The penultimate round of the 2008 A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport takes place in Shanghai, China, this weekend, and South Africa will be aiming to improve on its fifth place among the 22 nations contesting this unique series.
Adrian Zaugg (21) has been at the wheel of South Africa’s Vulindlela (meaning ”clear the way”) throughout this third season. He has established himself as a leading driver and will be making his first appearance at the Shanghai International Circuit.
It will also be a first-time experience for Wesleigh Orr (20), winner of the Rotax Max karting world finals in 2004 and 2005. He is A1 Team South Africa’s reserve driver and will do duty in Friday’s practice for rookies and developing nations.
The Shanghai circuit was built in 2004 at a cost of $30-million. It is breathtaking in its scope and design and gives true meaning to the term ”state of the art”.
Situated 30km north-east of Shanghai in the eastern Jiading district of China, the circuit can accommodate 200 000 spectators (the main grandstand seats 29 000). It is built on 240ha of swamp land and rests on polystyrene blocks; it is, in fact, floating on this base.
The A1 cars will run on a shortened, 4,61km version of the 14-turn (5,45km) layout, which will include the 1,2-km straight between turns 11 and 12.
Team South Africa’s objective was to finish in the top five this season, and team general manager Mike Carroll is confident this can be achieved. ”We were already up to fourth place after Adrian’s fine win in Australia in February and, had we enjoyed better luck in Mexico four weeks ago, we would have consolidated our fourth place,” he said.
”I was very impressed with the driving of both Adrian and Wesleigh and the performance of race engineer Humphrey Corbett and the entire team in Mexico City. ”We have developed into one of the most competitive teams in A1.
”Adrian pulled off one of his most dominating performances to grab pole position for the sprint race [his fourth pole of the season] and was unlucky not to get pole for the feature race as well.
”Only a punctured rear tyre prevented him from winning the sprint race, which would have been his third victory of the season. We had the pace in Mexico and we are confident we can carry this through to Shanghai this weekend,” said Carroll.
Zaugg is keen to translate his quick pace in practice and qualifying into another race win in China. ”I’ve put the disappointment of Mexico behind me and have concentrated these past few weeks on keeping fit — both mentally and physically — for this weekend’s races,” he said.
”I’m confident if we continue to work together as well as we have done so far, we can still finish the season in the top four or five. It will be my first time at Shanghai, I missed the race there last year because of a conflict with my GP2 commitments, but I’m sure I will learn the circuit quickly.” — Sapa