A1GP season 2008/09
The 2008/09 A1GP season was held from October 4, 2008 to May 3, 2009 on a total of seven racetracks. Ireland emerged as world champion.
Venues for the 2008/2009 season |
overview
The 2008/2009 season was the fourth in the A1GP series, which now carried the addition of Powered by Ferrari as a result of the engine supplier contract concluded with Ferrari in combination with a brand new racing car . The season was marked by manufacturing difficulties of the new chassis and financial bottlenecks in the series. Ireland, with Adam Carroll at the wheel, won the title after five races, ahead of last season's championship team, Switzerland, who finished four races first. Third in the championship was the Portuguese team for the first time with a racing success. The teams from France, Malaysia and the Netherlands also recorded race wins (twice).
automobile
The new A1 Ferrari with Michelin tires was used as a standard car , see A1GP cars . Right from the start it was more vulnerable than its predecessor, which can be explained by the relatively short development and testing time.
Teams
23 teams officially competed ( see team and driver overview ), but only 21 actually took part in race weekends. Of the two officially listed but race-abstinent teams, Pakistan appeared at the official test on October 2nd and 3rd in Snetterton and in a two-day private test with the A1GP car on the Phakisa Freeway (February 2009), with Canada there are no tests known. Team Czech Republic was no longer part of the series, Korea and Monaco entered again.
Not all teams participated consistently. The teams from Great Britain, India and Mexico were absent from the first race weekend due to the chassis problem. Team Germany did not start until the Kyalami weekend, because after Seatholder Willi Weber's withdrawal, a successor first had to be found and the team had to be restructured.
Rookies | ||
---|---|---|
team | driver | Racing weekends |
Australia | Ashley Walsh | 3-5 |
Brazil | Felipe Guimarães | 2-4 |
Ana Beatriz | 6th | |
China | Adderly Fong | 4th |
Germany | Michael Ammermüller | 5 |
André Lotterer | 6th | |
France | Nicolas Prost | 2-7 |
Great Britain | Danny Watts | 2-3, 5 |
James Winslow | 4th | |
Dan Clarke | 6th | |
Aaron Steele | 7th | |
India | Narain Karthikeyan | 2 |
Armaan Ebrahim | 3 | |
Parthiva Sureshwares | 4-7 | |
Indonesia | Zahir Ali | 2-6 |
Ireland | Niall Quinn | 2-4, 6-7 |
Italy | Christian Montanari | 2 |
Stefano Coletti | 3 | |
Vitantonio Liuzzi | 6th | |
Korea | Hwang Jin-Woo | 2-3 |
Lebanon | Daniel Morad | 2-5 |
Jimmy Auby | 6-7 | |
Malaysia | Aaron Lim | 2-7 |
Mexico | Davíd Garza | 2 |
Juan Pablo García | 4-5 | |
Monaco | Hubertus Bahlsen | 4-7 |
New Zealand | Chris van der Drift | 2, 4 |
Earl Bamber | 3, 5-6 | |
Netherlands | Dennis Retera | 2-7 |
Portugal | Armando Parente | 3, 6 |
António Félix da Costa | 4-5 | |
Switzerland | Alexandre Imperatori | 2-7 |
South Africa | Gavin Cronje | 3, 5 |
Cristiano Morgado | 4, 6-7 | |
United States | Marco Andretti | 2 |
JR Hildebrand | 3-5, 7th | |
Robbie Pecorari | 6th |
Racing calendar
The calendar for the 2008/2009 season contained seven racing weekends.
No. | date | Racetrack | winner | Second | Third |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | October 4-5, 2008 | Circuit Park Zandvoort | Malaysia | New Zealand | France |
France | Malaysia | New Zealand | |||
2. | November 7th - 9th, 2008 | Chengdu International Circuit | Ireland | Netherlands | Great Britain |
Portugal | Ireland | Great Britain | |||
3. | November 21-23, 2008 | Sepang International Circuit | Switzerland | France | New Zealand |
Ireland | Portugal | United States | |||
4th | January 23-25, 2009 | Taupo Motorsport Park | Ireland | Switzerland | Netherlands |
Switzerland | Ireland | Portugal | |||
5. | February 20-22, 2009 | Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit | Netherlands | Portugal | Switzerland |
Switzerland | Brazil | Monaco | |||
6th | April 10-12, 2009 | Autódromo Internacional do Algarve | Netherlands | Ireland | Portugal |
Switzerland | Portugal | Malaysia | |||
7th | May 1-3, 2009 | Brands Hatch | Ireland | India | Mexico |
Ireland | Netherlands | Switzerland |
Three official tests were held prior to the season. They took place in Donington ( September 9-11 ) and Snetterton ( September 23-24 and October 2-3 ). There was also another test on October 23rd / 27th in Silverstone .
The start of the season had to be postponed because of the problems with the completion of the new chassis, and the race weekend in Mugello planned for September 19-21 had to be canceled without replacement. In Zandvoort two weeks later, only 17 teams still had a chassis, eight of which were only given their cars shortly before the race weekend - five even immediately - and some of them are still being assembled during practice sessions (and, in individual cases, qualifying) had to. Only the teams from Australia, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and South Africa as well as Ireland, Lebanon, Monaco and Pakistan had received their chassis earlier and thus had the opportunity to take part in test drives.
The problems arose from an accident of Austrian test pilot Patrick Friesacher after a strut on the rear right wheel suspension broke during a test in Magny-Cours (in the fast Estoril Passage), in which these three thoracic vertebrae broke, which caused the tight completely overturned the measured test schedule. Improvements were necessary in this area of the car, which took a corresponding amount of time.
The race weekend in Lippo Village , initially planned for the beginning of November , was postponed to the beginning of February; the event in Chengdu , originally scheduled for mid-December , then took over the date. Despite the additional construction time that has now been received, the route near Jakarta could not be completed in time for the FIA route approval in safety-relevant areas due to heavy rains, which destroyed already asphalt sections , so that a Grade 2 classification was not made, even the A1GP series did not arrive first and only local series such as the Indonesian GT Championship actually held races.
Before the race weekend in Kyalami , there were significant delays in the delivery of the equipment. This severely affected the daily routine of some teams on Friday, so the training sessions were postponed, although the rookie sessions were still too early for some teams.
The race weekend in Mexico City , which was last scheduled for May 22nd to 24th, was canceled due to the swine flu outbreak . Previously there had already been problems with the homologation of the route originally scheduled for March 13th to 15th, as the FIA was no longer satisfied with the single chicane used in the previous year before the dangerous Peralta (da) target curve and only one of the A1GP -Series proposed triple chicane met with acceptance.
A race weekend brought into play by the media in Interlagos, Brazil from May 15 to 17, 2009, which was listed in the first versions of the official A1GP calendar as a TBA event at the end of March, did not materialize. The location and the later date had never been officially announced by the series organizers anyway.
Rule changes
The two sections of the rookie training session were each extended by five minutes to 30 minutes, and the break increased from ten to 20 minutes. The qualification continued to consist of four parts; However, the pilots now only had ten minutes instead of 15 in each segment to achieve their lap times. While the main race did not experience any rule changes, there were three changes for the sprint race: The race time was increased from 19 to 24 minutes plus one lap. In order to make larger shifts possible, the teams now had to make a pit stop between laps four and eight in this race as well. The point system was changed once more and only rewarded the first eight drivers of the sprint race. The winner got ten points, for the further placements points were awarded in steps 8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
The definition of the "rookie" was subjected to another change: Drivers who had not contested more than six races in the A1GP series and not yet in one of the five strongest single-posto championships ( Formula 1 , GP2 , Champ Car , Formula Nippon and Indy Cars ) or drivers who competed for the “motorsport developing countries” China, Indonesia, Korea, Lebanon and Pakistan and not yet more than three top ten results in the A1GP series.
As part of the commitment of Magneti Marelli as an electronics supplier in tow from Ferrari, the new vehicles were equipped with launch control . The previously strict ban on technical driving aids was no longer applicable.
To keep the disadvantage that the basis of the chassis problems prevented the season opener teams have suffered the championship prior terms, as low as possible, weekend Zandvoort were before the worst scores introduced. The teams concerned were thus able to take the first race weekend without points out of the ranking, whereas the nations participating in all seven events could afford a double dropout elsewhere.
After the race weekend in Chengdu, it was decided that in qualifying the drivers would be allowed to use the PowerBoost button for 60 additional horsepower in one of the four timed laps. This would then remain activated for the entire lap, which should result in a significant performance advantage. The new rule was first used in Sepang and was standard in Kyalami from the event.
In addition to the official test drives and the race weekends, this season there was for the first time the opportunity to train in a specially adapted simulator.
Results
Item | team |
ZAN SR |
ZAN HR |
CHE SR |
CHE HR |
SEP SR |
SEP HR |
TAU SR |
TAU HR |
KYA SR |
KYA HR |
ALG SR |
ALG HR |
BRA SR |
BRA HR |
Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ireland | 16 CAR |
16 CAR |
1 CAR |
2 CAR |
5 CAR |
1 CAR |
1 CAR |
2 CAR |
4 CAR |
20 CAR |
2 CAR |
5 CAR |
1 CAR |
1 CAR |
112 |
2 | Switzerland | 5 JAN |
17 JAN |
4 JAN |
4 JAN |
1 JAN |
19 JAN |
2 JAN |
1 JAN |
3 JAN |
1 JAN |
15 JAN |
1 JAN |
8 JAN |
3 JAN |
95 (99) |
3 | Portugal | 9 ALB |
11 ALB |
6 ALB |
1 ALB |
4 ALB |
2 ALB |
6 ALB |
3 ALB |
2 ALB |
5 ALB |
3 ALB |
2 ALB |
5 ALB |
5 ALB |
92 |
4th | Netherlands |
4 BLE |
5 BLE |
2 DOO |
16 DOO |
6 BLE |
8 BLE |
3 DOO |
5 DOO |
1 BLE |
4 BLE |
1 DOO |
DNS DOO |
6 BLE |
2 BLE |
75 (81) |
5 | France |
3 DUV |
1 DUV |
8 PRO |
18 PRO |
2 DUV |
14 DUV |
4 DUV |
6 DUV |
10 PRO |
18 PRO |
13 PRO |
6 PRO |
9 PRO |
10 PRO |
47 |
6th | Malaysia | 1 FAU |
2 FAU |
13 FAU |
5 FAU |
15 FAU |
10 FAU |
8 FAU |
10 FAU |
9 FAU |
15 FAU |
8 FAU |
3 FAU |
16 LIM |
15 LIM |
43 |
7th | New Zealand | 2 BAM |
3 BAM |
7 VDD |
11 VDD |
3 BAM |
6 BAM |
5 VDD |
13 VDD |
8 BAM |
17 BAM |
20 BAM |
17 BAM |
18 BAM |
17 BAM |
36 |
8th | Australia | 11 JMA |
4 JMA |
11 JMA |
6 JMA |
8 JMA |
4 JMA |
19 JMA |
4 JMA |
12 JMA |
13 JMA |
10 JMA |
12 JMA |
7 JMA |
8 JMA |
36 |
9 | Monaco | 17 PIC |
6 PIC |
9 PIC |
7 PIC |
12 PIC |
17 PIC |
16 PIC |
18 PIC |
5 PIC |
3 PIC |
5 PIC |
15 PIC |
19 PIC |
4 PIC |
35 |
10 | United States | 8 KIM |
10 * KIM |
15 AND |
8 AND |
19 AND |
3 AND |
11 AND |
11 AND |
17 AND |
8 AND |
12 AND |
14 AND |
4 HIL |
14 HIL |
28 |
11 | Great Britain | 3 WAT |
3 WAT |
16 WAT |
16 WAT |
12 CLA |
12 CLA |
19 WAT |
7 WAT |
11 CLA |
7 CLA |
13 CLA |
7 CLA |
24 | ||
12 | India | 10 CARS |
10 CARS |
18 CARS |
18 CARS |
9 CARS |
7 CARS |
6 CARS |
12 CARS |
6 CARS |
11 CARS |
2 CARS |
19 CARS |
19th | ||
13 | Mexico | 16 DGA |
15 DGA |
14 DGA |
15 DGA |
15 DUR |
16 DUR |
16 DUR |
19 DUR |
9 DUR |
4 DUR |
3 DUR |
6 DUR |
19th | ||
14th | South Africa | 6 ZAU |
13 ZAU |
5 ZAU |
9 ZAU |
9 ZAU |
5 ZAU |
10 ZAU |
9 ZAU |
7 ZAU |
16 ZAU |
17 ZAU |
16 ZAU |
15 VDM |
11 VDM |
19th |
15th | Brazil | 13 GUI |
15 GUI |
20 GUI |
20 GUI |
17 GUI |
7 GUI |
14 GUI |
15 GUI |
15 GUI |
2 GUI |
7 GUI |
DNS GUI |
DNS GUI |
DNS GUI |
18th |
16 | Italy | 7 ONI |
14 ONI |
14 PIS |
19 PIS |
7 PIS |
11 PIS |
7 PIS |
8 PIS |
11 PIS |
10 PIS |
4 LIU |
13 LIU |
10 LIU |
9 LIU |
17th |
17th | Lebanon | 10 MOR |
8 MOR |
12 MOR |
13 MOR |
11 MOR |
12 MOR |
18 MOR |
19 MOR |
20 MOR |
6 MOR |
18 MOR |
18 MOR |
17 MOR |
12 MOR |
8th |
18th | China | 12 DO |
9 * DO |
17 DO |
12 DO |
10 DO |
9 DO |
17 CHE |
14 CHE |
13 DO |
14 DO |
16 DO |
8 DO |
14 CHE |
18 CHE |
7th |
19th | Korea | 14 HWA |
7 HWA |
19 HWA |
17 HWA |
DNS HWA |
4th | |||||||||
20th | Indonesia | 15 HER |
12 HER |
18 HER |
14 HER |
13 HER |
13 HER |
13 HER |
17 HER |
18 ALI |
9 ALI |
14 ALI |
10 ALI |
12 HER |
13 HER |
3 |
21st | Germany | 14 AMM |
11 AMM |
19 LOT |
9 LOT |
11 AMM |
16 AMM |
2 | ||||||||
- | Canada | officially listed, but not started | 0 | |||||||||||||
- | Pakistan | 0 |
Legend | ||
---|---|---|
colour | abbreviation | meaning |
gold | - | victory |
silver | - | 2nd place |
bronze | - | 3rd place |
green | - | Placement in the points |
blue | - | Classified outside the point ranks |
violet | DNF | Race not finished (did not finish) |
NC | not classified | |
red | DNQ | did not qualify |
DNPQ | failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify) | |
black | DSQ | disqualified |
White | DNS | not at the start (did not start) |
WD | withdrawn | |
Light Blue | PO | only participated in the training (practiced only) |
TD | Friday test driver | |
without | DNP | did not participate in the training (did not practice) |
INJ | injured or sick | |
EX | excluded | |
DNA | did not arrive | |
C. | Race canceled | |
no participation in the World Cup | ||
other | P / bold | Pole position |
SR / italic | Fastest race lap | |
* | not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered |
|
() | Streak results | |
underlined | Leader in the overall standings |
- In brackets: without deletion results
reporting
In German-speaking countries, the series was initially still broadcast by Premiere according to the scheme of the previous season. At the turn of the year, the pay-TV broadcaster withdrew from broadcasting. The Swiss Sports Television on Star TV beamed all the main race of the recording.
After the season
In the run-up to the 2009/2010 season , the difficult financial situation of the series was often discussed, which was emphasized by the insolvency of A1 Grand Prix Operations Limited , a subsidiary of the A1GP Group responsible for day-to-day organizational business. Shortly before the start of the season, these problems suddenly seemed to have been resolved after a deal was made with the renowned sports promoter IMG . The event in Surfers Paradise, which was spectacularly taken over by the IndyCar series as the season opener, and a test scheduled shortly before that at the Queensland Raceway did not take place, which sealed the end of the A1GP series. The eight other dates listed in the provisional racing calendar to date, including race weekends two and three in Zhuhai and Sepang, were also canceled. A legal dispute broke out over the entry fees of 1.12 million euros paid by the SuperGP organizers together with the Queensland government prior to the event in Surfers Paradise, as the series organizers around Tony Teixeira were unable to repay the money. The former Seatholder of Team USA, Rick Weidinger , who had been replaced by the Andretti Green Racing Team before the 2008/2009 season , began a lawsuit against the series for prize money not received and for Teixeira's breach of his exclusive contract regarding the Seatholder rights; he was awarded $ 4.5 million by a Virginia district court . A1GP filed for bankruptcy in winter, and the remnants were put up for auction in several rounds from February 2010. In the end, the series had amassed almost 500 million euros in debt.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Zandvoort: Pakistan is withdrawing. motorsport-total.com, October 4, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ A1Team.Pak Statement. (No longer available online.) A1.gpgrid.com, February 26, 2009, archived from the original on May 1, 2010 ; accessed on December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ a b A1GP: First record of the season for Italy. motorsport-total.com, October 4, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Perfect: Team Korea joins A1GP. motorsport-total.com, April 14, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ^ A1GP: Monaco competes with its own team. motorsport-total.com, August 29, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ a b Overview: Who is there in Zandvoort? motorsport-total.com, October 2, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Finally: German A1GP team returns. motorsport-total.com, November 13, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Does the A1GP team Germany start in Kyalami? motorsport-total.com, February 17, 2009, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Chassis not ready: A1GP has to postpone the start of the season. motorsport-total.com, August 21, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Qualifying. motorsport-total.com, October 4, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ^ A1 Team Brazil ready to hit the track in Zandvoort. automobilsport.com, October 5, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ^ A1GP test drives in Donington Park. motorsport-total.com, September 10, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ^ A1GP test drives in Snetterton. motorsport-total.com, October 2, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Broken strut: Test canceled after a serious accident. motorsport-total.com, August 15, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Broken vertebra only discovered at home. Kleine Zeitung , September 10, 2008, archived from the original on September 25, 2014 .
- ↑ FIA Says No to Karawaci Circuit, A1 Race Scrubbed. (No longer available online.) Thejakartaglobe.com, January 2009, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on December 31, 2011 .
- ^ Achilles in an Indonesian Automotive History Making. (No longer available online.) Multistrada.co.id, February 9, 2009, archived from the original on June 6, 2011 ; accessed on December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Kyalami schedule modified. motorsport-total.com, February 19, 2009, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- Jump up in Kyalami: Ammermüller in third place. motorsport-total.com, February 20, 2009, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Mexico canceled: Grand finale at Brands Hatch. motorsport-total.com, April 29, 2009, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ A1GP announce Mexico as season 4 finale. (No longer available online.) A1.gpgrid.com, March 31, 2009, formerly in the original ; accessed on December 31, 2011 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Braziliaanse samba voor A1GP in 2009. rtl.nl, December 24, 2008, accessed on December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ New system: A1GP now with deleted results. motorsport-total.com, October 1, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ New rule: Powerboost joker in qualifying. motorsport-total.com, November 21, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ A1GP: Training option in the new simulator. motorsport-total.com, September 15, 2008, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Bankruptcy: A1GP subsidiary ceases business. motorsport-total.com, June 29, 2009, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Exclusive: IMG deal saves the A1GP series! motorsport-total.com, September 21, 2009, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ No surprise: A1GP cancels opening race. motorsport-total.com, October 17, 2009, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Aussie no-show an A1 stuff-up. dailytelegraph.com.au, October 16, 2008; accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ A1GP: racing cancellations in China and Malaysia. motorsport-total.com, November 5, 2009, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Gold Coast reclaims 1.12 million from A1GP. motorsport-total.com, November 17, 2009, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Queensland is suing the A1GP series. motorsport-total.com, January 12, 2010, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ Teams are still waiting for their prize money. motorsport-total.com, January 30, 2010, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ End of the A1GP series officially sealed. motorsport-total.com, February 10, 2010, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ For sale: 20 Ferrari A1GP cars. motorsport-total.com, March 11, 2010, accessed December 31, 2011 .
- ↑ A1GP: Investigators look very carefully. motorsport-total.com, February 28, 2011, accessed December 31, 2011 .