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A1 Team Germany target lead battle in Brno |
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Friday, 05 October 2007 |
The Willi Weber managed A1 Team Germany, defending champions in the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport, aims to fight at the head of the field during the second round in Brno between 12 and 14 October following an eventful opener at Zandvoort. A good qualifying performance from Christian Vietoris, who started the main race from the front row in the Netherlands, went unrewarded after technical issues intervened.
After claiming sixth place in the sprint race at Zandvoort, A1 Team Germany started the main race confidently from the front row before Christian Vietoris experienced problems selecting gears in the semi-automatic gearbox and dropped down the field to ninth. Germany has scored seven points and lies in eighth place in the 22 nation field after the first round of the 2007/2008 season. "Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite the opening we expected,” explains Willi Weber before the next race in the Czech Republic. "There is, however, no reason to be pessimistic: The team found the problem and Christian demonstrated in qualifying just what he’s capable of – just as he had at the Silverstone test where he set the fastest time. At the second round we want to make up for what we missed out on in the opener: To fight for the lead and score as many points as possible to be able to successfully defend the title this season. We started from the front row in Brno last year. The team has, as a result, a lot of useful experience on this circuit.”
Christian Vietoris has never previously raced on the 5.4 kilometre circuit with its 14 corners and 73 metre elevation change. "I tested a Formula BMW car there in 2005, but I’ve never started a race there,” says the 18-year old talent from Gönnersdorf in Germany’s Eifel region. "A1 Team Germany collected valuable data with the car last year in Brno and showed that it can compete at the top by starting from the front row. I’ve had an excellent relationship with my race engineer since the test at Silverstone and I’m delighted that the entire team works well together. At Zandvoort I saw that nobody in the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport gives anybody a millimetre. The races are tough and you have to stand your ground.”
After qualifying on Saturday, two single races – a sprint and main race – are held on Sunday. German fans can follow the race as it unfolds in the afternoon directly on Premiere TV.
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