A1 Team Canada finish season tenth in A1GP Nations Standings Round 11 – A1 Grand

Courtesy Stuart Morrison Public Relations

Prix of Nations, Shanghai International Circuit, China Qualified: 11th / Sprint Race Finish: DNF / Feature Race Finish: 7th / Series standing: =10th (59pts) A1 Team Canada

despite a mixed day today in the final round of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations in China, capped off its first season in the ‘World Cup of Motorsport’ by finishing joint tenth in the Nations Standings. Taken out of the Sprint race on the first lap by A1 Team Switzerland, Patrick Carpentier recovered to take seventh place in the hour-long Feature race, scoring four more points to secure A1 Team Canada’s place in the top-ten of competing nations, tying with A1 Team Mexico on 59 points.

Sprint Race, 15 laps (Winner – A1 Team Malaysia) A solid start by Patrick saw him get the jump on Giorgio Mondini in the Swiss car to break into the top-ten but his lap one progress was quickly curtailed as Mondini locked up under breaking into the hairpin at the end of the flat-out back straight. The Swiss driver slammed into the back of the Canadian A1GP car destroying its crash box and rear wing, both cars forced out on the spot! Pole- sitter Alex Yoong converted his qualifying pace into a maiden victory for A1 Team Malaysia.

Feature Race, 30 laps (Winner – A1 Team Czech Republic) Patrick launched off the line from 21st gaining six places on the first lap. With the entire field pitting for their mandatory stop at the end of lap 2, Carpentier’s progress received a further boost courtesy of slick team-work, the Québec-born racer up to tenth as the field resumed racing. Moving to sixth he held station until a late race attack from title-winners, A1 Team France, with two laps to go, saw him fight wheel to wheel for position but ultimately Patrick dropped a place and a point to finish seventh at the checkered flag. A1 Team Czech Republic became the eighth nation to taste victory this season with the Feature win scored by former F1 and IRL driver Tomas Enge.

Patrick Carpentier: “Retirement in the Sprint race dealt a blow to our fight for points. I saw Mondini coming into the turn way too fast and that was it, we were both out of the race. The Feature, I’m pleased to say was a lot better, my start was good and the guys in the pits did a great job to get me even further up. The car was a little loose mid-way through the race then when France finally caught me I just didn’t have the pace to hold them off. Overall it was a fun event and a great place to end the season.” Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands kicks off the sophomore season of A1GP competition later in the year, 29th September – 1st October 2006.

Final Standings: 1st France (172), 2nd Switzerland (121), 3rd Great Britain (97), 4th New Zealand (77), 5th Malaysia (74), 6th Brazil (71), 7th Netherlands (69), 8th Ireland (68), 9th Portugal (66), 10th Canada (59) = Mexico (59)