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What a shame if Danica displaces Summerton.

Andretti Green Racing to Run USA Team;
Michael Andretti to Unveil Driver Lineup at Zandvoort

London, Great Britain – A name that stands for American racing royalty will join forces with A1GP World Cup of Motorsport for Season Four. Andretti Green Racing (AGR), the most successful team in Indy Racing League history, announced today it will run the US entry in A1GP beginning at Circuit Park Zandvoort, The Netherlands this weekend.

“We are very proud to be representing the United States on the level and competitive playing field that is provided by A1GP,” said team co-owner, Michael Andretti. “Andretti Green has been fortunate to enjoy a reasonable amount of success in just six seasons of operation and we’re looking forward to joining the world stage of A1GP.”

Andretti, who is a racing legend himself, will be on hand at Circuit Park Zandvoort to announce the team’s Season Four driver lineup.

Andretti Green Racing, which is owned by Andretti and partners Kim Green and Kevin Savoree, has taken three IndyCar Series championship titles (2004, 2005, 2007), two Indianapolis 500 wins (2005, 2007), one Firestone Indy Lights championship (2008), an overall American Le Mans Series (ALMS) victory at the 2008 Detroit Sports Car Challenge and an LMP2 class victory at the ALMS 12 Hours of Sebring (2007).

A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira, commented: “We are proud to have such a successful and well respected team involved with our series. Over the years some of the most famous names in motorsport have been associated with the A1GP, and to have one that is synonymous with racing at its highest level in the United States can only help to raise the profile of the series both there and worldwide. ”

All the action from A1GP Zandvoort, The Netherlands can be watched live this weekend on http://www.A1GP.com.

Summerton should get into GP2 if he can help it, then again, has he done much F3 Euroseries action?

Did a season in F3 Euroseries and was the only Rookie winner, in the final race at Hockenheimring.

I would bet Michael will put Marco and Danica in the car at least once.

I think Marco will definitely be there. What better way to get experience on the European circuits than off-season competition? Hmm, doesn't Honda have some aging drivers?

So where can I see this?
What time is it on? (in USA)

I don't understand - I thought they would take the franchise in 2009. Now they're talking about 2008?
Anyway: any kind of PR will do it for A1GP. The series is still not very well known. And girlpower is always good for a boost in audience interest.
For example, I am watching DTM only because of the girls/women/ladies. It's always interesting to see how Susie Stoddard misses the opportunity to score points :-D
(OK, to be fair, she and 1/2 Schumacher drive a one year old car wich is slower than the 08 models. Oh btw: do you know what Schumacher's nickname was some years ago in Germany? Porno-Ralle. This was because madame Cora allegedly was young and needed the money when she took part in some adult movies. Half got a restricting order that banned a german talkmaster from telling him Porno Ralle. But enough of this now...)

You can watch it on http://www.a1gp.com
I enjoy as John Watson is one of the announcers.

I think John Watson is a fantastic commentator, he and Ben Edwards do good stuff together and when F1 was broadcast on Eurosport they did really well.

He is also on my "F1 people you have met" list - I had an impromptu lunch with him one. Nice bloke.

Nasir Wrote:You can watch it on http://www.a1gp.com
I enjoy as John Watson is one of the announcers.

We get it on cable in Oz --- Alan Jones owns the Australian franchise.

It gets reasonable coverage here - I have never seen a GP2 race on our TV down here - A1GP at least has some profile here

so it wasn't Danica or Marco...but Charlie Kimball for Andretti Green/USA entry.

cozmoose Wrote:so it wasn't Danica or Marco...but Charlie Kimball for Andretti Green/USA entry.

Actually they are--just busy this weekend per Mikey.
More here: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71136

BTW At 650am Saturday qualifying is on at http://www.a1gp.com
Enjoy. I do.

Late Call Up to A1 Team USA Nets Kimball Points in Opener



Charlie Kimball made the most of a last minute opportunity to race in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport’s season opener for Team USA at Zandvoort in the Netherlands, October 4th and 5th, 2008.  Even with little preparation time for Kimball and the team, now being run by the legendary Andretti Green Racing organization, the 23-year-old Californian made an immediate impression in the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car- finishing 4th in the second practice session.  Kimball was unable to take part in the first practice due to late arrival of parts.   Due to untimely red flags and traffic, Kimball could only qualify 9th in Saturday’s one hour qualifying session.  In the 25 minute Sprint race, he was reasonably cautious, only moving forward to 8th, earning one championship point, as he was acutely aware that the finish of the Sprint race set the grid for the 70 minute Feature race later in the day.  In the Feature race, Kimball once again proved the pace he and the Team USA car were capable of, setting fastest lap before being caught out with a gust of wind and ending the race in the gravel trap.  Due to a high level of attrition, Kimball still finished 10th, earning the team another point.  With the point from the Feature, the point from the Sprint and the point for Fastest Lap, Team USA sits in a tie for 9th place.



Kimball’s whirlwind race weekend began at 4:30am in California.  He received a call from the A1 Team USA team manager asking him if he was available to drive, if he was interested and where in the world he was!  After confirming that his only plans for the coming weekend were a continued training program, that he was extremely interested, and that while he was in California now- he could be in London by 9am the next morning, they confirmed they wanted him to drive at the first A1GP race event at Zandvoort.  And so it began.  After packing some clothes and his race gear, Kimball’s first race was to catch a 1:30pm flight from LA to London.  After landing in London, he went straight to Snetterton, a British race circuit where Kimball had won in the past.  The plan was to make a seat midday Thursday, shake the newly built car down in the afternoon and travel to the Netherlands on Friday morning.  But after parts delays on the carbon braking system, the shakedown was scheduled for Friday morning with a mad dash to the race to follow.  



“Usually when the phone rings at 4:30 in the morning, I am not happy about it; however, this time, it couldn’t have been for a better opportunity!” Kimball exclaimed. “I was going flat out to get to the airport, make sure I had all I needed for the race weekend as well as rescheduling meetings and lunches.  Only when I got on the plane and had some time to think did it really sink in how incredible a chance this was- not only to race for Team USA, but also to work with the guys from Andretti Green Racing.”



With a trouble-free shakedown on Friday morning being a testament to the AGR crew’s quality, Kimball had high hopes heading to Zandvoort- a circuit that he had won at the last time he competed there.  Due to the last minute nature of things and the Ferrari engine team requiring changes at the last moment, Kimball missed the first of the 2 practice sessions.  But once the car was together and Kimball got on track, he immediately gave notice of his intentions.  He finished the session in 4th place, ahead of many cars that had already done multiple laps in the morning.



The Camarillo, California native gave his impressions of the new car, “After driving the car for the first time, I was even more excited about the race weekend.  It is a very impressive design with all the parts working very well together.  The brakes, engine, electronics and gearbox definitely rival a top level open-wheel car.”



In Saturday afternoon’s one hour qualifying session, Kimball was unable to extract the maximum from his new tire runs with both runs being interrupted by red flags and traffic.  He still managed a respectable 9th place.  After evaluating the data, Kimball realized that with clear laps and a chance to put all his sectors together, he could easily have repeated his 4th place from the morning.



However when Sunday dawned under rainy skies coupled with gale force winds, Kimball knew anything was possible.  The officials decided that starting the Sprint race with the standard rolling start would be too dangerous.  As a result, the race began under safety car with a single file restart.  Kimball avoided a crash before the start line and continued to drive within the limits of the conditions.  Rather than taking large risks in the Sprint race, Kimball drove intelligently as the grid for the more important Feature race would be set by the finishing order in the Sprint.  After moving up only one position, the American crossed the line in 8th, picking up Team USA’s first point in the 2008/2009 World Cup of Motorsport season.



“I knew that finishing the Sprint was going to be the priority,” Kimball said afterwards.  “I was happy to bring a point home in my race debut and to reward the mechanics by bringing the car back in once piece.  Now I can really go for it in the Feature.”



Conditions continued to deteriorate during the day and with more rain than ever, the Feature race began once again behind the Safety Car.  After a first lap spin due to lack of visibility, Kimball began to make progress through the field.  Before the first pit stop Kimball had avoided the numerous crashes of other drivers and set competitive times to move up to 8th.  After a clean pit stop by the experienced Andretti Green crew, Kimball passed local favorite Jeroen Bleekemolen of the Netherlands moving him up to 6th.  Then as the second pit stop window opened and Kimball had clear sight and clear track, he began to push, knowing that a string of quick laps would leapfrog him up to 4th at the finish.  After having just set fastest lap of the race, Kimball was caught out by the tricky conditions at the top of the hill and got pushed wide.  As his left rear tire touched the white painted line, the car lost grip and Kimball was spun into the gravel.  And while he finished the race in the gravel trap, Kimball was classified 10th, picking up another point to add to the point for fastest lap.  



“I was 100% aware of the situation; I knew that if I could keep the fast pace up while there was no spray in front of me, I would finish at least 4th.  I had complete confidence that the AGR crew would give me another clean fast stop and I wanted to reward their hard work over the last week with a 4th place,” Kimball said. “It hurts not to be able to give the guys the result we deserved, but the proof is there that Team USA will be a force to be reckoned with this year- no matter who is driving.”



The next A1GP race is November 7-9, 2008.  Kimball’s continued participation with Team USA is still under consideration.  Until then, Kimball will continue to train and build his racing program, both driving and sponsorship, for 2009.



For more information please contact Charlie@CharlieKimball.com or visit http://www.CharlieKimball.com.

I saw a replay of the Zandvort race last night on cable and quite enjoyed it -- the rain was torrential - car sliding around all over the place but some really good driving was on display

Marco Andretti will be piloting the Team USA entry at Chengdu, China next weekend.
Hopefully Marco will not be living down to his current nickname of Micro.

Chengdu International Circuit
Track length: 3.367km / 2.019 miles
No. turns: 13
Direction: Clockwise

It looks to be rather slow circuit with not much chance for overtaking

Here is the onboard video of the Chengdu circuit.
Not much elevation change.  Lots of medium speed sweeps.
Youtube Link

Nasir Wrote:You can watch it on http://www.a1gp.com
I enjoy as John Watson is one of the announcers.

Where is the link for the Cora Shumacher movies?!!??

Koala Wrote:

Nasir Wrote:You can watch it on http://www.a1gp.com
I enjoy as John Watson is one of the announcers.

We get it on cable in Oz --- Alan Jones owns the Australian franchise.

It gets reasonable coverage here - I have never seen a GP2 race on our TV down here - A1GP at least has some profile here

Actually at one stage while while channel 10 'was the home of motorsports' they used to show a1gp after the MotoGP. Then the v8s went to 7 and Channel nine started showing A1 gp at obscure hours. The last time I was in Australia was 2007, so I don't know if it's on free to air anymore.

I watched some GP2 when I was in the UK last year. It's really good to watch. I saw Senna screw up a golden opportunity to take the title away from Pantano. Still pretty good for someone wh's only been competing in motorsport for 5 years.