a1-team-brazil-zandvoort-car-ready-emerson-fittipaldi-felipe-guimaraes

After a race against time to prepare its new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car, A1 Team Brazil is delighted to announce that it will be ready to race in tomorrow’s season opener in Zandvoort, the Netherlands. With the chassis only arriving at the Dutch track this morning, it was all hands on deck at the Brazilian garage to get the car race ready.

Brazil will join A1 Team China in an early morning practice session tomorrow morning to run the car ahead of the morning Sprint race, which will begin at 11am local time.

Leading the charge for Brazil for its championship assault in the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will be Felipe Guimarães, the 17- year-old hotshot from Brasilia. Felipe is seen as one of Brazil’s brightest prospects, with a natural speed and talent that belies his age and experience.

He only began his single-seater career in 2007, when he burst onto the scene competing a part-season in the South American Formula 3 Championship. He propelled his way to fourth in the championship after scoring two race wins and six further podiums, racing against much more experienced drivers.

Felipe joined A1 Team Brazil in March 2008 when he undertook rookie driver duties at the Mexico City race. He filled the position again at the Shanghai event the following month and also travelled with the team to the season finale in the UK. In the summer of 2008 Felipe competed in two Euroseries 300 events to gain furthersingle-seater

experience. He hit the radar once again by scoring pole position on his first time out, and finishing on the podium in second in the race. In August he won the coveted Brazilian National Karting Championship - the top level of karting in Brazil.

As well as a new driver, season four sees Brazil strengthening its engineering team, with the appointment of Dan Walmsley in the position of Chief Engineer. Dan joins the team fresh from engineering A1 Team Ireland to its first race win in A1GP competition at the Mexico City event in season three. Following the win, Ireland finished 6th in the overall championship standings and won the award for the most improved team.

Dan began his engineering career at McLaren Cars as a development engineer on the Mercedes-McLaren SLR and moved into motor racing four years later, joining Lister Storm Racing as Chief Engineer. He has a wide range of racing engineering experience, having held positions in World Series by Renault, the GP2 Series and the British Touring Car Championship.

With this new invigorated team, A1 Team Brazil is determined to return to racing at the front in season four of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, and allow Brazilian fans all over the world to be proud of their national team’s achievements.

Emerson Fittipaldi, Team Principal: "I’m sure this season will be the best yet, both in terms of A1 Team Brazil and the series overall. I am proud to have Felipe as our driver this year as he is one of the brightest talents to have appeared on the Brazilian motor racing scene in the last few years. We have renewed our partnership with Banco Sofisa and have a strengthened engineering team.

The new A1GP Powered by Ferrari cars are fantastic and I am sure we are going to see some great races and great overtaking. The arrival of Andretti Green with A1 Team USA is a coup for A1GP and shows how the series is respected by some of the biggest names in the business."

Felipe Guimarães: "I know we are racing tomorrow with a disadvantage to some teams and drivers who have already run in the new car, but that is the situation so I have to adapt to the car as quickly as possible, give valuable information to my engineer and find a competitive set-up.

I have very experienced people behind me and our expectation is to be in the front group in the first races."

- Rebecca Banks-

After being the fastest, Mexico qualifies 8th for the first race on Sunday 22.11.08

Mexican A1GP team started Saturday's activities closing the practice sessions previous to the qualifying session, as the fastest among the 20 teams participating from different countries. Thus, the Mexican team demonstrated that it's working...

Grid positions 1 and 16 for A1 Team Switzerland in Malaysia 22.11.08

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A1 Team Lebanon first top three qualifying spot in Malaysia 22.11.08

After over three years A1 Team Lebanon has finally scored its first top three qualifying spot, a fantastic achievement by the team’s new young driver for this season, Daniel Morad. This success came after a weekend of struggles for the team, so...

A1 Team Brazil - Sepang Qualifying Summary 22.11.08

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Danny Watts on the front row for A1 Team GBR in Malaysia 22.11.08

A1 Team Great Britain will begin tomorrow’s Feature race in Sepang, Malaysia from the front row for round three of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. A brand new element to A1GP qualifying proved to be the deciding factor today in...

A difficult start for A1 Team Switzerland at Sepang 22.11.08

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A1 Team Brazil - Sepang Practice Summary 22.11.08

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Round 3 – Sepang, Malaysia Free Practice 1a - Laps: 7 - Position: 9th - Fastest Lap: 1:54.126 (+3.030) Free Practice 1b - Laps: 2 - Position: 15th - Fastest Lap: 2:14.510 (+23.831) Free Practice 2 -...

A1 Team Lebanon endures hot and humid first daya on A1GP in Malaysia 22.11.08

The Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia presented new challenges for A1 Team Lebanon with the technically demanding track, the heat and high humidity testing the driver and car on the opening day of the third round of the A1GP World Cup...

Danny Watts tops the timesheets for A1 Team Great Britain 22.11.08

... in official practice as third round of A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Sepang, Malaysia gets underway. A1 Team Great Britain made a good start to its preparations for the third round of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport today, with...

A1 Team Switzerland eagerly looking forward to Malaysia race 20.11.08

The first podium of the season is the goal at Neel Jani's favourite circuit So far, the A1 Team Switzerland has missed out on a podium finish in the World Cup of Motorsport, even though it was only close on a few occasions. Nevertheless, the...

A1 Team Mexico Arrived to Malaysia... 20.11.08

... And Is Ready For Its Second Race Weekend of the Season A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport is getting ready for its third event of the 2008/09 season, which will take place on 21 - 23 November at Malaysia’s Sepang International...

A1 Team Malaysia Completes Shelter Outreach Project 18.11.08

Event: A1GP Sepang, Malaysia (Round 3 of 10) Ahead of round three of A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Sepang, Malaysia this weekend, the local team members put down their spanners, turned off their laptops and picked up paintbrushes for the A1...

Fired up Brazil head to Sepang for A1GP Malaysia 18.11.08

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport – Round 3 – Sepang, Malaysia A fortnight after visiting Chengdu in China, the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport moves to Malaysia for the third round of the championship. The event will take place at the Sepang...

Danny Watts recalled by A1 Team GBR for Malaysia 15.11.08

Following Danny Watts’ double podium finish on his debut in China, he will race for A1 Team Great Britain in Sepang, Malaysia, next week After scoring a crucial 16 points in Chengdu, China on Sunday, A1 Team Great Britain is now looking ahead...

Good start to A1GP for Alexandre Imperatori 09.11.08

Alexandre has shown speed on his first outing in the new A1GP car, powered by Ferrari at Chengdu for round 2 of the 2008/2009 season. The chinese city of Chengdu in Sichuan province held the second round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. It...

Schweiz mit Neel Jani zweimal knapp am Podest vorbei 09.11.08

Neel Jani fuhr für das A1 Team Switzerland in Chengdu (China) sowohl im Sprint als auch im Hauptrennen auf den 4. Platz. Die Mannschaft von Max Welti zeigte grundsolide Leistungen. Im Sprintrennen büsste Neel Jani beim Start eine Position ein...

A1 Team Brazil - Chengdu Race Summary 09.11.08

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Round 2 - Chengdu, China A promising performance from Felipe Guimarães for A1 Team Brazil turned to disappointment as the team suffered from technical problems in both races at the Chengdu Circuit in...

Solid performance for Lebanon in A1GP China 09.11.08

A1 Team Lebanon completed a strong weekend of racing in Chengdu, China, at a technically demanding track, with Daniel Morad racing in only his second A1GP event. Lining up 13th for both the Sprint and Feature races and finishing 12th in the...

Danny Watts storms to pole for A1 Team GBR in Chengdu 08.11.08

On his debut for A1 Team GBR, Danny Watts has secured pole position for tomorrow’s Feature race in Chengdu, China, round two of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. A1 Team Great Britain’s Danny Watts will line up on pole position for tomorrow’s...

Solid qualifying performance for A1 Team Lebanon in China 08.11.08

A1 Team Lebanon continued with race preparations for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport races in Chengdu, China today. This morning all the teams took to the track for the final one hour practice session before this afternoon’s qualifying session...

Zweimal zweite Startreihe in China für A1 Team Schweiz 08.11.08

Das A1 Team Schweiz steht mit Neel Jani vor den beiden A1GP Rennen in Chengdu (China) jeweils in der zweiten Startreihe. Den Sprint nimmt er aus Position 3 in Angriff, das folgende Hauptrennen von Platz 4 aus. Für die beiden Läufe pro...

A1 Team Brazil - Chengdu Qualifying Summary 08.11.08

A1 Team Brazil will begin tomorrow’s Sprint race from the sixth row and the Feature row on the fifth row after Felipe Guimarães qualified in 12th and tenth places respectively at the Chengdu International Circuit in China for round two of the...

A1 Team Lebanon takes to the Chinese track 07.11.08

A1 Team Lebanon resumed their campaign of racing in the fourth season of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Chengdu, China today. Driver Daniel Morad returned to the cockpit of the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car, aiming to build on the momentum...

Gelungener Einstand des Schweizer A1-Teams in China 07.11.08

Neel Jani Schnellster im ersten Training Im ersten Training zum Nationen-Weltcup des Motorsports in Chengdu (China) hat die Schweiz mit Neel Jani die beste Rundenzeit erreicht. Im Gegensatz zu einigen andern Fahrern brachte der Berner sein Auto...

A1 Team Brazil - Chengdu Practice Summary 07.11.08

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Round 2 - Chengdu, China Free Practice 1a - Laps: 13 - Position: 4th - Fastest Lap: 1:18.625 (+0.691) Free Practice 1b - Laps: 17 - Position: 4th - Fastest Lap: 1:17.310 (+0.600) Free Practice 2 - Laps: 20...

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