A1GP World Cup of Motorsport  

Overview:

A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) is a 'single make' open-wheel auto racing series. It is unique in its field in that competitors represent their nation as opposed to a constructor, the usual format in most formula racing series. As such, it is often promoted as the "World Cup of Motorsport." The series is ratified and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and races (collectively known as the "A1GP World Cup of Motorsport") are held in the traditional Formula One off season, the northern hemisphere winter.

History:

The nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai, initially in 2004. Once the series had received the backing of the FIA in 2005, a management structure including new executive directors Brian Menell and Tony Teixeira were appointed to oversee the sale of franchises for the operation of international teams. Paul Cherry, formerly of the Champ Car Racing Team, Sigma Autosport, was later brought in as the General Franchise Manager in 2005.

Thirty franchises were made available; twenty-three of them were restricted to specified nations, while the other seven were opened to tender for nations that had not been initially targeted.

Seasons Results:

• 2005/06 - Winner: France, 2nd: Switzerland, 3rd: Great Britain
• 2006/07 - Winner: Germany, 2nd: New Zealand, 3rd: Great Britain
• 2007/08 - Winner: Switzerland, 2nd: New Zealand, 3rd: Great Britain

Season 1:

In total, twenty-five of the franchises were purchased in time for the 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix season, which began on September 25, 2005 with the A1 Grand Prix of Nations Great Britain at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, United Kingdom.

The first season was planned for 12 rounds (24 races, with two each weekend); however the cancellation of a race scheduled for Curitiba, Brazil in January 2006 reduced this number to 11.

Nelson Angelo Piquet won the inaugural race of the series for A1 Team Brazil. However, their winning form was not to continue. Wins at Estoril and Malaysia saw A1 Team France build up a sizeable gap. By the start of the winter break, France had run away with the lead with A1 Team Switzerland 28 points behind. At the final race of the season in Shanghai, A1 Team France were crowned the first-ever A1 Grand Prix world champions with 172 points.

Season 2:

A number of changes were made for the 2006-07 season to race durations and distances to improve the spectacle for attendees and TV viewers.

The 2006-07 schedule was released on July 7, 2006, with the first race at Circuit Park Zandvoort on 1 October 2006, and the last race at Brands Hatch on 29 April 2007. New teams A1 Team Singapore and A1 Team Greece joined the competition but A1 Team Turkey failed to secure funding for this season. A1 Team Austria, A1 Team Japan, A1 Team Portugal and A1 Team Russia did not return for the second season. However, after securing funding A1 Team Portugal competed in the final four rounds of the second season in South Africa, Mexico, China and Britain.The season ended at Brands Hatch on 29 April 2007. A1 Team Germany won it with 128 points, 35 points lead ahead Team New Zealand.

Season 3:

All teams used same A1 Grand Prix car including chassis (Lola), engine (Zytek) and tyre (Cooper Avon). Twenty two teams competed in the 2007-08 championship, and Swiss drivers Rahel Frey and Natacha Gachnang were the two first females to drive A1 Grand Prix cars.

Their first steps were test drivers during Silverstone, September 18–19, 2007, test session. Then Natacha Gachnang drove in rookie sessions in Czech round, on October 12, 2007 and Rahel Frey in Malaysian rookie sessions, on November 23, 2007.

Since round 5, in Taupo, a thirty percent biofuel mix was introduced. This environmental initiative was the first initiative to help reduce its environmental footprint in motorsport series. The new fuel is an ethanol based product Hiperflo E30 sourced from sugar beet in Europe and produced by Petrochem Carless. The prediction is for a CO2 emissions reduction of twenty one percent per car.

Rule Changes:

• Qualifying will remain the current format, however the first two qualifying sessions will determine the grid for the sprint race while the second two qualifying sessions will determine the grid for the feature race.
• There are now 2 pit stops required in the feature race.
• The feature race remains a distance of 69 minutes plus one lap, while the sprint race has increased to 29 minutes plus one lap.
• Points are now assigned in the same manner for both the sprint and feature races with one bonus point awarded for the fastest lap in each race.
• Prize awarded in both sprint and feature races.

Season 4:

The 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix is the fourth season in the series'  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.

The car was developed and tested over more than 4000 kilometres at Fiorano Circuit, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Circuito Guadix, Silverstone Circuit and Donington Park. Andrea Bertolini was the main test driver, but testing was also carried out by Marc Gene and Patrick Friesacher.

Korea was announced to be part of this season of the competition on the 2007-08, Shanghai, China venue with an official ceremony. The seat holder is Joshua Kim of Omnibus Investment and Good EMG support the project.

Italy will host its first round of the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport for 2008/09, with Mugello Circuit kicking off the fourth season's racing.

A1 GP Cars:

The A1 Grand Prix cars are standardised for every team to make a level playing field for competing nations. The car was designed to reduce the volume of "dirty air", allowing drivers to close in on the car in front, encouraging overtaking. The bodywork is mainly made of pre-impregnated carbon fibre composites. These pre-impregnated (pre-preg) composites give better consistency and higher quality those which are hand-laid, giving greater strength, uniformity in the application of epoxy resin, and no weak spots.  The application of pre-preg also means that a very specific amount of resin can be used, reducing weight. From 2008-09 Ferrari will be consulted on the design and manufacture for all A1 Grand Prix cars.

2008/09 "Powered by Ferrari" :

The chassis is based on the Formula 1 Ferrari F2004 chassis. It is made from carbon-fibre skins with an aluminium honeycomb core, and has been tested to meet all FIA crash safety standards.

Engine:

The engine is built by Ferrari. It is a 4.5-litre V8 engine capable of delivering 600 bhp in PowerBoost mode. The new engine weighs 160kg, 40kg more than the previously-used Zytek engines.

PowerBoost:

Each car is equipped with a unique PowerBoost system, a mechanism to provide short bursts of increased power to create additional overtaking opportunities and action throughout the race. By changing the engine’s parameters, the system can give the driver additional power over a limited time during each race to take the car to it's maximum power of 600 bhp.

The PowerBoost is driver-activated by a button mounted on the steering wheel. The driver will be able to use this for a predetermined period during the Sprint and Feature races.

Tyres:

Michelin will be A1GP’s exclusive partner for the next three seasons. The tyres’ technological development results from close co-operation between A1GP and Michelin engineers.  The designs stem from Formula One technologies that seek to offer both optimal performance and safety to the driver. Full rubber serration tests were performed on various tracks such as Fiorano, Imola, Jerez and Mugello resulting in the best compromise between grip, endurance and wear.  Michelin shall remain present in the paddock while guaranteeing high-quality service throughout the championship. The use of this high-technology product by various teams shall be supervised under the watchful and expert eye of a skilled Michelin technician.

Race Format:

A1 Grands Prix of Nations take place over a three-day period, from Friday to Sunday. The teams are given five sets of dry weather slick tires, and two sets of wet weather treaded tires per weekend.

However, if the weather is extreme, the team can be given more wet weather tires at the expense of the slick tires. The race weekend starts with two one-hour practice sessions held on the Friday, and then another on the Saturday morning. A two-hour qualifying session takes place on Saturday afternoon, and two races take place on Sunday.

Primarily, the three practice sessions are for car setup and track familiarisation before the official competition begins with Saturday qualifying. Three different drivers may participate in the three practice sessions; the driver elected for qualifying or for one of the races must have taken part in at least one such practice session.

Qualifying:

A1 Grand Prix uses a unique qualifying format, which begins at 14:00 local time on the Saturday of the race weekend, to determine the grid lineup for Sunday's races, the Sprint Race and the Main Race. The qualifying period is split into four, fifteen-minute sessions. Each car is permitted three laps per session; including the laps required for leaving the pits, and for re-entering it, this allows one lap to set a competitive time.

There is a ten minute break between sessions, which adds up to a total of 90 minutes for qualifying. In the first two sessions the grid for the Sprint Race is determined using the aggregate of the lap times set by each car. In the final two sessions the grid for the Main Race is determined in the same way. However, if there is a red flag due to an accident on the circuit, the timing to the end of qualifying will continue to run.

Sprint Race:

The Sprint Race uses the grid determined in the previous day's qualifying session, and is held in the early afternoon. The race begins from a rolling start, and its duration is the maximum number of laps that equates to a race distance of about 50 kilometres; however, if the race duration passes 19 minutes (perhaps due to safety car periods or slower lap times due to inclement weather) the race ends immediately on the next lap.

These figures were 75 kilometres and 30 minutes respectively for the 2005-06 season, but have since been reduced. Drivers are restricted to four uses of the overtake button in the Sprint Race.

Feature Race:

The Feature Race is scheduled from 15:00 to 16:10 on Race Sunday; this period has been recently increased to allow additional setup time and to allow decisions by stewards to be completed (and punishments, where necessary, to be dealt) ahead of the Main Race.

At the start of the 2006 season, the grid for the main race was determined by the results of the Sprint Race – each team's sprint race grid position, finishing position and fastest lap ranking were given points (1 point for first, 2 points for second, and so on), and the three were added: the driver with the lowest points total began the Main Race on pole position with the remaining drivers on the grid in ascending points order.

However this system was deemed too confusing for spectators at the circuit, so following the 2006-7 China event the series reverted to a simpler qualifying system for the Main Race: Drivers are placed on the grid in the same order as they finished the Sprint Race, with 1st in pole position. The system was changed again for the 2007-08 season, the positions are now decided in the second half of Saturday's qualifying. The race begins with a standing start, and is limited (in the same fashion as the Sprint Race) to around 180 kilometres or 69 minutes, whichever is shorter. Drivers are permitted eight uses of the overtake button in the Main Race.

Pit stop:

Each team must, in the duration of the Main Race (but not on the first or last lap), complete two compulsory pit stops, in which all four tires on the car must be changed. A total of 8 mechanics may be used during the stop, however, only 4 are allowed to 'touch the car'. None of which (save the so-called "lollipop man" that directs the car into its pit) may be present in the pit lane before the car comes to a complete halt. Refuelling is also not permitted; infringements of these rules or of the pit-lane speed limit result in the imposition of a drive-through penalty. There is no requirement for a pit stop during the Sprint Race. 

At the end of Season 3, A1GP released the results of the seasons pit stop times. Despite having never won a race, A1 Team Australia emerged as the pit stop kings.

Scoring:

Unlike almost all other forms of auto racing, drivers do not score points individually; instead the points they earn are ascribed to their national team. This means that teams can change drivers between rounds, which is often necessary because some drivers have commitments in other formulae, and still accumulate points to their score.

In the 2005-06 season, the Sprint Race had awarded points at the same values as the Main Race (reduced in the 2006-07 season). The Sprint Race awarded points for the top six positions, in decreasing order: 6 for the winner, 5 for second place, and so on with 4, 3, 2, and one point for sixth place. Until the 2007-08 the Main Race awarded points in the same order, but for the first ten places, counting from ten for the winner to one for tenth place.

Points are still awarded for the first ten places but the amounts have changed: 15 for the winner, 12 for second place, 10 for third place, 8 for fourth place, 6 for fifth place, 5 for sixth place, and so on with 4, 3, 2, and one point for tenth place. Points are awarded in the same way for the Sprint Race. In addition, one point is awarded to the team that sets the fastest single lap time in either the Sprint or Main Race. Cash prizes are also awarded.

Travel:

Travel Places are able to assist the teams, media and other participants with complete travel management, including flights, hotels and car hire; and have proven over the three seasons to-date that we can deal with the inevitable last minute changes and challenges that inernational motorsport entails.

Please contact Matthew Warren 01903 832888 if you would like to make travel arrangements or have any queries. Alternatively you can email us.

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