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Some of you may know that I am a fan of motorsport around the world. There are times when I religiously stay glued to the set to watch the Australian V8 Supercars, Moto GP (bikes), Formula 1, even ChampCars (I detest the IRL). All of these series have their strengths and weaknesses in terms of parity in the formula, driver strength and overall race product.
The newest series that is hoped to take the world by storm is called A1 Grand Prix, fully funded by Middle Eastern Sheiks. Pretty much everything is controlled from tyres to chassis (built by Lola). The only things that separate the teams are the driver and the set-up for their car on the race circuit. But that’s not the only innovation that this series is trying.
For instance, there’s the idea of 2 races with the 2nd longer race being the main event with grid slots decided by how you finish in the sprint race. Also, drivers race for their country rather than for themselves, thus creating the moniker “The World Cup of Motorsport”. There are also rules governing pit stops, rolling starts for the sprint race and an overtaking button that you can push a certain number of times to get a boost (much like Formula Palmer Audi and ChampCar).
But what of the racing in the 3 rounds currently held? Certainly the debut round at Brands Hatch created world headlines thanks to the Lebanon team rolling their car. Almost every race there has been carnage on the first lap, particularly at the last 2 rounds at Lausitzring and Estoril. And whilst some of the drivers are way in over their heads, at least there’s some on-track action unlike F1.
So far, we have seen the Brazilian and French teams dominate the series sharing all the races this season. It’s hardly surprising that these nations of pedigree are at the head of the class because racing is in their nature. From the FFUK perspective, Team GB and Australia have had their moments of glory and have had podiums in the main event so far this season. There have also been disappointments such as USA who have only finished in the top 5 once so far, whilst Holland and Malaysia who have former F1 pilots are struggling to make headway. Perhaps it’s all part of the new order in world motorsport which bodes well for the future given that I think this will be a feeder category to F1.
This weekend sees the circus come down under to the Eastern Creek circuit in Sydney. I doubt the organisers of the series could have chosen a more boring circuit to race on, but then again Melbourne has too many events to accommodate this series. The circuit is located in a poor location for spectators in the outer Western suburbs of Sydney (hence the V8 schedule NOT including this circuit for 2006 after having 2 rounds in 2004). Cars can expect to hit top speed down the front straight which was formerly a drag racing strip (now located at a custom built facility behind Eastern Creek). I am sure that the drivers will be thrilled with the flat out nature of turn 1 but pretty bored with the rest which provides little overtaking.
Will the fans be receptive to this type of racing in Australia? It will be hard to say definitively. Whilst the fans do turn out to the F1 and ChampCar races in this country, Australia generally does not have a culture of open wheel racing when compared to European nations. I do expect that a decent crowd will turn out to have a look at these cars for the first time without having to rely on Pay TV, but costs of tickets ($55 for Race Day) may keep the crowd levels down. And while the racing may be exciting the fans may turn out disappointed with the overall outcome.
THE DRIVERS IN A1GP IN AUSTRALIA