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Zhuhai, China,
Friday 14 December: A1 team GBR finished 4th and 13th in
a day of mixed emotions as Danny Watts and Oliver Jarvis took to the Zhuhai
International Circuit for the first today.
The British squad
got off to a positive start with new recruit Danny Watts in the car for the
rookie sessions. Danny has a great deal of experience having been crowned
Formula Renault UK champion in 2002, and winning races in both British Formula
3 and the Porsche Carrera Cup.
Although having
tested the A1GP biofuel powered car in the off-season as part of the series ‘Think
Greener Racing Campaign’, this was the first time he’d been behind the wheel
for his nation and he did not disappoint. His feedback was excellent, which
with the circuit being new to the calendar was even more important than usual
and he put in consistently fast times to end the session 4th
quickest overall with a time of 1:24.217. for the afternoon, the GBR car was
handed back to race-winner Oliver Jarvis.
Compared to some
of the other front runners in the official session, Olly was on the back-foot
having not had the benefit of the Rookie track time therefore was not able to
make the most of the new tyres at the start of the session as he was focused on
learning the circuit.
The team worked
through a number of different set-ups through the hour which ultimately weren’t
completely right for the track and driver but the team will be back in positive
form tomorrow morning as they prepare for qualifying.
Danny Watts: “Having
only experienced the biofuel powered development car for A1GP, for me it was a
fantastic feeling to be a rookie driver for my own nation. Out on the circuit,
the car fwelt easy to drive and was consistent. There was one small area where
we had to find a little bit more with the car, but overall it was competitive. Ultimately
I’m pleased that I was inside the top 4 on my first outing.”
Oliver Jarvis: “It
was a disappointing session as P13 obviously isn’t where we want to be. We had
a few issues with the car, though our old tyre pace towards the end of the
session wasn’t so bad, we really need to work on the car set-up on new tyres. We’ll
sit down, look at the data and keep working hard overnight to improve before tomorrow.
However we’ve been in this position before in Zandvoort and came out okay there
with a win!”
Katie Clements: ”Danny
did a fantastic job this morning giving the team valuable feedback and putting
in some consistently fast laps. In the second session, Olly was unable to make
the most out of the new rubber at the start since he hadn’t had the benefit of
the earlier rookie session to learn the track, and unfortunately we experienced
a few issues with the car throughout the session. However the team will work
through these and come back tomorrow with a confident approach ahead of
qualifying.”
Saturdays
qualifying starts at 14:15 local time (06:15 GMT) with Sundays Sprint 20 minute
Sprint race starting at 11:00 local time (03:00 GMT) and the 70 minute Feature
race starting at 15:00 local time (07:00 GMT).
Sky Sports 1 will
broadcast all the live action from China from 06:00 on Saturday 15 December and
Sunday 16 December.
GBR – Rookie Practice
1 Laps: 26 Position: 4th Fastest Lap: 1:24.217
GBR – Free Practice
2 Laps: 19 Position: 13th Fastest Lap: 1:24.653
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