Brno: Team USA Friday report

A1 Team USA opens practice at Brno

BRNO, Czech Republic--Phil Giebler used practice Friday to learn the Brno Automotodrom and prepare the A1 Team USA's Lola-Zytek for the second A1GP race of the season rather than trying for the ultimate lap time. Giebler was 13th out of 23 entrants, running a lap of 1:49.5 with an average speed of 110.35 mph.

Each team had one set of tires for the one hour session and the fastest laps were set when they were fresh. Giebler had never driven the 3.36-mile track before Friday and was in the early stage of his learning curve when the rubber was at its best.

"It was a very difficult track to learn," Giebler said. "All in all, we made good progress with the car. At the end, running with tires that were in the same condition, we were right there with the top guys. We weren't looking at total lap times. We were focusing on sector times and gathering data."

Giebler and A1 Team USA will have one hour of practice Saturday prior to qualifying.

"Tomorrow is a totally different game," Giebler said. "Those top times were done by rookie drivers who had raced on the track before and in this morning's rookie session and on fresh tires. We have no real worries."

Jonathan Summerton drove in the two 20-minute all-rookie sessions for A1 Team USA and had the fifth fastest overall time at 1:49.849, an average speed of 110.04 mph. He was fourth in the first session and fifth in the second. "I'm happy with the car and everything went well," Summerton said. "The team worked together very nicely. We were able to help with the setup information and I'm happy to contribute."

A1 Team USA owner Rick Weidinger believes the team, which finished second in the opener last weekend at Zandvoort, The Netherlands, is operating at a high level of efficiency. "We set objectives of learning the track and tuning the car," Weidinger said. "It was a very professional effort and result. We've established a platform to go faster in the final two days at Brno."

-credit: team usa