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A1 arrived at Estoril for it’s last European round, this circuit with an illustrious history had seen stars from Formula One make their name, this weekend it would see the A1 Grand Prix stars attempt to win for their nation.

Two nations had so far taken wins in the championship and in Portugal they both still looked like contenders for more wins, but some drivers had more experience at this circuit… Whether it would prove to help or not would soon be discovered.

TESTING

The teams were allowed some extra testing sessions on the Friday before the event. Testing will take place at every third race.

The test sessions saw the local Portuguese team performing well, the crowd hoping this could continue until Sunday.

PRACTICE 1

From the first moment of practice it became apparent that the race at Estoril would be fun to watch. The A1 cars were slipping, sliding, four wheel drifting and power sliding into, through and out of each turn.

Fastest time in the session would be set by Alexandre Premat of France, running in drying conditions for the DAMS operated team.

His time only slightly faster than Germany’s, the entire field looked to be within striking distance of the 1 minute 33.02 second lap.

PRACTICE 2

France were on top again in the second session, with a 1 minute 52.03 second lap, the French didn’t let the now fully wet weather stop them from dominating the top slot on the timesheets.

Premat said: “The car has not been good in the wet, the team did a really good job and now it is now much better. I am confident for qualifying tomorrow.”

PRACTICE 3

Session three saw a huge change in the anticipated positions for qualifying, with Tomas Enge putting in a superb performance in Saturday’s first session.

The lap, although luckily set on a drying track once again, was quite near the pace and showed that the entire field were gradually closing up on both France and Brazil.

QUALIFYING

Nelson Piquet Jr. took pole position on Saturday afternoon with two blisteringly quick laps. Having made a mistake on his first run, Piquet Jr pushed hard for Brazil in the next two sessions, giving himself an aggregate time of 3 minutes 1.31 seconds infront of Switzerland.

With most teams having had no dry weather running during the entire weekend, all teams did a fantastic job to setup the cars properly between the four sessions, Switzerland’s Neel Jani had impressed and his team boss, jubilant to be second on the grid said: “It’s great that Switzerland from the start is actually able to be among the best.”

“I was hoping to snatch pole but the final run was not perfect although good enough for second.

I had a lot of traffic on my out laps but it was not so bad on my quick laps.” - Neel Jani.

SPRINT RACE

All cars got away from the grid cleanly for the formation lap on Sunday afternoon, and with many teams not having yet run more than ten laps in the dry, the race would surely be unpredictable.

As the green flag waved, all cars appeared to get a good start and going into the first turn it was France who lead after outbraking Brazil. Netherlands came close to taking the lead, but eventually dropped to fourth around the second turn.

An accident in turn one put out Australia, Pakistan, China, Austria, Mexico onto the grass as Great Britain were also pushed wide, losing five positions.

17 to go now and France began to pull away infront of Brazil and Switzerland, behind them battles started to form through the entire field. In turn one the cleaning up continued and as the field raced by Australia were towed out of harms way.

The start had been very exciting, ending with multiple rows of three wide action into the turn. The incident in turn one should have brought out the safety car though, as the marshalling became dangerous as he drivers raced by.

Battles continued throughout the field, the main one being between Germany, Great Britain and Ireland who were racing very close. As the three close runners crossed the line with 13 to go Great Britain swept across the rear wing of Germany trying to get by. Half way around the lap Ireland got a good run on Great Britain and when Great Britain took his line Ireland hit the rear wheel, taking his wing off and puncturing Great Britain’s left rear wheel. Great Britain would be forced to retire due to getting stuck in the gravel trap.

Ireland came into the pits to change nose at the end of the lap, the stop was extremely slow, putting the car out of contention completely.

Now with 12 to go, the order was France, Brazil, Switzerland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Portugal, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Africa. France had now managed to build a small lead over Brazil, but the rest of the field was close behind Nelson Piquet Jr’s machine.

USA and Germany now entered a titanic battle, thrilling the fans by passing each other multiple times in wheel to wheel manouvers while sliding through the turns. Scott Speed, who had not performed as expecting during the season so far, looked extremely competitive around Estoril.

While most positions remained static, the battle between USA and Germany continued to provide plenty of thrills. Elsewhere on circuit, Netherlands and Czech Republic raced hard for fourth. The crowd had a large number of Dutch people wearing their bright orange team’s colours, not that Czech Republic would be slowed by it!

5 laps to go now France lead a comfortable gap infront of Brazil, Switzerland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Portugal, Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Africa, Italy, Germany, USA, New Zealand, Russia, Lebanon, Austria, India and Ireland.

With 3 to go Austria and Lebanon had a great battle, although for a minor place they ran wheel to wheel through three turns, Lebanon spinning.

With 2 laps to go, USA finally found a way past Germany, the pass didn’t last long though as by the time they entered the following turn Germany were back infront.

Positions remained static once again for almost the rest of the race, with just a few close battles continuing to the line.

Many teams had their best finish of the season so far in this race, including USA, who finished the race side by side across the line with Germany in a last ditch effort to get by. Unfortunately for USA, they didn’t make it and would have to start the Feature behind their great rival.

Although France’s win had been dominant, the gap had never become out of reach for either Brazil or Switzerland, they had remained close.

“I had to give him space as he braked really late into the corner, I have to say he had a very strong race. We have to go and improve now and make a few changes for the next race.” - Nelson Piquet Jr.

FEATURE RACE

India failed to get moving for the start of the formation lap, marshalls pushed the car to the pitlane while the rest of the field rounded the track.

The lights went out and again all cars seemed to get a great start except for those that didn’t move at all. Both Netherlands and Brazil stalled on the grid, other drivers showing great skill in avoiding them.

Another exciting opening lap saw France take the lead while behind drivers raced wheel to wheel once again. At the end of the lap the Safety Car was deployed, but most fans and press failed to understand why.

Brazil, Netherlands and Russia, who had missed the start, were released from the pitlane but unfortunately Brazil came out behind the leader.

When the safety car came in one lap later and the pitlane opened, many cars chose to dive in for their mandatory pitstop. France and the other leaders stayed out on circuit. Home nation Portugal, who had almost taken the lead at the start, began to push for the lead right from the restart, but when the faster leader pulled away Czech Republic closed in.

Attempting to fight his way back from the back of the pack, Great Britain driver Robbie Kerr battled hard with Indonesia. At this point both cars had made their stops, Great Britain were looking for some clean racing track to try to make some time on the leaders before their stops.

31 laps to go, Brazil pitted. Out on track the drivers were visibly pushing much harder than they had in the Sprint Race, running extremely close to the cars around them. Before the end of the lap, Great Britain finally found a way past Indonesia.

At the back of the field, Netherlands had worked their way through many of the cars who had made their stops. Netherlands would obviously not be able to make a pitstop early in hope of getting back on the lead lap later on if there was another Safety Car.

With 27 laps to go, most teams had made their stops. France held a six second lead from Portugal, Czech Republic, Ireland, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Lebanon, Italy and Canada. So at this stage just the leading six cars had not stopped.

On circuit Canada and Mexico made contact, Mexico spun and retired from the event.

Crossing the line now with 25 laps to go, South Africa, Great Britain and Indonesia battled for position. Indonesia pulled out to overtake into turn one, but baking too late he spun infront of both his rivals, Great Britain passing South Africa in the process.

Meanwhile Portugal pitted from second place, a wheel nut problem meant he lost a lot of time, but while he was in the pits the safety car came out, minimisng the problem.

As soon as the safety car was announced many more cars poured into the pitlane including Netherlands, Czech Republic and France, all having good stops except Czech Republic they pulled out of the pits only to find marshalls pushing a car across the lane infront of them. Yet another scary marshalling incident.

All cars now having pitted the race had a true running order once again, France lead from Switzerland and USA! But it was with 21 to go that South Africa pulled off the circuit with a wheel problem, surely they had been on for another good finish, their retirement dissapointed those waving the national flag from the crowd.

The Safety Car lights went out and the race restarted with just 20 laps to go. France would restart with the lapped Brazil behind, but behind France and onthe lead lap were Switzerland, USA, Ireland and Germany.

Surprise of the race so far was the performance from Jos Verstappen, having stalled on the grid the Netherlands now found themselves in with a shot of a podium.

France held the lead into turn one, but Brazil did manage to pass to get on the lead lap. Netherlands nearly ran into the back of another car into the first turn, running wide and losing positions. Half way around the lap, Verstappen finished the job by running over the wheel of Germany, launching himself into the air and out of the race. In one swoop Netherlands had undone everything they had worked for so far. The Safety Car was brought out again.

The amount of Safety Car periods in the race began to get annoying at this point for the fans watching, but this is not the fault of the series, it’s the fault of the drivers.

17 laps to go and running under the safety car, France lead from Switzerland, USA, Ireland, Czech Republic, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Austria and Italy.

Verstappen’s TV interview was quite amusing on the Germany incident, “I think I touched Germany” being a bit of an understatement.

The race restarted again, but it wasn’t long before a car ended up in a dangerous position. Canada spun while battling with Great Britain.

Two laps later and Portugal began what would become the comeback drive of the weekend. Battling closely with Italy he would eventually make the pass after being blocked badly by them for a few laps. Like with the previous rounds of A1, it can only be good if the local driver does well and Portugal would not end up dissapointing.

13 laps remaining and Great Britain slowed down the main straight and was passed by Italy, Portugal and New Zealand into turn one, an electrical problem causing a huge loss in power.

One lap later Portugal made his way past Italy for good, outbraking into turn one. Great Britain had reset their systems meanwhile and were now passing cars again trying to get back to where they were before the problem.

27 laps down, 9 to go, France lead from Switzerland, Ireland, Czech Republic, USA, Australia and Portugal, still on their charge, in seventh place.

Crossing the line next time by, Portugal passed Czech Republic as they served a penalty, but also got closer to Australia. Portugal looked a lot faster than the newly Fosters sponsored machine infront.

The battle continued for laps, with Portugal swarming all over the back of Australia. Italy also closed in on the battle, but never looked like getting past. It was with 5 to go that Portugal finally made the move stick, outbraking Australia into turn one.

The lead positions remained the same until the end of the race. The event came very close to hitting the one hour limit due to the safety car periods.

“The re-starts varied, some were good and some were bad, it was hard to keep Scott Speed and Nelson Piquet behind me.” - Alexandre Premat.

We all accept that when someone is a Formula One World Champion, they deserve to be. Whether they have rammed someone off the road in a last race move or dominated from the moment the season started, they’re still the best driver, right?

Now A1 has started I have begun to think hard about F1 and I don’t like what I’m seeing anymore. I have been a fan of Formula One since the day I was born, my family would all wake in the early morning to watch races from East Asia, we would scream at Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and every other hero we picked out of the grid, so what has changed?

Honestly, nothing has changed, perhaps that is the problem. The fans want to see wheel to wheel racing and see the best driver come out with a World Championship, but in a series like F1, can we be sure the best driver wins, can we say that the best driver wasn’t stuck in an uncompetitive car?

This year the results in F1 have shown exactly what bothers me. How is it that a man who has won so much in recent years suddenly finds himself pushing hard just to finish in the points? If Michael Schumacher fails to win the Championship, surely he is not the best driver.

Is Fernando Alonso a better driver than all those he beat to the championship? Or, as I have disturbingly realised recently, did he just have the best car in terms of both speed and reliability?

A1 has made me realise something, something that doesn’t take away my respect for F1, but most certainly alters how I view the Championship and it’s driver skill levels.

I now wonder that if any driver from this years Formula One season were to drive a McLaren or Renault, whether race wins or championship challenges would be possible. I wonder now whether Raikkonen or Alonso are infact as good as they look, I wonder if F1 is nothing but a display of technology.

If I were to list the ten most important elements in a successful challenge for an F1 title, I would probably be able to fill out most of these with parts of the car.

Of course luck would probably figure, but would the driver? Does the driver of an F1 car make that much difference? Had Michael Schumacher not existed, would Rubens Barrichello now be a six times World Champion through his time in the best car?

Luck is a word. It is a word used to describe when events betray reality. In F1 terms, bad luck is a mistake during a pitstop out of the team or drivers control, it is weather changes and equipment failures. I believe that luck plays a larger part in becoming a Formula One Champion than driver skill.

I believe that Kimi Raikkonen may be a better driver than anyone else in Formula One at this time, but like many drivers I have felt this for, Kimi could quite easily never be a World Champion. So having offended every Finnish reader, let me explain.

In 2005 Kimi Raikkonen was probably the best driver in probably the best car and as I have said, I believe F1 is largely about the car alone, so the only reason I see Kimi didn’t win, was the reliability of his car.

I don’t see these failures as bad luck, I see them as problems with the equipment McLaren provided him with, which again takes the result away from one driver being better and even takes the result away from a question of luck.

So having explained how I feel about F1 right now, perhaps an explanation of A1 is in order. Well, how much of a difference is the driver going to be in a series where all teams have the same equipment, cars, tyres and testing time?

The difference between winning and losing in A1 seems much more focussed around the ability of the driver to drive and the team to prepare the car for that driver both in terms of car setup and equipment fitting.

If a failure in F1 can be caused by equipment provided to the driver by the engine supplier, failures in A1 can often be put down to luck because each driver uses the same chassis, engine and tyres. If a failure is caused by the team fitting the equipment wrongly, at least it’s the same for everyone.

Maybe if we looked at electronics also my problems with F1 become even bigger in scale. More unfair differences between F1 cars come from their launch software and traction control systems. This can be the difference between a good and bad start, or taking a corner flat or with a lift off the throttle.

Before the A1 season got underway, Jos Verstappen was acting like he had already won the series. Now he has realised that in a series where every driver has the same equipment, this former F1 podium finisher is not finding it easy to qualify well or finish in a good position. He has since put his difficult start down to the A1 chassis and how difficult it is to drive without aids.

When Jos last raced in Formula One, he raced with the same electronics they have now. He had traction control, he had gear shift aids and he was more of a passenger than a driver.

Formula One is an excellent showcase of modern technology and aerodynamic excellence, but in my view it fails to show us the best driver in a clear way and it cannot unless the cars were somehow equalised, it would never happen, but what if it did?

I am a fan of NASCAR. It has equalised cars. With them it should be possible for almost anyone to win, but it’s very rare that they do. The same few win again and again, because they are the best.

As A1 Grand Prix has shown, open wheel racing of an equalised nature can produce a great show for the fans, it can produce side by side racing, it can produce passing in competitive racing, it can give a showcase of driver talent and pit crew skills but best of all, it does it on tracks fans have wanted to see quick open wheel cars running on for years.

A1 is not a rival to F1 because of their differences. In my view the two series compliment each other and while I grew up watching F1, I have evolved and A1 has evolved with me. I want to know who the best driver really is, I can no longer see that in F1.

After the frantic and exciting events at Brands Hatch, the drivers, teams and A1 staff had two weeks before they had to turn up at Lausitz in Germany and be ready to race.

As a fan of the series I hoped to see Germany do well on home soil, Great Britain get a podium or win and if possible, see Brazil mess things up for themselves a little. The A1 event gave me almost everything I wanted, again.

Due to timing failures caused by the electronic system employed by the German host, qualifying was hard to understand for those attending and those watching on television across the world. So we have to cover the event the same way everyone else had to, by concentrating on the races.

QUALIFYING

Team France were set to dominate qualifying for the German round of A1, in his first run in the car Nicholas Lapierre was on top form.

After the session he said: “I am very happy with what happened today. From the start this morning I knew we had a good car that would go well on new tyres. I felt a lot of pressure in the last session but was able to keep at the top of the time sheets.”

Scott Speed, who had struggled at Brands Hatch to get the A1 car working for him ended up with a second place on the grid for the Sprint Race. Happy with his performance Scott said: “I have been under quite a bit of pressure since Brands Hatch. However, I now seem to be back on the pace and so everyone is very happy.”

SPRINT RACE

Sunday was a bright day with hardly a cloud to be seen in the fresh October sky. The cars and drivers lined up on the grid for the Sprint Race watched by a crowd of 46,000. It was an exciting prospect racing on the Eurospeedway with it’s flat gradient and wide straights from the oval part of the facility.

As the cars came into the final turn and lined up side by side, the crowd began to shout once again and as the green flag flew, the cars shot towards the first turn, six cars wide.

As the field thinned out, those who were six wide got themselves sorted out, but up front Great Britain and USA tangled while battling for second place. Meanwhile Ireland ran wide to avoid the accident and Jos Verstappen’s awful luck continued as Malaysia ran into him, putting him out of the race.

Out infront, France pulled away as Switzerland moved into second place. At the end of lap one they were ahead of Brazil, New Zealand, Malaysia and behind them, Pakistan raced with some damage.

As the second lap began, Adam Khan ran off the track as the German entry clawed it’s way through the field, moving into the top ten. Elsewhere as Ireland moved up to thirteenth, Jos Verstappen limped back to the pits to retire. As he crossed the line to start lap three, Khan’s wing flew off due to the tyre rubbing since the start of the race.

With fifteen laps to go, the top ten was France, Switzerland, Brazil, New Zealand, Germany, Malaysia, Canada, Italy, Mexico and Japan.

The main action so far had come from the German entry. Impressing on home soil he was now all over the back of the black New Zealand car and looking for a way past. As the safety car came out with fifteen laps to go, the order was given for the drivers to race back to the line. The bodywork Adam Khan had spread about in the opening laps were too dangerous to leave.

Out of the race at this stage were USA, Great Britain, Netherlands and Pakistan. The race restarted with twelve laps to go, France getting a superb start and leading by a clear ten car lengths over the line.

Germany again restarted and stuck himself to the rear end of the New Zealand car, he started moving around in an attempt to break his opponents concentration. With the cars working so well in the minimal dirty air the A1 car creates, the closeness of the battle was a lot of fun to watch.

Elsewhere on track, Lebanon made an attempt to pass China, both taking a trip through the gravel, meanwhile Italy, Canada, Mexico and Malaysia battled side by side in an entertaining display. The attending fans could see the battle on the big screens from a rear facing camera and the cheers were evident as they had been at Brands Hatch.

At the half way stage France lead Switzerland, Brazil, New Zealand, Germany, Malaysia, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, Czech Republic, Austria, Indonesia, Australia, India, China, Lebanon and Portugal rounding out the top twenty.

Australia were a shock to be doing so badly, Switzerland were a shock doing so well, the change of track had altered the domination Piquet had at Brands Hatch and it looked at this stage like France were the likely winner, but Brazil had set fastest lap at this time, so could take an extra point.

Things remained static for the next few laps, but the identical cars created packs that were very close together and exciting to watch in any case.

With six laps to go, Team China pulled into the pits for minor repairs, rejoining the track again afterwards, hoping that by doing so they’d get a better start position for the Feature Race. Out on track, Malaysian driver Alex Yoong used his experiences from Formula One to good effect, driving defensively and continuing to keep Canada behind him.

At the front as the laps wound down, France and Brazil in first and third places began to trade fastest laps. Brazil, unable to pass the quick and consistent Swiss car, would hold back, give himself a gap and push for a lap, using the powerboost button, hoping that his laptime would not be beaten in the Feature Race, giving him that one extra point for fastest lap from the two events.

As the cars crossed the line, one of the most pleased drivers looked to be Malaysia who vigorously punched the air in excitement having held off five drivers in the closing laps. Of course they were all in the same car, so staying ahead was perhaps more of a mark of driver skill and pleasing for him.

FEATURE RACE

With all cars back on the grid for the Feature Race, the pressure would be on Scott Speed, Jos Verstappen and Robbie Kerr. Due to their first lap problems in the Sprint, these drivers really would need to pull out something special if they were even going to get points on a tough track like Lausitz.

The pace France had shown in the Sprint meant they really would be hard to beat in a long race. Considering this was the Frechman’s first A1 race he had done a great job, whether Brazil could return to the top step of the podium was still a question many had though.

Before the race started, much of the debate was as to whether teams would do their mandatory pitstops after their first lap, giving themselves clear track afterwards. As the Sheikh stepped behind the microphone as he had at Brands Hatch, thanked the fans and gave the command for the engines to be started, the grid was cleared.

But drama hit early. As the cars were waved off, mechanics were still stood around the Brazilian car and in a dangerous looking situation, the cars slowly pulled away on either side of the stationary car.

Half way around the pace lap, the race was stopped and the grid was to be reformed, this due to the New Zealand car also stalling and unable to get away at all. The race distance was shortened by one lap.

As the flag was waved for the field to pull away on their new formation lap, Italy were still working on their car past the thirty second limit. They did not get the car started in time and Jos Verstappen joined him, stalling his car too. Both cars were pushed into the pitlane and would start from there, Italy late though due to further problems.

The standing start of the Feature Race, when it finally got under way, was incredible. With Malaysia coming through from his sixth place start to take second into the first turn, but the big surprise was that Switzerland were leading and France had dropped to fourth behind Brazil.

A few turns later, France had pushed past Brazil and as the field fanned out down the wide backstraight he was already closing on Malaysia, but again Alex Yoong, as he had in the Sprint, was on top form. It took three turns though and France was past him too. Great first lap.

The entire field were battling two wide through the turns, towards the back both Scott Speed and Robbie Kerr were flying, Great Britain driver Kerr taking nine places on the opening lap.

At the end of lap two, Mexico, Ireland, Great Britain, USA, Netherlands and China came into the pits together as out on track France was crawling all over the back of Switzerland, Great Britain would leave the pits ahead of the group after a great pit stop.

With thirty-three laps to go, the French pit crew were smiling as they took the lead into turn one, using the power boost to make the move. On the backstraight Malaysia slid out of his third place and onto the grass, dropping to sixth place.

Again the rear-view camera of Malaysia was a fans delight as New Zealand closed up behind and weaved back and forth attempting to pass. In the pits with thirty-one laps to go Scott Speed mysteriously came into the pitlane, got out of the car, looked at the rear wheel and walked into the garage to retire.

Thirty laps to go the order was France, Switzerland, Brazil, Germany and Czech Republic in the top five. The Czech driver was given a penalty on this lap also, he had jumped the start.

The rest of the running order was Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Canada, South Africa, Portugal, India, Australia, Austria, Lebanon, Great Britain, Netherlands, Ireland and China. Great Britain was the highest car having made it’s mandatory pitstop.

A lap later, Nelson Piquet began to push hard and try to close up on Switzerland, but his locking wheels and sliding created a chance for the German team to close up, thrilling the fans as he was obviously faster at this stage. At the end of the lap, Piquet came into the pit and had problems with the wheel change.

As France powered away at the head of the field, other teams were busy making their pitstops. With twenty-six to go, it was announced Brazil would be penalised for letting more than one man work on their problematic left-front, they would have to drive through the pitlane as China had already done for a similar rule infringement. The same lap also saw South Africa retire with electrical problems.

With twenty-five laps to go Nelson Piquet did his drive-through penalty. The top ten was now France, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Czech Republic, Australia and, Austria.

As the next lap began, Malaysia and Germany came into the pits, they also had problems with rear tyre changes. This is when most of us realised that the pitstops are the ultimate test for the team and drivers. It’s agonising watching a single man having to change the tyre and sort any potential problem all by himself, but when you see it as the test it is meant to be, it’s for sure a lot more of a test than an F1 pit stop is.

The problems had really mixed up the field. France were still out infront of Switzerland, but behind them were New Zealand, India and the Czech Republic. Despite his drive-through penalty Thomas Enge had managed to claw his way through the field. Great Britain, the leading team to have made their pitstop, were in eighth place now with twenty-two to go.

Thomas Enge was crawling all over the Indian gearbox and unable to pass, so with twenty one to go he came in for his pitstop, they had a small problem but did get the stop done, the mechanics thumping the wheels in frustration and passion in the process. Moments later, the French team came in too, they had a flawless stop and as he came out of the pitlane, Switzerland were leading.

One lap later New Zealand also had a perfect pitstop at the same time as India, India were slow but did not have as many problems as others, he came out of the pitlane infront of Brazil and Czech Republic, who both passed him before the end of the lap.

Eighteen laps remaining and with only Switzerland to make their pitstop, the order was Switzerland, France, Great Britain in the top three. Great Britain driver Robbie Kerr must have been shocked seeing such a low number on his pit board having started from twenty fourth on the grid.

With a thirty second lead, Switzerland would be under pressure to get their driver in and out infront of the chasing pack. That pack was beginning to close up, with Great Britain coming under pressure for third from Canada.

Sixteen laps to go and as Italy and India retired, Switzerland pitted and had heartbreaking problems with the left-rear. When they rejoined the order was France, Great Britain, Canada in the top three. Behind Canada was New Zealand who were delighting fans with superb four-wheel-drifts through the turns as he pushed hard to catch Canada.

One lap later, the safety car was deployed so the parked Indian car could be cleared. Because everyone had made their stops, no positions would be changed, but the gaps would reduce to nil.

Although the Team France car tried to waste as much time as possible catching up to the pace car as slow as he could, the race restarted with ten laps to go. The restart order was France, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland, Indonesia, Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Czech Republic, Pakistan, Portugal, Germany, Mexico, Malaysia, Australia, Austria, China and Lebanon in the top twenty positions.

As the race restarted, France took off with an excellent start, but was closely followed by Robbie Kerr, but at the back Nelson Piquet was squashed between Japan and Czech Republic and spun off into retirement. Blame laid with Japan, who moved over, Brazil had nowhere to go.

Germany again provided the crowd with something to cheer for in all the closing laps as Timo Scheider continued to perform above the level of the car alone as he battled for thirteenth place, hoping to get in the top ten for a points and money finish. The Mexico and German drivers weaved through the turns, out foxing each other as they went.

As the race wound down, the main excitement continued to come from Germany, but also New Zealand who ran in fourth. They were closing on Canada who ran third and seemed likely to pass.

Just three laps remaining, Germany was in eleventh place, just one place from scoring a single point for his efforts. A thrilling battle developed between Portugal and Germany, one lap later having swooped back and forth for position, Germany came out on top with tenth place. So well deserved.

The race wound down and those at the front kept their positions, but as a racing fan I already felt excitement about the next event. A1 Grand Prix seems to have given me what I needed to see two races in a row now.

Of course as I said, I wanted Germany to do well, because any nation that performs well on home soil will be good for the series and pull the support in from that nations fans. Although Germany did not win the event, I could feel how much it meant to the fans, the team and the driver to have got a point.

I, for one, hope they do not alter the equipment used in the pitstops, because I enjoy the drama they create for me as a viewer. I do not believe I would be showing an image of Robbie Kerr celebrating his first podium without those pitstop problems for the other teams and I don’t think the come-back by the German driver would have had the impact it did without those pit stop dramas he had.

Let’s face it, in an age where driver aids help those who are meant to be the best drivers, in an age where a tyre is set upon by an army during a pitstop, how refreshing is it to see a single man responsible for the changing of the cars wheels?

Imagine the pressure those pit crew are under. They know that if something happens, whether it’s their fault or not, they have to fix it all on their own and if it is their fault? How hard must that be.

It is also becoming obvious how much doing well means to the drivers and team members in this series now. Seeing Nicholas Lapierre put his hand on the French flag on his chest as the national anthem began brought home to me how personal this all is.

It’s more important than money, it’s more important that sponsors, team owners or anything else ever seen in motorsport before, this is about pride, national pride - the thing most of us will fight for and do our best for.

What do most professional sports people want to do? They want to perform for their country of course, they want to hold their flag up and let the world know that at that moment, their country was the best at their sport.

Best of all, we all know that while they stand there with their flag, they know that the main reason their country is in that position is down to them. How important will that feeling be to these drivers?

The way these A1 cars move, you can read them like body language, when someone is trying real, real hard you can tell. You see them drift in and out of the turns, you see them locking wheels and powersliding out of the bends. Being able to see driver use their car like this is fantastic and that’s what made this race special for me. Timo Scheider pushed so so hard for a single point and I hope he was proud and held his flag up high.