A1 Team Netherlands extra motivated after bad rehersal
A1 Team Netherlands is more motivated than ever to secure a good result at their home race at Zandvoort after today’s qualifying for the A1GP Zandvoort. The team had a bad rehersal for the race at the premiere of the new qualifying format of A1GP, with a fifth grid position for the Sprint race and an eleventh grid position for the Feature race.
It was early days for the A1GP teams today, with two free practice sessions and qualifying all in one day. At 09.00 the first free practice session started with wet track conditions. In the beginning the local knowhow of Jeroen Bleekemolen showed and A1 Team Netherlands set the early pave, but by the end of the session the team dropped a few places and finished in sixth. A1 Team Netherlands also finished in sixth in the second, again wet session. At 15.45 the A1GP qualifying started, for the first time with the new format. Now the fastest time out of the first two qualifying sessions determined the Sprint race grid, the second half of the qualifying determined the Feature race grid.
In the first run Jeroen Bleekemolen set a fifth fastest time, right behind Switzerland. In that run A1 Team Netherlands and a number of other teams had to deal with a red flag as they began their flying laps, after USA spun. In the second session Bleekemolen managed to improve on his initial time in the flying lap, and came very close to climbing one spot. This means that A1 Team Netherlands will start the Sprint race, held over 19 minutes plus 1 lap, from that grid position.
In the second half of qualifying, to determine the Feature race grid, A1 Team Netherlands was not able to set a faster time and now it had to be done in the final qualifying run. Bleekemolen managed to improve his time, but unfortunately the team had judged the ever changing weather conditions false and went out on track too early. This proved to be the wrong bet, it stayed dry the track got quicker and other teams were able to benefit. In the end A1 Team Netherlands had to settle for an eleventh grid position for the Feature race, held over 69 minutes plus 1 lap and with two mandatory pitstops.
South Africa took an impressive double pole position, Adrian Zaug beat Loic Duval of France and Christian Vietoris of Germany.
A1 Team Netherlands team principal Jan Lammers realises that there is a lot of work to be done for both races tomorrow; “This was a bad rehersal, it has motivated us even more to take a good result tomorrow on our home track. The qualifying is essentially our job list, when you are in fifth you know that there are four to overtake and the same goes for 11th. We have got our work cut out, but let’s not forget that last year we started in eighth and could have won the race. We were not able to maximize on the constantly changing weather conditions. If it will be dry tomorrow I hope that our local knowledge will give us an edge, no one else has driven here with dry conditions this year. The fact that everything, the free practice sessions and the qualifying, was all on the same day did not help us either. When you have everything right from the start it is very hard for others to close in, unfortunately this time we were the others”.
A1 Team Netherlands driver Jeroen Bleekemolen could not be content with this result, but certainly sees opportunities for tomorrow; “At the start of the first free practice we were quickest, but that is mainly circuit knowledge. After that the other teams improved their car set ups and the drivers got to know the track better. We also never worked on the set up of the A1GP car in wet conditions before, in A1GP the rain always came unexpectedly. That is why now you see quite large gaps, normally the first 18 are quite close together, now some had their act together, others did not. Weather conditions were a drama, every time I went out on track the track conditions were different. For the Sprint race we are close to the podium, maybe we can grab a podium spot with a good start. In the Feature race anything can happen, also with the two mandatory pitstops. We should not have to be too down about today, in the race we should be able to make up a lot of ground. ”
Despite the absence of the Rookie session during the A1GP Zandvoort, A1 Team Netherlands Rookie driver Arie Luyendyk jr. was able to go out on track with the A1 Team Netherlands T-car, for his firs demo run of the weekend; “It was great and for me it was the first time on Zandvoort since 2001. I was really looking forward to do this demo. Also it was good to get some more miles in the A1GP car in the wet, because I will probably encounter this more often this season. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow and I can get some more time and stretch my feet in the A1GP car a little. Today was not easy, but I had a lot of fun doing this for the fans and sponsors. Tomorrow I will again enjoy doing this. ”
Tomorrow the program for A1 Team Netherlands starts at 09.00 in the morning with the demonstration by Arie Luyendyk jr. in the A1 Team Netherlands T-car. After this the Sprint race starts at 11.00 and the Feature race at 15.00 hours.
| 
|