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Chris van der Drift to test for A1Team.NZL at Donington Park |
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Friday, 05 September 2008 |
Chris van der Drift to test for A1Team.NZL at Donington Park
Rotterdam, 5 September 2008 – New Zealand race driver Chris van der
Drift will be getting behind the wheel of the new A1GP Powered by
Ferrari car this coming Tuesday, completing the first test laps for the
New Zealand team at the British circuit of Donington.
Initially a two day test was planned for 19 August, but the test
session did not go ahead as all the cars for A1 teams were not ready.
Van der Drift has driven an A1GP car in the past, the most recent being
at the British circuit of Brands Hatch in May 2008 where he was
involved in the ‘rookie’ sessions for the last round of the 2007/2008
season assisting with the set-up of the New Zealand entry. The New
Zealander left quite an impression behind after being quickest in both
of the rookie test sessions.
After three successful years a new era is
to begin for A1GP. The new season will see the introduction of a same
make car and 600hp motor supplied by Ferrari, the car based on the
F2004 used very successfully by seven time world F1 champion Michael
Schumacher. Due to a delay in development of the new car, the first
collective test sessions take place between 9-11 September.
All A1GP
teams will have the opportunity to begin preparation and gather testing
knowledge in this time, in advance of the first race of the season to
be held at the Dutch circuit of Zandvoort on the weekend of 3-5
October.
Chris van der Drift (22) is at present racing with the Italian
race-team JD Motorsport in the International Formula Master
championship, and after five race wins he is currently leading the
championship by 13 points. International Formula Master supports the
FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), the 250hp single seaters
able to produce lap times quicker than top level Formula 3 cars.
The
highly competitive championship is over a total of 16 races and to date
12 races have been held this season. The winner of the 2008
championship can look forward to a test with the Honda F1-team.
“I can’t wait to get into the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car” said Van
der Drift. “It will be a great experience as the car is much faster and
of a still higher level. I want to make a good contribution to the team
by collecting as much set-up data as possible, and of course I am
enormously honoured to be asked to test in the car. I will be doing my
utmost best as I am hoping that there will be more.”
Chris van der Drift is supported by : Racing Pool, National Meats Ltd,
BMW Ekris, Arai Helmet and Oakley.
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