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A1 Team
Malaysia continued race
preparations for the ninth, and penultimate, round of the A1GP World Cup of
Motorsport in Shanghai,
China today,
finishing seventh in qualifying for the Sprint race and sixth for the Feature
race. These are the best grid positions achieved by the team so far this
season. It was a closely fought battle amongst the front runners, with the
Malaysian team featuring heavily in the fight for top grid positions
Morning practice was an
uninterrupted one hour of running in cool temperatures, but with plenty of heat
on the track. The leader board changed regularly as the front running teams all
pushed to gain the maximum from their cars. Malaysia ran close to the top ten
throughout, finishing just outside it at 11th by the end of the
session.
In the first qualifying
session Yoong posted 12th quickest time after his first flying lap,
and then put in a faster time with new tyres to take seventh for the Sprint
race.
For the Feature, Yoong
spun in the first qualifying segment to lie 22nd with one to go. On
his final attempt at a top grid slot, he pushed hard and posted sixth quickest
time to take that position for the 70 minutes feature race tomorrow. Both
results are the best qualifying positions for the team this season.
Yoong said of
qualifying, “I’m very pleased that we have two strong top ten starts for
tomorrow. In the first season we won here and although in the second season we
didn’t have a particularly good weekend in the lead up to the race, we came away
with a good result. This season I hope we can have two good results. With our
grid positions that’s certainly within our reach. The car is good and I’m
feeling very positive heading into tomorrow. This is a great track for
overtaking and we hope to do plenty of it in both races and hopefully be able to
make up a few positions.”
Jack Cunningham, Chief
Executive A1 Team Malaysia commented, “I’m really
pleased to see us improve on our performance in qualifying. The grid position
can be such an important factor in the fortunes of the team in the races, and
starting as far forward as possible is always the goal. From seventh and then
sixth we have a realistic chance of a top five finish in each race. We have the
package to do the job and hope that we can bring home the points for Malaysia
tomorrow.”
The final day of the
Shanghai race
weekend will include the 20 minute Sprint race and 70 minute Feature race
tomorrow. A full support programme, the traditional opening ceremony and drivers
parade will provide a day-long package of entertainment for the Chinese
spectators.
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