Brits on Pole

Britain and Ireland each grabbed a pair of podiums as A1GP visited China - but it was the Irish who came off better, Adam Carroll winning the sprint race while Danny Watts saw victory in the feature race slip away in the pitstops.

We have quite a few readers from across the Pond who started following this site during the Indycar season - since then, one of the blue chip teams of the IRL, Andretti Green, has taken over the USA’s A1GP entry and plans to alternate two of American open wheel racing’s biggest names, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick, as its two drivers.

The British and Irish teams staked out the front row for A1GP’s two races in China tomorrow, Ireland’s Adam Carroll taking pole in the sprint race, then Team GBR’s Danny Watts qualifying top for the feature race with Carroll beside him.

Finally, after the months of delays and disappointments, the Union Flag is again lapping with the rest of the A1GP field as Team GBR takes to the track in Chengdu, China.

Can A1GP’s Team Great Britain make up for its poor start to the season, caused by the lack of a working car until the eve of the second race, and get itself into the title hunt?

Team Pakistan’s Adam Khan has announced that he will not take part in the series’ remaining 2008 events because his car’s chassis must be modified before he can race it properly.

It seems a reasonably fair bet that Team GBR will have a running car by the A1GP season finale at Brands Hatch in May 2009. Fans can get their hands on tickets for the event from this weekend.

A1GP’s Team GBR has called in an experienced pair of hands for its first race in Chengdu, China from November 7 - and, with no opportunity to test the car before flying there, that’s about the only good news.

After all the delays, cancellations and no-shows the World Cup of Motorsport finally hit the track today - and served up two thrilling races run in dreadful conditions at Zandvoort.

A1GP took the first step towards putting its troubles behind it by serving up a close and exciting qualifying session for the first race in its delayed season.