A1GP 700hp

[joseff]

The A1GP is planning a new 700hp engine for 2008, right in the middle of F1 engine freeze. With what I speculate would be higher displacement (hence torque), they may well be faster and more interesting to watch than F1.

http://www.crash.net/news_View~t~A1GP-u ... 136903.htm

[manchild]

... they may well be faster and more interesting to watch than F1.

never

[Ciro Pabón]

They only have a big problem: no public TV. I've been following the webcasts and I find them as interesting as F1. Given that F1 has relaxed the technical side (with all the freezes and prohibitions), it seems that the "race" between the two series is just which one is able to put together a better show.

This could be problematic, because even if A1 GP has been carefully not to position as a rival series, we all have seen how the CART-Indy split made NASCAR the most popular series.

[manchild]

They only have a big problem: no public TV. I've been following the webcasts and I find them as interesting as F1...

I've watched several races on TV last sesaon and I find them as boring as World Series by Renault.

[RacingManiac]

consider though that A1GP is a spec series with old F3000 Lola chassis with new spec aero bits, I don't see this being much more interesting than even Champ Car, let alone F1 despite the engine freeze....F1 engine freeze still means there are several engines out there, on new chassis every year from different constructor....

[joseff]

It's an entirely different situation our corner of the world. We never had F3000 or WSR coverage, but we do have live A1GP on TV. We also have fairly good coverage of Aussie V8s and IRL. And the most important bit: A1GP helps relieve F1 post-season blues.

So given that background, I guess learning to like A1GP is my Stockholm syndrome. Besides, for an F1 fan it's fun watching races between the old (Jos Verstappen), the new (Nelson Piquet Jr.) and the eternal hopeful (Alex Yoong - but he won a race!)

[Ciro Pabón]

I've watched several races on TV last sesaon and I find them as boring as World Series by Renault.

It's an entirely different situation our corner of the world. We never had F3000 or WSR coverage, but we do have live A1GP on TV. We also have fairly good coverage of Aussie V8s and IRL.

MC, joseff: on what channel? Is satellite TV? I got F1, GP2 and MotoGP on FoxSports. Also, IRL, Champcar and NASCAR on ESPN and ESPN2 and the local Nissan Cup and the TC argentinian championship on a little channel called TyC sports. I really need another series...

[NickT]

Horse power alone does not make a series, no GP2 has better coverage, is an acknowledged feeder for F1 and is bloody exciting to watch. Compairing it to F1, no lets not even go there

[joseff]

I have A1GP Live on Star Sport, but it's Asia-only I guess. Aussie V8 is on ABC, IRL and NASCAR are on Star Sport as well.

[Jason]

A1GP is so boring, same constructor, same engines and bla bla bla. Its so boring, almost everything is the same, excluding the drivers. I'm watching it anymore.

[Granty]

I belive that GP2 is so exiting because there is so many racers trying to get into the main game. A1GP doesnt have a next level

[Scuderia_Russ]

consider though that A1GP is a spec series with old F3000 Lola chassis with new spec aero bits

That's right RM. I was talking to an engineer from the Lebanese squad who said that the aero is quite poor, as in adjustments are not very sensitive. The oversized rear tyre only adds to his set up woes. The engine upgrade is to bring it inline with F1 power levels though.
The thing about A1 is that you have to take it for what it is. Some elements of it are what F1 should be all about (no driver aids, slicks etc.) but agreed it's not to everyones taste. I've spoken to people in the know who seem to think that over the next five years A1GP will become a genuine series alongside GP2 as an F1 feeder. (don't shoot the messenger on that one )

[rkn]

First CAD image of the new Ferrari A1GP car are here!



It is built on the Ferrari F2004 with a few modifications of course, it'll also feature a 600BHP Ferrari V8. Very much a back to basics F1 car, doesn't look very exciting though.

A few articles:

http://www.f1complete.com/content/view/8621/900/
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67377

[donskar]

Looks very exciting to me. I may have to get up even earlier (like 0500!) to watch the A1 GPs thet precede the F1 broadcast.

Jean Jacque His is given credit for the engine. I remember he was a star at Renault in the turbo days, then went to Ferrai. I thought he had gone back to Renault. Then he seems to have disappeared?

Great move by Ferrari. They cover ALL the bases when it comes to making money and gaining any advantage they can.

And some dealers go pretty far, too. The Las Vegas Ferrari dealer (Penske-Wynn) charge $10 to enter the showroom!

[mx_tifoso]

GPUpdate.net: Ferrari's A1GP car continues testing

Following on from successful tests at Fiorano, the Ferrari test track in Italy, Andrea Bertolini has been back behind the wheel of the Powered by Ferrari car, putting it through its paces at Imola.

We've completed about 900-kilometres of testing so far and everything is going relatively smoothly," said A1GP General Manager, technical and operations, John Wickham.

"The car is performing very well and the driver is happy with it; the balance is good and the tyres are working well. We haven't done as much testing as we hoped but that's partly because we were waiting on the weather at Fiorano.

"We ended up just running in the rain in the end but the car looked very quick in the wet! In general the car has been very reliable. We look forward to five consecutive days running next week with the tight Guadix Circuit ideal for further testing of the handling of the car."

What a high nose!




Image linked from A1GP.com

Seems to be going well so far, with this design a clear improvement over the first generation one, both aesthetically and arguably performance wise. And I hope that this time around they impove the show and offer a more interesting car to the drivers, the last time I watched it I simply couldn't stand the ridiculous cars they were provided with.

More [official] pictures to be found here; A1GP.com: June Imola Test