Czech Republic Drivers Nominated For Qualifying In A1GP Brno

A1 Team New Zealand took control in this morning’s third and final practice session at Brno circuit ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying for the A1GP Brno, Czech Republic. Last year’s pole-sitter, Jonny Reid, set a fastest lap of 1m46.469s just under half way through the session, knocking Irish new boy Adam Carroll off the top spot.

The drivers were greeted by blue skies and sunshine as they took to the track but were forced to be cautious as the ambient temperature registered a cool nine degrees centigrade and the track remained relatively damp and slippery due to early morning rain.

Reid was closely followed by A1 Team Netherlands’ Jeroen Bleekemolen, who clocked the second fastest time ahead of Ireland’s Adam Carroll. The 24-year-old from Portadown seemed happier with the balance of the Irish car today, finishing the session third fastest, just one thousands of a second off the Dutch car. Switzerland’s Neel Jani rounded out the top four nations who were in a class of their own for the majority of the session, separated by just under half a second.

A1 Team France finished the morning in fifth place with Nicolas Lapierre at the wheel, almost a second off fourth placed Switzerland. As most teams chose to conserve their Cooper tyres ahead of qualifying this afternoon, a late charge from Michel Jourdain on new rubber moved the Mexican car up to an impressive sixth place ahead of Team Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr in seventh.

Eric Janis finished 12th for the home nation while yesterday’s fastest man on track, Germany’s Christian Vietoris, finished the morning in an uncharacteristically low 14th position.

The teams now have to decide on their set ups before qualifying for the Sprint and Feature races starts at 14.15 this afternoon. Qualifying consists of four 15 minute sessions with a five minute break between each one. The fastest lap time set by each team’s nominated driver in the first two qualifying segments will determine the grid for the rolling start Sprint race, while the fastest times set in the final two segments will determine how the 22 cars will line up on the grid for the standing start Feature race. Each driver is limited to one ‘flying lap’ per 15 minute session.

Official Practice Session 3

POS DRIVER A1 TEAM TIME GAP FIRST LAPS

1 Jonny REID NEW ZEALAND 01:46.469 - 18

2 Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN NETHERLANDS 01:46.880 +0.411 12

3 Adam CARROLL IRELAND 01:46.881 +0.412 16

4 Neel JANI SWITZERLAND 01:46.913 +0.444 14

5 Nicolas LAPIERRE FRANCE 01:47.519 +1.050 21

6 Michel JOURDAIN MEXICO 01:47.691 +1.222 15

7 Robbie KERR GREAT BRITAIN 01:47.720 +1.251 19

8 Congfu CHENG CHINA 01:47.840 +1.371 15

9 Sergio JIMENEZ BRAZIL 01:47.887 +1.418 17

10 Alex YOONG MALAYSIA 01:47.917 +1.448 14

11 James HINCHCLIFFE CANADA 01:48.078 +1.609 17

12 Erik JANIS CZECH REPUBLIC 01:48.104 +1.635 20

13 Ian DYK AUSTRALIA 01:48.202 +1.733 22

14 Christian VIETORIS GERMANY 01:48.264 +1.795 18

15 Adrian ZAUGG SOUTH AFRICA 01:48.486 +2.017 18

16 Enrico TOCCACELO ITALY 01:48.516 +2.047 15

17 Narain KARTHIKEYAN INDIA 01:48.535 +2.066 13

18 Adam KHAN PAKISTAN 01:48.577 +2.108 19

19 Buddy RICE USA 01:48.899 +2.430 21

20 Satrio HERMANTO INDONESIA 01:48.944 +2.475 20

21 Joao URBANO PORTUGAL 01:49.250 +2.781 18

22 Khalil BESCHIR LEBANON 01:50.877 +4.408 17