A1GP TAKES TO THE STREETS

Courtesy Nikki Rooke

Tens of thousands of people braved the weather in the centre of Rotterdam this afternoon as the bright orange A1 Team Netherlands and multi-flagged A1GP World Cup of Motorsport cars roared around a 2km street circuit as part of the Bavaria City Racing festival.

With Jos Verstappen behind the wheel of the Dutch car and team seat holder, Jan Lammers experiencing his first real outing in an A1GP car in the other, the pair thrilled the crowd with a high speed demo throwing in a few donuts for good measure.

Jos Verstappen had a great time on track: “You can actually drive quite fast here. I even hit 220 km/h briefly. There are so many spectators along the circuit. You try to do donuts at as many places as possible to give everyone along the circuit the same show. This is really fantastic”.

Jan Lammers felt the same: “This is super; there is such a big audience. You drive here at 14,000 revs and still you hear the crowd.”

A1GP proved a popular attraction both on and off the track, as A1 Team Netherlands was honoured with a visit by the Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende and the the Mayor of Rotterdam, Ivo Opstelten as they toured the Paddock. Jan Lammers and Jos Verstappen explained the A1GP concept and talked Balkenende, a motorsport fan himself and Opstelten around the A1GP race car.

Following the event, the Dutch car headed straight back to Silverstone in the UK where it will take part in A1GP’s official team test session on 30-31 August. The test will be the last time the cars run ahead of the start of the 2006/07 season on 1 October when the Series returns to the Netherlands racing at Circuit Park Zandvoort.

More than 100,000 tickets have been sold for the A1GP Zandvoort making it one of A1GP’s most popular events. For those who have not managed to get their hands on a ticket, an extra 3,000 will go on sale via www.A1GP.com at 10.00 GMT on Wednesday 23 August 2006.

The home race of A1 Team Netherlands, with Jos Verstappen, promises to be a real spectacle, with a sea of orange lining the sand dunes around the circuit.