Brands Hatch: Team Germany Friday report

A1 Team Germany gears up for Brands Hatch

Willi Weber's A1 Team Germany started the final weekend of the 2006/2007 season at Brands Hatch as newly crowned champions in the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport. Nominated driver Nico Hulkenberg used Friday's free practice session to adapt both himself and his 520 hp A1 GP car to the circuit he had previously never seen.

While 19 nations took the opportunity to field newcomers in their cockpits and to be able to participate in the so-called "Rookie Session", the A1 Team Germany squad had to stay in the pits with its experienced regular driver Nico Hulkenberg. He was only allowed to make his first exploratory laps in the subsequent free practice session which was open to all competitors.

The 19-year old German from Emmerich circulated the 3.703 kilometre long Grand Prix version of the track, located south-east of London, thirty times. In the process he posted his best time of 1m15.943s on his penultimate flying lap. A1 Team Germany claimed fifth position in the field of 22 participating nations.

"The learning curve on this picturesque and very demanding circuit is clearly visible," stated Hulkenberg. "I drove my fastest lap just before the end of the session even though I didn't use new tyres and the used rubber was long past its best. The more laps I did the more I became accustomed to the track and its many blind corners, crests and bumps. The car was excellent from the word go. I feel much more at home in the cockpit than I did last time in Shanghai. We only changed the camber and adjusted the wing settings slightly."

A second free-practice session and qualifying from 4:45 p.m. (CET) are on Saturday's agenda. The drivers fight for grid positions for the first of two races on Sunday in the four single-lap qualifying sessions.

-credit: team germany