Full Throttle

A1 Grand Prix’s first event outside Europe - at Eastern Creek outside Sydney Australia - had a bit of everything, and more of the same. Pre-race festivities included the drivers visiting famed Bondi Beach for a surfing “competition.” Won handily by who else, the Aussie’s and Kiwi’s, as the remainder of “the field” did belly flops and ate a lot of sand. The pre-race ceremony culminated in the drivers being presented to the huge crowd aboard Surf Lifesaving Boats.

The races themselves featured Nicolas Lapierre (Team France) again dominating, a record number of safety cars, new lap records and a total of 17 drivers not having a “G-Day Mate,” including a full on, and horrifying, test of the safety features of A1GP cars.

From his pole position, to the first turn and to the end of the 16th lap sprint race, Nicolas Lapierre dominated and was never challenged. He encountered a fleeting threat from Alvaro Parente (Team Portugal) as he dove into the first turn from outside pole. Lapierre used two of his four alloted