South Africa and Canada on Pole in Mexico

Mexico - A1 Team South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg has qualified in pole position for this morning’s Sprint race at the A1GP Mexico City, Mexico, while the Feature race will be led off the grid by Durban Sprint race winner Canada’s Robert Wickens.

Sprint race qualifying
Twenty-one-year-old Adrian Zaugg set the fastest lap on new tyres during the second 15-minute qualifying segment to take pole position for the South African team for this morning’s Sprint race, claiming his fourth pole position of the season.

New Zealand’s Jonny Reid, who topped the time sheets in Q1, will line up alongside South Africa on the front row in second position. USA’s Jonathan Summerton was on fine form, leaping up the order in Q2 to qualify third. The 19-year-old American will be joined on the second row by current title leader Neel Jani, who qualified the Swiss car in fourth place.

GBR’s Oliver Jarvis and Canada’s Robert Wickens will start the Sprint race from fifth and sixth places, while Ireland’s Adam Carroll and Brazil’s Bruno Junqueira will line up behind them on the fourth row of the grid in seventh and eighth places respectively.

Mexico’s David Garza will start the Sprint race from a disappointing 21st position after a frustrating qualifying session. France’s Jonathan Cochet, currently lying second in the championship and in need of a decent points haul this weekend, will start the Sprint race from 16th.

Feature race qualifying
Canada’s Robert Wickens waited for the closing minutes of the final qualifying segment to secure pole position for today’s Feature race, just thousandths of a second ahead of Switzerland’s Neel Jani, who will line up alongside the Canadian in second place on the front row.

Germany’s Michael Ammermüller qualified in third position while Great Britain’s Oliver Jarvis, who blitzed the Mexico Feature race last year to take GBR’s first ever A1GP victory, will line up in fourth place on the second row. Ireland’s Adam Carroll took the fifth spot ahead of New Zealand’s Jonny Reid who will start the Feature race from sixth place.

USA’s Jonathan Summerton, who finished second in the Mexico Feature race last year to secure the best ever result of his A1GP career, qualified seventh. He will be joined on the fourth row by Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque, who is enjoying a strong weekend in Mexico City, which is only his second A1GP event.

Home nation A1 Team Mexico’s David Garza will start the Feature race from the back of the grid as he was not able to set a competitive lap time in Q4 due to spinning off and hitting the wall at the famous Peraltada corner.

France’s Jonathan Cochet endured another difficult session and will start the Feature race from 14th alongside the Netherlands’ Jeroen Bleekemolen.

South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg, who will start the Sprint race from pole position and the Feature race from 10th, said:

‘The new tyres actually make things a lot easier for you – the car is a lot more stable and a lot easier to drive over the bumps. It wasn’t actually very difficult to get a good time. The times are very close so each and every little error will cost you a position. We tried to aim to go out late because usually the track is at its best at the end of the session.’

Canada’s Robert Wickens was pleased with his first Feature race pole and praised the work of his team:

‘Getting my first Feature pole is definitely a good accomplishment. Everyone always wants to win the Feature over the Sprint because in my opinion it’s a better race – it’s longer and there are pit stops and more variables. Canada did a great job and the car was phenomenal. We struggled a bit in practice but we were able to overcome our difficulties and it was a pretty solid qualifying effort.’

Mexico’s David Garza endured a difficult qualifying session this afternoon and will start the Sprint race from 21st and the Feature race from 22nd:

‘I had trouble with one of the front tyres and we were struggling to keep them in condition for the whole session. I tried to do a reasonable time in the last lap to try to improve my position but the car was just impossible so I lost it when I was braking for the chicane and that was it. There will probably be a lot of incidents in the races today with tyres and those who keep their tyres in better condition are going to have a good result, so I’m counting on that to improve my position.’

Today’s Sprint race in Mexico City will start at 11.00 local time and the 70-minute Feature race will start at 15.00.

Sprint race qualifying results - A1GP Mexico City, Mexico (round 8 of 10)

Feature race qualifying results – A1GP Mexico City, Mexico (round 8 of 10)

Notes to Editors