HAMILTON HEADS UP THE LIST OF OVER 80 DRIVERS AND RIDERS AREADY CONFIRMED FOR THE 2008 GOODWOOD FEST

21 May 2013

With over five weeks to go until the 2008 Festival of Speed (11-13 July), Goodwood can already confirm that over 80 of the world's greatest motor racing drivers and riders will be present at the world's largest celebration of motoring culture, with more big names still expected to follow over the coming weeks.

Confirmed drivers at the Festival will include current Formula One stars Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Sebastian Bourdais, as well as WRC works drivers Petter Solberg, Chris Atkinson, Matthew Wilson and Mikko Hirvonen. Current two-wheeled heroes in action will include WSB Championship contenders Troy Corser, Yukio Kagayama and Carlos Checa, plus BSB title challengers Leon Haslam, Michael Rutter, Cal Crutchlow, Stuart Easton and Tom Sykes.

Famous names from motor racing's past in attendance at Goodwood will include Sir Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Carl Fogarty, Juha Kankkunen, Mike Doohan, Bobby Unser and John Watson. A plethora of BTCC drivers will be on hand to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of this hugely popular race series, including Tom Chilton, Andy Rouse, Anthony Reid, John Cleland Win Percy, John Rhodes and Frank Gardner.

A full summary of the drivers and riders, along with the vehicles they will be running up the challenging 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb, is below.

Rauno Aaltonen, former World Rally driver will be driving a Mini Cooper S and Opel Manta 400 on the Forest Rally Stage.

Bobby Allison, Daytona 500 winner and NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, will drive a Buick Regal from his 1983 Championship winning season.

Chris Atkinson, WRC driver for Subaru, will take to the hill and the Forest Rally Stage in a Subaru Impreza WRC on the Sunday of the Festival.

Richard Attwood, popular Le Mans winner, will be present and is expected to drive a Porsche 908/3.

Alex Barros, former Grand Prix motorcycle rider, is expected to take to the hill on a 1989 Cagiva V589.

Derek Bell, five-time Le Mans winner, will once more be at the Festival all three days, driving a Mirage GR7 and a Ferrari 312 B3S.

Sebastian Buemi, current test driver for Red Bull Racing F1, will drive the Red Bull-Renault RB3.

Stig Blomqvist, former World Rally Champion, will drive an Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 and Talbot Sunbeam Lotus on the Forest Rally Stage.

Sebastian Bourdais, four-time Champ Car Champion and current F1 driver for Toro Rosso, is expected to drive his multiple Championship winning Lola B03-00 on the hill.

Russell Brookes, former British Champion and star of the British circuit, will drive his 1985 title-winning Opel Manta 400 all weekend on the Forest Rally Stage.

Ralph Bryans, former Honda works motorcycle star, will ride a 1962 Honda RC171 motorcycle.

Andy Burton, hero of British rallying, will be in action on the Forest Rally Stage over the weekend, in his unique Peugeot-Cosworth.

Jenson Button, star driver for Honda Racing F1 team, will drive the Honda RA108 over the course of the weekend.

Carlos Checa, former Grand Prix motorcycle rider and current WSB rider, will ride his for Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR on the hill.

Eddie Cheever, Indianapolis 500 winner both as a driver and a team owner, will be in attendance over the Festival weekend.

Tom Chilton, BTCC driver, will be driving his 2008 Honda Civic Type R.

John Cleland, former BTCC champion will be driving his championship winning 1995 Vauxhall Cavalier.

Troy Corser, two-time WSB champion, will be present at the Festival.

Cal Crutchlow, BSB Championship contender, will ride a 2008 HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR over the course of the weekend.

Darren Dixon, British TTF1 Championship winner and two-time World Sidecar Champion, is expected to ride a Suzuki RGV500.

Marcus Dodd, twice British Rally Champion, will drive a 2003 Hyundai Accent WRC, all weekend on the Forest Rally Stage.

Martin Donnelly, former F1 driver for Arrows and Lotus, will drive a 1968 Lotus 49B.

Mick Doohan, five-time World Motorcycle Grand Prix Champion, will be riding a classic Honda over the weekend.

Gwyndaf Evans, Welsh rallying wizard and former British Rally Champion, is expected to drive the Grp N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, which he drives in the British Championship.

Carl Fogarty, four-times WSB Champion, is expected to ride Steve Hislop's 2002 British Championship winning Monstermob Ducati 996R.

Jim France, Executive Vice President of NASCAR, America's most popular motor racing series, will be present at the Festival.

Nanni Galli, former F1 driver for McLaren, Ferrari and Williams, will be driving a 1972 Tecno PA123.

Frank Gardner, three-time BTCC Champion and double Formula 5000 Champion, will be driving his 1968 BTCC Championship winning Ford Escort Twin Cam.

Stuart Graham, one of the few men to win TT's on two and four wheels - will take to the hill on a 1967 Honda RC174.

Carl Haas, famous US Team owner, is expected to attend the Festival as part of Lola's 50th anniversary celebrations.

Lewis Hamilton, British F1 star and serious title contender, will attend on the Sunday of the event and drive his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-23 F1 race car.

Leon Haslam, BSB Championship contender, will ride a 2008 HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR over the course of the weekend.

John Haugland, former works Skoda rally driver, will drive the ex-Colin McRae Skoda Fabia WRC as part of a tribute to McRae's career.

Hurley Haywood, three-time Le Mans winner, will drive the 2003 Brumos-Porsche Grand-Am Daytona Prototype.

Bob Heath, will take to the hill on a 1961 Honda RC173 motorcycle.

Mikko Hirvonen, World Rally Championship driver and five-time rally winner, will drive his BP Ford Focus WRC on the hillclimb and Forest Rally Stage.

David Hobbs, versatile British driver, Formula 5000 and Trans-Am Champion will drive a 1972 Lola T332.

Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing F1, will be present over the course of the weekend.

Yukio Kagayama, WSB Championship contender, will be in action all weekend on his Pepephone Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8.

Juha Kankkunen, four-time World Rally Champion, will be driving a 1998 Toyota Corolla WRC on the hill.

Dougie Lampkin, twelve-time individual World Champion trials rider, will be performing a manner of tricks on his Beta Trials Bike over the course of the weekend.

Timo Makinen, one of the original flying Finns, is expected to be in attendance over the Festival weekend.

The Earl of March will drive a selection of historically significant machinery over the weekend.

Markko Martin, former World Rally Championship driver and five-time rally winner, will take to the hill and the Forest Rally Stage in a Subaru Impreza WRC on the Friday of the Festival.

Nick Mason, the Pink Floyd drummer and keen motor enthusiast, will drive the 1938 Auto Union Type D.

Jochen Mass, former Grand Prix star and Le Mans winner, will drive the 1908 Benz Grand Prix car and is also expected to drive a 1989 Sauber C9.

John McGuinness, multiple TT winner, will ride the HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR that he rode to victory in the 2007 Isle of Man TT.

Allan McNish, former F1 driver and Le Mans winner, is expected to drive his Audi R10 endurance race car.

Hannu Mikkola, 1983 World Rally Champion and designer of the Goodwood Forest Rally Stage, is expected to drive an Audi Quattro S1 and Ford Escort Mk1 throughout the weekend on the Forest Rally Stage.

Rod Millen, Kiwi hillclimbing legend and Pike's Peak winner, will drive his 1994 Toyota Celica in which he won the world famous hillclimb.

Nicolas Minassian, Peugeot Endurance racing driver will be in attendance over the course of the weekend, fresh from competing at the Le Mans 24 hours.

Chas Mortimer, eight-time Isle of Mann TT winner, will ride an ex-Barry Sheene Yamaha OW53 YZR500.

Sir Stirling Moss, probably Britain's greatest-ever never to win a World Formula 1 title, will be driving a 1958 Vanwall.

Alesandro Nannini, former F1 driver for Bennetton and Minardi, will be present at the Festival.

Jackie Oliver - Le Mans winner, F1 driver and former Arrows F1 team owner, will drive a Porsche 917K.

Win Percy, three-time BTCC Champion and Bathurst 1000 winner, will drive a 1958 Jaguar Mk1.

Brian Redman, F1 driver with a brilliant career in sports cars for Ferrari and Porsche, will drive a Porsche over the course of the weekend.

Jim Redman, multiple World Championship-winning motorcyclist, will take to the hill on a classic Honda racing bike.

Anthony Reid, stalwart of the British Touring Car Championship, will drive a BTCC Nissan Primera and a Williams FW07 over the course of the weekend.

John Reynolds, three-time BSB Champion, will be riding his 2004 championship winning Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000.

John Rhodes, British Saloon and European Touring Car Champion, will drive a 1965 Mini Cooper S on the hill.

Tommy Robb, former works rider for Honda, will take to the hill on a classic Honda racing bike.

Andy Rouse, four-time BTCC Champion and most successful British Touring Car driver ever, is expected to drive a Triumph Dolomite Sprint on the hill.

Michael Rutter, BSB Championship contender, will ride his Northwest 200 Ducati 1098R at the Festival this year.

Terry Rymer, British Champion and the first British rider to win a World Superbike race, will be in action on the Loctite Yamaha OW01 at the Festival.

Tom Sneva, Indy 500 winner and two-time Indycar Champion is expected to drive his 1983 Indy 500 winning March 83C.

Petter Solberg, former World Rally Champion, will take to the hill and the Forest Rally Stage in a Subaru Impreza WRC on the Saturday of the Festival.

Steve Soper, BTCC Championship stalwart, will drive a 2007 WTCC BMW 320i throughout the weekend.

Sir Jackie Stewart, Britain's most accomplished F1 Champion, having lifted the crown three times, is expected to drive a Matra MS80 and a Tyrrell 001 over the course of the weekend.

Tom Sykes, BSB Championship contender, will ride his Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000K8 over the course of the weekend.

Luigi Taveri, former works rider and TT winner will take to the hill on a 1961 Honda RC162 motorcycle.

Paul Tracy, 2003 Champ Car Champion, will drive his 1997 race-winning Penske PC26 Champ Car.

Oliver Turvey, current British Formula Three Championship contender will be in action over the Festival weekend.

Bobby Unser, three-time Indy 500 winner and 13-time Pikes Peak Hillclimb Champion, is expected to drive an Audi Sport Quattro S1 'Pikes Peak' over the Festival weekend.

Bj?rn Waldegård, rallying superstar and the first-ever winner of the Drivers' World Championship, will take to the hill and the Forest Rally Stage in a Ford Escort Mk2 as part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Ford Escort.

John Watson, five-time F1 Grand Prix winner, will drive a 1987 Porsche 962 on the hill.

Jamie Whitham, former British Superbike Champion and current Superbike commentator for Eurosport, is expected to ride a 1998 Cadbury's Boost Yamaha YZF750 over the course of the weekend.

John Whitmore, former British and European Touring Car Champion, is expected to drive a Ford-Lotus Cortina Mk1 at the Festival.

Malcolm Wilson - Britain's leading rally driver during the explosive Group B period in the 1980s and principal of the Ford M-Sport works rally team - will be present over the weekend.

Matthew Wilson - WRC driver and son of Group B star Malcolm - will drive the Stobart Ford Focus WRC up the hill and on the Forest Rally Stage.

Stan Woods, 10-time TT winner, will ride the late Alan Robinson's Manx Norton 500 at the Festival.

Alex Wurz, current test driver for Honda F1 Racing, will be present at the Festival on Saturday, driving the Honda RA108.

To order advance tickets, please contact the Ticket Hotline:

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On-line via the Online Ticket section of the new www.goodwood.co.uk/fos/ website

A1GP - USA Races to Sensational Maiden Win as Championship Stays Alive

21 May 2013

Shanghai, China - A1 Team USA's Jonathan Summerton made history today when he took his and the team's first ever A1GP race win in this afternoon's Feature race at China's Shanghai International Circuit. Current title leader and pole-sitter Switzerland's Neel Jani lost second gear early on in the race and fifth gear towards the end so, despite a heroic drive, couldn't stay in touch with the American car and crossed the line fifth behind title rival New Zealand's Jonny Reid in fourth.

This afternoon's result keeps the thrilling 2007/08 championship alive and it will now be decided at the final round of the season at Brands Hatch, Great Britain on 4 May.

Florida's Summerton, who turns 20 next week, was joined on the podium by Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque, who put in another incredible performance to finish second and take his third podium finish in only his sixth A1GP race outing. Ireland's Adam Carroll, buoyed by his maiden A1GP victory in Mexico last time out, was also on great form, racing to third position and notching up his and the team's third podium finish of the season.

USA's Summerton, who was given an anti-inflammatory dressing by the A1GP Medical Delegate, Dr Paul Trafford, to reduce bruising and swelling in his right hand sustained during the start line incident with New Zealand in this morning's Sprint race, snatched the advantage at the start as Switzerland's Jani struggled to get off the grid.

Summerton had pulled out a one second lead from Jani by lap eight and after some smooth work in the pits and a good out lap, USA held position and continued to pull away from second-placed Switzerland as it became apparent that Jani was driving without second gear. When Summerton came in for his second compulsory pit stop on lap 24, at the same time as third-placed Portugal, the American had a nine second advantage over the Swiss team and again rejoined in the lead. Summerton was never threatened and continued to drive beautifully to cross the line in first place for USA, becoming the 16th nation to win an A1GP race and the 10th this season, taking his and the team's first ever A1GP victory.

Portugal's Albuquerque, who started from third, fell back one position at the start as India's Narain Karthikeyan snuck through to take third. The 22-year old Portuguese rookie snatched it back on lap five however, with a perfectly timed clinical manoeuvre past the Indian car. Having leap-frogged the struggling Swiss car in the final round of pit stops, Albuquerque ran in second place for the final third of the race and went on to cross the line second.

Adam Carroll lost out to India at the start but rocketed past Karthikeyan on the start/finish straight to seize fourth place on lap seven, slotting in behind Portugal. After excellent work in the pits, Carroll gained a place and held third until the end of the race to score Ireland's third podium finish this season and its fourth overall.

Jani, who fell back to second at the start and drove much of the race without second and fifth gear, lost three places to Portugal, Ireland and, crucially, New Zealand, in the second round of pit stops, rejoining the action in fifth place behind the Kiwis in fourth. The pair remained in these positions for the remainder of the race, crossing the line in fourth and fifth place respectively, and the Swiss team are now 29 points ahead of New Zealand in the championship with just one round remaining.

Malaysia's Alex Yoong, who has been on good form all weekend, raced to sixth place ahead of India's Narain Karthikeyan in seventh, who was running as high as third in the early stages of the race. France's Franck Montagny and Great Britain's Robbie Kerr, who are fighting for position in the championship, enjoyed several on-track battles during the 38-lap race and finally crossed the line in eighth and ninth places respectively.

Germany's Michael Ammermüller took the final points-paying position while home nation China's Congfu Cheng, who started 20th, made up five places to finish a commendable 15th in front of his home crowd.

Feature race winner Jonathan Summerton was delighted with his first A1GP victory and paid tribute to the hard work of his team:

'This win is definitely going to build up team morale and we are going to carry that on to Brands Hatch. My hand only hurt when people started wanting to shake it after the race! We did our best to just go out there and go for the win. I knew basically Switzerland was going to be our biggest competition, so I had to go out there and go for the win and I just kept pushing once I got by. We had a bad start to the weekend, but we had to figure out the problem and work from there. The team did a great job working all last night and also hard today. In the pit stops they did a great job and I am glad I am here this weekend and racing to win for us.'

Second-placed Filipe Albuquerque, who achieved Portugal's best race weekend result to date, was pleased with his performance but is aiming to do even better at the final round in Brands Hatch:

'This is definitely very good as three podiums just from six races is a very good average. The starts were really bad, and this was not my best weekend for them as normally I do good starts, but I will work on that for Brands Hatch and that will make the difference. To win in this championship, which is so competitive, just a small mistake can cost a lot. That's racing, it is experience and I hope to do better in Brands Hatch. When I got close to Neel I noticed he had a problem with second gear and I noticed that at the hairpin on the second last corner. He was pretty fast but I knew I would pass him with an early pit stop and then I pushed very hard on my out lap and after that I was just getting away from Ireland.'

Adam Carroll, who notched up Ireland's third podium finish of the season, said:

'It wasn't too bad, but I got bumped into turn one and had nowhere really to go. I lost out to India and Mayalsia. I was able to fight off Malaysia and hold on to fifth place. Then Portugal and India were having a good battle and I was able to pass Narain as well as he kind of had a bad lap as he had just been overtaken so I knew it was my time to jump on him and make a move. After that I pushed as hard as I could but I really could not go any faster as the guys in front were just a bit quicker. It was hard today and the times were just extremely close.'

Today's result keeps the title fight alive as Switzerland leaves China on 150 points ahead of New Zealand on 121, giving the Swiss team a 29 point lead with only 32 points up for grabs at the final round in two weeks time. France now has 111 points and Great Britain lies fourth with 99 as it heads home for the season finale at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit in Kent on 2-4 May 2008.

Feature race results

2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

Fastest lap: A1 Team Canada's Robert Wickens set the fastest lap in the Feature race, lapping the Shanghai International Circuit in 1m35.177s with a speed of 174.1 kph on lap 33 of the 38 lap race.

Next race: A1GP Brands Hatch, Great Britain, 2-4 May 2008

A1GP - Switzerland Takes Superb Win and Edges Closer to Title Honours

21 May 2013

Shanghai, China - A1 Team Switzerland's Neel Jani put in a perfect performance during this morning's Shanghai Sprint race, dominating the action from pole position to seize his fourth win of the season. Jani also set the fastest lap of the race to pick up maximum championship points and increase his nation's lead over second-placed New Zealand to 31 after they failed to score. The Swiss team now needs to increase its lead by just two more points to secure the 2007/08 title honours this afternoon, with one round of the championship remaining at Brands Hatch in Great Britain (4 May).

Canada's Robert Wickens, who is making his final A1GP appearance of the season this weekend, raced to an impressive second place to join the Swiss star on the podium, holding off Portuguese rookie Filipe Albuquerque, who was again on superb form to notch up his second podium finish at only his third A1GP event.

Once pole-sitter Switzerland's Jani had made it to the first corner he was never under threat and by the third lap the 24-year-old had pulled out a two second lead over Canada's Wickens and Portugal's Albuquerque. The Portuguese rookie started on the front row but made a mistake as Jani pulled away, allowing Wickens to sneak through from behind and take second. Albuquerque put pressure on the Canadian throughout the race but couldn't make it past and the pair went on to cross the line in second and third position, a massive 4.6 seconds behind race winner Jani.

Malaysia's Alex Yoong, who started seventh, shot up to fourth at the start and enjoyed a good, clean race to finish fourth ahead of India's Narain Karthikeyan in fifth. The Indian driver managed to hold off Germany's Michael Ammermüller, who crossed the line sixth and was closely followed by South Africa's Adrian Zaugg and Italy's Edoardo Piscopo in seventh and eighth place respectively.

Home nation China's Congfu Cheng got a superb start from 15th on the grid, making up five places to take 10th from Ireland's Adam Carroll, slotting in behind Great Britain's Robbie Kerr. Cheng pushed hard throughout the 10-lap race and excited the local fans when he looked like he was going to make a move past the GBR car with two laps to go. The Chinese driver went on to cross the line 10th behind GBR's Kerr and take the final championship point.

New Zealand's Jonny Reid and USA's Jonathan Summerton, who started alongside each other on the third row, clashed during the rolling start, forcing 'Black Beauty' into a spin and out of the action. Amazingly the rest of the field managed to avoid the incident. Summerton, who hurt his hand when the steering wheel kicked back, limped the USA car back to the pits and retired from the race. Both teams will now be working hard to repair the damage sustained to their cars before the start of the 70-minute Feature race, which starts at 15:00 this afternoon and includes two compulsory pit stops.

Sprint race winner Switzerland's Neel Jani reflected on his team's superb performance in the Sprint race and looked ahead to the possibility of sewing up the championship this afternoon:

'It is a great start to the day. I hope I can do it again in the second race and if we are lucky we can even get the Championship. I tried to quickly get some distance between me and the other guys behind me so I would have a calm race. I still had to push to try and get the quickest lap because Robert (Canada) had it once off me so I had to push again, and I had to fight a little bit with the car so we can still improve it and hopefully be even quicker. I hope Jonathan (USA) is ok and can come back for the second race.'

Canada's Robert Wickens, who finished second in this morning's Sprint race, is aiming for another podium finish this afternoon:

'I think being on the inside on the rolling start here is a big benefit because it's such a long corner. I got a good reaction time to when Neel decided to go and I had a little bit of luck when Portugal got on the limiter a little bit, so it think I lucked out ok and I was just happy to make it to the first corner. From there I just settled in and I attempted to keep up with the Switzerland car but we still have a lot of work to do to the Canadian car. I think we have a tough race ahead of us for the Feature but think it's possible to make it back on the podium.'

Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque, who secured his second podium finish at only his third A1GP event, said:

'I made a mistake at the start that cost me a lot. I fell back into fifth place and then had to fight with Karthikeyan (India). I was able to be third at least and then I was trying to push Robert (Canada) to get second but it's very hard to overtake here. He was getting the team instructions when I was using the push to pass, so I was not able to catch him on the straight. Third place is still good though and I'm pleased to be on the podium but just not as I wanted.'

Sprint race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team Switzerland's Neel Jani set the fastest lap (1m35.400s) of the Sprint race on lap four.

A1GP - Switzerland Storms to Second Double Pole of Season

21 May 2013

Shanghai, China - Championship leader Neel Jani continued his sensational form to qualify the Swiss car in pole position for tomorrow's Sprint and Feature race at the A1GP Shanghai, China.

Sprint race qualifying
Twenty-four-year-old Neel Jani set the fastest lap in the closing moments of the second 15-minute qualifying segment to take pole position for tomorrow morning's Sprint race from Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque, who set the fastest lap during Q1 and has been on superb form all weekend.

Canada's Robert Wickens, who only arrived in China yesterday (Friday) due to prior testing commitments in Europe, put in an incredible performance to qualify third. India's Narain Karthikeyan, who was also on fine form, will line up alongside Wickens in fourth while New Zealand's Jonny Reid qualified in fifth position on the third row, a disappointing result for the title contenders.

USA's Jonathan Summerton, who finished on the Feature race podium last time out in Mexico, will start the race from sixth alongside Reid while Malaysia's Alex Yoong and Ireland's Adam Carroll will line up behind him in seventh and eighth place respectively on row four. Germany's Michael Ammermüller and Great Britain's Robbie Kerr complete the top ten grid positions.

Feature race qualifying
Having secured the Sprint race pole, Switzerland's Neel Jani stormed to the top spot for the Feature race, improving on his provisional pole time set in Q3 by half a second to make it another double pole position for the Swiss team.

Jonathan Summerton continued to impress in the USA car and will line up alongside Jani in second place on the front row. Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque leapt up the order during the final qualifying segment to snatch third position and he will be joined on the second row by Ireland's Adam Carroll, who shot up to fourth place in the closing moments of Q4.

India's Narain Karthikeyan and Malaysia's Alex Yoong will start the Feature race from fifth and sixth place respectively while New Zealand's Jonny Reid could only manage seventh on the grid. GBR's Robbie Kerr will line up alongside him in eighth and the pair will be followed off the grid by South Africa's Adrian Zaugg in ninth and France's Franck Montagny, who was flying this morning, in tenth.

Home nation A1 Team China's Congfu Cheng endured a difficult day, qualifying in 15th for the Sprint race and 20th for the Feature, having battled with technical problems relating to the suspension system on the Chinese car.

With Switzerland's nearest challengers in the title battle, New Zealand, France and GBR, all experiencing disappointing qualifying sessions, Jani has put the Swiss car in a perfect position to increase his team's lead and stamp Switzerland's authority on the championship.

Jani has now notched up seven pole positions during his A1GP career and secured two double poles this season, his first at round three in Malaysia. His stunning performance today means the Swiss star now holds the record for the most number of pole positions secured by an A1GP driver, beating five which was previously held jointly by him and Adrian Zaugg.

Sprint and Feature race pole-sitter Neel Jani, whose main aim is to pick up maximum championship points tomorrow, said:

'The team did a great job. We were struggling a little bit for the first run in qualifying but then we made a change and from then on we had fantastic pace. We don't know about the weather for tomorrow - it might rain which could change everything. If I get a good start there is nothing to worry about and I think the guys next to me are sensible and they don't want to go out either. I don't need to win at the moment, I just need points and that's what I'm going for. If I can win, even better!'

Portuguese rookie Filipe Albuquerque, who will start the Sprint race from second and the Feature race from third on the grid, is targeting his first A1GP victory:

'This is only my third race so I'm quite happy to be starting second and third and I think we did a good job. I thought I had got pole for the Sprint but Neel was just way too fast so I think P2 was the best we could do. Then for Feature qualifying I was behind Wickens (Canada) and he made a small mistake and I couldn't put my lap together but still third is ok with those mistakes. I'm happy to be on the first row in the Sprint race and if I have a chance to overtake Neel I will definitely go for the first place. We're nowhere in the championship so I don't care about the points I just care about the win.'

Tomorrow's Sprint race in Shanghai will start at 11.00 local time and the 70-minute Feature race will start at 15.00.

All A1 Teams, suppliers and staff gathered in the paddock this morning for the annual A1GP group photograph. Go to www.A1GP.com/press to view and download it.

Sprint race qualifying results - A1GP Shanghai, China (round 9 of 10)

Feature race qualifying results - A1GP Shanghai, China (round 9 of 10)

F1 – Massa fights back in Bahrain

21 May 2013

  Despite having a contract till the end of 2009 Felipe Massa may have just saved his Ferrari career with a dominant win in the deserts of Bahrain.Massa was the dominant driver all weekend and led from the first turn to the flag apart from his pit stops and give Ferrari the first 0ne-two of the year. He showed just how good he can be when he doesn’t make silly mistakes and if he could eliminate them………. 

   Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had a difficult weekend unable to get the handling to his liking. He still managed to rise from his fourth place on the grid to a comfortable second place at the finish and take the lead in the World Championship title race. 

   About the only timeMassa wasn’t at the front of the pack was in the final qualifying session when Robert Kubica became the first Polish driver and the first BMW driver to score pole position with a scintillating lap. BMW again totally outclassed McLaren with Kubica and Heidfeld finishing third and fourth behind the Ferraris. In so doing BMW now lead the Constructors Championship by a point over Ferrari and two ahead of McLaren. Nick Heidfeld now sits second in the drivers title standings. 

  McLaren had another shocker of a weekend with only Heikki Kovalainen finishing in the points, in fifth, the same position that he started. Hamilton started in third place but lost a whole handful of places with an awful start and then plowing up the back of Fernando Alonso’s Renault at the start of lap two. Despite the ridiculous hysteria of the English commentators who claimed that Alonso brake tested him, it was quite obvious that Lewis had just made another rookie mistake. A pit stop to replace his missing front wing was the end of Lewis as he put in a fairly lack-lustredrive to finish down in 13^th place behind the Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella.

  Renault had an even worse weekend with Alonso’s handling being upset by the sizeable chunk that was removed from his rear wing by Hamilton, he struggled home in 10^th place. Poor Nelson Piquet just can’t take a trick at the moment and his race was effectively over on the warm-up lap when he reported that he could not select 2^nd gear. Surprisingly he made it to lap 40 before the gearbox finally gave up. Just six points from three races and Giancarlo Fisichella is starting to think that maybe he has actually stepped up with his move to Force India.

  Toyota had another decent meeting with Jarno Trulli coming home in 6^th after trailing Kovalainen for the entire race. Timo Glock finally finished a race just out of the points in 9^th place and both drivers were happy with the cars balance.

  Mark Webber recovered from a disappointing qualifying to take two points from seventh place after starting 11^th on the grid. Avoiding the mess which took out Hamilton and Jenson Button in the Honda and delayed Alonso certainly helped jump Webber up the field but the Red Bull’s race pace was good anyway and had he started in his normal top ten grid spot he probably would have finished in a similar position. David Coulthard had a messy meeting. He started back in 17^th, got caught up in the second lap carnage, had a bingle with Button and finished down in 18^th and second last place.

  Williams looked on for a good finish after Malaysia’s disaster and Rosberg lining up 8^th on the grid. Rosberg held a comfortable 7^th place through the first stint but his pace dropped away on the second set of tyres and he struggled home to take the final point with 8^th place. Nakajima was never in the hunt, qualifying only 16^th and finishing 14^th.

  Honda squandered a reasonably quick car to again leave with no points. Button started in 9^th but got caught up in the mess behind Hamilton, stopped to repair the damage and charged back only to run into Coulthard and remove himself from the race. Barrichello was occasionally running in the points but finished down in 11^th place in front of Fisichella, Hamilton and Nakajima.

  Oddly enough, Max Moseley did not attend the race. Perhaps that was for the best.

Sam Snape

9-4-08