The 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China was an A1 Grand Prix race, held on November 12, 2006 at Beijing International Streetcircuit, Beijing, China. It was the third race in the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season and the first and the only meeting held at the circuit.
Due to various safety concerns, the circuit was shortened, and the races started behind the safety car, with the Sprint Race was run mostly behind the safety car. These incidents led to questions about the management and organization of both the event and A1GP in general, eventually leading to series' collapse in 2009. Following the incident and the track's lack of funding, the first Chinese race of the season was moved to Zhuhai International Circuit for the 2007-08 season.
The first day of practice was canceled because of safety concerns, as the hairpin at the end of the backstraight was too tight for the cars to negotiate safely due to a 180 degree left turn – resulting in cars were running wide and stopping mid-corner. A revised track layout was devised for an extended Saturday practice session, creating a wider hairpin halfway up the straight, bypassing most of the old straight.[1]
More problems arose in qualifying, when manhole covers on the roads were coming undone due to the racing cars' high downforce and low center of gravity. Grid positions were decided based on practice times, resulting in A1 Team Netherlands driver Jeroen Bleekemolen taking pole position for the Sprint race. Some advertising banners also came loose around the circuit.
Both races started behind the safety car as the first corner was deemed unsafe.
More than half the race was held under the safety car, as South Africa's Adrian Zaugg spun and stalled his car and blocked half of the track. Bleekemolen won the race for the Netherlands, with Salvador Durán of Mexico and A1 Team Italy's Enrico Toccacelo in second and third.
Toccacelo won the feature race, with Britain's Oliver Jarvis second and Australia's Karl Reindler a surprise third after James Hinchcliffe crashed out on the final lap. The feature race was shortened from 67 laps to 63 due to time constraints.[2]
Qualification was cancelled due to track problems. Accordingly, the grid was set from the times set in the 25 minutes of the morning practice session (Practice 3) before it was red-flagged, under article 144 of the Sporting Regulations.
| Pos | Team | Driver | Laps | Quickest Time | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Netherlands | Jeroen Bleekemolen | 16 | 1:00.093 | align="right" | -- |
| 2 |  Mexico | Salvador Durán | 11 | 1:00.583 | + 0.490 | |
| 3 |  Italy | Enrico Toccacelo | 14 | 1:00.942 | + 0.849 | |
| 4 |  Canada | James Hinchcliffe | 11 | 1:01.103 | + 1.010 | |
| 5 |  Germany | Nico Hülkenberg | 11 | 1:01.275 | + 1.182 | |
| 6 |  Brazil | Raphael Matos | 18 | 1:01.306 | + 1.213 | |
| 7 |  South Africa | Adrian Zaugg | 11 | 1:01.361 | + 1.268 | |
| 8 | Great Britain | Oliver Jarvis | 19 | 1:01.404 | + 1.311 | |
| 9 |  Czech Republic | Tomáš Enge | 21 | 1:01.555 | + 1.462 | |
| 10 |  Switzerland | Neel Jani | 11 | 1:01.711 | + 1.618 | |
| 11 |  Ireland | Michael Devaney | 12 | 1:02.810 | + 2.717 | |
| 12 |  New Zealand | Matt Halliday | 11 | 1:02.852 | + 2.759 | |
| 13 |  USA | Philip Giebler | 11 | 1:02.916 | + 2.823 | |
| 14 |  Australia | Karl Reindler | 10 | 1:02.999 | + 2.906 | |
| 15 |  China | Congfu Cheng | 16 | 1:03.275 | + 3.182 | |
| 16 |  Malaysia | Alex Yoong | 8 | 1:04.246 | + 4.153 | |
| 17 |  Singapore | Christian Murchison | 6 | 1:05.897 | + 5.804 | |
| 18 |  Indonesia | Ananda Mikola | 9 | 1:06.038 | + 5.945 | |
| 19 |  India | Armaan Ebrahim | 14 | 1:06.056 | + 5.963 | |
| 20 |  Lebanon | Basil Shaaban | 14 | 1:06.389 | + 6.296 | |
| 21 |  France | Nicolas Lapierre | 3 | 1:09.662 | + 9.569 | |
| 22 |  Pakistan | Nur B. Ali | 13 | 1:10.263 | + 10.170 |
The Sprint Race took place on Sunday, November 12, 2006.
| Pos | Team | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | Jeroen Bleekemolen | 15 | 20'28.420 | 6 | |
| 2 | Mexico | Salvador Durán | 15 | + 1.464 | 5 | |
| 3 | Italy | Enrico Toccacelo | 15 | + 2.311 | 4 | |
| 4 | Canada | James Hinchcliffe | 15 | + 3.375 | 3 | |
| 5 | Germany | Nico Hülkenberg | 15 | + 3.943 | 2 | |
| 6 | Brazil | Raphael Matos | 15 | + 4.400 | 1 | |
| 7 | Great Britain | Oliver Jarvis | 15 | + 7.377 | ||
| 8 | Czech Republic | Tomáš Enge | 15 | + 8.397 | ||
| 9 | Switzerland | Neel Jani | 15 | + 8.849 | ||
| 10 | New Zealand | Matt Halliday | 15 | + 9.265 | ||
| 11 | USA | Philip Giebler | 15 | + 10.422 | ||
| 12 | Australia | Karl Reindler | 15 | + 11.920 | ||
| 13 | China | Congfu Cheng | 15 | + 13.216 | ||
| 14 | Malaysia | Alex Yoong | 15 | + 17.027 | ||
| 15 | Indonesia | Ananda Mikola | 15 | + 18.479 | ||
| 16 | Singapore | Christian Murchison | 15 | + 20.659 | ||
| 17 | France | Nicolas Lapierre | 15 | + 20.802 | ||
| 18 | India | Armaan Ebrahim | 15 | + 22.253 | ||
| 19 | Lebanon | Basil Shaaban | 15 | + 22.783 | ||
| 20 | Ireland | Michael Devaney | 15 | + 23.247 | ||
| 21 | Pakistan | Nur B. Ali | 15 | + 47.541 | ||
| DNF | South Africa | Adrian Zaugg | 2 | + 13 laps |
The Feature Race took place on Sunday, November 12, 2006. The race was initially scheduled for 67 laps, but was shortened by five laps.
| Pos | Team | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | Enrico Toccacelo | 63 | 1.10.15.919 | 10 | |
| 2 | Great Britain | Oliver Jarvis | 63 | + 4.508 | 9 | |
| 3 | Australia | Karl Reindler | 63 | + 5.917 | 8 | |
| 4 | France | Nicolas Lapierre | 63 | + 12.900 | 7 | |
| 5 | South Africa | Adrian Zaugg | 63 | + 13.278 | 6 | |
| 6 | Czech Republic | Tomáš Enge | 63 | + 13.684 | 5 | |
| 7 | Brazil | Raphael Matos | 63 | + 14.839 | 4 | |
| 8 | Singapore | Christian Murchison | 63 | + 16.486 | 3 | |
| 9 | New Zealand | Matt Halliday | 63 | + 17.005 | 2 | |
| 10 | Canada | James Hinchcliffe | 62 | + 1 Lap | 1 | |
| 11 | India | Armaan Ebrahim | 62 | + 1 Lap | ||
| 12 | Malaysia | Alex Yoong | 61 | + 2 Laps | ||
| 13 | Lebanon | Basil Shaaban | 61 | + 2 Laps | ||
| DNF | Netherlands | Jeroen Bleekemolen | 53 | + 10 Laps | ||
| DNF | Germany | Nico Hülkenberg | 53 | + 10 Laps | ||
| DNF | Indonesia | Ananda Mikola | 36 | + 27 Laps | ||
| DNF | China | Congfu Cheng | 28 | + 35 Laps | ||
| DNF | USA | Philip Giebler | 21 | + 42 Laps | ||
| DNF | Switzerland | Neel Jani | 20 | + 43 Laps | ||
| DNF | Mexico | Salvador Durán | 14 | + 49 Laps | ||
| DNF | Ireland | Michael Devaney | 3 | + 60 Laps | ||
| DNF | Pakistan | Nur B. Ali | 1 | + 62 Laps |
Similar problems have occurred before in China. The 2004 DTM race around the streets of Pudong in Shanghai was hampered by crashes due to manhole covers becoming undone; the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix on the Shanghai International Circuit was interrupted when the safety car had to be deployed when a water runoff drain became open. The same problem also occurred in the Australian V8 Supercars race on the same circuit a few months before.