indwe magazine – August 2005

A1 Grand Prix
Tokyo's Motortainment
Text: Guillaume Celliers
Images: © Getty Images/Touchline Photo
South African motorsport has entered a new chapter with the official launch of the A1 Grand Prix South African team in Johannesburg. The series founder and president, his highness Sheikh Maktoum, presented the car to the South African franchise holder, former freedom fighter and businessman extraordinaire, Tokyo Sexwale, who announced that the car would carry two numbers – 46664, which was Nelson Mandela’s prison number, and 2010, the year South Africa will host the World Cup.
Tokyo Sexwale was buoyant in his opening address, commenting: “A1 Grand Prix is effectively the World Cup of Motorsport. It will create a new patriotic edge to the sport, and add a new dimension to one of the most popular sports in the world. We are proud and pleased that there will be a South African entrant in this exciting global event. We fully subscribe to the need to spread motor racing away from its traditional European and North American roots and into the developing world. Welcome to the world of Motortainment.”
Also present was at the launch and first track test of the A1 Grand Prix car, was former president, Nelson Mandela, who spoke about his joy of seeing a South African entry into the World Cup of Motorsport, and fully endorses and supports the concept of a South African driver and team being able to compete on a level playing field against other nations.
Nelson Mandela’s joy was shared by over 25,000 South African motorsport fans, who were able to see the car in action at the Kyalami racetrack, driven by South African, Alan van der Merwe. After completing the demonstration laps round the 4.2 kilometre circuit, a delighted Alan said: “It was incredible to drive this car in my own country and see the support from the fans. I am very impressed with what the car is capable of, especially in terms of power and downforce, and this is despite not being set up specifically for Kyalami. For me the chance to drive the car in the series would be amazing.”
The A1 Grand Prix series will be run as the annual World Cup of Motorsport with up to 30 franchises, limited to one per country, competing for top honours. Each national team will be represented by a driver native to that country, thereby creating strong local support and presence for the team. Races will take place during the European winter in countries enjoying summer weather such as Dubai, Bahrain, South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brazil.
All the A1 Grand Prix cars are identical single-seater racing cars built by Lola and powered by a 520bhp A1 GP V8 engine. The idea is to provide a level playing field with no driver aids allowed, and the only way to enhance performance would be for the team to change gear ratios and tyre pressures, and to make slight adjustments to the aerodynamics of the car.
Each three-day Grand Prix weekend will have the same format. Day one, a Friday, will be free practice, with more free practice and qualifying on the Saturday. The Sunday will start with a 15 to 20 minute sprint race to determine final grid positions, followed by the main event, a one-hour long Grand Prix.
Drivers and teams will be awarded with both points and prize money, with the winner gaining 10 points, second place 9 points, and so on down to tenth place for 1 point.
Testing of the first A1 Grand Prix prototype cars already started in July 2004, with specialists in their fields brought on board to develop the A1 Grand Prix car, and strengthen the team. Former F1 driver Ralph Firman became the series’ test driver, while the man who oversaw Bentley’s historic 2003 Le Mans 24 Hour Race win, John Wickham, was given the task of running the test programme and is now working full time for A1 Grand Prix as Operations Manager. After extensive testing, Ralph Firman, has given a firm thumbs-up for the A1 Grand Prix car, commenting: “The A1 car is going to be a very quick car and will surprise a lot of people who drive it. Due to its speed and exceptional cornering grip, it will be very physically demanding to drive – far more than you might imagine. It will be a real challenge for the drivers.”
The A1 Grand Prix car has already broken the official lap record for the Dubai Autodrome by five seconds, and in testing at Jerez de la Fonteira in Spain, the car lapped considerably faster than the F3000 cars. To put this into perspective, an F3000 car is faster than a Minardi F1 car, but slower than a Ferrari F1 car.
A1 Grand Prix is likely to offer the most spectacular form of ultra-fast racing in the world, a belief that is strongly endorsed by an exclusive deal with Sky Sports for live coverage in the UK of not only the Races, but also the practice and qualifying sessions.
The inaugural round of the 2005 A1 Grand Prix series will be held at Brands Hatch in the UK on 25 September, with the rest of the calendar, including the South African Grand Prix still to be finalized.
Mr Tokyo Sexwale the South African franchise partner, with the management of A1 Grand Prix, standing behind the South African liveried Lola A1 Grand Prix car.
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