McIntosh and Hinchcliffe conclude on-form A1GP test (04-05)

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport - Official Pre-Season Test, Silverstone, England


McIntosh and Hinchcliffe conclude on-form A1GP test

Silverstone, England, 31st August 2006 - A1 Team Canada continued 
preparations for the new season of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, 
which starts in Holland on 1st October, in today's second pre-season 
test held at Silverstone Circuit in England.  Vancouver's Sean 
McIntosh was again back in action accompanied by A1GP rookie James 
Hinchcliffe from Toronto, A1 Team Canada ending the day sixth fastest 
in the afternoon session.

Having set the fastest time in yesterday afternoon's session, 
Hinchcliffe (19) was first out on track this morning concentrating on 
spending longer in the car to replicate race conditions rather than 
out-right pace.  The Champ Car Atlantic Series race winner acquitted 
himself well in just his third stint behind the wheel of A1 Team 
Canada's 500bhp A1GP car.

Sean McIntosh (21) handled the majority of this afternoon's session 
on the 2.294-mile International Circuit.  Currently a front-runner in 
the World Series by Renault, McIntosh, already an A1GP winner, 
continued to work on the team's test program including set-up runs on 
both old and new tires.  Hinchcliffe returned to the car for a late 
run complete with pit-stop practices to wrap the test.

James Hinchcliffe:

"The biggest thing for me was to continue to integrate myself with 
both the car and the team and I think I did a good job with that. 
Yesterday's focus was more on speed and qualifying pace which 
obviously went pretty well.  Today's objective was to work on some 
longer runs.  My first few laps were to get a good base set-up on the 
car then they sent me out with full fuel and old tires to have a 
really good run to see how everything handled in those conditions. 
We practiced pit-stop as well to work towards everyone being as 
prepared as possible for when the season starts at Zandvoort. 
Overall I think the team's happy with what we accomplished over the 
past couple of days."

Sean McIntosh:

"I was out on older tires initially this afternoon to see what kind 
of feeling they'd give off respective to the handling of the car and 
set-up.  On top of that I was just dialing back into driving this car 
having been used to racing the World Series by Renault car during the 
regular season.  As always it would have been nicer to have spent 
longer in the car but it was good to get back to it in preparation 
for the new season.  It was good to get a run on new tires during my 
driving stint and see where we can improve to get the maximum from 
them!"

The second season of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport kicks off 
before a sell-out crowd on the 1st October with Round 1 hosted at 
Circuit Park Zandvoort in Holland - www.a1gp.com

Copyright free images of Hinchcliffe and McIntosh at Silverstone 
today are available for download at www.a1gp-photo.com/can

ENDS - www.a1teamcan.com

For further information please contact:
Stuart Morrison - A1 Team Canada PR & Media Manager
Cell: +1 514 945 3253 / Email: stuart@a1teamcan.com