A1GP SEASON FINALE // BRANDS HATCH QUALIFYING

In an extremely tense afternoon of qualifying for tomorrow's A1GP finale, the day turned into a head to head battle between Team Ireland's Adam Carroll and Neel Jani of the Swiss squad. As the final seconds of qualifying ticked down, one put in a storming lap to take a double pole while the other sat unceremoniously in the gravel trap of  Druids hairpin... [read more]

This afternoons Qualifying saw the circuit once more swathed in sunshine with just a pleasant light breeze. Pressure on all three of the title contenders was ramped up yet another level as the battle for both the sprint and feature grid spots was the focus of the day.
 
Before the afternoon action, the final free practice session was once more dominated by Jeroen Bleekemolen for the Dutch (below), while most teams were completing fairly longish runs and finalising race set ups for Sunday. Behind Bleekemolen was the Indonesian entry with Satrio Hermanto posting competitive times.

Again mightily impressive in third was John R Hildebrand (below) who once more was relishing the undulations of the GP circuit, setting a string of quick times which he hoped he could replicate in the all important single lap qualifying runs later in the day.

The first two afternoon qualifying segments were to determine the grid for the sprint race and as the clock started there was the usual reluctance to be the first car out, so much so that the circuit was empty until four minutes to go. Traffic was now going to be an issue even though there is plenty of room on the GP circuit for the field to spread out. First to register a competitive time was Team Netherlands with Bleekemolen impressive as ever. Adam Carroll was next up from Team GB's Dan Clarke ahead of the Australian car of John Martin.
 
The second segment of sprint qualifying which followed on after a five minute break saw some teams elect to use their 'Power Boost' which in qualifying is allowed only once but in any session.  With the extra horsepower it was Team Mexico's Salvador Duran (below) who was the first man into the 1 minute 11 second bracket. However the third title hopeful, Felipe Albuquerque of Team Portugal with the aid of the boost button, could only manage fifth place. The top spot was taken sensationally by Adam Carroll, who without the power boost, threw down a marker with a stunning 1:11.6 lap. Bleekemolen was third from Hidebrand who now will start the sprint tomorrow from the second row, Team USA's best starting spot of the season.  Jani in the swiss car ended a disappointing eighth and will need to have his wits about him on Sunday morning as he runs down through Paddock and into the inevitable first lap bottleneck at the hairpin, or his second title could easily be gone in a flash.


Sprint Race Grid Top Ten:
Pos / A1 Team / Time / Gap
1: Ireland 1'11.615  
2: Mexico 1'11.653  - 0.038
3: Netherlands 1'11.992  - 0.377
4: USA 1'11.994  - 0.379
5: Portugal 1'12.040  - 0.425
6: New Zealand 1'12.108  - 0.493
7: India 1'12.109   - 0.494
8: Switzerland 1'12.212  - 0.597
9: Indonesia 1'12.658  - 1.043
10: Australia 1'12.745  - 1.130
 
Feature race qualifying was next up, with the first ten minute segment which saw Switzerland decide to use powerboost. Jani's lap saw him down in the 1:11.00 bracket heading Carroll and Monaco's Clivio Piccione. Earl Bamber of New Zealand (below) began to up his pace and finished fourth ahead of the their ever present rival Team Australia with the likeable John Martin.

The final 10 minute feature race qualifying session was going to be a tense affair as most teams opted for the advantage of new tyres and with Switzerland having already used their powerboost, Jani was not in the strongest of positions. With only a few minutes left, Team Ireland and Carroll put in an absolutely storming lap, dipping below the 1 minute 11 barrier. Jani (below) was powerless to respond but wound himself up for a last ditch attempt only to end up beached in the gravel at Druids. But with the consolation of his first segment time, he at least had a second row berth.

Clivio Piccione wound up the feature sessions in second spot, a great performance with Clivio putting his previous experience of Brands to good effect.  Alongside Jani on the second row will be the ever consistent Bleekemolen which will delight the Team Netherlands travelling 'Army'. On the third row will be Nicolas Prost (below) son of the legendary Alain for Team France, the youngster having looked quick all weekend will be hoping to finish off the season in style.


Feature Race Grid Top Ten:
Pos / A1 Team / Time / Gap
1: Ireland 1'10.902  
2: Monaco1'11.085  - 0.183
3: Netherlands 1'11.146  - 0.244
4: Switzerland 1'11.338  - 0.436
5: France 1'11.543  - 0.641
6: New Zealand 1'11.633  - 0.731
7:Australia 1'11.930  - 1.028
8: China 1'12.180  - 1.278
9: Portugal 1'12.270  - 1.368
10: India 1'12.397  - 1.495
 
So after a qualifying performance from Adam Carroll that ranks up there with his best, can he avoid the kind of costly race misjudgments and bad luck that have cost him dear at Brands before? Certainly Neel Jani will hope not.
 
In addition to the on track action during the weekend, Brands Hatch, with the full support of A1GP, is supporting  the 'Help For Heroes' charity which was formed back in 2007 to assist members of the UK armed forces that have been injured in recent conflicts. Team GBR with Dan Clarke and helpers (top) will be doing their bit during raceday. For more information click here

Stay tuned to CTD for raceday action and more!


Photo/Editorial: Neil Tozer