2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain

The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain was an A1 Grand Prix race at Brands Hatch, England. It was set to be the final round of the 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season, but became the season finale, due to the cancellation of the Mexican round due to the 2009 swine flu pandemic.[1][2] Ultimately, it would be the last race for A1GP as bankruptcy followed later in the year.

2008–09 A1GP of Great Britain
Race Details
Race 7 of 7 in the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season
DateMay 3, 2009
LocationBrands Hatch
Kent, England
WeatherClear, 16°C
Sprint race
Qualifying
Pole Ireland (Adam Carroll)
Time1:11.615
Podium
1st Ireland (Adam Carroll)
2nd India (Narain Karthikeyan)
3rd Mexico (Salvador Durán)
Fastest Lap
FL Ireland (Adam Carroll)
Time1:12.276, (Lap 8)
Feature race
Qualifying
Pole Ireland (Adam Carroll)
Time1:10.902
Podium
1st Ireland (Adam Carroll)
2nd Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen)
3rd Switzerland (Neel Jani)
Fastest Lap
FL Australia (John Martin)
Time1:12.698, (Lap 36)
Official Classifications
PDF Booklet

A1 Team Ireland became the fourth A1 Grand Prix champions, with a double pole position, and double victory, to take Ireland's first international motor racing championship.

Title Battle

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With the British round now becoming the season finale, this left the championship in a three-way battle for the title.[3]

Switzerland lead going into the event with 88 points, with four points to drop; followed by Ireland with 86, and Portugal with 82. The Netherlands are currently too far behind to win the title with 66 points, as even though 27 points are on offer for maximum score, the team has to drop 6 points from their worst event.

Also, even if all the teams finish equal of points, the tie-breaker rules would come into play. Currently Switzerland would win the title with four wins, to Ireland's three, and Portugal's one.

Drivers

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Team Main Driver Rookie Driver(s) Reserve Driver
  Australia John Martin
  Brazil Felipe Guimarães
  Canada Did Not Participate
  China Congfu Cheng[4] Ho-Pin Tung
  France Nicolas Prost Nicolas Prost
  Germany Michael Ammermüller[5]
  Great Britain Dan Clarke Aaron Steele[6]
  India Narain Karthikeyan Parthiva Sureshwaren
  Indonesia Satrio Hermanto
  Ireland Adam Carroll Niall Quinn
  Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi
  Korea Did Not Participate
  Lebanon Daniel Morad Jimmy Auby
  Malaysia Aaron Lim
  Mexico Salvador Durán Juan Pablo Garcia
  Monaco Clivio Piccione Hubertus Bahlsen
  The Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen Dennis Retera
  New Zealand Earl Bamber[7]
  Pakistan Did Not Participate
  Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
  South Africa Alan van der Merwe[8] Cristiano Morgado
  Switzerland Neel Jani Alexandre Imperatori
  USA J. R. Hildebrand[9]

Qualifying

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Sprint race qualifying
Pos Team Time Gap
1   Ireland 1:11.615 -
2   Mexico 1:11.653 + 0.038
3   Netherlands 1:11.992 + 0.377
4   USA 1:11.994 + 0.379
5   Portugal 1:12.040 + 0.425
6   New Zealand 1:12.108 + 0.493
7   India 1:12.109 + 0.494
8   Switzerland 1:12.212 + 0.597
9   Indonesia 1:12.658 + 1.043
10   Australia 1:12.745 + 1.130
11   Lebanon 1:12.889 + 1.274
12   France 1:13.011 + 1.396
13   Great Britain 1:13.019 + 1.404
14   Monaco 1:13.260 + 1.645
15   Germany 1:13.329 + 1.714
16   Italy 1:13.549 + 1.934
17   Brazil 1:13.584 + 1.969
18   Malaysia 1:13.686 + 2.071
19   South Africa 1:13.854 + 2.239
20   China 1:13.861 + 2.246
Feature race qualifying
Pos Team Time Gap
1   Ireland 1:10.902 -
2   Monaco 1:11.085 + 0.183
3   Netherlands 1:11.146 + 0.244
4   Switzerland 1:11.338 + 0.436
5   France 1:11.543 + 0.641
6   New Zealand 1:11.633 + 0.731
7   Australia 1:11.930 + 1.028
8   China 1:12.180 + 1.278
9   Portugal 1:12.270 + 1.368
10   India 1:12.397 + 1.495
11   USA 1:12.662 + 1.760
12   South Africa 1:12.730 + 1.828
13   Mexico 1:12.740 + 1.838
14   Great Britain 1:12.756 + 1.854
15   Lebanon 1:12.766 + 1.864
16   Germany 1:12.797 + 1.895
17   Brazil 1:13.048 + 2.146
18   Italy 1:13.131 + 2.229
19   Indonesia 1:13.560 + 2.658
20   Malaysia 1:14.203 + 3.301

Team utilized Powerboost "joker" qualifying lap.

Sprint Race

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Pos Team Driver Laps Time Points
1   Ireland Adam Carroll 18 22:32.704 10+1
2   India Narain Karthikeyan 18 + 7.230 8
3   Mexico Salvador Durán 18 + 12.340 6
4   USA J. R. Hildebrand 18 + 12.689 5
5   Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 18 + 13.018 4
6   Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 18 + 13.783 3
7   Australia John Martin 18 + 15.208 2
8   Switzerland Neel Jani 18 + 22.220 1
9   France Nicolas Prost 18 + 22.945
10   Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 18 + 27.062
11   Germany Michael Ammermüller 18 + 31.947
12   Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 18 + 33.159
13   Great Britain Dan Clarke 18 + 33.541
14   China Cheng Congfu 18 + 34.963
15   South Africa Alan van der Merwe 18 + 40.488
16   Malaysia Aaron Lim 18 + 41.528
17   Lebanon Daniel Morad 13 Spin
18   New Zealand Earl Bamber 13 Spin
19   Monaco Clivio Piccione 8 Fire
20   Brazil Felipe Guimarães Did Not Start

Feature Race

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Pos Team Driver Laps Time Points
1   Ireland Adam Carroll 49 1:04:14.970 15
2   Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 49 + 10.156 12
3   Switzerland Neel Jani 49 + 13.564 10
4   Monaco Clivio Piccione 49 + 14.293 8
5   Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 49 + 16.484 6
6   Mexico Salvador Durán 49 + 21.810 5
7   Great Britain Dan Clarke 49 + 23.409 4
8   Australia John Martin 49 + 24.493 3+1
9   Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 49 + 46.004 2
10   France Nicolas Prost 49 + 49.094 1
11   South Africa Alan van der Merwe 49 + 1:13.905
12   Lebanon Daniel Morad 49 + 1:16.257
13   Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 48 + 1 Lap
14   USA J. R. Hildebrand 48 + 1 Lap
15   Malaysia Aaron Lim 27 Spin
16   Germany Michael Ammermüller 26 Exhaust
17   New Zealand Earl Bamber 6 Spin
18   India Narain Karthikeyan 0 Accident
19   China Cheng Congfu 0 Collision
20   Brazil Felipe Guimarães Did Not Start

Notes

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  • It was the 39th race weekend (78 starts).
  • It was the fourth race to be held in Great Britain at Brands Hatch, as well as the third time the track has hosted the season finale.
  • It was the first race as main driver for   J. R. Hildebrand and   Aaron Lim.
  • It was the first race as rookie driver for   Aaron Steele.
  •   Ireland scored their second double pole-position of the season, and the only double win of the season.

References

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  1. ^ "A1GP Mexico City cancelled". a1gp.com. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  2. ^ "A1GP makes Mexico statement". a1gp.com. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  3. ^ "Title to be won at Brands Hatch". a1gp.com. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  4. ^ "Cheng returns for China at Brands". a1gp.com. 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  5. ^ "Ammermuller back for Germany". a1gp.com. 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  6. ^ "Clarke's Kent". a1gp.com. 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  7. ^ "New Zealand names Bamber again". a1gp.com. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  8. ^ "South Africa's driver swap". a1gp.com. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  9. ^ "USA names Hildebrand for Brands". a1gp.com. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
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