Shanghai International Racing Circuit track map

The 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China was an

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most for ...

race, held on the weekend of April 2, 2006 at

Shanghai International Circuit The Shanghai International Circuit () is a motorsport race track, situated in the Jiading District, Shanghai. The circuit is best known as the venue for the annual Chinese Grand Prix which was hosted from 2004 to 2019 and was scheduled again fro ...

Report

Qualifying

A1 Team Malaysia A1 Team Malaysia is the Malaysian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Management A1 Team Malaysia is operated by A1 Team (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. The team was founded by Jack Cunningham, a Briton, and former Malaysian F1 driver ...

snatched their first pole position for the final Sprint race of the 2005/06

season this afternoon after the flag had dropped in the last of the four qualifying sessions.

A1 Team Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain is the British team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Management A1 Team Great Britain was one of the first six-seat holders in the series announced, with chairman John Surtees hosting the event. The car ...

’s

Darren Manning Darren Manning (born 30 April 1975) is a British motor racing driver who has raced in the IRL IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Career history Early career Manning was born in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, ...

, who led from the word go, was denied the opportunity to head up the grid in his first A1GP race by Malaysia’s

Alex Yoong Alexander Charles Yoong Loong (; born 20 July 1976), is a Malaysian professional racing driver of Chinese and English parentage. Yoong began his career in saloon cars before moving into the Proton one-make series. He later raced in single-sea ...

. While Manning still recorded the fastest lap of qualifying (1.51.832), Yoong pushed his aggregate time ahead of

A1 Team France A1 Team France is the French team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the inaugural season, 2005-06. Management A1 Team France's owner is Jean-Paul Driot. The team was previously ma ...

and Great Britain, with a 1.51.846 flying lap after leaving the pits in the last few minutes of the session. With three official practice sessions and four 15 minute qualifying sessions completed over two days, not a single red flag was seen all weekend. There were a few spins including a matching pair from

A1 Team Australia A1 Team Australia was the Australian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Management The team chairman is former Formula One world champion Alan Jones, backed by general manager and former NASCAR driver Peter Nolan. The se ...

and

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on turn one in the first qualifying session and another from

A1 Team New Zealand A1 Team New Zealand is the New Zealand team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Management The team was formed by and is owned by prominent Auckland businessman Colin Giltrap, well known for this car dealerships. The team is manag ...

in Q3, but they each managed to get themselves back on track for the subsequent sessions. Home racers

A1 Team China A1 Team China was the Chinese team of A1 Grand Prix, a now defunct international racing series. Management The seat holder ''A1 Team China'' is Liu Yu (刘煜). Werner Gillis is the team principal, and technical support is provided by Team Ast ...

and series leaders

are both taking advantage of a rule which allows teams to change drivers between qualifying and each of the two races. A1 Team China will run with

Ma Qinghua Ma Qinghua () (born 25 December 1987 in Shanghai) is a Chinese racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup with Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. Ma became the first Chinese driver to win an FIA World Championship race when he w ...

in the sprint race and Tengyi Jiang in the feature race while A1 Team France will run Alexandre Premat for the sprint and

Nicolas Lapierre Nicolas Lapierre (born 2 April 1984) is a French professional racing driver. He raced with Toyota and with Alpine Racing in the past seasons of the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring, with overa ...

for the feature race. All other A1 Teams will keep their qualifying driver behind the wheel for both races.

Sprint race

converted his first

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

into the team's first race win after a dominant performance in the sprint race at the

of Nations,

, China, taking his spot at the head of the grid for the following feature race. Series leaders,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

put pressure on from the start, trying everything possible to pass

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

ahead of them. From the approach to turn one, Alexandre Premat slipped the tricolour car between Malaysia and Britain trying to edge ahead through turns one and two but the

grid Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Common usage * Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road * Grid reference, used to define a location on a map Arts, entertainment, and media * News g ...

leaders held their positions and France fell back to its third place starting position out of turn three. It was the start of an unusually bad race for the French who may have laid claim to the Series title but were still under attack from the rest of the field throughout the race. As the field crossed the start/finish line into the second lap, Malaysia was building its lead on Great Britain, with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

shortly behind having overtaken France at the end of the first lap. Italy brought up the rear after an earlier spin and continued to battle with China whose second driver,

defended well in front of his home crowd. A collision between

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

saw retirements from both, while

A1 Team Austria The A1 Team Austria was the Austrian representative team in A1 Grand Prix. The team competed only in the inaugural season of the championship. Ownership A1 Team Austria was owned and operated by Lauda Motorsport Management. The management team i ...

at seventeenth across the line, completed the 100,000th race mile for the A1 engine, demonstrating its reliability having nearly completed the first season without a single engine failure. While an incident between

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

saw both teams retire from the rear of the field, the major battles continued at the front.

A1 Team Ireland A1 Team Ireland was the Irish team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the fourth season, 2008-09. The team Founded by Mark Kershaw and Mark Gallagher in 2005, the team was owned and ...

's number two, Michael Devaney, racing for only the second time this season, used his last PowerBoost on the approach to turn one stealing fourth place from France on lap five. Just one lap later and France was once again the victim of an overtaking move, this time by the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a former (Formula One) racing driver. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993. In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different t ...

, who also cleared a path for

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

to follow through. Determined to maintain his position, France's Alexandre Premat defended hard but the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

with

Tomáš Enge Tomáš Enge (; born 11 September 1976) is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One. He has twice been sanctioned professionally for drug offences. Career Born ...

behind the wheel fought its way past a few laps later. While France and the Czech Republic contested sixth place, Indonesia kept the pressure on the Netherlands ahead of them for fifth. Verstappen's vast race experience did not make the defence of his position an easy task and the dogged determination of

Ananda Mikola Ananda Mikola (born 27 April 1980 in Jakarta) is an Indonesian racecar driver. Mikola competed in the Italian and International Formula 3000 series from 1999 to 2001 and was champion of Asian F3 in the 2005 season. He was out of racing for a cou ...

eventually paid off. As technical problems brought an early end to the Dutch race, Indonesia was the first to head past before the orange car of Verstappen slowed on the track eventually pulling into the pits at the end of lap 11. As the grid headed into lap 12, the battle focused on second and third place Great Britain and Mexico as

Salvador Durán Salvador Durán Sánchez (born 6 May 1985) is a Mexican race car driver who raced in the FIA Formula E Championship for the Amlin Aguri team. Durán has also previously competed in A1 Grand Prix, Formula Renault 3.5, and the NASCAR Toyota Seri ...

intensified the pressure on newcomer

. Manning held his nerve to the flag, holding off double winner at the previous race in

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...

to take second place with Durán less than a second behind. Winning his first race in A1 Grand Prix, Malaysia's Alex Yoong said: ''"The car was good, we knew the temperature was rising, and were worried about the condition of the tyres. Fortunately after the start I was able to conserve the tyres and still able to push at the end"''. Commenting on the trend of drivers winning the Sprint and Feature races, Alex said ''"I really like that trend! Hopefully I will be able to repeat it. But it will be very competitive in the main race. The pit stops will be crucial and it will be really important to look after the car."'' Finishing second in his first race in A1 Grand Prix, Darren Manning was pleased to secure A1 Team Great Britain's third place in the standings. ''"This was obviously the main goal for the team, and it has been a great weekend. I think I have acclimatised myself now. I didn't have the pace of Alex in the race, but I managed to fend off France and the charging Salvador. I'm not really used to this two race thing! The second race will be more like I'm used to, a long race with strategy and pit stops, so I think past experience will help me."'' Salvador Durán battled hard to pass Darren Manning, right up to the last lap. ''"It was really difficult to pass, we were managing to do similar times, but we had different set ups on the cars, so we were faster on different parts of the track. I did try really hard one time to get past, but when that didn't work, I knew I was done, as I had no more PowerBoosts left. Hopefully the next race will be different."''

Main race

The Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Cz ...

became the eighth nation to win an

event, crossing the line first at the end of the Shanghai Feature race. Snatching first place from Sprint race winner,

who still managed to retain second ahead of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Ryan Briscoe Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America. In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...

who had his first podium finish of the season, the third for the team. All 22 cars made a clean start to this afternoon's Feature race going straight into battle for vital points in the last race of the season. Having taken advantage of A1 Grand Prix's unique driver rules,

, this time with

behind the wheel, made the best gain rising from seventh to fourth putting them back into contention for a final

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

finish. A bad start for

was made even worse before the first lap was over. After a strong and determined performance in the Sprint race the luck of the Irish ran out as they came wheel to wheel with

on turn seven. The green car flipped over the Indonesia, spinning several times before coming to a halt upside down in the gravel trap. As the safety car came out, every team took the chance to make their compulsory pit stop and as the entire field filed in, the pressure turned to the race crews as they worked to get their car out ahead of its rivals. An excellent stop for Malaysia saw the bright yellow car pull out as other cars continued to head and smooth stops for

and

saw them move up from the back of the grid to ninth and tenth respectively. The safety car came in at the end of lap four and racing resumed with Malaysia leading the Czech Republic,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. But this order did not remain for long as the Czech Republic was quick to pounce on Malaysia making its move around the outside of turn one while Great Britain fell victim to Mexico and Australia. On lap six Great Britain suffered again, being the first to take a drive through penalty also given to Mexico and the USA for a false start. The penalty cost Great Britain a points position but having grabbed nine points in the Sprint race, their third place in the Series was confirmed. When all three teams had taken their penalties, the leading pack looked considerably different with the Czech Republic ahead of Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Canada,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

. A1 Team France, slowed by a 1.54 minute

pit stop In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit la ...

which saw them drop to eighteenth at the end of the safety car session then began its climb up the field to an eventual sixth-place finish, which they took on the penultimate lap by overtaking Canada at the end of the 1.1 km straight. After taking

on lap six, Mexico, Switzerland,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

all fell victim over the next two laps. For Lebanon a point in this race would have meant a lot and they fought to the finish to try to achieve this. On lap 17, it was Mexico that slipped by to take ninth but after then it was on lap 23 that the team finally saw their hopes dashed when A1 Team USA snatched tenth, the last points paying position. Mexico made their final leap up the leader board into eighth by overtaking Italy on lap 25. For Italy, this was not the end of the affair but their driver's hope of taking the place back again were dashed due to a spin of lap 26. Meanwhile, Portugal and Austria were disputing twelfth place. Even though they were both out of the points, this battle continued right to the chequered flag with newcomer to the Series

César Campaniço César Campaniço (born 31 March 1980) is a Portuguese racing driver. He was born in Lisbon, and is best known for his appearances in the Portuguese Touring Car Championship. Career Racing record Career summary † – As Campaniço ...

finishing in front. Race winner, A1 Team Czech Republic's

commented: ''"It's great to get this result today. We've had a lot of bad luck during the last half of the season. We've had lots of ups and downs in the last few races, in

we didn't finish either race. I hoped everything would go well, and in the end the pit stop and the restarts were all really good. I must thank the team for all their work and a great car. I think it will take us about a week to realise what has happened today. I'm very proud that the Czech Republic won the last race in the first season of A1 Grand Prix."'' A1 Team Malaysia jumped from 10th in the Series standings to fifth after Alex Yoong's performance in Shanghai. ''"Before the weekend, we almost joked that we could get fourth in the series, if we won both races, and it nearly happened. The car was really good in the first race, in the second the balance wasn't quite as good, and Tomas was doing a good job. But we are pleased with this second place."''

for A1 Team Australia said: ''"It's a fantastic result to come away with third, especially as this is only my second outing in A1 Grand Prix. It means a lot to be racing for your country. I must say a big thank you to all the boys in the team. I kept working hard, and tried to preserve the tyres as much as possible, but I didn't have the speed to catch Alex. During the first race, we had a slight problem with the set up, but we made a few changes before the second race, and found the best set up again."'' Asked whether

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

was better than A1 Grand Prix, Alex Yoong answered, ''"You cannot compare F1 and A1GP, they are completely different. Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsport in terms of technology. It is about manufacturer against manufacturer, about engine deals and about money. A1GP is run by countries, the cars are identical, it is an equal playing field. The aim is to see which is the best team and driver, it is about the people. I would definitely stay in A1GP, it would have to be a good deal for me to move to F1. A very good deal!"'' The bonus point for the fastest race lap of the day went to A1 Team Malaysia who recorded a time of 1.52.508 on lap 14 of the Sprint race, with a speed of 174.4 km/h. The A1 Grand Prix of Nations,

, China was the last race in

's inaugural season. The first race of the second season will take place at

Circuit Park Zandvoort Circuit Zandvoort (), known for sponsorship reasons as CM.com Circuit Zandvoort, and previously known as Circuit Park Zandvoort until 2017, is a motorsport race track located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands, near the North Sea ...

on 29 September - 1 October 2006

Results

Sprint Race Results

The Sprint Race took place on Sunday, April 2, 2006.

Total Points

Total points awarded: {{DEFAULTSORT:2005-06 A1 Grand Prix Of Nations, China