A1 Team India announces the Team & Livery for Season 4 of A1GP, World Cup of Motorsport.

September 17h 2008, New Delhi: A1 Team India, representing India in A1GP, World Cup of Motorsport, today unveiled its new team and livery for the fourth season of the most awaited motor racing championship of the world.

The fourth season of A1GP flags off on 4-5th of October 2008 at Zandvoort Circuit in The Netherlands. The team, once again lead by “The Fastest Indian in The World”, two-time A1GP race winner Narain Karthikeyan, will add to its arsenal with Armaan Ebrahim making his return to the team, although this time as a rookie driver, alongside Parthiv Sureshwaren in the upcoming races scheduled for the 2008-2009 season. This will be the strongest ever Indian racing team in an international championship.

Narain Karthikeyan, Lead Driver, A1 Team India added, “This year holds a lot of expectations from India and I am looking forward to a more consistent performance for Team India. We hope that the new seasons challenges will give us an opportunity to prove our capabilities to the motor racing world.”

Andaleeb Sehgal, Chief Executive Officer, A1 Team India said, “Today is a momentous day for all of us here. We had a phenomenal third season with two wins at Zhuhai and Brands Hatch, and are all geared up to make this forthcoming season even better. We have a lot of expectations from the new structure of the team and hopefully India will emerge as one of the best performing countries participating in the races.”

The new season will take the series on a brand new level being officially powered by Ferrari. All 25 cars on the grid including A1 Team India will have Ferrari chassis and engines. The brand new car for team India for this season and drivers will now don a new look. The new livery launched today is based on the theme of the traditional sporting colors of India using an interesting combination of classic Indian blue and Cyan.

David Clare, CEO A1GP Asia Pacific, who was also present at the occasion said, “India is a priority market for A1GP. It gives me immense pleasure to see that motor racing is gaining popularity fast among Indian audiences. It’s a brand new season for A1GP which we all are looking forward to, especially with our new partners - Ferrari, Michelin, Magnetti Marelli & TW Steel. We are keen to add many more interesting venues to our calendar and hopefully India will soon be one amongst them.”

Since A1GP’s country versus country format has such a wide reaching appeal among Indian sports enthusiasts, both ESPN Star Sports & Ten Sports in India will telecast all the races of the season live as well as repeated. The event also announced a new promotional video on A1 Team India produced by ESPN Star Sports, which will be aired across their sports network over the next few months.

Champions League round-up - Weds 05 Nov 2008

A review of Barclays Premier League clubs playing in the Champions League on Wednesday.

A Ryan Giggs header six minutes from time gave Manchester United a point against Celtic in their Champions League Group E meeting at Parkhead.

In the 13th minute of a pulsating encounter Hoops striker Scott McDonald lobbed United's stand-in goalkeeper Ben Foster from 14 yards out to give the home side a half-time lead.

The Scottish champions withstood a second half of relentless pressure until six minutes to go when Giggs headed the equaliser in from close range after Artur Boruc had parried a Cristiano Ronaldo drive from distance. Meanwhile, Arsenal were frustrated with a goalless draw at home to Fenerbahce.

Despite creating the best chances at the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners failed to find the back of the net and honours were shared in the Group G tie.

Robin van Persie came closest for the hosts when he struck the crossbar before the break.

EPL: Fabregas issues rallying call for United clash

Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has challenged his team-mates to turn around their recent slump and beat Manchester United at the weekend. The Gunners were held to a goalless draw against Fenerbahce in the Champions League on Wednesday, making it three games without a victory.

"We have to keep going," Fabregas said. "The next match, against Manchester United, is massive. This is welcomed because it's a big game and big players want to play in big games.

"We don't want excuses because we are playing for Arsenal and a lot of players would like to be in our position. We have to make sure we give everything on the pitch always."

Boss Arsene Wenger repeated his recent criticism of Stoke's strongarm tactics by again accussing referees and opponents of victimising his side following the stalemate with Fenerbahce. Mikael Silvestre is a fresh injury concern after his nose was injured in a challenge involving Semih Senturk.

Wenger said: "Was it intentional? I don't know. He rotated his arm. You must ask the player."

Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia missed the Group G clash with an upset stomach, while Bacary Sagna, Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Adebayor were also sidelined.

Wenger is getting increasingly frustrated as he feels different rules apply to his team.

He said: "You can look at the fair play table. Who is top? Arsenal Football Club. We have no lessons to learn from anyone on that front. Look at the team that makes less fouls - it is Arsenal Football Club.

"Who gets the more yellow cards after four or five fouls? Arsenal Football Club. Some teams get their first yellow card after 15 fouls. I cannot read the (rule) book or something is wrong.

"I'm responsible for the behaviour of Arsenal and we are top. I do not make that table. Instead of having a go at us, people should look somewhere else."

Wenger feels the rigours of the Premier League accounts for the poor results among English teams in Europe this week.

"None of them had lost until this week and none of them have won this week - this is explained by giving their all in the Premier League and have less resources to do well," he said.

"The Premier League is demanding physically. If you have a Champions League game the week after it is very difficult."

A1GP R2 Preview: Chengdu, China

The 2008-09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport heads to China this weekend, Friday 7th – Sunday 9th November, and the Chengdu International Circuit.

TW Steel, the ‘Official Watch and Timing Partner’ of A1GP, will again utilise the occasion to host the next leg of the ‘Miss TW Steel’ competition – a global search hosted at each A1GP race meeting leading up to the grand finale at Brands Hatch, England in May 2009 where a $25,000 prize awaits ‘Miss TW Steel 2008-09’ along with a professional photo-shoot for FHM Magazine.

The First Time:

A1GP returns to China for the fifth time in its short history with the Chengdu International Circuit, located 16km southwest from Chengdu City, hosting an A1GP meeting for the first time this weekend.

The 3.367km, 13-turn circuit will provide a new challenge for A1GP’s competing nations following previous Chinese race meetings held at Shanghai International Circuit (2005-06 / 2006-07 / 2007-08), Jingkai Street Circuit in Beijing (2006-07) and the Zhuhai International Circuit (2007-08).
Remarkably there has yet to be a repeat A1GP winner in China with 10 different nations boasting a Chinese race victory. In those 10 events, including Sprint and Feature races, there have been no fewer than 17 nations to score a podium finish. A1 Team Great Britain holds the most podium finishes with a total of four – including a Sprint Race victory for Robbie Kerr at Shanghai in the 2006-07 season.

Perennial front-runners, A1 Team Germany and A1 Team New Zealand share three Chinese podiums apiece, Germany celebrating a Sprint Race victory last year in Zhuhai courtesy of Michael Ammermüller while New Zealand has similarly graced the top step thanks to a Feature Race win by Jonny Reid at Shanghai in the 2006-07 season.

The list of Chinese A1GP race winners also includes Malaysia (Alex Yoong), Czech Republic (Tomas Enge), Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen), Italy (Enrico Toccacelo), India (Narain Karthikeyan), Switzerland (Neel Jani) and USA (Jonathan Summerton).

The host nation, A1 Team China, currently has just one podium appearance to its credit on home soil, a third place Sprint Race finish scored last season at Zhuhai by Cheng Cong Fu – a result that proved extremely popular with the Chinese race fans!

The full list of Chinese A1GP podium finishers, and their respective top-three tallies from the 10 races held to-date, are as follows: Great Britain (4), Germany (3), New Zealand (3), Australia (2), Italy (2), Malaysia (2), Mexico (2), Portugal (2), Switzerland (2), Canada (1), China (1), Czech Republic (1), India (1), Ireland (1), Netherlands (1), South Africa (1), USA (1).

Chengdu Driving Impressions:

While the Chengdu International Circuit is an unknown quantity to all 20 competing A1GP nations this weekend, with a series lap record to be set by the new ‘Powered by Ferrari’ A1GP car, the track is familiar to a few drivers associated with the series.

A1 Team New Zealand, currently third overall in the 2008-09 A1GP Nations Standings, will have no doubt tapped into the mind of Earl Bamber who sensationally steered the team to a pair of podium finishes at the opening round of the new A1GP season in Zandvoort, The Netherlands last month. While Bamber will be absent from Round 2 this weekend, the team opting to give another rookie a shot, in the form of Chris van der Drift, Earl has previous track knowledge of Chengdu having competed at the circuit in the Asian Formula Renault V6 Championship.

“Chengdu’s not the longest track A1GP will visit but it’s pretty technical,” previewed Bamber. “It’s quite a tight, twisty circuit. Out on the back of the track, the elevation change isn’t too dramatic but it’s tricky as you go over a blind brow before turning into a corner and you don’t actually see the apex of the turn so you’ve got to be confident in what you’re doing.

“I really enjoyed racing there and I think it’ll provide a suitable challenge for the A1GP teams this weekend due to its technical nature and the limited amount of time they have on-track before heading into qualifying. I’ve no doubt Chengdu will produce some good racing, overtaking might be a bit tricky but there are definite areas where if you get everything lined up carefully you can make a move. It’s by no means going to be easy for the drivers to get both the most out of the car and the track at Chengdu. The drivers might make the difference more so than car set-up this weekend!”

The 18-year-old ‘Kiwi’ had the honour of starting the new A1GP season for A1 Team New Zealand and he was suitably impressed with the power and performance from the brand-new A1GP car introduced for the 2008-09 season – the fourth year of the nation versus nation championship.

“The ‘Powered by Ferrari’ A1GP car was absolutely incredible,” said Bamber. “It feels like a proper race car with a bunch of horsepower and downforce. It really is quite special to drive and I thoroughly enjoyed racing it last month. I’m obviously hoping I can get back behind the wheel of ‘Black Beauty’ and score more podiums and hopefully wins for A1 Team New Zealand later in the season. I earned two TW Steel A1GP watches for my podium double at Zandvoort so I’m keen to score a few more podiums so I can get the whole team kitted out!”

F1 Now a Force in India

India has finally arrived on the F1 stage. Narain Karthikeyan made his debut in 2005 with Jordan and became a test driver for Williams in 2006. Finally, in October of 2007, Mr. Vijay Mallya took over the Spyker team and named it "Force India."

Moreover, India has further plans to set up an F1 circuit by 2011, which will continue to boost the interest of the Indian public in F1.

Formula One has a viewership that exceeds most other sports in the world, next to only the Football World Cup and the Olympics. Popularizing Formula One in India will boost the interest, thereby generating more revenue for the sport.

The performances of Force India drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil have been dismal during 2008. Now, the final battle is between Hamilton and Massa. Whoever will hold their nerves the best will be this year's champion.

It is also the last race for Force India Drivers Fisichella and Sutil to salvage some pride and try to score a point.

Meanwhile, Narain Karthikeyan, the star of the Indian F1 dream, will be hoping to get a driver's seat next season.

Also, with the popularizing of F1 sports, some more talent is coming up, the most promising being Karan Chandok and Arman Ibrahim. We hope that they are ready for F1 by the time the circuit comes up in India.

Having a home driver would ensure home advantage and spectators' support along with popularizing the sport in the country. We hope that homegrown drivers Karun and Arman will race in 2011, assuming they are consistent enough to earn spots.

So, if and when India becomes a part of the F1 circuit in 2011 as scheduled, it would attract a lot of spectators and attention across the country. The audiences could see Indian drivers racing in front of them along with world class drivers. Formula One is becoming a true force in India.