A1GP

Shanghai: Team Germany race report

A1 Team Germany is World Cup winner Tremendous championship victory for Willi Weber and his A1 Team Germany: The German motorsport manager's team won the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport at the tenth and penultimate round in China. Two ...

Published: Apr 15, 2007, 7:10 PM

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A1 Team Germany is World Cup winner

Tremendous championship victory for Willi Weber and his A1 Team Germany: The German motorsport manager's team won the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport at the tenth and penultimate round in China. Two third-place finishes in Shanghai were sufficient to leave the team with an unassailable lead of 23 points before the finale in Great Britain. As a result, Germany is the second winner of the Nations World Cup title in the 2006/2007 season after France in the debut 2005/2006 season.

A1 Team Germany started the sprint race from fourth position on the grid. Nico Hülkenberg made a move on American Jonathan Summerton entering the sixth corner around the Shanghai GP circuit, but he calmly fended off the challenge. In Turn 13 the waiting was over: The German claimed third position. Hülkenberg regularly posted faster lap times than the leading duo but was unable to find a way past Briton Robbie Kerr and New Zealander Jonny Reid before the finish of the ten lap sprint race.

The 19-year old Rheinlander from Emmerich started the feature race from third position. The leading group held station up to lap nine before the first cars peeled off into pit road to start the first round of stops. A1 Team Germany opened the round of mandatory pit stops together with Italy, Ireland and South Africa. A small problem while changing the left-rear wheel cost the team several seconds. Hülkenberg rejoined the race in 17th position after the tyre change. After all the competitors had finally made their stops by lap 17, it was clear that the German team had lost a position - Jonathan Summerton was again third. However, Germany moved one place up the leader board when the American retired on lap 25. Nico Hülkenberg crossed the finish line in third place behind New Zealander Jonny Reid and the Briton Robbie Kerr. With its 23 point advantage and only 17 left to be awarded, A1 Team Germany travels to the finale in Brands Hatch, Great Britain as champions.

Nicolas Hülkenberg:
"I'm relieved that we have won the title. A big thank you to the entire David Sears team! We arrived in China with a 27 point lead, but it wasn't as easy as it looked. In the meantime, I have both the Formula 3 and A1 GP programmes swirling around in head, which doesn't make things easier. I was able to out-brake Jonathan Summerton in the sprint, even though he was running less wing and was quicker on the straight as a result. We did make some aero or mechanical changes to the car before the feature race, but the balance was not perfect. Also, the third Safety Car period fell just as things were going better for me. I lost a little momentum afterwards, so it was only good enough for third. I hope that we will be at the front again during the finale at Brands Hatch."

Willi Weber:
"Congratulations and a huge thank you to the team for winning the World Cup title! I"m absolutely delighted that we achieved our target for the season ahead of schedule. We can travel without pressure and completely relaxed to the finale at Brands Hatch, where tens of thousands of spectators are expected and who will hopefully see the title-winning team in top form again. It was the correct strategy today to drive tactically and secure the points for a brace of third places. It was clearly visible that the car's set-up here in China was not absolutely perfect. In the previous races Nico demonstrated that he can regularly fight for victory. He can achieve better results that the one we recorded today. I'll be at Brands Hatch in a fortnight and perhaps we can round off the season on a high."

Next race: 27 to 29 April 2007, Brands Hatch (Great Britain)

-credit: team germany

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