A1 Team Lebanon, one of the 23 National teams competing in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, is gearing up ahead of the official series test at Silverstone circuit, England, on the 28th/29th August. Three drivers are due to be present for the team at the test; Khalil Beschir (24), Chris Alajajian (19) and Jimmy Auby (20).
The two day test will be the first time all the competing nations have gathered together since the final race of the last season at Brands Hatch, England, back in April. However, Beschir and Alajajian both recently completed a test at the Snetterton circuit for A1 Team Lebanon, alongside the Irish, Brazilian and South African Nations.
The test was for both drivers to acquaint themselves with the 550bhp machinery ahead of the new season. The team and drivers were pleased with the progress made at the test, even though the wet, Norfolk weather restricted track time over the two days.
South African-Lebanese Auby has been racing in the Formula Renault Eurocup this summer and has been selected to join Beschir and Alajajian at next week’s official A1GP testing event. Beschir has been involved with the Lebanese Team since the start of the series, however prior to the test at Snetterton, he hadn’t competitively driven the A1GP car since the Malaysian round last November, but is keen to show he is still sharp in the A1GP car.
Beschir commented ahead of the Silverstone test; "The outing at Snetterton was limited because of the weather, we only managed to get around 20/25 laps in each day, so we didn’t concentrate too much on set-up. However, the test was very useful to re-familiarise myself with the handling of the car and to get to know our new engineering team before we get to Silverstone. "I’ve never driven on the full International circuit at Silverstone, I’ve only ever driven the National, and so there are a few more corners for me to learn at the test! The new team are very professional; I enjoyed working with them, and I think we’ll get on well this season. Chris and I worked well together too; having two sets of feedback on the car to relay to the engineers is good for us to develop the car quicker."
The newcomer to the Lebanese Team, Chris Alajajian, thoroughly enjoyed his outing in the A1GP car and is looking forward to another run at Silverstone; "Snetterton was a really good experience for me, I enjoyed working with the Lebanon crew, and I felt really comfortable in the car during the two days. I built up confidence and was really starting to push on my final runs. I feel privileged that the team have invited me back to test with them, I hope I can continue to help them develop the car and hope to play a part in the future of the team."
19-year-old Alajajian has an impressive racing background; most notably he competed in the Australian Formula 3 series where he finished the championship in third place. His championship campaign included a crushing win in the A1 Grand Prix support race at Eastern Creek, during which he set a series-high of seven fastest race laps Auby is pleased to be given the chance to sample the Team Lebanon car, and says, "It’s quite a daunting prospect to get behind the wheel of a 550 horsepower single seater, but I can’t wait to give it a go. It’s a Series I’ve been closely following since the launch and I’ll be realising one of my dreams when I drive the car."
The young racer has driven both single seater and saloon cars in his career so far. He began racing go karts at the age of 10, until moving to stock cars at 15, as well as racing in single seaters in the South African A3 championship. More recently he has been testing and racing in Europe.
The all-team official test session for the 2006/07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport takes place from 25th – 26th August at Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, UK. The first event of the third season of A1GP will be at Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands with practice on 28th, qualifying on 29th and two races on 30th September.
-Alison Hill -
