2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season explained

The 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season was the third season of A1 Grand Prix.

Calendar

The Indonesian round at Sentul was removed from the calendar. Following the farcical Beijing round the previous season, the second Chinese event was moved to Zhuhai International Circuit near Hong Kong. Two pre-season tests were held at Silverstone Circuit on 28–29 August 2007 and 18–19 September 2007.

Due to Zandvoort's noise restrictions, regular and rookie practice sessions were not held on Friday at the Dutch round.^[1] Saturday morning was dedicated to practice sessions and Saturday afternoon to qualifying.

Round	Event	Circuit	Dates
1	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands	Circuit Park Zandvoort
2	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Czech Republic	Automotodrom Brno	12–14 October 2007
3	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Malaysia	Sepang International Circuit	23–25 November 2007
4	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China (Zhuhai)	Zhuhai International Circuit	14–16 December 2007
5	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand	Taupo Motorsport Park	18–20 January 2008
6	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia	Eastern Creek Raceway	1–3 February 2008
7	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa	Durban Street Circuit	22–24 February 2008
8	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Mexico	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	14–16 March 2008
9	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China (Shanghai)		11–13 April 2008
10	A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain	Brands Hatch	2–4 May 2008
Map

Entry list

All teams used same A1 Grand Prix car including Zytek-powered, Cooper Avon-shod and Lola A1GP chassis. No new teams entered the championships, whilst both Greece and Singapore did not return having failed to complete their debut seasons.

Entrant (Team)	Driver	Events
A1 Team Australia	Ian Dyk	1–4
A1 Team Australia	John Martin	5–10
A1 Team Brazil	Sérgio Jimenez	1–6
	Bruno Junqueira	7–8
	Alexandre Negrão	9–10
A1 Team Canada	James Hinchcliffe	1–2, 10
A1 Team Canada	Robert Wickens	3–9
A1 Team China	Congfu Cheng	All
	Erik Janiš	1–3
	Tomáš Enge	4–6
	Josef Král	7
	Filip Salaquarda	8–10
A1 Team France	Loïc Duval	1, 3–7
	Nicolas Lapierre	2
	Jonathan Cochet	8
	Franck Montagny	9–10
A1 Team Germany	Christian Vietoris	1–2, 5
A1 Team Germany	Michael Ammermüller	3–4, 6–10
A1 Team Great Britain	Oliver Jarvis	1, 3–4, 7–8
A1 Team Great Britain	Robbie Kerr	2, 5–6, 9–10
A1 Team India	Narain Karthikeyan	1–6, 8–10
A1 Team India		7
A1 Team Indonesia	Satrio Hermanto	All
A1 Team Ireland	Ralph Firman, Jr.	1
A1 Team Ireland	Adam Carroll	2–10
A1 Team Italy	Enrico Toccacelo	1–3
A1 Team Italy	Edoardo Piscopo	4–10
A1 Team Lebanon	Chris Alajajian	1, 3–6
	Jimmy Auby	2, 7, 10
	Khalil Beschir	8–9
A1 Team Malaysia	Alex Yoong	1–5, 8–9
A1 Team Malaysia	Fairuz Fauzy	6–7, 10
A1 Team Mexico	Salvador Durán	1
	Michel Jourdain, Jr.	2–3
	David Garza	4–8
	Jorge Goeters	9
	David Martínez	10
A1 Team Netherlands	Jeroen Bleekemolen	All
A1 Team New Zealand	Jonny Reid	All
A1 Team Pakistan	Adam Khan	All
A1 Team Portugal	João Urbano	1–6
A1 Team Portugal	Filipe Albuquerque	7–10
A1 Team South Africa	Adrian Zaugg	All
A1 Team Switzerland	Neel Jani	All
A1 Team USA	Buddy Rice	1–2
A1 Team USA	Jonathan Summerton	3–10

Rule changes

Sporting

The existing qualifying format was retained, however the first two qualifying sessions determined the grid for the sprint race whilst the second two qualifying sessions determined the grid for the feature race.^[2]
The number of mandatory pit stops in the feature race increased from one to two.^[3]
The time certain limit of the sprint race was increased to 29 minutes + 1 lap.^[3]
From the Taupo round, the pit exit closed under Safety Car conditions.^[4]

Technical

From the Taupo round, the fuel mixture was changed to a 30% biofuel mix produced by Petrochem Carless.^[5]

Results and standings

Results summary

Round		Event	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winner	Report
1	S	Netherlands	Adrian Zaugg	Adrian Zaugg	Adrian Zaugg	Report
1	F	Netherlands	Adrian Zaugg	Salvador Durán	Oliver Jarvis	Report
2	S	Czech Republic	Adrian Zaugg	Jonny Reid	Jonny Reid	Report
2	F	Czech Republic	Jeroen Bleekemolen	Congfu Cheng	Jonny Reid	Report
3	S	Malaysia	Neel Jani	Neel Jani	Neel Jani	Report
3	F	Malaysia	Neel Jani	Neel Jani	Neel Jani	Report
4	S	China (Zhuhai)	Michael Ammermüller		Michael Ammermüller	Report
4	F	China (Zhuhai)	Neel Jani	Oliver Jarvis	Narain Karthikeyan	Report
5	S	New Zealand	Jonny Reid	Christian Vietoris	Jonny Reid	Report
5	F	New Zealand	Loïc Duval	Neel Jani	Christian Vietoris	Report
6	S	Australia	Loïc Duval	Loïc Duval	Loïc Duval	Report
6	F	Australia	Jonny Reid	Adrian Zaugg	Adrian Zaugg	Report
7	S	South Africa	Robert Wickens	Jonny Reid	Robert Wickens	Report
7	F	South Africa	Neel Jani	Congfu Cheng	Neel Jani	Report
8	S	Mexico	Adrian Zaugg	Congfu Cheng		Report
8	F	Mexico	Robert Wickens	Oliver Jarvis	Adam Carroll	Report
9	S	China (Shanghai)	Neel Jani	Neel Jani	Neel Jani	Report
9	F	China (Shanghai)	Neel Jani	Robert Wickens	Jonathan Summerton	Report
10	S	Great Britain	Robbie Kerr	Congfu Cheng	Robbie Kerr	Report
10	F	Great Britain	Narain Karthikeyan	Adam Carroll	Narain Karthikeyan	Report

Championship standings

Points systemPoints are now assigned in the same manner for both the sprint and feature races using the following format with one bonus point awarded for the fastest lap in each race.

Championship standings

Pos	width=100 valign="middle" rowspan="2"	Team	width=105 valign="middle" rowspan="2"	Drivers	NED		CZE		MLY		ZHU		NZL		AUS		RSA		MEX		SHA		GBR		Pts
Pos	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	Pts	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F
1	Switzerland	Neel Jani	5	3	8	3	1	1	2	6	Ret	13	10	2	3	1	3	19	1	5	4	3	168
2	New Zealand	Jonny Reid	9	7	1	1	5	8	10	2	1	4	2	9	20	10	1	12	Ret	4	8	8	127
3	align=left rowspan=2	Great Britain	Oliver Jarvis	7	1			6	12	6	5					2	11	2	2					126
3	Robbie Kerr			2	17					Ret	Ret	16	3					9	9	1	2			126
4	align=left rowspan=4	France	Loïc Duval	2	5			2	2	8	7	3	3	1	Ret	11	2							118
	Nicolas Lapierre			6	5
	Jonathan Cochet															12	13
	Franck Montagny																	12	8	10	5
5	South Africa	Adrian Zaugg	1	2	4	16	10	Ret	Ret	3	4	7	7	1	13	7	Ret	6	7	16	7	11	96
6	align=left rowspan=2	Ireland	Ralph Firman, Jr.	8	6																			94
6	Adam Carroll			3	6	7	7	4	16	6	5	15	13	15	Ret	4	1	11	3	3	13			94
7	Netherlands	Jeroen Bleekemolen	3	8	5	2	18	4	9	Ret	5	8	9	8	5	4	8	4	17	18	9	6	87
8	align=left rowspan=2	Germany	Christian Vietoris	6	9	7	8					2	1											83
8	Michael Ammermüller					16	EX	1	4			4	7	EX	Ret	Ret	20	6	10	20	Ret			83
9	align=left rowspan=2	Canada	James Hinchcliffe	19	18	12	11															15	17	75
9	Robert Wickens					3	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	2	3	6	1	12	7	5	2	20					75
10	align=left rowspan=2	India	Narain Karthikeyan	10	Ret	21	9	11	6	7	1	10	Ret	11	11			13	9	5	7	5	1	61
10														17	Ret									61
11	align=left rowspan=2	Portugal	João Urbano	11	Ret	9	18	13	Ret	19	12	8	12	12	16									59
11	Filipe Albuquerque													7	3	6	7	3	2	6	7			59
12	align=left rowspan=2	United States	Buddy Rice	22	13	16	15																	56
12	Jonathan Summerton					12	10	12	10	7	14	5	Ret	10	Ret	5	3	21	1	2	12			56
13	China	Congfu Cheng	17	15	10	4	Ret	5	3	9	14	Ret	14	10	4	6	17	10	10	15	21	4	55
14	align=left rowspan=3	Brazil	Sérgio Jimenez	13	11	11	7	4	3	18	Ret	13	6	8	4									44
	Bruno Junqueira													Ret	9	10	8
	Alexandre Negrão																	14	13	16	14
15	align=left rowspan=2	Malaysia	Alex Yoong	16	Ret	17	14	9	13	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret					9	15	4	6			25
15	Fairuz Fauzy											20	17	9	5					13	Ret			25
16	align=left rowspan=5	Mexico	Salvador Durán	4	4																			22
	Michel Jourdain, Jr.			13	22	20	11
	David Garza							16	11	17	9	17	18	8	Ret	16	14
	Jorge Goeters																	20	21
	David Martínez																			20	16
17	align=left rowspan=2	Australia	Ian Dyk	21	12	Ret	13	Ret	9	13	15													20
17	John Martin									9	Ret	6	5	6	14	Ret	21	15	14	14	Ret			20
18	align=left rowspan=2	Italy	Enrico Toccacelo	12	14	14	10	8	Ret															12
18	Edoardo Piscopo							11	Ret	12	Ret	13	14	14	8	11	Ret	8	12	17	9			12
19	align=left rowspan=4		Erik Janiš	15	10	18	12	15	15															10
	Tomáš Enge							5	8	Ret	11	18	15
	Josef Král													18	Ret
	Filip Salaquarda															Ret	16	13	11	12	15
20	Pakistan	Adam Khan	18	17	15	20	17	14	14	14	11	10	Ret	12	12	Ret	Ret	18	16	17	18	Ret	1
21	Indonesia	Satrio Hermanto	20	16	19	19	19	16	17	Ret	16	Ret	21	20	16	Ret	14	11	19	19	19	10	1
22	align=left rowspan=3	Lebanon	Chris Alajajian	14	19			14	Ret	Ret	13	15	Ret	19	19									0
	Jimmy Auby			20	21									19	13					22	18
	Khalil Beschir															15	17	18	22
Pos	Team	Drivers	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	width=18	S	width=18	F	Pts
Pos	Team	Drivers	NED		CZE		MLY		ZHU		NZL		AUS		RSA		MEX		SHA		GBR																						Pts

External links

Notes and References

http://www.paddocktalk.com/news/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=67660 Zandvoort: A1 Team by Team Race Preview
http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=32038 New qualifying and points system
http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=32036 Feature race gets second pit stop
http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=40045 Safety car pit light introduced
http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=39922 Biofuel confirmed for Taupo