Charlie Kimball: “I have never driven at Brno, but I am really looking forward to the challenge “
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Oct 08, 2007
A1GP
Charlie Kimball will drive for A1 TEAM USA in the all-rookie practices Friday for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport event at Brno’s 3.36-mile circuit.
Kimball, of Camarillo, Calif., tested strongly at Silverstone, England, on Sept. 19 in his first time in the A1GP mandated Lola-Zytek. Brno will be initial race weekend for Kimball, who will have two 25-minute sessions in the car prior to Buddy Rice taking over for the rest of the event.
“I’m very happy that A1 TEAM USA has given me this opportunity to contribute, “ Kimball said. “It’s a unique experience to be able to represent my country. “
The 22-year-old has raced regularly in Europe since late in 2003. Kimball has won races in the Formula 3 Euroseries, British Formula 3, UK Formula Ford and the British Formula Ford Winter Series. He is driving in the World Series by Renault championship this season and has three top-10s with two double-header race weekends remaining.
“I have never driven at Brno, but I am really looking forward to the challenge, “ Kimball said. “I have spoken with other drivers who have driven there as well as the engineers from A1 TEAM USA, so I have a basic understanding of what the track is like. From a map, it looks really interesting with a lot of technical combination corners. “
Kimball knows what his job is at Brno.
“I hope that driving the ‘We the People’ car in the rookie sessions will give the whole team a leg up on the competition for the race weekend, “ he said. “I know that I can give the engineers good feedback on the setup so that when Buddy gets in the car, there is already some information to work from. “
A1 TEAM USA owner Rick Weidinger has followed Kimball’s career and stayed in contact since they met at A! GP’s inaugural race at Brands Hatch in 2005. Kimball was with the team at the season opener at Zandvoort, The Netherlands, on Sept. 29-30, a two-day event without the rookie sessions because of noise limitations at the seaside track. The remaining nine A1GP events will be three days and will include rookie practice.
“We’ve been very impressed by Charlie in his career and in the test, “ Weidinger said. “We’re excited to have him in the car and think he can provide technical feedback that will be valuable to Buddy and our engineering staff. “
Kimball’s 50-minutes on the track a significant addition to the total on the schedule. Rice will have one hour practices on Friday and Saturday and four 15-minute qualifying sessions prior to Sunday’s Sprint and Feature races.
In A1GP, drivers who have participated in less than four races in the series and are 28-years-old or younger or come from developing countries are eligible for rookie status.
