A1GP Ireland quick on Day 1

Kersh

A1GP testing at Silverstone, in Session 1 Ireland were 2nd, but slipped to 4th in 2nd session, but still within 2 tenths of the pace...
Here's hoping...

Session 1
1 FRANCE 1m 10.531s
2 IRELAND +0.136s
3 SWITZERLAND +0.378s
4 NEW ZEALAND +0.494s
5 INDIA +0.554s
6 SOUTH AFRICA +0.559s
7 NETHERLANDS +0.657s
8 BRAZIL +0.926s
9 MALAYSIA +0.970s
10 GERMANY +0.992s
11 AUSTRALIA +1.047s
12 ITALY +1.082s
13 USA +1.096s
14 CHINA +1.342s
15 GREAT BRITAIN +1.756s
16 PAKISTAN +1.865s
17 LEBANON +1.960s
18 PORTUGAL +2.019s
19 CANADA +2.019s
20 CZECH REPUBLIC +2.280s
21 INDONESIA +3.496s
22 MEXICO +3.499s

Session 2

1 SOUTH AFRICA 01m 10.484s
2 FRANCE + 0.047s
3 GREAT BRITAIN + 0.075s
4 IRELAND + 0.183s
5 SWITZERLAND + 0.189s
6 GERMANY + 0.390s
7 INDIA + 0.398s
8 NEW ZEALAND + 0.541s
9 NETHERLANDS + 0.585s
10 MALAYSIA + 0.853s
11 BRAZIL + 0.864s
12 USA + 0.961s
13 AUSTRALIA + 1.094s
14 ITALY + 1.129s
15 PORTUGAL + 1.188s
16 CHINA + 1.389s
17 INDONESIA + 1.536s
18 CZECH REPUBLIC + 1.680s
19 CANADA + 1.742s
20 PAKISTAN + 1.912s
21 LEBANON + 2.007s
22 MEXICO + 2.854s

Kali

Who's in the Irish seat this year? And will they stay for the full season?

Kersh

Firman for race 1, Adam Carroll thereafter. I would be expecting us to win races with Carroll on board.

Kali

Is Adam racing on an Irish licence now so or what is the actual criteria for A1GP national eligibility? And didn't he drive for the UK?

Still probably the most talented (and successful) person to drive for Ireland... he's one of these drivers whom I'd love to see get a proper drive because if he ever completed a full season in any championship he'd be well up there.

Presumably missing Round 1 is down to GP2 commitments?

coolcon

Hopefully things will go a bit better this season. Here's what the A1GP site said about Irelands performance at the silverstone testing:

Adam Carroll completed his first full day of official testing for A1 Team Ireland at Silverstone by setting the 4th fastest time of the day, only 0.183s slower than pace setters South Africa. The 24 year old from Portadown, fresh from a double podium in last weekend’s GP2 races in Turkey, was immediately on the pace around Silverstone’s 2.6km International Circuit and set his quickest time in the morning session when he was 2nd quickest with a 1m10.667s. A major set-up change over lunch time saw further work carried out on the car’s balance in the afternoon, Carroll emerging confident that the team and car are on the pace.

A1 Team Ireland’s initial preparations for the forthcoming A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season started two weeks ago when Carroll undertook a rookie evaluation test, part of the format which A1GP introduced when it was established two years ago. Following that successful outing at Snetterton Circuit, Carroll was invited back to test for the team today.

Adam Carroll; “It was a good day today, we learned a few things including what not to do with the set-up but the car felt good and we are not far away – we are on the pace. I wasn’t totally comfortable in the car so we could do with making a new seat, but other than that I’m very happy with where we are at the moment.”

A1 Team Ireland’s participation in the official test continues tomorrow with Ralph Firman returning to the Irish car, the former Jordan F1 driver and current Japanese Super GT Championship leader looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the 550bhp A1GP car.

Mark Kershaw, Team Owner; “We were right on the pace from the word go and Adam was clearly happy with the way the car felt, so this is a good start to our preparations for the new season. There is a good mood in the team and Ralph’s clearly keen to jump in the car tomorrow and carry on where Adam has left off. It’s great to see Team Ireland up at the sharp end on day one.”

By the way what way are the TV rights working for the upcoming season? Is it still Sky for the full whack and highlights on RTé ?

nikimere

Well Day 2 is Firmans day...

After the 1st session Firman is 15th overall and 1.5 seconds off the pace.... :eek:
When will they learn..... :rolleyes:

Kali

I can't believe how wide the gap is between the top runners and the bottom. I mean 3.5 seconds? that's insane... aren't the engines sealed? Compare it to another one make series like Formula Renault, where in nearly every round of the championship the top 20 in qulaifying are seperated by typically less than a second.
Are the A1GP cars controlled as strictly as FRenault (where every single piece on the car, down to the nuts are FRenault tagged.. if you use anything that's not tagged or tinker with the engine you forfeit the race), or is there a lot of play with what you can alter on the cars? As surely there has to be a major level of tinkering happening in some of the teams besides the basic setup... that or else the bottom 5 drivers are actually that bad

Kersh

Yes they are, Iirc South Africa were demoted a few grid slots last year cos they put some rivets/nuts in the opposite way to get em out of the airflow. They were caught.
A lot of the drivers are just in F3 or that so may not really have experience of a gripless (compared to an F3 car) overpowerd car like an A1 car. Adam Carroll will win races this year. definitely.

nikimere

Kersh wrote:

Adam Carroll will win races this year. definitely.

I agree, but only if the right car is put under his arse. They seem to have improved, which is great. Let's hope it stays that way!

Oblomov

It's all very carefully monitored, engines, only run with a manufacturers man in attendance with his laptop reading off all the info...Chassis and bodywork checked, weights checked so its all very open between the teams..

The main factor about who drives, who comes with the most money,

SouperComputer

Oblomov wrote:

The main factor about who drives, who comes with the most money,

Because the best money buys the best engineers, or at least it should. Which is often worth more than the driver

An often overlooked aspect of the sport IMO.

Oblomov

The A1GP engines are run by the engine suppliers and the instructions are, do not start engines without....... the man with the laptop who oversees initial installation and run mode. A Constant check on settings is carried out both before and during each event to maintain parity.

Very little choice in engine men, in any other formaula, well, apart from Formula Palmer Audi, T car, pick up trucks VW cup..... LOL a lot of formulas have strict controls on engines.. and strip down checks are carried out at random, even returning cars to manufacturers for a full eligibility check.

But, electronics play a meaningful part in some of the controlled formulae, ECUs and sensors can have a very big part in uprating engine performance

SouperComputer

When I said engineers, I didnt mean the ones that work on/with engines.

Chassis and setup engineers that work on shocks, springs, tyre pressures etc etc.

Oblomov

The suspension/ chassis man relies on good feed back from the driver and the team concept entails a valid contribution from everyone involved.

A1GP entrants share info as part of the formula regulations. The chassis are set up to a standard and the ethos is to rely on driving skills rather than tweaking the chassis.

The contributing factors on a quick car, chassis, tyres, electronics, engine nd where possible, gear ratios. The non mechanical factors, driver's confidence, man management by the team sponsors and team leaders, and the very important, sufficient cash.

I've seen talented young drivers drive outstanding race winning performance in the lower formulae but disappear becasue of lack of cash. The number of drivers that should have qualified for better drives are bypassed by the average driver with the big wallet.