Hinchcliffe Podium Opens Scoring for A1 Team Canada (04-W)

Hinchcliffe Podium Opens Scoring for A1 Team Canada

Round 2/12 - A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Brno, Czech Republic

Qualified: 5th / Sprint Race Finish: 2nd (5 pts) / Feature Race 
Finish: 5th (6 pts) / A1GP Standing: 4th (11 pts)

Brno, Czech Republic (October 08, 2006) - Toronto's James Hinchcliffe 
(19) led A1 Team Canada to a second place Sprint race podium finish 
and came within five laps of a stunning Feature race victory today 
having led the majority of the 38-lap race in Round 2 of the 2006-07 
A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at the Auto Motodrom, Brno in the Czech 
Republic.  With 23 nations battling for global supremacy in A1GP, 
Hinchcliffe's impressive rookie performances today opened Canada's 
points scoring account, the team placing fourth in the Nations 
Standings after two rounds.

Sprint Race, 10 laps (Winner - A1 Team Malaysia, Alex Yoong)

Well versed in the art of rolling starts, based on three decorated 
seasons in North America's junior open-wheel ranks, Hinchcliffe fired 
the Canadian entry through the order from fifth to second at the 
start of the Sprint event as 23 nations unleashed their 550bhp, 
V8-powered A1GP cars on a charge to the first turn.  A1 Team Malaysia 
snatched the lead, with ex-Formula One driver Alex Yoong driving, 
with Canada second and last season's inaugural World Champions, A1 
Team France in third courtesy of Nicolas Lapierre.  The top-three 
held station throughout the race, Hinchcliffe taking the checkered 
flag in second place just 1.6s behind the Malaysian entry to record 
A1 Team Canada's first podium of the season, along with top rookie 
honors, in just his third career A1GP start.

Feature Race, 38 laps (Winner - A1 Team Malaysia, Alex Yoong)

Canada's strong Sprint showing was rewarded with their first-ever 
A1GP front-row start, Hinchcliffe lining up alongside Alex Yoong for 
the Feature's standing start.  Blitzing the line James led the field 
to the first turn and only relinquished P1 at the end of lap 10 as he 
headed to pit-lane for a mandatory stop.  Six laps later Canada took 
control of the race once again as Switzerland and Lebanon, the last 
to pit, finally made their respective stops.  What followed was a 
thrilling display of driving from the Canadian rookie as he kept 
Yoong in check in the Malaysian entry. 

At the halfway point James held a two second advantage over his 
vastly more experienced rival, Alex then mounting a second half 
attack, eventually working the gap down to less than half a second 
with 10 to go while they held a sizeable 13 second margin over former 
IRL driver and home favorite Tomas Enge for the Czech Republic.  Lap 
33 proved to be the turning point of the race as Hinchcliffe was 
clipped from behind by second-placed Yoong, James surrendering the 
lead to the Malaysian as he spun out onto the dirt.  Back on track, 
but on a dirty set of tires, the Canadian car quickly fell prey to 
the Czech Republic (Tomas Enge) and Mexico (Salvador Duran), who 
completed the podium behind Yoong, then Germany but James held on to 
take fifth at the flag.

James Hinchcliffe:

"Overall a good day but a frustrating result in the Feature given the 
performance of the whole team.  I made a great start off the line 
this afternoon and worked up a decent lead.  The guys did an 
unbelievable job in the pits today and they got me out well ahead of 
Alex.  Ultimately he closed on us, he would gain some ground then I'd 
pull it out again.  He wasn't alongside me enough to make the pass, 
he hit me and I spun out.  He clearly had the faster car towards the 
end, we were both the class of the field, but it was the wrong place 
to make a move!  I'm disappointed for the team but we bagged a podium 
in the Sprint and some points to get on the board today."

Round 3 of the 2006-07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport takes place next 
month, Friday 17th - Sunday 19th November, in Beijing, China - 
www.a1gp.com

A1GP Standings: 1st GER (20 pts), 2nd MEX (19), 3rd MAL (17), 4th CAN 
(11), 5th CZE (11), 6th GBR (11)

ENDS - www.a1teamcan.com

Copyright-free A1 Team Canada images are available for download at 
www.a1gp-photo.com/can
A1 Team Canada Media Relations:  Stuart Morrison - PR & Media Manager
Cell: +1 514 945 3253 / Email: stuart@a1teamcan.com