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As the third season of
the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport draws to a close, the Series began preparations
for this weekend’s penultimate round in Shanghai, China, with the cars taking to the
track for the first laps of the impressive Formula One facility today. Alex
Yoong is driving for the team in the Sprint and Feature races with rookie
driver, Aaron Lim, playing an important role in the race preparations. Yoong
recorded 15th fastest time in practice this afternoon, with Lim
13th overall in the rookie sessions
Lim started the weekend
driving in the rookie sessions this morning and acquitted himself well,
continuing to impress the team with his focus, aptitude and driving skills. He
completed the first session with the 11th fastest time and was
12th fastest in the second session. With many drivers much more
experienced of both the A1GP car and competitive motorsport, Lim is showing
great potential in these sessions, while his previous experience of driving here
at last year’s A1GP event adds to his confidence level.
He said of his morning,
“It was interesting to drive this track with a different configuration, although
you have to be careful on the kerbs. I enjoyed my time in the car, but I’m still
not driving to 100% as I’m still getting used to the car. The team had a number
of technical tasks for me to perform and everything I do gives me adds to my
experience and it’s great to be part of A1 Team Malaysia.”
In the afternoon Yoong
took over the car and started his preparations for qualifying and Sunday’s
races. He settled in slowly, reacquainting himself with the Shanghai circuit which he
hasn’t driven since last year’s event. Conserving new tyres for the qualifying
sessions tomorrow, the Malaysian team focused on setting the car up and trying
different options in order to maximise performance.
Yoong said of his
afternoon, “It was a productive day and we got through a lot of stuff we wanted
to test. The lap times don’t really reflect where we’re at, but we plan to show
that tomorrow.”
Jack Cunningham, A1 Team
Malaysia Chief Executive added, “The
team worked through their programme today and weren’t chasing lap times, so I
think we have to wait until tomorrow for the reality of our performance level.
We’re obviously aiming for a strong top ten position in
qualifying.”
The A1GP World Cup of
Motorsport event in Shanghai, China precedes the final round of the Series
which will be held in Brands Hatch, UK, in two weeks time. This weekend’s
activities continue tomorrow with a further practice session and qualifying to
set the grid for tomorrow’s Sprint race. The track action starts at 11am local
time with qualifying at 2.15pm local time.
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