The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa 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 which was held at

Kyalami Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has ho ...

, South Africa.

Pre-race

A1 Team Korea failed to participate the race as the organiser of the series could not supply electrical units and fuel tank due to mistake of the transportation from

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 ...

. The team had planned the debut of 2008

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

winner

Keisuke Kunimoto is a Japanese/Zainichi Korean race car driver who races with Japanese racing license. His mother is Japanese. His father, Yoshihiro Ri, also known as Yoshihiro Kunimoto, is the 1983 All Japan Karting Champion and his uncle, Yoshihiko Ri, won same ...

(Lee Gyeong-Woo), a Japanese driver of Korean descent, as rookie driver on the weekend.

Drivers

Qualifying

Sprint Race

A1 Grand Prix, Kyalami - The Netherlands

Feature Race

Post-race

Following the race, the team principals of both

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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 ...

issued statements regarding the on-track incident on the first lap of the Feature Race, which resulted in Ireland spinning out into retirement, and subsequently losing the championship lead to

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 ...

Notes

* It was the 37th race weekend (74 starts). * It was the 4th race in South Africa but the first at

. *Records: ** It was the first ever pole position for

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

and

Clivio Piccione Clivio Piccione (born February 24, 1984 in Monte Carlo, Monaco) is a Monégasque race car driver. He raced in the 2005 GP2 Series season for the Durango team and David Price Racing for 2006. Career Piccione's career started in karting in 1997, ...

. ** It was the first ever podium for

and

. **

's win in the feature race was driver

Neel Jani Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss professional Porsche factory driver. His father is from India and his mother is German Swiss. He achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP1 ...

's ninth in A1 Grand Prix, tying the record held by

Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...

. **

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 ...

recorded the best finish in their history thanks to

Daniel Morad Daniel Morad (born April 24, 1990) is a Canadian-Assyrian racecar driver. He is notable for winning the 2007 American Formula BMW championship, the 2010 World Championship in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in La Conca, Italy, And the 2017 ...

's sixth in the feature race.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 A1 Grand Prix Of Nations, South Africa A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa, 2008–09