loïc Duval 6-8, 11
France Jean Karl Vernay 9-10
South Africa A1 Team South Africa Tokyo Sexwale South Africa Adrian Zaugg 1, 3-4, 8-9, 11 South Africa Gavin Cronje
South Africa Jennifer Murray
South Africa Stephen Simpson 2
South Africa Alan van der Merwe 5-7, 10
United Kingdom A1 Team Great Britain United Kingdom A1 Team Great Britain Tony Clements
John Surtees
United Kingdom Darren Manning 1
United Kingdom Robbie Kerr 2, 4-8, 10-11
United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis 3
Indonesia A1 Team Indonesia Indonesia A1 Team Indonesia N/A Indonesia Ananda Mikola 1-10
Indonesia Moreno Soeprapto 11
United Kingdom John Village Automotive Canada A1 Team Canada Wade Cherwayko Canada James Hinchcliffe 1-3, 6-9
Canada Sean McIntosh 4-5, 10-11
Malaysia A1 Team Malaysia Malaysia A1 Team Malaysia Alex Yoong Malaysia Alex Yoong All Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy
Switzerland Max Motorsport Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland Max Welti Switzerland Sébastien Buemi 1-2, 6-7, 10-11
Switzerland Neel Jani 3-5, 8
Switzerland Marcel Fässler 9
United Kingdom Performance Racing Pakistan A1 Team Pakistan Arif Hussain Pakistan Nur B. Ali All
Netherlands Racing for Holland Netherlands A1 Team The Netherlands Jan Lammers Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 1-9, 11
Netherlands Renger van der Zande 9-10
Canada Status Grand Prix Republic of Ireland A1 Team Ireland Mark Kershaw Republic of Ireland Michael Devaney 1-4
Republic of Ireland Richard Lyons 5-11
United Kingdom Super Nova Racing Germany A1 Team Germany Willi Weber Germany Nico Hülkenberg 1-8, 10-11
Germany Christian Vietoris 9
New Zealand A1 Team New Zealand Colin Giltrap New Zealand Matt Halliday 1, 3, 8, 11
New Zealand Jonny Reid 2, 4-7, 9-10
Belgium Team Astromega China A1 Team China Liu Yu China Congfu Cheng 1-4, 10-11
China Ho-Pin Tung 5-9
Portugal A1 Team Portugal Luis Vicente Portugal Álvaro Parente 8-9, 11
Portugal João Urbano 10
Italy Team Ghinzani Italy A1 Team Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi 1-2 Italy Michele Rugolo
Italy Enrico Toccacelo 3-11
Mexico Teamex Mexico A1 Team Mexico Juan Cortina
Julio Jáuregui
Mexico Salvador Durán 1-9
Mexico Sergio Pérez 10
Mexico Juan Pablo Garcia 11
United Kingdom West Surrey Racing Singapore A1 Team Singapore N.A. Singapore Christian Murchison 1, 3-4, 6-8
Singapore Denis Lian 2
United States A1 Team USA Rick Weidlinger United States Philip Giebler 1-5, 7
United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 6
United States Jonathan Summerton 8-11

3 A1GP Teams did not participate in all races.

Jennifer Murray, from South Africa was the first ever woman to enter in an A1 Grand Prix weekend. She drove in the rookie session of her home race in Durban round.[3]

Races

The second A1 Grand Prix season is scheduled to consist of 11 races, held in 10 different countries. Each race is to be run over a three-day weekend, including a practice session on each of Friday and Saturday before a qualifying session on Saturday, and then two races on Sunday.

There are some changes in weekend program for second season:

Round Date Country Circuit Pole Position Fastest Lap Winner Report
1 S 1 October 2006 Netherlands Netherlands Circuit Park Zandvoort South Africa Adrian Zaugg South Africa Adrian Zaugg South Africa Adrian Zaugg Report
F Malaysia Alex Yoong Germany Nico Hülkenberg
2 S 8 October 2006 Czech Republic Czech Republic Auto Motodrom Brno New Zealand Jonny Reid Malaysia Alex Yoong Malaysia Alex Yoong Report
F United States Philip Giebler Malaysia Alex Yoong
3 S 12 November 2006 China China Jingkai Street Circuit, Beijing Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen Mexico Salvador Durán Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen Report
F Canada James Hinchcliffe Italy Enrico Toccacelo
4 S 26 November 2006 Malaysia Malaysia Sepang International Circuit Switzerland Neel Jani New Zealand Jonny Reid Switzerland Neel Jani Report
F Italy Enrico Toccacelo Germany Nico Hülkenberg
5 S 10 December 2006 Indonesia Indonesia Sentul International Circuit New Zealand Jonny Reid United Kingdom Robbie Kerr New Zealand Jonny Reid Report
F New Zealand Jonny Reid New Zealand Jonny Reid
6 S 21 January 2007 New Zealand New Zealand Taupo Motorsport Park Germany Nico Hülkenberg Germany Nico Hülkenberg Germany Nico Hülkenberg Report
F Germany Nico Hülkenberg Germany Nico Hülkenberg
7 S 4 February 2007 Australia Australia Eastern Creek Raceway Germany Nico Hülkenberg Germany Nico Hülkenberg Germany Nico Hülkenberg Report
F Germany Nico Hülkenberg Germany Nico Hülkenberg
8 S 25 February 2007 South Africa South Africa Durban street circuit Germany Nico Hülkenberg Germany Nico Hülkenberg Germany Nico Hülkenberg Report
F South Africa Adrian Zaugg Germany Nico Hülkenberg
9 S 25 March 2007 Mexico Mexico Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Malaysia Alex Yoong Mexico Salvador Durán Malaysia Alex Yoong Report
F United States Jonathan Summerton United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
10 S 15 April 2007 China China Shanghai International Circuit United Kingdom Robbie Kerr New Zealand Jonny Reid United Kingdom Robbie Kerr Report
F New Zealand Jonny Reid New Zealand Jonny Reid
11 S 29 April 2007 United Kingdom United Kingdom Brands Hatch United Kingdom Robbie Kerr United Kingdom Robbie Kerr United Kingdom Robbie Kerr Report
F Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Germany Nico Hülkenberg

A 12th race had been scheduled to have been held in Brazil however on 17 January 2007 the A1GP organisation announced that as a result of a delay in obtaining a local terrestrial television agreement then the event would be cancelled.[4]

Standings

Pos Team Drivers NetherlandsNLD Czech RepublicCZE ChinaBEI MalaysiaMYS IndonesiaIDN New ZealandNZL AustraliaAUS South AfricaRSA MexicoMEX ChinaSHA United KingdomGBR Pts
spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea
1 Germany Germany Nico Hülkenberg 4 1 Ret 4 5 Ret 2 1 5 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 1 128
Christian Vietoris Ret 9
2 New Zealand New Zealand Matt Halliday 6 11 10 9 3 3 16 8 93
Jonny Reid Ret 7 3 8 1 1 3 3 2 2 16 6 2 1
3 United Kingdom Great Britain Darren Manning 5 7 92
Robbie Kerr 9 6 5 2 3 Ret 8 Ret 19 10 9 2 1 2 1 2
Oliver Jarvis 7 2 2 1
4 France France Nicolas Lapierre 3 Ret 3 Ret 17 4 6 3 7 3 67
Loïc Duval 2 2 3 9 2 Ret 4 7
Jean Karl Vernay Ret 20 Ret 8
5 Netherlands Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 9 4 11 9 1 Ret 7 9 13 DSQ 4 5 5 4 4 6 17 6 5 57
Renger van der Zande 9 9 4
6 Malaysia Malaysia Alex Yoong 12 17 1 1 14 12 4 7 12 5 19 11 7 6 Ret 8 1 5 6 11 5 9 55
7 Italy Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi Ret 6 14 20 52
Enrico Toccacelo 3 1 Ret 13 11 4 9 8 15 12 12 Ret 7 4 10 7 3 3
8 Switzerland Switzerland Sébastien Buemi 10 8 8 10 5 4 4 7 4 9 Ret DSQ 50
Neel Jani 9 Ret 1 4 10 8 5 4
Marcel Fässler 10 14
9 United States USA Philip Giebler 7 2 6 17 11 Ret 9 6 4 9 8 8 42
Ryan Hunter-Reay 11 10
Jonathan Summerton Ret Ret 5 2 5 Ret 9 6
10 Mexico Mexico Salvador Durán 2 5 7 3 2 Ret 11 Ret 2 6 12 Ret 11 15 Ret Ret 17 Ret 35
Sergio Pérez 15 Ret
Juan Pablo Garcia 18 14
11 Canada Canada James Hinchcliffe 8 13 2 5 4 10 6 6 13 Ret 13 Ret 13 15 33
Sean McIntosh 8 5 8 Ret Ret 6 10 12
12 Czech Republic Czech Republic Tomáš Kostka 17 Ret 27
Tomáš Enge 5 2 8 6 Ret 14 17 12 9 5 11 Ret
Jaroslav Janiš 16 7 12 12
Filip Salaquarda 17 10
Jan Charouz 13 15
13 Australia Australia Ryan Briscoe 13 3 12 17 6 10 25
Karl Reindler 15 16 12 3 14 13 14 14 16 Ret
Ian Dyk 3 8 16 Ret 14 Ret
14 South Africa South Africa Adrian Zaugg 1 Ret Ret 5 13 12 7 Ret 4 3 15 Ret 24
Stephen Simpson Ret 11
Alan van der Merwe 9 Ret 7 16 16 Ret 8 12
15 China China Congfu Cheng 11 9 4 8 13 Ret 10 16 11 15 Ret 10 22
Ho-Pin Tung Ret 13 13 9 6 3 14 Ret 6 10
16 India India Armaan Ebrahim Ret Ret 17 18 18 11 16 19 18 Ret 13
Narain Karthikeyan 10 7 15 9 11 18 7 17 7 4
Parthiva Sureshwaren 18 16
17 Portugal Portugal Álvaro Parente 8 5 14 7 11 11 10
João Urbano 19 13
18 Brazil Brazil Tuka Rocha 14 12 10 14 15 14 Ret 11 9
Raphael Matos 6 7 19 18 16 14
Bruno Junqueira 17 7 Ret 13 12 Ret
Vitor Meira 14 19
19 Republic of Ireland Ireland Michael Devaney 15 14 13 13 20 Ret 14 10 8
Richard Lyons 17 12 Ret 19 10 Ret 6 Ret Ret 16 12 5 8 DSQ
20 Singapore Singapore Christian Murchison Ret 16 16 8 15 11 Ret 15 12 Ret Ret Ret 3
Denis Lian 18 19
21 Indonesia Indonesia Ananda Mikola 19 10 16 15 15 Ret Ret 15 14 11 15 Ret 17 13 10 Ret 8 11 13 16 1
Moreno Soeprapto 17 16
22 Pakistan Pakistan Nur B. Ali 20 Ret 20 Ret 21 Ret 18 21 20 15 18 18 20 Ret 18 10 15 21 20 18 Ret 17 1
23 Lebanon Lebanon Basil Shaaban 16 Ret 19 13 19 Ret 0
Graham Rahal 12 12
Khalil Beschir 17 20
Alexander Khateeb Ret 17 Ret 17
Allam Khodair 19 Ret 18 19 18 14 Ret 13
24 Greece Greece Takis Kaitatzis 18 15 Ret 0
Nikos Zakos 19
Pos Team Drivers spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea Pts
NetherlandsNLD Czech RepublicCZE ChinaBEI MalaysiaMYS IndonesiaIDN New ZealandNZL AustraliaAUS South AfricaRSA MexicoMEX ChinaSHA United KingdomGBR
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Finished, in points
Green Retired, in points
Blue Finished, no points
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Not classified (NC)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Blank Did not participate
Injured (INJ)
Excluded (EX)
Bold Pole position
* Fastest lap
spr Sprint Race
fea Feature Race

Notable 2006-07 season happenings

Beijing Incident

The first Chinese round of the 2006/07 A1GP took place on the streets of Beijing. However, the tight hairpin at the end of the backstraight was far too tight for the cars to negotiate safely, as there was literally, a 180 degree left turn. Cars were running wide and stopping mid corner, therefore the sessions were red flagged.

A shorter circuit was created, creating another less tighter hairpin halfway up the straight, bypassing most of the old straight. This corner was still not perfect as drivers still ran wide despite the corner being wider, and had to avoid the pitlane entry barrier. It had to suffice, though, because otherwise the race would have to be cancelled.

However, another problem arose in qualifying, when manhole covers on the roads were coming undone due to the racing cars' high downforce and low center of gravity. Grid positions were decided based on practice times. Some advertising banners also came loose around the circuit.

It was announced the races would start behind the safety car, as the first corner was also deemed unsafe.

Both races were uneventful, particularly the Sprint Race which took place almost entirely behind the safety car after course officials failed to remove a single spun car in a timely fashion.

April Fools' hoax

On 1 April 2006, during the penultimate round of the 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix season in Shanghai, a fake timetable of the 2006-2007 season was published.[5] This schedule included a night time race in Lapland, an A1GP USA race in Baghdad, a race in Middle-earth at 'The Ring', a Venice Street Race as well as a Tibetan hill climb. In addition, it outlined special regulations, such as requiring only the Cornettos be catered for the Venice race, that "cars will arrive flatpacked for the Ikea Cup race in Narnia, so extra time will be required for their assembly", and that for the hill climb, half the cars will start from the top, and half will start from the bottom. A race in South Los Angeles was to have drive-by penalties.

References

  1. "Course concerns in Beijing". Retrieved 2006-11-10.
  2. "A1 Team Portugal returns to A1GP World Cup of Motorsport". Retrieved 2007-02-24.
  3. Jennifer Murray results.a1gp.com
  4. "Brazilian race withdrawn from the 2006/07 calendar". Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  5. "A1 Grand Prix Series Two Calendar Announced" (Press release). A1 Grand Prix. 2006-04-01. Archived from the original on 2006-04-06. Retrieved 2006-06-18. So, remember, A1 Grand Prix takes you places you've never been before.

External links

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