A1 Team Pakistan took part in qualifying for the final roundof the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport today, at the Brands Hatch circuit in Great Britain. Adam Khan took his placebehind the wheel of the Pakistan car to set the team’s position for tomorrow’s races. As A1GP’s uniquequalifying session drew to a close, the team had qualified18thfor both the Sprint and Feature races.
Before qualifying, the team were on track this morning forthe final practice session of the weekend. As the weatherremained sunny and bright, Khan completed 28 laps to work on the team’s set up before theafternoon’s qualifying sessions.
With the grassy banks around the Brands Hatch covered with excited spectators, the 22 A1GPdrivers took to the track for the four segment qualifying session. In a system unique to A1GP,the teams completed four flying laps, the quickest of the first two laps setting the team’s positionfor the Sprint race, while the quickest of the final two laps setting the grid position for theFeature race.
Khan was the first driver out on track for the first qualifying segment, setting a good benchmarktime on old tyres. The 22 year-old racer improved further on his second lap however, to takenearly two seconds off his previous time and put the team 18th on the Sprint race grid.
After a five minute break, the team were back out for the third qualifying segment –Khan’s firstattempt to set a good position for the Feature race grid. Khan was pushing hard on his thirdqualifying lap, putting the team in a provisional 14thplace. With just one more lap to improve his position, Khan improved his time further, but with other teams also going quicker Pakistan wererelegated to 18thon the grid.
Speaking about the team’s qualifying performance, Khan said, “I’m not very happy with it, we’lljust have to try and make the most of it tomorrow. I think there will be quite a few incidents tomorrow - this is a very tricky circuit, very twisty with some blind corners, so I think there is potential to make up some positions. We’ll be pushing hard tomorrow to get the best result forPakistan and end the season on a high.”
Team Manager John Allen added, “We didn’t really get to grips with the high speed corners hereand struggled to get the most out of the new tyres. Ideally I think we could have been a fewmore places up the grid for the Feature race. Nevertheless, we’ve seen the championship getmore and more competitive as the season has gone on and now at the season finale it is moredifficult than ever. Despite qualifying 18thfor the Feature race, Adam is just over a secondbehind the pole sitter which shows how close it is.
“Adam is very much a racer and I think we’ll see him make up places tomorrow, especially in thelonger Feature race. It’s going to be quite an uphill battle tomorrow to get into the points, but atBrands Hatch anything can happen.”
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