Offseason: A1GP?

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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on September 21, 2008 at 2:00am

A1GP is a bit of an experiment in motorsports. The formula for the equipment isn't too different; they're using a spec engine/chassis combo, Ferrari for both in their case, and running on a variety of purpose-built road courses. What is different about the series is how the teams are structured. Each team represents a home country so that competition and fan favoritism is played out based on nationalistic preferences rather than individual brand or driver preferences. Because of this similarity to soccer's World Cup, A1GP has taken to using the subtitle, "The World Cup of Motorsports." I must admit that the concept is compelling, but the series has struggled to make much headway worldwide.

This season may change some of that, though. Their new chassis is built by Ferrari and is based on the Ferrari F2005 Formula One chassis. Its a very sexy car, with a very sexy Ferrari engine. One smart thing that A1GP has done is to schedule their season during the off-season of most other major motorsports, excepting of course the Australian V8 Supercar series. This way, it won't conflict with the monstrous F1 machine, or lesser series such as ours, MotoGP, DTM, or NASCAR. Unfortunately, there's no one in the US that covers A1GP live, but you can stream the events live or procure the overseas broadcasts from the racing-underground.com. It really is an interesting series to watch, and a great way to get your open-wheel fix during the off-season.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Huntington on September 21, 2008 at 7:33am

X, do you know if AGR plans to alternate Marco & Danica in their car or are they running two cars so both of them will drive?

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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on September 21, 2008 at 9:51am

I'm not sure. There's been a lot of buzz around the net about AGR taking over the TeamUSA and using Marco and Danica as drivers, but there's little in the way of verification. I've heard that they'll be starting this year and abandoning their ALMS program, but I've also heard that they'll continue running in ALMS/LMP2 in 2009 and start A1GP in the 2009/2010 season.

What is known is that the start of the A1GP season is only two weeks away, and there's no mention of A1GP on the Andretti-Green Racing website, nor is there any mention of AGR on the A1 Team USA website.

In marginally related news, Robert Doornbos will be driving for A1 Team Netherlands. Its good to see him back in a car, and hopefully we'll see him as Viso's teammate at HVM next year.

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Permalink Reply by IndyCar Garage on September 21, 2008 at 9:37am

Thanks, great info! I've been jumping over to the A1GP site every once in a while to check it out. You hit the nail on the head though, great way to get an open-wheel fix during the offseason.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Huntington on September 21, 2008 at 11:37am

X, a question: if they run one car and alternate drivers, does the size difference between Danica and Marco necessitate changing driver pods completely or can they safely alter the pod to accommodate Danica, the smaller driver?

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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on September 21, 2008 at 12:02pm

I bet they can do what is done in sportscar racing and swap out a seat-insert. If you watch a driver change in ALMS, very often you'll see them swap out what looks like a seat pad. That insert is custom fitted for each driver so when they get into the car, they're in the right position.

What I'd like to see is Marco run the sprint race and Danica run the feature. I think that would play best to their relative strengths.

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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on September 21, 2008 at 2:55pm

I think its only one car per nation. I don't remember there being more than one car last year.

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Permalink Reply by joey kowailw on September 21, 2008 at 3:46pm

its one car a nation. the much derided graham rahal drove in it a couple of years ago but not for the usa. much like football thou once you choose your nation to drive for (if your qualified thats it) you can't swap in and out of those nations.

sexy car? its ugly as hell. that fin on the back is awful as well as the airbox opening. its based on the 2004 ferrari not the 05. i don't think ferrari ever want to get that pile of crap out. the f2005 compared to the f2004 car had just one win and that was because the rest of the field at indy were on michelins. the 2004 ferrari only lost like 3 races. schumacher just filled his boots up. i wouldn't bother with a1gp personally not with f1 being the way it is. the whole hamilton vs ferrari thing is great. sports car well i think there's some fly's multiply some to watch which surpass the excitement of alms/grand am.

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Permalink Reply by joey kowailw on September 21, 2008 at 3:57pm

darren manning drove in the a1gp too.

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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on September 21, 2008 at 7:29pm

Sorry you don't like the looks of the new A1GP chassis. I think it looks fantastic. As for not bothering with A1GP, F1 and ALMS will soon be over and A1GP will be the only thing left until the spring. That's the whole point to their running their season during the winter months. F1 right now is fantastic stuff and much better than anything that A1GP could put out, but Hamilton will soon have his WDC and the season will be over leaving us with naught but the A1GP to sate our appetite for open-wheel racing.

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Permalink Reply by joey kowailw on September 22, 2008 at 5:43pm

i thought when ferrari was announced they were gonna take over the chassis i thought well that should be a sexy car then i saw and i thought well i was wrong then. is WDC american for f1 chamionship? only in america is it called that. or thats the only place i've ever heard it called that any way. i wish we could get a1gp cause asia now has all the good stuff. plus every one is forgeting or not knowing gp2 asia which runs in asia and runs the old gp2 chassis.

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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on September 22, 2008 at 6:23pm

WDC is the term for 'world driving champion' that I've heard and seen used by people from around the world. (at least here and europe) As for GP2-Asia, no, I'm not familiar with that series.

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