
In the afternoon, in practice 2, A1Team Switzerland set the 11th fastest time in practice today ahead of Round 2 of the 2007/2008 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport on Sunday. Having already raced on this track Neel Jani worked steadily on the car's balance and set-up. He completed 16 laps in 1'47.591, 2.255' behind the fastest of the session, Christian Vietoris for A1 Team
Germany.
On the technical 5.41-km Brno circuit, during the Friday morning rookie session, Natacha Gachnang, the first female driver of A1 Team Switzerland was able to put in consistent times, finishing 4th overall at the end of the first part of the first practice with a lap time of 1'49.267. In the rookie 2 session, Natacha ran in 1'50.705 and tenth place, but only completed a few laps as the red flag was deployed and disturbed the session. Natacha's main tasks were to carry out standard checks and analyse the levels of performance and handling of the car. Preparations for qualifying and the races will continue later this afternoon and qualifying with Neel Jani on Saturday.
Neel Jani said: "We had a good second Official Practice this afternoon. Compared to some other drivers, this was the first time I was in an A1 car today on this Brno track and therefore had less running. The first lap was the fastest on new tires, but we did not make the most of our tyres at the beginning but then, near the end of the session we developed a good rhythm and tried lots of technical solutions for the rest of the week-end. We seem to have a good set-up for the rest of the weekend. I am very satisfied."
Natacha Gachnang said: "My first ever rookie session was a good experience. I believe I have done a good job preparing the car. We are quite confident for this coming weekend. Knowing the track already - even if it is my first time with the car - has probably made my job a bit easier.
I think in the second part of the rookie session I could control the car a bit better even if all the teams had more or less got to the same level. Our car was performing well. I am relatively happy with the set-up of the car and I am sure that Neel Jani will do some good work for the rest of the weekend to try to stay at the top of the sheets."
Max Welti, Team Principal added: "I am pleased with what Natacha Gachnang has achieved today. She drove well and can also handle the pressure of the media well. The team will start making some technical changes to build on for the rest of the weekend. We have worked very hard today in the two Official Practice sessions to have a good
set-up for this technical track and our car seems to be quite competitive again as it was in Zandvoort . We will now analyse the data carefully and I think we will be at the top again this weekend."
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A1 Team Switzerland
A1 Team Switzerland is the Swiss national team in motorsport, representing its country in the unique global A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport. A1 Team Switzerland is entering its third year of racing in the A1 GP series. After 11 events and 22 races around the world, A1 Team Switzerland finished the inaugural A1GP season as runners-up, winning from pole position in Dubai. In 2006-2007 they again won from the pole in Malaysia, on the way to securing another top eight championship finish.
The drivers racing for their country in 2007-2008 will be Neel Jani and Sébastien Buemi. The rookie drivers will be Marcel Fässler, Tom Dillmann and two lady rookie drivers, Rahel Frey and Natacha Gachnang who participated successfully to a shootout event at Silverstone in September 2007.
They will have the chance to represent their national team starting with the Brno Grand Prix, 2nd leg of the A1 GP Championship.
A1 Team Switzerland's selected best results
Sprint race: 2 x 1st - Malaysia 2006/2007 (Neel Jani) and Dubai 2005/2006 (Neel Jani)
Feature race: 3 x 2nd 2005/2006 South Africa (Neel Jani), Malaysia (Neel Jani), Portugal (Neel Jani)
Pole Position: Malaysia 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 (Neel Jani), Dubai 2005/2006 (Neel Jani)
First 2007 podium: Zandvoort (Neel Jani)
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- Agnes Carlier - photos A1GP