A1 TEAM GREAT BRITAIN CONDUCTS DRIVER SHOOT OUT
HORNBY SPONSORS BRANDS HATCH ACTIVITY
London, 20th May. A1 Team Great Britain Team Principal, John Surtees,
has confirmed the four drivers who will take part in a shoot out at
Brands Hatch for the chance to represent Great Britain in the inaugural
A1 Grand Prix Series, the World Cup of Motorsport. They will be Ralph
Firman, Robbie Kerr, Alex Lloyd and James Rossiter.
The Arden International Motorsport team, owned by Christian Horner,
and based in Banbury, Oxon, will run the team in the series. For these
important track tests, which will be sponsored by Hornby Plc, the
team will use one of its Formula 3000 cars, which won the 2004 F3000
Championship, with Ralph Firman and Robbie Kerr driving on Monday, 23rd
May and Alex Lloyd and James Rossiter on Tuesday, 24th May.
At the conclusion of the two days John Surtees and Christian Horner will
have the difficult task of picking which of these four talented drivers
will represent their country against nations from the four corners of
the world.
They will not announce their decision immediately, but at a press
conference at Brands Hatch at the end of day two will be happy to
discuss with the media the criteria they will use to pick their driver.
A1 Team Great Britain is offering a British driver a unique opportunity,
as John Surtees explained: "Brands Hatch is where I had my first ever
motorcycle race on tarmac on the newly surfaced circuit. It will also
be the scene for the inaugural race of the A1 GP Series. The drivers we
have chosen have all shown their abilities from karting through to F3
and F3000. It presents a wonderful opportunity for them to join a team
dedicated to winning Sheikh Maktoum's 'World Cup of Motorsport', the A1
Grand Prix Series, and in representing Great Britain.
"Unlike other major motorsport series that these drivers would be
qualified to drive in, A1 Team GBR is not asking its drivers to bring
funding to the team. We are just asking for them to bring their ability
and give wholehearted support both on and off the track. In return they
will be given a contract with a retainer, full expenses and a generous
share of prize money."
John was also delighted to announce sponsorship of the event by Hornby,
a company well known by all racing enthusiasts as the world's leading
manufacturer of slot racing cars through its Scalextric brand. "When
the drivers are not testing there will an opportunity to compete on the
special circuit constructed by Scalextric, who have joined us for these
two test days in the support of young British drivers," he said.
Commenting on his company's sponsorship Chief Executive, Frank Martin,
said: "We have a keen interest in motorsport in general, as we have
licences to produce all the major Formula 1 teams' cars as well as
the worldwide exclusive rights for the MotoGP bikes. It is extremely
important to our business as Scalextric accounts for half of Hornby's
sales figure of forty million pounds. We are delighted to have this
opportunity to be more involved in a series which we are very keen to
see succeed. John Surtees has helped us tremendously and I would like
nothing more than to see us produce models of the cars that will be
running in the A1 Grand Prix series."
Explaining the importance of A1 Grand Prix, John said: "The British
motorsport industry is worth over £4 billion to this country. It largely
sprung from that first success inspired by Tony Vandervell. A1 is an
example of British engineering and technology being at the forefront,
with Sheikh Maktoum having placed his faith in the purchase of 50 Lola
A1 cars and an equivalent number of engines plus spares from Zytek.
Apart from the series promoting British products, the important message
is that there are opportunities for British business to get behind the
British team in what will become the World Cup of Motorsport.
"One only has to see the political involvement and the business persons
who have backed the teams that have been launched in South Africa,
Mexico, Australia, China, Pakistan and Lebanon, to realise that this
series revolves around big business and big opportunities. To those
that have talked about it being a rival or replacement to Formula One I
say, no. Formula One has its own special part to play in the world of
motorsport. A1 is different and if anything complements Formula One and
of course happens at a different time of year."
A1 Grand Prix Founder, President and Chairman, Sheikh Maktoum commented:
"I'm happy and delighted that the British team is gearing up to take on
the challenge of A1 Grand Prix. Both John Surtees and Christian Horner
have a history of successes in motorsport ."
Six months ago, in London, A1 Team Great Britain was the first A1 Grand
Prix team to hold its official launch. Since then John and his team,
together with the other members of the consortium backing the project,
have been working hard to put together a group that they feel will be
both successful and a credit to the UK. As the only man ever to have
won world championships on both two and four wheels, John knows what it
takes to win in motorsport. After a successful career on bikes, that saw
him clinch seven world championships, he not only raced cars, but also
built them.
Team Surtees produced Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 5000 cars that
were to race and win titles round the world. Arden International
Motorsport founded in 1997 by racing driver Christian Horner, has won
the Drivers' title twice and Teams' title three times in the FIA Formula
3000 Championship, and is running two cars in the new GP2 series.
The four drivers represent the best of British motorsport. Former Grand
Prix driver, Ralph Firman, was also the first A1 Grand Prix test driver.
In his racing career he has won the British Formula 3 Championship,
the Formula Nippon Championship and the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young
Driver of the Year Award. Another winner of this prestigious Autosport
award is Alex Lloyd who, at the age of 20, has already tested a Formula
One car and raced in the European Formula 3000 and Formula Renault
Championships. Robbie Kerr, who has also been on testing duty for A1
Grand Prix, won the British Formula 3 Championship in 2002, having
won the Scholarship class the year before. James Rossiter started his
single-seater career in Formula Renault in 2002 and has now progressed
to the European Formula 3 Championship, in which he currently lies third
having won one of the opening rounds at Hockenheim. James, who is 21,
has also tried Formula 1 power as he is a member of the BAR Honda Young
Driver Programme and tested for the team in Spain last year. Background
on A1 Grand Prix In March 2004, in his home land of
Dubai, the A1 Grand Prix Series Founder, President and Chairman, His
Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum launched the unique
concept of a World Cup of Motorsport where the two worlds of business
and motorsport would meet. The series will create a level playing field
for teams with identical cars that owe much to UK motorsport technology.
The chassis is produced by Huntingdon's Lola International and the
engine by Zytek Engineering, who are based in Repton, Derbyshire. The
cars will all run on the same tyres from the Cooper Tire & Rubber
Company, based in the USA, but whose racing operation is run by Avon
Tyres Racing out of the company's UK premises in Melksham, Wiltshire.
The first race of the A1 Grand Prix series will be at Brands Hatch on
the 25th September and this, along with all the rounds, will be shown
live in the UK on Sky Sports. The full calendar is yet to be released,
but A1 Grand Prix has already announced China and Australia will host
rounds of the series that is to be run over the northern hemisphere's
winter months -- motor racing's traditional off season. Sixteen nations
-- Great Britain, China, South Africa, Pakistan, Portugal, Lebanon,
Canada, Malaysia, Australia, Mexico, South Korea, Turkey, Netherlands,
India, Brazil and New Zealand -- have already signed up. Many more are
in the pipeline and each race will see the national pride of at least
eighty per cent of the world's population represented on the grid.
-a1tgb-
