2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand

2008–09 A1GP of New Zealand
Race Details
Race 4 of 7 in the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season
Date	January 25, 2009
Location	Taupo Motorsport Park Taupo, New Zealand
Weather	Clear, 24°C
Sprint race
Qualifying
Pole	Ireland (Adam Carroll)
Time	1:14.507
Podium
1st	Ireland (Adam Carroll)
2nd	Switzerland (Neel Jani)
3rd	Netherlands (Robert Doornbos)
Fastest Lap
FL	Switzerland (Neel Jani)
Time	1:15.021, (Lap 10)
Feature race
Qualifying
Pole	Ireland (Adam Carroll)
Time	1:14.411
Podium
1st	Switzerland (Neel Jani)
2nd	Ireland (Adam Carroll)
3rd	Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque)
Fastest Lap
FL	Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque)
Time	1:14.898, (Lap 30)
Official Classifications
PDF Booklet

The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand was an A1 Grand Prix race held at Taupo Motorsport Park, New Zealand.

Pre-race

The A1 Team Portugal’s sports director, Pedro Chaves has tested the A1GP car at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (Portugal) for promotional purposes.^[1]

Drivers

Team	Main Driver	Rookie Driver[2]	Reserve Driver
Australia	John Martin	Ashley Walsh
Brazil	Felipe Guimarães[3]	Felipe Guimarães
Canada	Did Not Participate
China	Congfu Cheng[3]	Adderly Fong[3]	Ho-Pin Tung[4]
France	Loïc Duval[3]	Nicolas Prost
Germany	Did Not Participate[3]
Great Britain	Dan Clarke[5][6]	James Winslow
India	Narain Karthikeyan	Parthiva Sureshwaren
Indonesia	Satrio Hermanto	Zahir Ali
Ireland	Adam Carroll[3]	Niall Quinn
Italy	Edoardo Piscopo
Korea	Did Not Participate[4]
Lebanon	Daniel Morad	Daniel Morad	Jimmy Auby
Malaysia	Fairuz Fauzy[7]	Aaron Lim[7]
Mexico	Salvador Duran[8]	Juan Pablo Garcia[8]
Monaco	Clivio Piccione	Hubertus Bahlsen[9]
The Netherlands	Robert Doornbos[3]	Dennis Retera
New Zealand	Chris van der Drift[3]	Chris van der Drift	Jonny Reid
Pakistan	Did Not Participate[3]
Portugal	Filipe Albuquerque[3]	António Félix da Costa[9]
South Africa	Adrian Zaugg	Cristiano Morgado[9]
Switzerland	Neel Jani	Alexandre Imperatori
USA	Marco Andretti[3]	J.R. Hildebrand

Qualifying

The PowerBoost joker-style qualifying lap was not used for qualifying, with further review being made to determine its use in the following race.^[10]

It is the first time in A1GP history that the front row for both the Sprint and the Feature race has been the same since the introduction of the double qualifying sessions.^[11]

Sprint race qualifying[12] Pos Team Time Gap 1 Ireland 1:14.507 – 2 Netherlands 1:14.772 + 0.265 3 Portugal 1:14.788 + 0.281 4 Switzerland 1:15.202 + 0.695 5 France 1:15.360 + 0.853 6 New Zealand 1:15.457 + 0.950 7 Australia 1:15.504 + 0.997 8 Italy 1:15.614 + 1.107 9 Malaysia 1:15.710 + 1.203 10 Lebanon 1:15.839 + 1.332 11 South Africa 1:15.917 + 1.410 12 Mexico 1:15.972 + 1.465 13 Brazil 1:16.074 + 1.567 14 India 1:16.146 + 1.639 15 Great Britain 1:16.347 + 1.840 16 Monaco 1:16.424 + 1.917 17 USA 1:16.791 + 2.284 18 China 1:16.885 + 2.378 19 Indonesia 1:17.266 + 2.759

Feature race qualifying[13] Pos Team Time Gap 1 Ireland 1:14.411 – 2 Netherlands 1:14.676 + 0.265 3 Portugal 1:14.843 + 0.432 4 Australia 1:14.976 + 0.565 5 Switzerland 1:15.043 + 0.632 6 Malaysia 1:15.246 + 0.835 7 France 1:15.423 + 1.012 8 USA 1:15.527 + 1.116 9 Lebanon 1:15.587 + 1.176 10 New Zealand 1:15.622 + 1.211 11 India 1:15.699 + 1.288 12 Brazil 1:15.812 + 1.401 13 Mexico 1:15.892 + 1.481 14 Great Britain 1:15.902 + 1.491 15 Italy 1:15.942 + 1.531 16 South Africa 1:16.164 + 1.753 17 Monaco 1:16.735 + 2.324 18 Indonesia 1:16.783 + 2.372 19 China 1:17.184 + 2.773

Sprint Race

For safety concerns, regarding the "S" bend near the end of the lap, the Sprint Race featured a standing start, rather than the traditional rolling start.^[3]

Pos	Team	Driver	Laps	Time	Points
1	Ireland	Adam Carroll	15	19:40.271	10
2	Switzerland	Neel Jani	15	+ 1.488	8+1
3	Netherlands	Robert Doornbos	15	+ 3.559	6
4	France	Loïc Duval	15	+ 8.594	5
5	New Zealand	Chris van der Drift	15	+ 11.666	4
6	Portugal	Filipe Albuquerque	15	+ 12.665	3
7	Italy	Edoardo Piscopo	15	+ 14.959	2
8	Malaysia	Fairuz Fauzy	15	+ 15.797	1
9	India	Narain Karthikeyan	15	+ 20.973
10	South Africa	Adrian Zaugg	15	+ 22.030
11	USA	Marco Andretti	15	+ 30.565
12	Great Britain	Dan Clarke	15	+ 31.005
13	Indonesia	Satrio Hermanto	15	+ 32.361
14	Brazil	Felipe Guimarães	15	+ 33.134
15	Mexico	Salvador Durán	15	+ 40.601
16	Monaco	Clivio Piccione	15	+ 49.281*
17	China	Congfu Cheng	11	Spin
18	Lebanon	Daniel Morad	8	Accident
19	Australia	John Martin	5	Suspension

* 25 second penalty added to time, for causing an avoidable collision^[14]

Feature Race

Pos	Team	Driver	Laps	Time	Points
1	Switzerland	Neel Jani	50	1:06'19.574	15
2	Ireland	Adam Carroll	50	+ 1.047	12
3	Portugal	Filipe Albuquerque	50	+ 2.379	10+1
4	Australia	John Martin	50	+ 10.593	8
5	Netherlands	Robert Doornbos	50	+ 14.402	6
6	France	Loïc Duval	50	+ 17.423	5
7	India	Narain Karthikeyan	50	+ 20.215	4
8	Italy	Edoardo Piscopo	50	+ 23.156	3
9	South Africa	Adrian Zaugg	50	+ 23.347	2
10	Malaysia	Fairuz Fauzy	50	+ 26.832	1
11	USA	Marco Andretti	50	+ 45.799*
12	Great Britain	Dan Clarke	49	+ 1 lap
13	New Zealand	Chris van der Drift	49	+ 1 lap
14	China	Congfu Cheng	49	+ 1 lap
15	Brazil	Felipe Guimarães	49	+ 1 lap*
16	Mexico	Salvador Durán	43	Retired
17	Indonesia	Satrio Hermanto	42	Spin
18	Monaco	Clivio Piccione	33	Spin
19	Lebanon	Daniel Morad	1	Suspension

* 25 second penalty added to time – USA for passing the white line at the end of the pit lane, Brazil for causing an avoidable collision^[15]

Notes

• It was the 36th race weekend (72 starts).
• It was the 3rd race in New Zealand, and the 3rd at Taupo Motorsport Park.
• It was the first race as main driver for Dan Clarke.
• It was the first race weekend as rookie driver for António Félix da Costa, Hubertus Bahlsen, Adderly Fong and Cristiano Morgado.
• Records:
  • Portugal and Filipe Albuquerque scored their first fastest lap.
  • Neel Jani tied with Alex Yoong for the most A1GP starts – 54.
  • Neel Jani score 8 fastest laps.

References

External links

• Ireland Sprints ahead
• Sprint Race results
• Sprint Race: lap-by-lap
• Just what the doctor ordered (Feature Race article)
• Feature Race results
• Feature Race: lap-by-lap