[kongmw]

Heard on news: A1 gp has new "Powered by Ferrari" car it is based on the highly sucessful F2004.

[Mikko Nassi]

Having the ferrari name in the series is the main benefit for A1GP - the car doesn't actually have to have any ferrari input and doesn't have to be built by ferrari. It adds a bit of prestige to the series .

The car in the rendering does make it look more like a standard open wheel race car rather than a hot wheels car .

[Mikko Nassi]

oops first round is postponed because cars won't be ready in time.

[kongmw]

The new ferrari engine is alot more powerful than the old engine, so this season will come with greater speeds and more thrills and spills action. Hope team Malaysia will get better season. By the way anyone gonna watch A1 gp live. I dont think i am but , Maybe watching from TV.

[kongmw]

Postpones is worth the more exciting season!!

[RocK]

The new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car era began in earnest at Donington Park in Great Britain today, after the first teams began to test their new 600bhp machines.
Despite torrential rain hampering much of the day, teams put significant first runs in the cars that they will use for the 2008/09 season.

Fairuz Fauzy ended the day quickest for A1 Team Malaysia, posting a lap time of 1m 35.250s. A1 Team Netherlands' distinctive orange car was piloted by last season's racer Jeroen Bleekemolen, with John Martin driving for A1 Team Australia, and Edoardo Piscopo shaking down the Italian charger.

The A1GP test car, which has now completed 7,446-kilometres testing, was also out on track with Thomas Biagi at the wheel.

A1 Team South Africa's Adrian Zaugg, a double A1GP race winner last season, loved the car. "I was quite impressed with the car, especially considering the conditions," he said. "There was so much grip with the car, especially under braking. The car cornered well in both slow and high speed corners. It is a really good car, and had really good grip for the wet conditions.

"It was quite difficult to compare the new car with the old car, because it was wet today. But the Michelin tyres were fantastic. Even on the racing line, which in the wet you can normally not find much grip, the tyres meant there was grip there."

There will be a further day's testing this week at the track on Thursday, before more testing at Snetterton later this month.

News source:
GPupdate.net

[kongmw]

the first race is gonna be in The Netherlands

[kongmw]

PETALING JAYA: Fairuz Fauzy gave A1 Team Malaysia a perfect start to the new season, winning the sprint race in Zandvoort, Holland, yesterday.

However, Fairuz’s hopes of a glorious double were dashed after a less than perfect pit stop in the feature race.

He started from pole and managed to keep his lead despite the bad weather conditions but slipped to fourth after the first pit stop.

The crew members faced problem on the left rear wheel but it was to Fairuz’s credit that he fought his way back to take second place behind France’s Loic Duval in a safety car finish.

The new era of A1GP, which saw Ferrari-powered cars making their debut, had earlier kicked off with the sprint race held under torrential rain.

The 25-year-old Fairuz, who started fourth on the grid, coped well with the wet conditions, which saw several cars skidding onto the gravel at the start. That brought the safety car out for two laps.

On the eighth lap, Fairuz made a sweeping move on pole-sitter Jeroen Bleekemolen of Holland, who had slipped to third after a poor start. He went on to pass the Swiss and Kiwi cars en route to finishing the 12-lap race in 19:44.533.

Fairuz’s win was Malaysia’s first in 27 races and the fifth since the inaugural series in 2005.

Alex Yoong chalked up the first win for Malaysia, winning the final round of the first season in Shanghai. Alex went on to secure three more victories in the 2006-2007 season.

Malaysia finished 15th overall, without a single podium finish in the 2007-2008 edition.

Fairuz said that he could not have asked for a better start to the team’s fortunes than to win his first A1GP race in the opening round.

“I am so happy to take this win,” said Fairuz in a telephone interview from Holland.

“It was very difficult on the track today and made even more challenging with the lack of experience we have with this new car. We have worked really hard as a team and now we have a fantastic win.”

For the sprint race, the top eight drivers earned championship points. It is top 10 for the longer feature race, which lasted 70 minutes.


* Top 10 finishers

Sprint: 1. Malaysia (Fairuz Fauzy) 19:44.533, 2. New Zealand (Earl Bamber) 19:48.007, 3. France (Loic Duval) 19:50.803, 4. Holland (Jeroen Bleekemolen) 19:57.966, 5. Switzerland (Neel Jani) 20:01.429, 6. South Africa (Adrian Zaugg) 20:05.458, 7. Italy (Fabio Onidi) 20:06.747, 8. US (Charlie Kimball) 20:08.683, 9. Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque) 20:13.960, 10. Lebanon (Daniel Morad) 20:23.462.

Feature: 1. France (Duval) 1’11:58.723, 2. Malaysia (Fairuz) 1’12:01.011, 3. New Zealand (Bamber) 1’12:01.432, 4. Australia (John Martin) 1’12:05.052, 5. Holland (Bleekemolen) 1’12:06.996, 6. Monaco (Clivio Piccione) 1’12:03.356, 7. South Korea (Hwang Jin-woo) 1’12:28.432, 8. Lebanon (Morad) four laps down, 9. China (Ho Pin Tung) five laps, 10. US (Kimball) six laps.

- article from the star

[kongmw]

Team Malaysia got 5th in the main race in Chengdu, China. The car was driven by Fairuz Fauzy. Team Malaysia is now 1st in overall position.

[kongmw]

The next race is coming to Malaysia. Hoooray!!!