Apr 2009
A1 Team INA Team secure another point
A1 Team Indonesia brought home another A1GP World Cup
of Motorsport point in today’s Feature race at
the Vodafone A1GP, Algarve. Zahir Ali, representing
his nation, took 14th place in the earlier Sprint
race and then drove well in a hectic Feature race to
secure the final points position, 10th.
The Sprint race produced drama for the Indonesian team before the start, with Zahir spinning on his way to the grid and stalling the car, as he struggled with the car’s handling. The marshals were able to tow the car back to the pits, however the Indonesian team had to start the race from the pitlane.
The start produced plenty of drama, with Zahir skilfully managing to avoid cars tangling and being pushed off track. At the end of the first lap the team were lying 17th and after each of the team had made their mandatory pitstop had improved to 15th place. Zahir persevered in a challenging race to bring the Indonesian car home in 14th position.
The Feature race start was another opening lap full of drama. Once again Zahir masterfully steered clear of the incidents to lie 15th after the first lap. He improved further as the race settled down and was up to 14th until being passed by China prior to the pitstops. A safety car period after a two car clash slowed the pace for a few laps and on the return to full speed Zahir remained in 14th place. He maintained position through the mid part of the race and while other cars fell off the track or tangled with rivals, Zahir kept a consistent pace, taking the chequered flag in 10th position. Scoring the Indonesian team another point was important and well deserved as Zahir battled with car problems throughout the race.
Zahir said of his races, “All weekend we were struggling to find a solution for the rear end of the car which wasn’t right. In the end we just had to go out there and race, but in the Feature race it was just getting worse and worse. The team think that something may have broken so they will be looking at this before the next event. We were changing things even today, which is why I ended up spinning this morning. It was a hard race for me, but I’m pleased that we were able to take home one point.”
Bagoes Hermanto, Team Principal, A1 Team Indonesia concluded, “It was a good result for the team today, with another point. For Zahir it was an important experience, particularly as he was able to have a whole weekend of running, which didn’t happen in South Africa. The car didn’t handle as well as he would have liked, so that added to the pressures, but he coped well in these conditions.”
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport 2008/09 season continues with the seventh round of competition at Brands Hatch in Kent, England in three weeks time. The circuit will host the event for the fourth consecutive season and has the accolade of being the first track that the A1GP series raced on, back in September 2005.
The Sprint race produced drama for the Indonesian team before the start, with Zahir spinning on his way to the grid and stalling the car, as he struggled with the car’s handling. The marshals were able to tow the car back to the pits, however the Indonesian team had to start the race from the pitlane.
The start produced plenty of drama, with Zahir skilfully managing to avoid cars tangling and being pushed off track. At the end of the first lap the team were lying 17th and after each of the team had made their mandatory pitstop had improved to 15th place. Zahir persevered in a challenging race to bring the Indonesian car home in 14th position.
The Feature race start was another opening lap full of drama. Once again Zahir masterfully steered clear of the incidents to lie 15th after the first lap. He improved further as the race settled down and was up to 14th until being passed by China prior to the pitstops. A safety car period after a two car clash slowed the pace for a few laps and on the return to full speed Zahir remained in 14th place. He maintained position through the mid part of the race and while other cars fell off the track or tangled with rivals, Zahir kept a consistent pace, taking the chequered flag in 10th position. Scoring the Indonesian team another point was important and well deserved as Zahir battled with car problems throughout the race.
Zahir said of his races, “All weekend we were struggling to find a solution for the rear end of the car which wasn’t right. In the end we just had to go out there and race, but in the Feature race it was just getting worse and worse. The team think that something may have broken so they will be looking at this before the next event. We were changing things even today, which is why I ended up spinning this morning. It was a hard race for me, but I’m pleased that we were able to take home one point.”
Bagoes Hermanto, Team Principal, A1 Team Indonesia concluded, “It was a good result for the team today, with another point. For Zahir it was an important experience, particularly as he was able to have a whole weekend of running, which didn’t happen in South Africa. The car didn’t handle as well as he would have liked, so that added to the pressures, but he coped well in these conditions.”
The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport 2008/09 season continues with the seventh round of competition at Brands Hatch in Kent, England in three weeks time. The circuit will host the event for the fourth consecutive season and has the accolade of being the first track that the A1GP series raced on, back in September 2005.