GooooooooooooooAL !!
Oops, wrong sport. But a fitting title considering Brazilian Soccer star Ronaldo is the seat holder (owner) behind the Brazilian A1 GP entry and it’s driver Nelson Piquet Jr.
Piquet Jr., son of former World Champion Nelson Piquet (1981, 1982 for Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team and 1987), won both races to give Brazil a flying start in the opening event of the new A1 Grand Prix series Sunday.
With all 25 drivers in equal cars, organizers had promised an all-action championship. But the sprint race (18 laps) saw precious few overtaking opportunities and Piquet won with ease after controlling the race all the way.
The only position change of consequence occurred when France’s Alexandre Premat squeezed past New Zealand’s Matt Halliday to secure second place.
The feature race (38 laps) was a more entertaining affair, punctuated by the second safety car of the race which prompted an exciting finish.
Four cars were eliminated on the first lap when Ireland’s Michael Devaney, Indonesia’s Ananda Mikola (Current Asian F3 points leader), India’s Karun Chandhok and Alexandre Premat all came to together.
More retirements followed, with Switzerland’s Neel Jani and Portugal’s Pedro Lamy failing to make it past lap two.
The safety car came out 13 laps into the 38-lap race when Italy’s Enrico Toccacelo and Khalil Beschir crashed at the top of paddock Hill Bend., sending the Lebanese car into a frightening barrel roll. The in car camera provided an amazing shot as the car first tipped onto it’s left two tires then rolled sideways and landed upside down in the gravel trap. Beschir seemed to lose conscientiousness momentarily but walked away after a few minutes.
Piquet found himself behind the Team Australia car of Will Power after pit-stops and the second safety car period but the Brazilian performed a miracle pass on the outside at Surtees and simply disappeared from the field.
Salvador Duran (Mexico) gave an excellent account of himself to take third, withstanding constant pressure from Team New Zealand’s Matt Halliday who had to start from the pit-lane after stalling at the start of the parade lap..
Newly minted Minardi F1 driver and lead driver for Team America, Scott Speed, never could make up any ground from his 16th starting position and didn’t show the promise displayed during pre-season testing. Speed finished 11th and 17th in the days two events. In the second feature race his “We the People” race car experienced an electrical problem that required a long pitstop to repair.
Pre-race estimates predicted a crowd of 60,000, officials announced during the race that ticket sales reached 80,000.
A1 Grand Prix, Auto Racing, Sports
1. Brazil 18 laps 23min 15.682secs
2. France +2.440secs
3. New Zealand +2.899secs
4. Australia +11.457secs
5. Great Britain +12.797secs
6. Mexico +17.273secs
6. Pakistan +18.032secs
8. Portugal +18.189secs
9. Switzerland +20.851secs
10. Ireland +21.056secs
11. USA +23.866secs
12. Japan +25.192secs
13. Malaysia +25.351secs
14. Germany +25.905secs
15. India +27.793secs
16. Italy +35.521secs
17. Indonesia +40.333secs
18. Czech Republic +40.346secs
19. Canada +42.621secs
20. Austria +55.293secs
21. China +58.194secs
22. Lebanon +59.092secs
24. South Africa + 1 lap
1. Brazil 38 laps 1hr min 16.547secs
2. Australia +11.330secs
3. Mexico +23.125secs
4. New Zealand +23.705secs
5. Malaysia +24.352secs
6. South Africa +24.852
7. Netherlands +25.630
8. Japan +26.219secs
9. Canada +27.179secs
10. Germany +1 lap
11. Austria +1 lap
12. China +1 lap
13. Pakistan +3 laps
14. Czech Republic +14 laps
15. Russia +20 laps
16. Great Britain +21 laps
17. USA +24 laps
18. Lebanon +25 laps
19. Italy +25 laps
20. Portugal +37 laps
21. Switzerland +37 laps
22. Ireland +38 laps
23. Indonesia +38 laps
24. France
25. India
