2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa
 2008–09 A1GP of South Africa | |
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| Race Details | |
| Race 5 of 7 in the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season | |
| Date | 22 February 2009 |
| Location | Kyalami Midrand, South Africa |
| Weather | Clear, 27°C |
| Sprint race | |
| Qualifying | |
| Pole |  Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen) |
| Time | 1:27.717 |
| Podium | |
| 1st | Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen) |
| 2nd |  Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque) |
| 3rd |  Switzerland (Neel Jani) |
| Fastest Lap | |
| FL | Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque) |
| Time | 1:29.072, (Lap 9) |
| Feature race | |
| Qualifying | |
| Pole |  Monaco (Clivio Piccione) |
| Time | 1:27.269 |
| Podium | |
| 1st | Switzerland (Neel Jani) |
| 2nd |  Brazil (Felipe Guimarães) |
| 3rd | Monaco (Clivio Piccione) |
| Fastest Lap | |
| FL |  Malaysia (Fairuz Fauzy) |
| Time | 1:28.306, (Lap 15) |
| Official Classifications | |
| PDF Booklet | |
The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa was an A1 Grand Prix race which was held at Kyalami, South Africa.
Pre-race
A1 Team Korea failed to participate the race as the organiser of the series could not supply electrical units and fuel tank due to mistake of the transportation from New Zealand.[1][2] The team had planned the debut of 2008 Macau Grand Prix winner Keisuke Kunimoto (Lee Gyeong-Woo), a Japanese driver of Korean descent, as rookie driver on the weekend.[3]
Drivers
Qualifying
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Sprint Race
| Pos | Team | Driver | Laps | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Netherlands
|
Jeroen Bleekemolen | 14 | 21:35.105 | 10 |
| 2 |  Portugal
|
Filipe Albuquerque | 14 | + 4.407 | 8+1 |
| 3 |  Switzerland
|
Neel Jani | 14 | + 10.600 | 6 |
| 4 |  Ireland
|
Adam Carroll | 14 | + 12.925 | 5 |
| 5 |  Monaco
|
Clivio Piccione | 14 | + 14.363 | 4 |
| 6 |  India
|
Narain Karthikeyan | 14 | + 18.474 | 3 |
| 7 |  South Africa
|
Adrian Zaugg | 14 | + 21.178 | 2 |
| 8 |  New Zealand
|
Earl Bamber | 14 | + 26.539 | 1 |
| 9 |  Malaysia
|
Fairuz Fauzy | 14 | + 26.925 | |
| 10 |  France
|
Nicolas Prost | 14 | + 28.101 | |
| 11 |  Italy
|
Edoardo Piscopo | 14 | + 32.081 | |
| 12 |  Australia
|
John Martin | 14 | + 34.474 | |
| 13 |  China
|
Ho-Pin Tung | 14 | + 37.804 | |
| 14 |  Germany
|
Michael Ammermüller | 14 | + 39.068 | |
| 15 |  Brazil
|
Felipe Guimarães | 14 | + 39.717 | |
| 16 |  Mexico
|
Salvador Durán | 14 | + 45.006 | |
| 17 |  USA
|
Marco Andretti | 14 | + 55.636 | |
| 18 |  Indonesia
|
Zahir Ali | 14 | + 1:17.724 | |
| 19 |  Great Britain
|
Danny Watts | 9 | Accident | |
| 20 |  Lebanon
|
Daniel Morad | 6 | + 8 Laps |
Feature Race
| Pos | Team | Driver | Laps | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland
|
Neel Jani | 40 | 1:02:24.617 | 15 |
| 2 | Brazil
|
Felipe Guimarães | 40 | + 13.176 | 12 |
| 3 | Monaco
|
Clivio Piccione | 40 | + 14.193 | 10 |
| 4 | Netherlands
|
Jeroen Bleekemolen | 40 | + 17.024 | 8 |
| 5 | Portugal
|
Filipe Albuquerque | 40 | + 17.995 | 6 |
| 6 | Lebanon
|
Daniel Morad | 40 | + 31.210 | 5 |
| 7 | Great Britain
|
Danny Watts | 40 | + 34.328 | 4 |
| 8 | USA
|
Marco Andretti | 40 | + 59.000 | 3 |
| 9 | Indonesia
|
Zahir Ali | 40 | + 1:03.995 | 2 |
| 10 | Italy
|
Edoardo Piscopo | 40 | + 1:04.856 | 1 |
| 11 | Germany
|
Michael Ammermüller | 40 | + 1:08.603 | |
| 12 | India
|
Narain Karthikeyan | 40 | + 1:09.150 | |
| 13 | Australia
|
John Martin | 40 | + 1:20.545 | |
| 14 | China
|
Ho-Pin Tung | 22 | Electrics | |
| 15 | Malaysia
|
Fairuz Fauzy | 17 | + 23 Laps | 0+1 |
| 16 | South Africa
|
Adrian Zaugg | 15 | Electrics | |
| 17 | New Zealand
|
Earl Bamber | 3 | Accident | |
| 18 | France
|
Nicolas Prost | 3 | Accident | |
| 19 | Mexico
|
Salvador Durán | 3 | Accident | |
| 20 | Ireland
|
Adam Carroll | 0 | Spin |
Post-race
Following the race, the team principals of both Ireland and Malaysia issued statements regarding the on-track incident on the first lap of the Feature Race, which resulted in Ireland spinning out into retirement, and subsequently losing the championship lead to Switzerland.[8]
Frankly, I'm disgusted. We're pushing to win a championship and it's not the only time that this driver has caused incidents, doing the same thing to New Zealand later in the race. That's cost us the championship points lead that we fought so hard to create. We were on course to consolidate our points lead today but for a piece of poor driving. A1 Team Malaysia is one of the very best in A1GP, but today their driver has cost us dearly.
— Mark Gallagher, A1 Team Ireland team principal
It's understandable that A1 Team Ireland was feeling emotional and frustrated after this incident, considering also that they lost the lead in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. However, to blame Fairuz for the incident is unfair and we think the Irish team should stick to trying to win races rather than blaming others for their misfortune. A1 Team Ireland is a highly respected team, but on this occasion their comments are ill-judged.
— Jack Cunningham, A1 Team Malaysia chief executive
Notes
- It was the 37th race weekend (74 starts).
- It was the 4th race in South Africa but the first at Kyalami.
- Records:
- It was the first ever pole position for
Monaco and Clivio Piccione. - It was the first ever podium for Monaco and Clivio Piccione.
Switzerland's win in the feature race was driver Neel Jani's ninth in A1 Grand Prix, tying the record held by Nico Hülkenberg.
Lebanon recorded the best finish in their history thanks to Daniel Morad's sixth in the feature race.
- It was the first ever pole position for
References
- ^ "사진 스위스, A1GP 5R 우승 '단독선두'" (in Korean). A1 Team Korea official website. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
- ^ "달려보지도 못한 A1 "나 원~"" (in Korean). chosun.com. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
- ^ "자동차경주 A1 팀코리아, 이경우 영입" (in Korean). A1 Team Korea official website. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
- ^ "2008/09, Kyalami, South Africa, Rookies". a1gp.com. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
- ^ "Prost gets surprise France recall". a1gp.com. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- ^ "Watts to return to A1GP at Kyalami". autosport.com. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- ^ "Black Beauty's Bamber boost". a1gp.com. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
- ^ "War of words". a1gp.com. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
External links
| Previous race 2008–09, New Zealand |
A1 Grand Prix 2008–09 season |
Next race 2008–09, Portugal |