Fourth & Fifth Place Finish For A1 Team Netherlands At Zandvoort
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Oct 05, 2008
A1GP
On a soaked Zandvoort A1 Team Netherlands has started the A1GP Season 2008/09 with a fourth and fifth place finish. The debut of the A1GP Powered by Ferrari had a lot of on track spectacle and horrendous weather conditions, with constant rain and a lot of wind. In these circumstances Jeroen Bleekemolen took the maximum possible result, supported unconditionally by the crowds lining the circuit.
There was asthonisment and admiration for the number of spectators at the event. Over 85,000 people rewarded the spectacular A1GP races with their presence. “The new A1GP series can proudly boast the title “Powered by Ferrari’, A1 Team Netherlands can use the title ‘Powered by the Public,” said Jan Lammers. “It truly was a unique and amazing event. I think with this amount of public interest and weather conditions it is safe to say that A1GP is a waterproof formula, when you talk about entertainment in racing. I cannot describe how thankful we are to the public for their unconditional enthusiasm.”
In this mornings Sprint race Bleekemolen started from pole. On an already wet Zandvoort circuit it was decided to start the 14 lap race from behind the safety car. A wise decision by the organization. A1 Team Netherlands managed to stay in the lead, but saw A1 Team New Zealand closing in after a few laps. Bleekemolen had trouble finding the grip in the difficult conditions and to make matters worse his visor had fogged up, seriously diminishing his sight. New Zealand’s Earl Bamber started to push the A1 Team Netherlands driver, forced an error by Bleekemolen at the Audi-S and took the lead. Meanwhile Malaysia had climbed and was rapidly closing in on the leaders. Soon A1 Team Netherlands was overtaken and moments later Fauzi took the lead. By then Bleekemolen had to succeed a position to France and was under pressure from China, which then spun. Switzerland put on the pressure and it looked like that they were going to pass. But then luck was on A1 Team Netherlands side, the race was red flagged after a crash by Brazil. With the fourth place A1 Team Netherlands takes five points. Malaysia took victory, followed by New Zealand and France.
Conditions had deteriarated further for the Feature race, where despite the torrential rain and wind many occupied the grandstands and dunes, and again the start was from behind the safety car. Just before the start there was a greeting by the Dutch Royal Air Force and on the starting grid Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende wished Jeroen success for the race. Bleekemolen also had a good start and was soon able to climb to third. With a new visor, better sight and a faster car he even was the fastest on track for a moment. Then bad luck struck mercilessly. Bleekemolen was right behind France at the first of two mandatory pitstops. A stuck wheelnut caused significant time loss. Soon after the gearbox started to act up and started to suddenly shift up and down. From then on Bleekemolen only concentrated on finishing the race. All the other drivers barely managed to keep their cars on track, let alone set fast times. Not everyone was successful at this and for some their race ended in the gravel bed. Bleekemolen managed to get through the final laps, the final one behind the safety car after a huge crash by China and Lebanon and scored six points for A1 Team Netherlands with sixth place. France won the race, in front of Malaysia and New Zealand.
Jeroen Bleekemolen; “Of course you always want to win and especially from pole in your home race. It was too bad that we were unable to take victory this morning. The car was not perfect and my visor also fogged up. This afternoon we just had bad luck. We had a real good shot at winning the second race. It also went very good, the car was a lot better than in the Sprint race and the sight also was much better. Then you start to think; “This could well be the one’. I was behind France and we were really competitive. On a certain moment we were the fastest on track. Then the gearbox broke and I did everything in my power to keep the car on the track. Sometimes it would go into neutral and then you can easily go off. It was hard and we have made it, but this was the maximum possible. To drive in these conditions was unbelievably hard. I have to say that I also deeply respect all the spectators who fought this weather to cheer us on”.
Jan Lammers; “The nice thing about pole postion is that you start from the front. But you can really only do worse from then on. It is a shame, this morning we had a set up that was not the best and a rather clumsy visor story. Off course it is not what we had hoped for, but at least there are thirteen others who did worse and unfortunately we have to accept it as it is. The start is there, the spectators have had an fantastic day despite the weather. In every turn someone went off, so everyone had their entertainment.”
After the first two races A1 Team Netherlands is in fourth with 11 points. France and Malaysia share the lead with 22 points each. On November 9 the second race weekend for A1 Team Netherlands will be held. Then Robert Doornbos will make his official race debut in A1GP.
