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A1 Grand Prix, The World Cup of Motorsport, was staged for the first time in the 2005-06 season. Devised by Chairman, Sheikh Maktoum of Dubai, the series has brought an entirely new concept to the world of motorsport where driver is pitted against driver and country against country in a level playing field using identical machinery. It has the added benefit of attracting teams from non-traditional motor racing nations. 24 different nations will be represented on the 06-07 grid, the latest addition being Turkey and Greece.
Along with providing an opportunity for young up and coming drivers to showcase on a world stage, it also provides the same opportunity to the corporate sector, with events run in Europe, Australasia, South Africa and the American continent. Run at some of the world's best venues, it is telecast to a viewing audience of billions worldwide. THE CARS The Lola desinged A1 car has been designed with overtaking in mind. Unlike other categories which have high downforce, the aerodynamics produce only a very small pocket of dirty air. Dirty air makes overtaking difficult and consequently often leads to processional racing. The A1's front wing has also been designed to allow closer racing. The PowerBoost system, unique to A1, also adds a whole new dimension in providing competitive racing. It gives the drivers an additional 30 bhp but is allowed to be used only four times in a sprint race and eight in a feature race. Therefore the drivers need to use their skills to decide the most opportune times to use the PowerBoost function. The all-new A1 V8 Engine, developed specifically for the A1 Car by Zytek Engineering, produces 520 bhp (550 bhp in PowerBoost mode) and has advanced electronic fuel injection, quad cams and four valves per cylinder to ensure exceptional fuel delivery even under high lateral g-forces. The A1 engine is one of the lightest 3.4-litre racing engines ever made, weighing in at only 120kg.
The aluminium alloy engine block and head deliver the performance of a heavyweight in a flyweight package and is designed to last the whole season. The A1 car's overall length is 4833mm, with a long wheelbase of 3000mm. A wide track of 1468 mm (front) and 1476 mm (rear) gives excellent cornering stability.
Cooper have developed the A1 control tyre (the same tyre run by all teams) along with a specially developed rain tyre to handle the worst conditions. Due to the huge torque of the A1 Engine a significantly larger rear tyre is required over race distance. G-forces of around 3.5G on a typical A1 Grand Prix circuit are experienced by the drivers, similar to those experienced by fighter pilots. |
THE FORMAT The average of the two best times of the four qualifying sessions will form the grid for the sprint race. All teams must participate in at least two timed qualifying sessions. Within each 15 minute session each team may only complete three laps (outlap, flying lap, in lap). The results of the sprint race will determine the grid for the feature race. The feature race will be 70 minutes long. There are no points allocated to the driver, but to the team. The winner is the driver, team and the Nation.
Only drivers who take part in at least one of the three practice sessions can take part in the races. Therefore a maximum of three drivers can take part at a race weekend. No more than ten technical staff are allowed to work in the pits to make sure that all teams have a level playing field. THE TIMETABLE Friday | 13:00-14:00 | Practice Session 1 | | 16:00-17:00 | Practice Session 2 |
Saturday | 11:00-12:00 | Official Practice Session 3 | | 14:15-14:30 | Qualifying Session 1 | | 14:35-14:50 | Qualifying Session 2 | | 14:55-15:10 | Qualifying Session 3 | | 15:15-15:30 | Qualifying Session 4 |
Sunday | 11:05-11:25 | Sprint Race (rolling start) | | 14:45-15:55 | Feature Race (standing start) |
THE POINTS SYSTEM | 1st place | 6 points | | 2nd place | 5 points | | 3rd place | 4 points | | 4th place | 3 points | | 5th place | 2 points | | 6th place | 1 point | | Fastest Lap | 1 point |
Info source: http://www.a1gp.com/About/WhatIsA1GP.aspx |
