A1GP Taupo races live on Ten Sports
MUMBAI: A1GP World Cup of Motorsport prepares to hit the track for the first races of 2009 when the series descends on New Zealand for its third visit to the Taupo Motorsport Park, and Ten Sports, the most watched sports channel in the Sub-continent, will bring the all the action live and exclusive. The Race 1 in Taupo starts on Ten Sports at 6:30 am IST on Saturday, January 24, while the Race 2 telecast begins 6:15 am IST on Sunday, January 25. For the Taupo event, A1GP will break with tradition and the Sprint race will have a standing and not a rolling start. The decision was taken on safety grounds, as in the past there have been collisions due to the tight ‘S‘ bend close to the start. After three races this season, Ireland and Portugal are in top two positions with 43 and 35 points respectively. France and New Zealand are tied third with 31 points and the hosts will look to consolidate their position on the table with the home race. Into the fourth race of the season, India have just one point and need to pull up their socks if they want to improve on their position last year. A1 Team India were 22nd in the first season, improved to 16th in 2006/07 and to 10th in 2007/08. Team India has been a favourite on the track since the last season it had two historical wins in Zhuhai, China and Brands Hatch - the last race of the season. A1 Team Pakistan are yet to open their account this season, and won‘t do so in Taupo after postponing their Season Four debut. Along with Germany, Pakistan are now planning to be on track for the first time in A1GP Gauteng, South Africa on 20-22 February. The A1GP Taupo, New Zealand event runs from 23-25 January, kicking off with the rookie driver and developing nations‘ sessions on Friday. Final practice and qualifying for the Sprint and Feature races will take place on Saturday with the two races scheduled to run on Sunday. The new Taupo Motorsport Park racetrack complex took over the original site used for the existing Taupo Car Club. The old 1.4-kilometre circuit underwent an upgrading and lengthening, to create the new international layout in 2006. The complex now also includes a motorsport business park and driver training centre. The track includes three alternative configurations, with two separate pit areas and start/finish lines, to allow simultaneous use of two tracks. The international circuit, used for A1GP, features an 830-metre straight, which also doubles as a drag strip. The track length in Taupo is 3.5km and Neel Jani of A1 Team Switzerland holds the lap record of 1:14.679s, which he set last year. |