A1 Grand Prix of Nations, EuroSpeedway, Germany: 9 Oct
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Race Track: EuroSpeedway, Lausitz
Location: Germany
Race Day: Sunday, 9 October 2005
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Located in the South of Brandenburg, EuroSpeedway Lausitz is one of the biggest and most modern motor sport and event facilities world-wide . The racing and testing area including a high number of different event locations and building complexes is located on an area of 370 ha (equaling the size of nearly two times the princedom Monaco ). As a multifunctional facility EuroSpeedway Lausitz offers a total of seven different track variations.
The heart of the circuit is Germany's and Europe's unique 2-Miles-Superspeedway. Without any doubt it set new standards within the local motor sport scene and is continuing to do so. On the high-speed oval with its three banked corners and built in accordance to US American models, the American Champ Car World Series guested already two times. Showing exciting races and thrilling over takings at a speed of over 380 km per hour.
Of course there are as well many opportunities for circuit sports. Europe's number one touring car series DTM is a fixed part on the event calendar as well as Nissan World Series, Europe's second strongest Formula racing series. In the Lausitz a lot of attention is payed to fan friendliness. There might be no other circuit in Europe where motorsport fans can get as close to the racetrack as they can at the EuroSpeedway. The 40 m high grand stand with its 25,000 seats protrudes the whole facility and therefore offers spectators a view over the entire track area.
Although being Germany's youngest racetrack, EuroSpeedway Lausitz can look back on a long history in terms of its development. In the early eighties the very first ideas about the construction of a racetrack in the Lausitz area were discussed. The concrete plans regarding the racetrack's construction were included in the last Five-Year-Plan of the GDR in 1986.
1991 - 1998
From the early planning during the first years after Germany's reunification until the start of building: with closing down the open-cast pits in Lausitz and the decline of economical significance of brown coal in East Germany, the planning for a racetrack construction in the Lower Lausitz, which was lacking in nfrastructure, were resumed.
After the constructional plan became legally valid in July 1997, the actual building officially started on June 17th in 1998.
1998 - 1999
Construction began on 17th August 1998, and at times there were more than one thousand construction workers working at the same time. After a record breaking period of only eighteen months the topping-out ceremony was celebrated on December 2nd 1999.
2000 - 2003
One hundred thousand fans saw the opening ceremony on 20th August 2000, and the first guest of the newly built circuit was the German Motorcylce Championship, followed by the European Touring Car Series.
In 2001 after a race of the World Superbike Championship in october the first oval race event of the Champ Car World Series outside the US started on September 15th.
Nearly 150,000 spectators came to see the "world's fastest car race", which took take place under unfavourable circumstances. After the terror attacks in New York on 9/11 it was not sure if the Champ cars would start at all. After intense negotiations between the CART Organization, the US embassy and the racetrack management, the famous "Gentlemen, start your engines!" could be said.
The joy of the race was only a short one. Thirteen laps before the fall of the checkered flag the Italian Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi lost control over his car while leaving the pits. In the Goodyear turn Alex Tagliani immediately ran into him at high-speed.
Miraculously Alex Zanardi survived the crash losing his legs. Only two weeks later giving his first press conference in Marzahn's hospital he said: "I didn't lose two legs but won a life."
The 2002 season had it's ups and downs, and racing continued with the second run of the Champ cars, the DTM and the World Superbike Chapionship, but on the flip side the financial crisis of the Berlin Bank Corporation (the main stakeholder of the circuit), had meant that insovlency proceedings were inevitable. More gloom was to follow with the cancellation of the Champs Car race, but the federal state intervened and the insolvency ended on December 31st.
2003 saw the successful return of the Champ Cars, and a hero's welcome for Alex Zanardi. Only 20 months after his horrible crash he makes the impossible happen. As first racer in history he gets into his Champ Car with number 66 and finishes the last 13 laps of "his" race. Emotionally moved and with standing ovations from more than a hundred thousand spectators watching the race - one man inspired them all.
The formation of the new leasing company EuroSpeedway Lausitz GmbH has finally brought some finacial stability for the circuit. -
Grid for Sprint Race following Saturday's qualifier:
1 France Nicholas Lapierre 3.05.332
2 USA Scott Speed 3.05.388
3 Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 3.05.586
4 Great Britain Robbie Kerr 3.06.201
5 Germany Timo Scheider 3.06.209
6 Switzerland Neel Jani 3.06.455
7 Italy Enrico Toccacelo 3.07.009
8 Ireland Ralph Firman 3.07.035
9 Portugal Alvaro Parente 3.07.373
10 Netherlands Jos Verstappen 3.07.391
11 Mexico David Martinez 3.07.425
12 Czech Republic Tomas Enge 3.07.449
13 Canada Sean McIntosh 3.07.584
14 New Zealand Jonny Reid 3.07.679
15 Indonesia Ananda Mikola 3.07.729
16 Pakistan Adam Khan 3.08.559
17 India Karun Chandhok 3.09.255
18 Malaysia Alex Yoong 3.09.499
19 Austria Mathias Lauda 3.09.720
20 China Tengyi Jiang 3.10.161
21 Japan Hideki Noda 3.10.345
22 Australia Christian Jones 3.10.371
23 South Africa Tomas Scheckter 3.10.524
24 Lebanon Kahlil Beschir 3.12.255 -
Sprint Race results:
1 France Nicolas Lapierre 30:10.429
2 Switzerland Neel Jani 30:12.442
3 Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 30:12.887
4 New Zealand Jonny Reid 30:18.475
5 Germany Timo Scheider 30:19.280
6 Malaysia Alex Yoong 30:33.848
7 Canada Sean McIntosh 30:34.438
8 Mexico David Martinez 30:35.838
9 Ireland Ralph Firman 30:37.010
10 Japan Hideki Noda 30:38.271
11 Czech Republic Tomas Enge 30:38.671
12 South Africa Tomas Scheckter 30:50.690
13 Austria Mathias Lauda 30:51.436
14 Indonesia Ananda Mikola 30:53.064
15 Australia Christian Jones 30:53.885
16 India Karun Chandhok 30:54.308
17 Italy Enrico Toccacelo 30:59.954
18 China Tengyi Jiang 16 Laps
19 Lebanon Khalil Beschir 7 laps
20 Portugal Alvaro Parente 3 laps
21 Pakistan Adam Khan 2 laps
22 Netherlands Jos Verstappen 1 lap
23 USA Scott Speed 0 laps
24 Great Britain Robbie Kerr 0 laps
A1 Team France’s Nicolas Lapierre retained pole position for the Feature race. ‘I had a big gap on the first lap which was fantastic for me and then I just tried to manage that gap. Then the safety car came out and I had a good race start after that and the situation was under control. The balance of the car was not perfect but I was still able to win the race so it’s good for the next one. The next race is going to be more difficult at the start because it is the standing start so we need to make a good start. It is more difficult because we have a pit stop strategy but the team is fantastic for pit stops. They did some very good practices but we will have to see what happens this race. It is my first race for A1GP and the team gave me a car to win the race so it is a fantastic start for us, but now we have to focus on the second one which is as well very important and we will see tonight where we are.’
The second slot on the Feature race grid goes to A1 Team Switzerland who moved up four positions from sixth on the grid for the Sprint race when A1 Teams USA and Great Britain collided on the first turn. Driver Neel Jani said: ‘I made quite a good start and I was on the inside. I just saw a lot of smoke so I stayed on the inside and everybody else went out so there was a nice gap for me to go through to second. Through the race, I was not allowed to do any mistakes because Nelson would have overtaken me for sure. I just had to concentrate and make sure I did not do any mistakes and try to do quick laps.’
Double winner at the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Brands Hatch, A1 Team Brazil took third place in the Sprint race and also managed to set the fastest lap with a time of 1.34.736 on lap 14. Driver, Nelson Piquet Jr said: ‘I did a little mistake at the start, I went out in the wrong gear and I lost a lot of positions at the start. I am not going to say that I was lucky, as for the cars that crashed it was a bit unlucky, but I gained the positions that I lost at the start and went to third. Throughout the race I was quicker than Jani so it was difficult to follow him. This circuit is quite difficult to follow and it is not easy to overtake. I tried to make some gaps from the drivers behind and tried for quickest lap and the last thing I heard on the radio was that I had fastest lap.’
A1 Team Italy was given a 25 second penalty for overtaking under a waved yellow flag which demoted them from 8th to 17th position.
The pole position for the Sprint race was changed from the right side to the left side of the grid for the rolling start, but the Feature Race pole will be back on the right.
Before the start of the Sprint race all the A1 Teams and Drivers observed a minuteÂ’s silence in memory of the earthquake victims in Pakistan and India. -
Feature race results:
It was a close fought, incident packed Feature race that was watched by 34,000 noisy fans at the impressive EuroSpeedway Lausitz circuit. The country whose national anthem was played on the winnerÂ’s podium for the second time this weekend was France, with Great Britain and Canada second and third, each taking their first podium of the A1GP series.
When the starting lights went out and the cars rushed into Turn 1, it was A1 Team Switzerland who got the best start with France in close attendance. As the cars crossed the start/finish line for the first time, it was A1 Team Malaysia completing the top three with Brazil in fourth. However, A1 Team France soon opted to use the PowerBoost button and the red, white and blue car overtook Switzerland on lap 4. In the meantime, A1 Team Brazil had moved ahead of Malaysia and the German fans were given something to cheer for as their car moved into fourth on lap two and third on lap 8.
The order at the front remained the same until France pitted and it was A1 Team Switzerland that crossed the line first at the end of lap 16. Sadly for Switzerland, a long pit stop put them out of contention and France re-took the lead they were never to give up on lap 21.
One of the drives of the race was by A1 Team Great Britain. With their car having started last, by the end of lap two it was seventeenth, by the end of lap 10 eleventh, by the end of lap 15 sixth and by the end of lap 21, the French driver knew he had a very rapid car behind him as A1 Team GBR was lying second. A1 Team CanadaÂ’s driver also moved up through the field after starting from seventh on the grid and like A1 Team GBR moved into a podium position on lap 21.
There was one safety car period after A1 Team India stopped on the start/finish straight and the car had to be retrieved. This was soon cleared up however A1 Team Malaysia received a drive through penalty for overtaking during this period. This was not the only team to be penalised during the race, as A1 Team Czech Republic received a drive through for a jump start and A1 Team Brazil, the same penalty for a pit stop infringement. Unfortunately that was not the end of BrazilÂ’s problems as at the restart after the safety car period, three into two didnÂ’t go and with the car in the middle of a sandwich, the inevitable collision happened and Brazil spun into retirement.
It was another miserable weekend for A1 Team USA with Scott Speed being an early retirement in both races. In the Sprint race it was a retirement at Turn 1 while in the Feature race, at the end of lap 2 the car drove into the garage.
Khalil Beschir, who made a name for himself at Brands Hatch after a spectacular crash, gave A1 Team Lebanon their best result to date despite severe handling problems and an extra pit stop. The Team, along with several others, encountered wheel nut problems during their pit stops. This is something that the A1 Grand Prix organisers will be looking into over the next couple of days.
A1 Grand Prix of Nations, EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Germany
Feature race results
A1 Team Driver Time
1 France Nicolas Lapierre 58:45.700
2 Great Britain Robbie Kerr 58:49.406
3 Canada Sean McIntosh 58:51.158
4 New Zealand Jonny Reid 58:51.674
5 Switzerland Neel Jani 58:52.771
6 Ireland Ralph Firman 58:53.781
7 Netherlands Jos Verstappen 58:55.322
8 Indonesia Ananda Mikola 59:02.406
9 Japan Hideki Noda 59:05.044
10 Germany Timo Scheider 59:07.560
11 Portugal Alvaro Parente 59:10.440
12 Pakistan Adam Khan 59:10.966
13 Mexico David Martinez 59:14.878
14 Australia Christian Jones 59:16.590
15 Austria Mathias Lauda 59:16.832
16 Malaysia Alex Yoong 59:31.081
17 China Jiang 1:00:03.141
18 Lebanon Khalil Beschhir 33 laps
19 Czech Republic Tomas Enge 27 laps
20 Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 26 laps
21 India Karun Chandhok 19 laps
22 South Africa Tomas Scheckter 15 laps
23 Italy Enrico Toccacelo 11 laps
24 USA Scott Speed 4 laps
Championship points
1 Brazil 30
2 France 29
3 New Zealand 29
4 Switzerland 17
5 Australia 16
6 Mexico 16
7 Great Britain 15
8 Canada 14
9 Malaysia 11
10 Germany 8
11 Ireland 8
12 Netherlands 8
13 Japan 6
14 South Africa 5
15 Pakistan 4
16 Indonesia 3
17 Portugal 3
