The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Malaysia was an

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as 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 themse ...

race held at

Sepang International Circuit Sepang International Circuit () (known as Petronas Sepang International Circuit for commercial reasons) is a motorsport race track in Sepang District, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located approximately south of Kuala Lumpur, close to Ku ...

Sepang Pekan Sepang is a small border town and also a mukim in Sepang District, Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on t ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Pre-race

Because

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

had only joined the season at the Chinese round, they were permitted to take part in a special practice session on November 20. In the wet conditions,

Narain Karthikeyan Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (; born 14 January 1977) is an Indian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . Early life and family background Karthikeyan was born on 14 January 1977 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu to Sheela ...

was the fastest driver just in front of

Danny Watts Danny Watts (born 31 December 1979) is a retired British professional racing driver. Career Watts was born in Aylesbury, and started racing in 1993, when he began karting. After five seasons of karting, he stepped up to single seater racin ...

. Davíd Garza Pérez was the slowest with 3 seconds.

Drivers

Qualifying

The qualifying sessions were the first to utilise the new "joker" Qualifying lap rule – where the driver has PowerBoost available for use over an entire qualifying lap, to be used in any session at the team's discretion. *(1) :

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

received a two-place grid penalty for the Sprint race for using a non-approved part in practice.

Sprint Race

Following a major crash at the first start, involving

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

, and the pack slowed down after it seemed to have accelerated off, the race was delayed 30 minutes for track cleanup, and reduced to 11 laps. This Sprint Race was the first this season to utilise the new Sprint Race pit-stop rule, the windows always set for Laps 4–8. Race red-flagged after the start because of accident.

Feature Race

The second pit stop window was set for Laps 20–28.

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

were sent to the back of the grid for having a brake cooler in too long before the start, and a pit crew violation during the Sprint Race pit-stop.

Notes

* It was the 35th race weekend (70 starts). * It was the 4th race in Malaysia, and the 4th at

. * It was the first race weekend as rookie driver for

Stefano Coletti Stefano Coletti (born 6 April 1989) is a Monaco, Monégasque former professional Auto racing, racing driver who raced for SMP Racing in the European Le Mans Series. His sister Alexandra Coletti is an alpine skier. He is the first Monégasque drive ...

J. R. Hildebrand John Randal Hildebrand Jr. (born January 3, 1988) is an American race car driver. He last competed in the IndyCar Series driving part-time in the No. 11 Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Enterprises. Hildebrand won the 2009 Indy Lights championship and ca ...

Armando Parente Armando Parente (born 29 March 1989) is a Portuguese racing driver. He won the 2008 ADAC Formel Masters season. Currently, he races in the Portuguese Championship of Sport Prototypes, teaming with Francisco Abreu, driving a Tattus PY 012 of Tea ...

and

Ashley Walsh Ashley Daniel Walsh (born 11 January 1988) is a former Australian racing driver. Karting Walsh was a dual Australian Karting Champion in 2003 at his local Ipswich Kart Track driving a Tony Kart. He won the Junior Clubman and Junior Piston Port ...

. *Records **

scored their 9th pole position as

Neel Jani Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss people, Swiss professional racing driver. He achieved his greatest success winning the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche's Le Mans Pro ...

. **

scored their 7th fastest lap.

References

External links

Switzerland's Sepang SprintSprint race: as it happenedSprint race resultsFeature Glory for IrelandFeature race results
{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 A1 Grand Prix Of Nations, Malaysia A1 Grand Prix Of Nations, Malaysia, 2008-09

Motorsport competitions in Malaysia