2006–07 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Beijing, China

Report

Practice

The first day of practice was canceled because of safety concerns, as the hairpin at the end of the backstraight was too tight for the cars to negotiate safely due to a 180 degree left turn – resulting in cars were running wide and stopping mid-corner. A revised track layout was devised for an extended Saturday practice session, creating a wider hairpin halfway up the straight, bypassing most of the old straight.

Qualifying

More problems arose in qualifying, when manhole covers on the roads were coming undone due to the racing cars' high downforce and low center of gravity. Grid positions were decided based on practice times, resulting in A1 Team Netherlands driver Jeroen Bleekemolen taking pole position for the Sprint race. Some advertising banners also came loose around the circuit.

Races

Both races started behind the safety car as the first corner was deemed unsafe.

More than half the race was held under the safety car, as South Africa's Adrian Zaugg spun and stalled his car and blocked half of the track. Bleekemolen won the race for the Netherlands, with Salvador Durán of Mexico and A1 Team Italy's Enrico Toccacelo in second and third.

Toccacelo won the feature race, with Britain's Oliver Jarvis second and Australia's Karl Reindler a surprise third after James Hinchcliffe crashed out on the final lap. The feature race was shortened from 67 laps to 63 due to time constraints.

Results

Qualification

Qualification was cancelled due to track problems. Accordingly, the grid was set from the times set in the 25 minutes of the morning practice session (Practice 3) before it was red-flagged, under article 144 of the Sporting Regulations.

Sprint Race results

The Sprint Race took place on Sunday, November 12, 2006.

Feature Race results

The Feature Race took place on Sunday, November 12, 2006. The race was initially scheduled for 67 laps, but was shortened by five laps.

Similar problems in China

Similar problems have occurred before in China. The 2004 DTM race around the streets of Pudong in Shanghai was hampered by crashes due to manhole covers becoming undone; the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix on the Shanghai International Circuit was interrupted when the safety car had to be deployed when a water runoff drain became open. The same problem also occurred in the Australian V8 Supercars race on the same circuit a few months before.

References

References

1. (10 November 2006). "Beijing circuit shortened".
2. "11/12/2006 race: Beijing Feature (A1GP)". NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.