For the past two and a half weeks, Autoworld.com.my has been operating a booth in Menara Hap Seng (previously known as MUI Plaza) along Jalan P.Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur. Existing members and newly signed up members have been visiting us and have returned home with AW car stickers and other freebies.

Visiting Autoworld members are also entitled to special promotions from Gophers GPS, Redline engine oil, McKleen waxing, and ARC flash treatment in the from of cash vouchers and generous discounts. We will be there for another few days until 4 April, but if you were to choose a day out of the entire three weeks to drop by, today has to be THE day.

Don’t worry, it’s not because it’s April Fool’s day. We have invited Team Malaysia A1GP driver Aaron Lim for an autograph and meet the fans session at our booth located on Level 1 of Menara Hap Seng. Aaron’s appearance is scheduled at 1pm, so you can even time your visit to coincide with the office lunch break.

Aaron, 22, is the current rookie driver for A1 Team Malaysia. He started his racing career in the national karting championships. In 2004, he cantered to a superb win in the Asian Karting Championship in Macau. The following year, he moved on to the Formula BMW Asian series, and then the Formula Renault V6 Asia series in 2007, securing a podium finish in every race.  If you can’t make it to meet Aaron, well, there are still plenty of reasons to drop by, not least because you stand a chance to win free tickets for the upcoming Sepang F1 GP. Once again, this is no April Fool’s joke. Once you’ve found our booth, have a spin in the Simulator brought in by A1 Team Malaysia. Free tickets to the Malaysian GP on 5 April 2009 await participants who the five fastest lap times.

Including today, we still have four days left in our stay at Menara Hap Seng. Do drop by for a visit!

Information flyer.  Click to enlarge for details.

London, Great Britain - The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport car for the 2008/09 season continued its intensive testing programme this week with two days at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.

Following on from successful tests at Fiorano, the Ferrari test track in Italy, Andrea Bertolini has been back behind the wheel of the Powered by Ferrari car, putting it through its paces at Imola.

This is the first time the car has run outside the confines of Fiorano but feedback continues to be positive with the car running on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Testing will continue next week with five-days running scheduled at Guadix Circuit, a recently constructed facility in Spain. The three-kilometre track near Granada has a good mix of fast and slow corners with varying cambers and a 750-metre main straight set against the stunning back drop of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

A1GP General Manager, Technical and Operations, John Wickham: “We’ve completed about 900-kilometres of testing so far and everything is going relatively smoothly. The car is performing very well and the driver is happy with it; the balance is good and the tyres are working well. We haven’t done as much testing as we hoped but that’s partly because we were waiting on the weather at Fiorano. We ended up just running in the rain in the end but the car looked very quick in the wet!  In general the car has been very reliable. We look forward to five consecutive days running next week with the tight Guadix Circuit ideal for further testing of the handling of the car. ”

The official pre-season testing for all the teams will take place at Silverstone on 18 – 20 August 2008 and Mugello on 17 – 18 September 2008.

Last year A1 GP announced that their cars from the 2008-2oo9 season onwards would be powered by Ferrari engines and have chassis that will enjoy input from Maranello.

It was a great publicity generator, after all everyone likes Ferrari and it would be a treat to hear 20 Ferrari engine screaming at the top of theri lungs.

This yellow car, according to A1GP is based on the F204 chassis which featured very clean aerodynamics and ground breaking engine-gearbox packaging that allowed it to have a very low engine cover.

Below is the full Press release

London, Great Britain – A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has revealed the first image of its brand new ‘Powered by Ferrari’ car for use in season four (2008/09). The CAD drawing was released ahead of the car’s inaugural shakedown test in Southern England.

A1GP’s own tv commentator and Formula One legend, John Watson, will have the honour of driving the car for the first time, powered by a V8 Ferrari engine producing in the region of 600 bhp.

The chassis is based on the design of the highly successful F2004 chassis, incorporating A1GP’s core values to deliver close, exciting racing among a competitive field where overtaking is an essential part of the entertainment.

A1GP Technical Director, John Travis, is overseeing the design, development and production of the car from premises in Bognor Regis in the UK, with Rory Byrne acting as a consultant. Meanwhile the work on the manufacture and supply of the A1GP engine is being overseen by Ferrari’s Jean-Jacques His.

The Powered by Ferrari project was first announced on 11 October 2007 when the most famous name in motorsport signed a six-year agreement to manufacture and supply all A1GP engines for this unique series and provide consultancy on the design of all A1GP chassis from season four onwards.

Speaking ahead of the shakedown and what will be an intensive testing programme for the new car and engine, Tony Teixeira, Chairman of A1GP, said:

‘Everyone is very excited about this project and it will be fantastic to see the new A1GP powered by Ferrari car turn a wheel for the first time on Friday. We obviously still have a lot of work to do as this is just the first step in what will be an intense development and testing programme, but I am very happy with the progress made so far. We have a small, dedicated group of people in Bognor Regis and are very lucky to be able to use some well known motor racing companies for certain areas of expertise. I am pleased to say we are on schedule and we will be announcing the date of the official unveiling of the car soon.’

Shanghai, China - A1 Team USA’s Jonathan Summerton made history today when he took his and the team’s first ever A1GP race win in this afternoon’s Feature race at China’s Shanghai International Circuit. Current title leader and pole-sitter Switzerland’s Neel Jani lost second gear early on in the race and fifth gear towards the end so, despite a heroic drive, couldn’t stay in touch with the American car and crossed the line fifth behind title rival New Zealand’s Jonny Reid in fourth.

This afternoon’s result keeps the thrilling 2007/08 championship alive and it will now be decided at the final round of the season at Brands Hatch, Great Britain on 4 May.

Florida’s Summerton, who turns 20 next week, was joined on the podium by Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque, who put in another incredible performance to finish second and take his third podium finish in only his sixth A1GP race outing. Ireland’s Adam Carroll, buoyed by his maiden A1GP victory in Mexico last time out, was also on great form, racing to third position and notching up his and the team’s third podium finish of the season.

USA’s Summerton, who was given an anti-inflammatory dressing by the A1GP Medical Delegate, Dr Paul Trafford, to reduce bruising and swelling in his right hand sustained during the start line incident with New Zealand in this morning’s Sprint race, snatched the advantage at the start as Switzerland’s Jani struggled to get off the grid.

Summerton had pulled out a one second lead from Jani by lap eight and after some smooth work in the pits and a good out lap, USA held position and continued to pull away from second-placed Switzerland as it became apparent that Jani was driving without second gear. When Summerton came in for his second compulsory pit stop on lap 24, at the same time as third-placed Portugal, the American had a nine second advantage over the Swiss team and again rejoined in the lead. Summerton was never threatened and continued to drive beautifully to cross the line in first place for USA, becoming the 16th nation to win an A1GP race and the 10th this season, taking his and the team’s first ever A1GP victory.

Portugal’s Albuquerque, who started from third, fell back one position at the start as India’s Narain Karthikeyan snuck through to take third. The 22-year old Portuguese rookie snatched it back on lap five however, with a perfectly timed clinical manoeuvre past the Indian car. Having leap-frogged the struggling Swiss car in the final round of pit stops, Albuquerque ran in second place for the final third of the race and went on to cross the line second.

Adam Carroll lost out to India at the start but rocketed past Karthikeyan on the start/finish straight to seize fourth place on lap seven, slotting in behind Portugal. After excellent work in the pits, Carroll gained a place and held third until the end of the race to score Ireland’s third podium finish this season and its fourth overall.

Jani, who fell back to second at the start and drove much of the race without second and fifth gear, lost three places to Portugal, Ireland and, crucially, New Zealand, in the second round of pit stops, rejoining the action in fifth place behind the Kiwis in fourth. The pair remained in these positions for the remainder of the race, crossing the line in fourth and fifth place respectively, and the Swiss team are now 29 points ahead of New Zealand in the championship with just one round remaining.

Malaysia’s Alex Yoong, who has been on good form all weekend, raced to sixth place ahead of India’s Narain Karthikeyan in seventh, who was running as high as third in the early stages of the race. France’s Franck Montagny and Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr, who are fighting for position in the championship, enjoyed several on-track battles during the 38-lap race and finally crossed the line in eighth and ninth places respectively.

Germany’s Michael Ammermüller took the final points-paying position while home nation China’s Congfu Cheng, who started 20th, made up five places to finish a commendable 15th in front of his home crowd.

Feature race winner Jonathan Summerton was delighted with his first A1GP victory and paid tribute to the hard work of his team:

‘This win is definitely going to build up team morale and we are going to carry that on to Brands Hatch. My hand only hurt when people started wanting to shake it after the race! We did our best to just go out there and go for the win. I knew basically Switzerland was going to be our biggest competition, so I had to go out there and go for the win and I just kept pushing once I got by. We had a bad start to the weekend, but we had to figure out the problem and work from there. The team did a great job working all last night and also hard today. In the pit stops they did a great job and I am glad I am here this weekend and racing to win for us.’

Second-placed Filipe Albuquerque, who achieved Portugal’s best race weekend result to date, was pleased with his performance but is aiming to do even better at the final round in Brands Hatch:

‘This is definitely very good as three podiums just from six races is a very good average. The starts were really bad, and this was not my best weekend for them as normally I do good starts, but I will work on that for Brands Hatch and that will make the difference. To win in this championship, which is so competitive, just a small mistake can cost a lot. That’s racing, it is experience and I hope to do better in Brands Hatch. When I got close to Neel I noticed he had a problem with second gear and I noticed that at the hairpin on the second last corner. He was pretty fast but I knew I would pass him with an early pit stop and then I pushed very hard on my out lap and after that I was just getting away from Ireland.’

Adam Carroll, who notched up Ireland’s third podium finish of the season, said:

‘It wasn’t too bad, but I got bumped into turn one and had nowhere really to go. I lost out to India and Mayalsia. I was able to fight off Malaysia and hold on to fifth place. Then Portugal and India were having a good battle and I was able to pass Narain as well as he kind of had a bad lap as he had just been overtaken so I knew it was my time to jump on him and make a move. After that I pushed as hard as I could but I really could not go any faster as the guys in front were just a bit quicker. It was hard today and the times were just extremely close.’

Today’s result keeps the title fight alive as Switzerland leaves China on 150 points ahead of New Zealand on 121, giving the Swiss team a 29 point lead with only 32 points up for grabs at the final round in two weeks time. France now has 111 points and Great Britain lies fourth with 99 as it heads home for the season finale at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit in Kent on 2-4 May 2008.

Feature race results

A1 Team South Africa secured its second A1GP race win of the season in this afternoon’s action-packed Feature race at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway, closing the gap to third-placed Switzerland in the championship standings. The weekend brought the championship battle even closer together with leaders New Zealand and France both heading to the next race in Durban, South Africa on 96 points.

Adrian Zaugg drove a sensational race in treacherous conditions as the heavy rain continued to pour down, to cross the line almost 20 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Neel Jani in second. The result is a huge boost for the South African team as it gears up for its home event in three weeks time.

Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr, who briefly fell back a place after making a good start from third on the grid alongside China in fourth, took the third and final podium position after a strong race in difficult conditions.

The on-track action began before the lights went out to signal the start of the 42-lap race with pole-sitter New Zealand’s Jonny Reid grinding to a halt just after leaving the pits to form up on the grid. The marshals were not able to push start the stalled car uphill and as a result Black Beauty started from pit lane. Moments later Sprint race winner Loic Duval stalled the French car on the formation lap and was forced to start the race from the back of the grid, potentially putting both title rivals out of contention.

Brazil’s Sergio Jimenez was on brilliant form this afternoon, racing from ninth on the grid to a solid fourth place, the nation’s second best result of the season. The Brazilian team, who now lie ninth in the championship standings, was joined at Eastern Creek by 2002 FIFA World Cup winning Brazilian midfielder Juninho, who is currently playing for Sydney FC.

Having started from the back of the grid due to a clutch problem that caused him to stall, France’s Loic Duval made steady progress and by lap 16 he had caught USA’s Jonathan Summerton and Canada’s Robert Wickens and the trio commenced a three-way fight for sixth place. In an ambitious move four laps later, Duval snuck down the inside of the American car, forcing Summerton to run off the track and ultimately ending his race.

The French team, still hampered by its clutch problem, received a drive through penalty for causing the avoidable collision and Duval’s race was finally over when he failed to get the car going after his second compulsory pit stop on lap 31.

Home nation Australia’s John Martin wowed the crowds as his impressive form continued, carving his way through the field from 14th to bring Jackaroo home in a superb fifth place, the nation’s best ever result on home soil.

Germany’s Michael Ammermüller just managed to fend off the Netherlands’s Jeroen Bleekemolen across the line, the pair taking seventh and eighth place respectively. New Zealand’s Jonny Reid, who started from pit lane and China’s Congfu Cheng, who was hit with a drive through penalty for making a false start, took the final two point-scoring positions.

Just outside the points was India’s Narain Karthikeyan who crossed the line in 11th position, closely followed by Pakistan’s Adam Khan in 12th, who drove a solid race to secure the team’s best result of the season.

Feature race winner South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg praised his team’s good tactical call in difficult conditions before the first round of pit stops:

‘I have to thank Humphrey my engineer and the whole team for that call. I could see I was able to go at a better pace than at least Robbie and Neel, so I thought we had a good chance. We stayed out and put in some good laps and then pitted and got out ahead. It was very very hard in these conditions. Each time I was trying to get a move or to pass someone but when you come so close the visibility gets so bad you can’t see anything. It was just safer to wait until we got a chance for some clear laps and that’s all we did. The track conditions stayed pretty consistent but there was maybe a little less rain right at the end.’

Commenting on winning the Sydney Feature race ahead of his nation’s home event in three weeks time, Zaugg said:

‘The win gives you lots of confidence but each time it’s a new race and a new day and I always give it my best, but definitely we have a great motivation coming to Durban.’

Second-placed Switzerland’s Neel Jani, who benefited from his title rivals New Zealand and France starting from the back of the grid, said:

‘I had a bad take off but the second part of my start was good. As the cars were rolling down I had to have my foot on the brake as I didn’t want to have the same mistake I had at the last race when I was penalised for making a false start. It was still enough to be P1 into the first lap and I could just keep that position with more or less the same pace as the guys behind me. Then we came in on the first lap possible for the first pit stop. South Africa stayed out which was the better call but I think their pace certainly was pretty quick and it would have been hard to keep them behind us.’

GBR’s Robbie Kerr, who endured a difficult weekend last time out in New Zealand, raced to a solid third place and was pleased to notch up some more championship points for the team:

‘After the disappointment of Taupo where we didn’t score any points, GBR had to get a good result and the podium is a nice way to do it. Unfortunately it wasn’t two places higher, I’m sure I would have a bigger smile on my face if it was! The initial take off was good, but unfortunately as I ran over the start finish line where New Zealand would have been, the rear wheels just span up a little bit and we just lost traction from that point on. I just had to slow the car to regain traction and then try to accelerate again and by that point Brazil and South Africa had gone past. We had to get a good result here and it wasn’t worth taking a big risk.’

New Zealand and France both leave Sydney with 96 championship points, but the Kiwis hold the title lead due to number of race wins. Switzerland lies just three points behind in third place ahead of South Africa in fourth on 76 points, as the series heads to Durban, South Africa for round seven on 22-24 February 2008.

Feature race results

2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

Fastest lap: A1 Team South Africa set the fastest lap in the Feature race, lapping the Eastern Creek circuit in 1m.39.034s with a speed of 142.9 kph on lap 33 of the 42 lap race.

Next race: A1GP Durban, South Africa, 22-24 February 2008

A1 Team France has taken the title lead in the thrilling 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season, having dominated this morning’s wet Sprint race at Sydney’s Eastern Creek from start to finish to take its first win in 37 races.

Loic Duval pulled out a comfortable lead at the start of the 14-lap race and was never threatened by the remaining 21-car pack, continuing to pull away from Switzerland and New Zealand as the rain got heavier. Duval finally crossed the line in first place, nine seconds ahead of Jonny Reid in Black Beauty, who masterfully snatched second position from Neel Jani on lap nine. The Swiss driver spun off later in the race and lost valuable championship points.

The win is 25-year-old Frenchman Duval’s first victory in A1GP and ends season one champion France’s race win drought. The team has not occupied the top step of the podium since Alexandre Premat won the Mexico Feature race in 2006.

France and New Zealand were joined on the podium by 18-year-old Canadian rookie Robert Wickens, who put in an incredible performance in the wet to race from 15th on the grid to a finish in a superb third place and pick up ten valuable championship points for his nation.

Germany’s Michael Ammermüller crossed the line fourth having started from seventh on the grid, closely followed by USA’s Jonathan Summerton in fifth, the team’s best finish so far this season.

Host nation A1 Team Australia’s John Martin gave his home fans something to cheer about, pushing hard throughout the race and improving three places from the start to cross the line in sixth position, ahead of South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg and Brazil’s Sergio Jimenez in seventh and eighth places respectively.

The Netherlands’ Jeroen Bleekemolen finished the incident-packed race ninth while Switzerland’s Neel Jani, who was running in second for much of the race, fell back to tenth after he ran wide with two laps to go.

Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr, whose race engineer had struggled from his hospital bed to stand on the pit wall with his broken leg in a plaster cast, got a great start from eighth on the grid but lost time when the team decided to pit for wet tyres on lap eight, ultimately crossing the line a disappointing 16th.

The 22 nations are now preparing for the main event of the weekend at Eastern Creek, a thrilling 70-minute Feature race with two compulsory pit stops, which starts at 15:00 this afternoon.

France’s Loic Duval, who took his first ever A1GP win in what he says will be his last event for the team this year, reflected on what the result means to him and the team:

‘It feels great. We’ve been running behind for a long time so it’s really good for us to win this race and the team did a great job. It was perfect and we needed it. It was important for us to win a race and this may be my last race in A1GP so I’m really happy to leave the series with a victory. It was really hard in the rain but because of our pace in the dry conditions I had a really good gap so we were not really worried about the other guys. We were just trying to stay on the track and not take any risks.’

New Zealand’s Jonny Reid, who raced to a solid second place from fourth on the grid, and is starting this afternoon’s Feature race from pole, said:

‘We had to fight for it a little bit. It was a good battle with Neel and once I got in front I gradually pulled away and started concentrating on Loic, but he was doing a good job in tricky conditions and I didn’t want to take any risks and compromise the championship. Pole for the Feature race is a good position to start from but as we’ve seen before a million times it’s tricky. We’ve got a lot of competition out there and everyone’s in the hunt. We can really do a good job but it’s going to be interesting to see what the weather does.’

Eighteen-year-old Canada’s Robert Wickens, who put in an amazing performance to race from 15th to third, commented on the wet conditions:

‘It was a great drive. We were struggling a little bit with the pace in the dry and we were just running in 13th or 14th. I think I had more trust in the car early on in the race and I actually made the majority of my passes when it was at the intermediate stage. A lot of drivers were staying on the dry line and I was one of the first ones to go on the wet line. If it rains in the Feature race we can just hope for the best and try to score some more points.’

Fairuz during Friday practice

Sprint race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team France’s Loic Duval set the fastest lap (1m19.350s) of the Sprint race on lap two.