Asian Motor Sports

A safe start on the bumpy Chengdu circuit from 11th place was to be the same place John Martin would finish here today in the first ever Chengdu China A1GP Sprint Race.

The local Chengdu crowd arrived quite early this morning as the teams prepared for their A1GP debut in the city of the Hibiscus flower, China’s third largest city.

The drivers held their pace early into the race with very little overtaking as A1 Team Ireland, A1 Team Netherlands and A1 Team Great Britain dominated proceedings from the start. John Martin had A1 Team Monaco in his sights with A1 Team Lebanon close behind.

Throughout the race Martin’s times over each of the three timed sectors was near identical to the next seven cars ahead of him without any chance of gaining a place.

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: “John did the best he could to keep the car on the track where we expected some shunts early on. The entire grid performed well today and his pace was improving over most of the race to leave us a second & a half off A1 Team Ireland. Now we can prepare for the main event, the Feature Race”

John Martin: “I am happy that we kept the car running at a good pace. It was difficult to move forward in position as everyone performed well and kept ahead of each other from the start. We’ve sorted a good strategy for the Feature Race and feel confident of a better finish”