McIntosh Back with Team A1 Canada in Malaysia (z04)

McIntosh Back for Canada as A1GP Heads to Malaysia


Thursday 23 November, 2006 - Sean McIntosh makes a welcome return to 
racing for A1 Team Canada this weekend as the Vancouver standout gets 
set to compete in Round 4 of the 2006-07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport 
at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, Friday 24th - Sunday 
26th November.

Sean assumes race duties in Malaysia from Toronto's James 
Hinchcliffe, the 19-year-old rookie having led the team's charge in 
Holland, the Czech Republic and China to kick start the new campaign. 
In addition to scoring Canada's first podium since McIntosh's 
Indonesian victory last season, with a second place finish in the 
Czech Sprint race last month, Hinchcliffe also leads the current 
competition in laps led with a total of 55 compared to Jeroen 
Bleekemolen's 48 for A1 Team Netherlands. Canada currently sits sixth 
in the A1GP Nations Standings with 16 points after the first three 
rounds of the 2006-07 season with A1 Team Mexico leading the points 
chase over A1 Team Germany (24-22).

McIntosh (21) returns to A1GP competition following an impressive 
rookie campaign over the summer months competing in the World Series 
by Renault. His first foray into European open-wheel racing, 
following two highly decorated seasons competing in the Formula 
Renault UK Championship, McIntosh sealed sixth overall in the World 
Series Driver Standings, the highest ranked Formula Renault 2.0 
graduate from a 30-strong line-up of international talent.

Sunday's Malaysian event heralds Sean's first competitive starts in 
the sophomore season of A1GP, the series pitching nation against 
nation in identical 550bhp V8-powered A1GP cars throughout the 
winter, and his first full race weekend for Canada since leading the 
team to victory in Round 8 of the inaugural A1GP championship in 
Indonesia last February. 

McIntosh's performance, racing from last to first in the Feature 
race, complete with the added inconvenience of a drive-through 
penalty, was undoubtedly one of the drives of the 2005-06 season and 
helped steer A1 Team Canada to a tenth place finish in the A1GP 
Nations Standings.

Sean arrives in Malaysia armed with the experience of last season's 
trip to the 5.54 km Sepang International Circuit. A challenging 
outing a year ago saw the Canadian comfortably in the top-five 
throughout practice only to be caught out by the changing weather 
conditions in qualifying for Round 5. Having raced his way to 15th in 
the Sprint race, McIntosh's charge in the Feature was immediate as he 
climbed into the top-ten on the opening lap. Contact with the Italian 
entry put paid to Sean's top-five aspirations with Canada ending the 
weekend scoreless for the first time in A1GP.

"We demonstrated pace and potential in Malaysia last season," 
McIntosh stated prior to his return for A1 Team Canada. "The weather, 
which is always a factor at Sepang, caught us out a little in 
qualifying and as a result I was forced to fight from the back to get 
a decent grid slot for the Feature. The car was great in the race and 
I was pushing for fifth before our retirement! 

He continued, "Hopefully this time round we'll see the checkered! 
Based on current form things look good and I'm excited to be back for 
Canada having fulfilled my World Series commitments."

Sunday's Sprint race starts at 11 am local time (10 pm EST Saturday) 
with the Feature race starting at 3pm in Malaysia (2 am EST Sunday). 
The races can be watched live in Canada or on demand later via the 
A1GP website - www.a1gp.com.

ENDS - www.a1teamcan.com


Copyright-free A1 Team Canada images are available 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