2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "2008-09_A1_Grand_Prix_season".

content
Current sport event
 This article documents a current motorsports season.
Information may change as the event progresses.
2008-09 FIA A1 Grand Prix of Nations
Previous: 2007-08 Next: 2009-10
A1 Grand Prix
Current season summary
2008-09 season
Related articles
A1 Grand Prix car
Pointscoring systems
Prize systems
Racing flags
Lists and statistics
Seasons · Champions
Teams · Drivers · Circuits
Records

The 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season is the fourth season in its short history. It was announced that Ferrari will be supplying the engines. All cars and official merchandise are contractually obligated to portray the slogan "Powered by Ferrari".

Ferrari will have an advisory role when it comes to chassis production, meaning that Ferrari themselves will not supply the chassis. The chassis will be based on Ferrari's championship-winning F2004.

Contents

Teams

During the 2007-08 Shanghai race weekend, it was announced at an official ceremony that Korea would be participating in the 2008-09 season.[1]. Jung-Yong Kim of Omnibus Investment is the seat holdercitation needed, with Good EMG supporting the project. Carlin Motorsport will be the racing team.

On 29 August 2008, it was announced that A1 Team Monaco will be competing in season four. The joint seat holders will be Hubertus Bahlsen, and former F3 and GP2 driver Clivio Piccione - who will also be acting as the race driver.[2]

The 23 teams competing in the 2008-09 championship are:

Country Team Race teamcitation needed Seat holdercitation needed Race drivers Rookie drivers Pre-season
Test drivers
Flag of Australia Australia A1 Team Australia Alan Docking Racing[3] Alan Jones John Martin[4] John Martin
Flag of Brazil Brazil A1 Team Brazil Argo Racing Cars Ltd[5] Emerson Fittipaldi Felipe Guimarães
Flag of Canada Canada A1 Team Canada Status Grand Prix[6] Wade Cherwayko
Flag of the People's Republic of China China A1 Team China Team Astromega[7] Liu Yu[8] Ho-Pin Tung
Congfu Cheng[9]
Flag of France France A1 Team France Connor Racing[10] Jean Paul Driot Loic Duval Nicolas Prost
Guillaume Moreau
Flag of Germany Germany A1 Team Germany DSM[11] Willi Weber
Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain[12] Tony Clements
Flag of India India A1 Team India Arena Motorsport[13] Ravi Chilukuri Narain Karthikeyan[14] Armaan Ebrahim[14]
Parthiv Sureshwaren[14]
Flag of Indonesia Indonesia A1 Team Indonesia Performance Racing[15] N/A Satrio Hermanto
Flag of Ireland Ireland A1 Team Ireland Status Grand Prix[16] Mark Kershaw Adam Carroll[17] Niall Quinn[17] Adam Carroll
Flag of Italy Italy A1 Team Italy Team Ghinzani[18] Piercarlo Ghinzani[18] Edoardo Piscopo
Fabio Onidi[18]		 Edoardo Piscopo
Fabio Onidi
Flag of South Korea Korea A1 Team Korea Carlin Motorsport[19] Jung-Yong Kim Hwang Jin-Woo Hwang Jin-Woo
Flag of Lebanon Lebanon A1 Team Lebanon Argo Racing Cars Ltd[20] Tameem Auchi Daniel Morad[21] Jimmy Auby Daniel Morad
Flag of Malaysia Malaysia A1 Team Malaysia A1 Team Malaysia[22] Alex Yoong Fairuz Fauzy[23] Fairuz Fauzy
Flag of Mexico Mexico A1 Team Mexico Escuderia del Mediterraneo[24] N/A Esteban Gutierrez[25]
Flag of Monaco Monaco A1 Team Monaco A1 Team Monaco[26] Clivio Piccione
Hubertus Bahlsen[2]		 Clivio Piccione[2] Clivio Piccione
Flag of the Netherlands The Netherlands A1 Team The Netherlands Racing for Holland[27] Jan Lammers Jeroen Bleekemolen
Robert Doornbos[28]		 Jeroen Bleekemolen
Robert Doornbos
Flag of New Zealand New Zealand A1 Team New Zealand DSM[29] Colin Giltrap Earl Bamber[30]
Jonny Reid
Chris van der Drift		 Earl Bamber
Chris van der Drift
Flag of Pakistan Pakistan A1 Team Pakistan Team Craft[31] Adam Khan[32] Adam Khan[32] Adam Khan
Flag of Portugal Portugal A1 Team Portugal Boer Racing Services Luís Vicente Filipe Albuquerque[33]
Flag of South Africa South Africa A1 Team South Africa Connor Racing[34] Tokyo Sexwale Adrian Zaugg[35] Adrian Zaugg
Flag of Switzerland Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland Boer Racing Services Max Welti Neel Jani[36]
Flag of the United States United States A1 Team USA Andretti Green Racing[37] Michael Andretti[37] Charlie Kimball
Marco Andretti
Danica Patrick[38]		 Charlie Kimball

New "Powered by Ferrari" car

For more details on this topic, see A1 Grand Prix cars.

On October 11, 2007, A1GP and Ferrari announced a six year collaboration on the new generation of A1GP cars. The new "Powered by Ferrari" car is a modification of the Formula 1 Ferrari F2004 chassis with a V8 Ferrari engine producing 600 bhp[39]. The car was officially revealed in Southern England, and driven for the first time by John Watson in an inaugural event in May 2007. Michelin will supply the tyres for the new car[40].

The car was developed and tested over more than 5.600 kilometres at Mugello Circuit, Fiorano Circuit, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Circuito Guadix, Silverstone Circuit, Donington Park, Circuit Paul Ricard and Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Andrea Bertolini was the main test driver, but testing was carried out by Marc Gene, Patrick Friesacher, Jonny Kane and Danny Watts during the sessions at Silverstone Circuit [41][42][43][44][45][46].

Off-season tests and car presentations

In August 2-3, 2008, the first press and public presentation of the A1GP Powered by Ferrari car was held on the TT Circuit Assen with former A1 Team Netherlands driver, Renger van der Zande[47]. Two weeks after, the car was presented in Rotterdam during the Bavaria City Racing Festival. The A1 Team Netherlands car was driven by Carlo van Dam[48].

This season, five tests days are planned to learn the new powered by Ferrari car[49].

Date Country Circuit
9-11 September 2008  United Kingdom Donington Park
17-18 September 2008  Italy Mugello
23-24 September 2008  United Kingdom Snetterton[50]

Rule Changes

A number of rules were changed for the 2008-09 season.[51]

  • The four qualifying sessions were reduced in length from fifteen minutes to ten minutes each.
  • The Sprint Race has been increased from 19 minutes plus one lap, to 24 minutes plus one lap, as well as a mandatory pit-stop being added between laps four and eight.
  • The Sprint Race now only scores the top eight positions: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
  • Only the best 9 race weekends will count towards the championship. Both the Sprint and Feature race points from one event will be dropped by teams that race all 10 events. This is to ensure that teams that will miss Zandvoort due to the lack of cars, will still have a fair chance at the title.[52]

An update to the sporting regulations means that technical details of the fastest lap in any session (practice or qualifying) will be made available to all teams after the session ends.[53] This is to allow slower or weaker teams to learn how they can improve their own lap times, making the "field spread" that much smaller.

Several detailed changes to the Friday "rookie sessions" were released on September 1, 2008:[54]

  • The age limit for rookie drivers (driver had to be younger than 25), has been abolished.
  • Drivers who have competed in Formula 1, GP2, DTM, Champ Car, IRL, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series or Formula Nippon cannot participate in the rookie session.
  • Total track time is increased from 50 minutes to an hour.
  • The gap between the two half sessions is increased from 10 to 20 minutes.

Season calendar

The season will start at the Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands on October 5, 2008.

Further timetable details were announced on June 9, 2008.[55]

On 21 August 2008, the Italy race at Mugello was moved back following a delay in the build schedule of the new chassis, and Zandvoort was named as the first race of the season.[56] A replacement date has yet to be announced.[57]

Further timetable changes were announced on August 26, 2008. The Chinese round was confirmed to be held at Chengdu Goldenport Circuit, and swapped places in the calendar with the Indonesian round at Jakarta.[8] Subsequent to that, the Indonesian race has been moved back further, to 8 February.[58]

On September 9, 2008, Brands Hatch was confirmed as hosting the race in Great Britain at the end of the season. It was also announced that as a replacement date for the Mugello race could not be found, the race was removed from the season's schedule.[50]

Round Date Country Circuit Sprint Winner Feature Winner Report
1 05 October 2008 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands Circuit Park Zandvoort Flag of Malaysia Malaysia Flag of France France Report
2 09 November 2008 Flag of the People's Republic of China China Chengdu International Circuit Report
3 23 November 2008 Flag of Malaysia Malaysia Sepang International Circuit Report
4 25 January 2009 Flag of New Zealand New Zealand Taupo Motorsport Park Report
5 08 February 2009 Flag of Indonesia Indonesia Jakarta Street Circuit Report
6 22 February 2009 Flag of South Africa South Africa Kyalami [59] Report
7 15 March 2009 Flag of Mexico Mexico Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Report
8 29 March 2009 TBA TBA Report
9 12 April 2009 Flag of Portugal Portugal Autódromo Internacional do Algarve Report
10 03 May 2009 Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain Brands Hatch Report

Standings

Pos Team Drivers Flag of the Netherlands NLD Flag of the People's Republic of China CHN Flag of Malaysia MYS Flag of New Zealand NZL Flag of Indonesia IDN Flag of South Africa RSA Flag of Mexico MEX TBA Flag of Portugal POR Flag of the United Kingdom GBR Pts
spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea
1 Flag of Malaysia Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy 1 2 22
2 Flag of France France Loïc Duval 3* 1 22
3 Flag of New Zealand New Zealand Earl Bamber 2 3 18
4 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 4 5 11
5 Flag of Australia Australia John Martin 12 4 8
6 Flag of Monaco Monaco Clivio Piccione Ret 6 5
7 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland Neel Jani 5 Ret 4
8 Flag of South Korea Korea Hwang Jin-Woo Ret 7 4
9 Flag of South Africa South Africa Adrian Zaugg 6 Ret 3
10 Flag of the United States United States Charlie Kimball 8 10* 3
11 Flag of Lebanon Lebanon Daniel Morad 10 8 3
12 Flag of Italy Italy Fabio Onidi 7 Ret 2
13 Flag of the People's Republic of China China Ho-Pin Tung 13 9 2
14 Flag of Portugal Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 9 Ret 0
15 Flag of Indonesia Indonesia Satrio Hermanto Ret Ret 0
16 Flag of Brazil Brazil Felipe Guimarães 14 Ret 0
17 Flag of Ireland Ireland Adam Carroll Ret Ret 0
nc Flag of Canada Canada -
nc Flag of Germany Germany -
nc Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain -
nc Flag of India India -
nc Flag of Mexico Mexico -
nc Flag of Pakistan Pakistan -
Pos Team Drivers spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea spr fea Pts
Flag of the Netherlands NLD Flag of the People's Republic of China CHN Flag of Malaysia MYS Flag of New Zealand NZL Flag of Indonesia IDN Flag of South Africa RSA Flag of Mexico MEX TBA Flag of Portugal POR Flag of the United Kingdom GBR
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

References

  1. ^ "Korea joins A1GP", a1gp.com (2008-04-14). 
  2. ^ a b c "A1 Team Monaco joins A1GP", a1gp.com (2008-08-29). Retrieved on 2008-08-29. 
  3. ^ Index alandockingracing.com
  4. ^ "Martin back for Australia", a1gp.com (2008-09-11). Retrieved on 2008-09-11. 
  5. ^ [1] A1GP Press
  6. ^ [2] A1GP Press
  7. ^ [3] team-astromega.com
  8. ^ a b "Chengdu race announced", a1gp.com (2008-08-26). Retrieved on 2008-08-26. 
  9. ^ "China recalls its podium stars", a1gp.com (2008-09-21). Retrieved on 2008-09-21. 
  10. ^ [4] A1GP Press
  11. ^ [5] A1GP Press
  12. ^ [6] A1GP Press
  13. ^ [7] A1GP Press
  14. ^ a b c "Karthikeyan returns for India", a1gp.com (2008-09-17). Retrieved on 2008-09-18. 
  15. ^ The new A1 Team Indonesia... performance-racing.se
  16. ^ [8] A1GP Press
  17. ^ a b "Back foor some more", a1gp.com (2008-09-26). Retrieved on 2008-09-27. 
  18. ^ a b c "Italy launches new car", a1gp.com (2008-10-02). Retrieved on 2008-10-02. 
  19. ^ Carlin to run Team South Korea car autosport.com (August 13, 2008)
  20. ^ [9] A1GP Press
  21. ^ "Morad to switch to A1 Team Lebanon", a1gp.com (2008-09-18). Retrieved on 2008-09-19. 
  22. ^ [10] A1GP Press
  23. ^ "Fauzy to race for Malaysia", a1gp.com (2008-09-24). Retrieved on 2008-09-24. 
  24. ^ [11] Paddock Talk
  25. ^ "Gutierrez joins Mexico as rookie", a1gp.com (2008-09-22). Retrieved on 2008-09-23. 
  26. ^ "A1 Team Monaco launches in style", a1gp.com (2008-09-25). Retrieved on 2008-09-25. 
  27. ^ [12] A1GP Press
  28. ^ "Netherlands names its drivers", a1gp.com (2008-09-18). Retrieved on 2008-09-18. 
  29. ^ [13] A1GP Press
  30. ^ "Bamber to race for New Zealand", a1gp.com (2008-09-28). Retrieved on 2008-09-29. 
  31. ^ [14] A1GP Fanzone
  32. ^ a b "Khan to lead and race for Pakistan", a1gp.com (2008-09-10). Retrieved on 2008-09-10. 
  33. ^ "Portugal names its man", a1gp.com (2008-07-02). Retrieved on 2008-09-18. 
  34. ^ [15] A1GP Press
  35. ^ "Zandvoort and Zaugg together again", a1gp.com (2008-09-26). Retrieved on 2008-09-27. 
  36. ^ "The champions are back!", a1gp.com (2008-10-03). Retrieved on 2008-10-04. 
  37. ^ a b "Andretti Green Racing to run USA", a1gp.com (2008-10-01). Retrieved on 2008-10-02. 
  38. ^ "Danica and Marco to race for USA", a1gp.com (2008-10-04). Retrieved on 2008-10-04. 
  39. ^ The new A1GP car a1gp.com (May 12, 2008 )
  40. ^ Michelin to supply A1GP a1gp.com (July 21, 2008)
  41. ^ New car gets first run out a1gp.com (May 27, 2008)
  42. ^ New car continues test programme a1gp.com (June 13, 2008 )
  43. ^ New car hits half season distance a1gp.com (July 07, 2008 )
  44. ^ Engine coverage a1gp.com (July 14, 2008 )
  45. ^ Wind tunnel testing for new car a1gp.com (August 01, 2008)
  46. ^ Faster than ever before a1gp.com (August 22, 2008 )
  47. ^ Assen gets a taste of new A1GP car a1gp.com (August 04, 2008 )
  48. ^ Dutch delight a1gp.com (August 19, 2008 )
  49. ^ Two major test sessions planned a1gp.com (June 09, 2008)
  50. ^ a b "The battle of the Brands", a1gp.com (2008-09-08). Retrieved on 2008-09-09. 
  51. ^ a1gp.com. "