Brands Hatch, England (Sunday 29 April, 2007) – A1 Team Canada scored a tenth place Sprint finish and 12th place Feature finish on Sunday as the 2006-07 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport concluded at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit in Great Britain. Sean McIntosh cracked the top-ten in the morning having started 14th in the Sprint following a disappointing qualifying session but a tire issue robbed the Vancouver-native of a potential top-six finish in the afternoon’s 50-lap Feature.
With the team failing to score at the final round of the nation versus nation series, Canada missed out on emulating last season’s feat of a top-ten finishing position in the A1GP Nations Standings. Things could have looked very different had the outcome of the Feature race been different, the Canadian team ending the sophomore season 11th overall just two points behind tenth placed Mexico (35-33).
Sunday morning’s 15-lap Sprint race brought little in the way of drama and an error-free run from McIntosh produced another top-ten outing for the Canadian racer and a fifth row grid-slot for the afternoon’s Feature race. Gaining a spot as the 22-strong field dashed to Paddock Hill bend at the start of the Sprint, Sean then climbed to 12th a lap later. Cracking the top-ten just after the half-way marker, the 21-year-old held on to take the checkered tenth. Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr made series history from pole, his Sprint race victory the first for an A1GP nation on home soil with Germany’s Nico Hülkenberg second and Italy’s Enrico Toccacelo third.
Up two places by the end of the Feature’s opening lap, Sean held station through to the end of lap nine when he headed to the pits behind race leader Hülkenberg. A close call exiting the pits, where he successfully avoided contact with America’s Jonathan Summerton, was soon followed by a steering issue. The culprit was soon deemed to be a tire related issue and it wasn’t long before the Canadian’s front-right tire began to blister. Sitting seventh McIntosh was then passed in succession by the French, New Zealand and Malaysian cars before the tire eventually let loose forcing a second trip to the pits.
With twenty laps remaining Sean was back on-track but languishing down in 17th. A relatively lonely end to the race, albeit with a competitive car, was the result of his earlier tire problems, Sean placing 14th at the checkered and moving to 12th following the post-race exclusions of Ireland and Switzerland. Hülkenberg scored Germany’s ninth win of the year, the championship winning team beating home favorite Kerr to the win after a thrilling race-long battle with Toccacelo in third.
“Well that’s just racing,” said McIntosh reflecting on his tire woe. “I made a good start; I gained a couple of places before coming in for my pit-stop. I managed to stay ahead of the American car exiting the pits but after that every time I tried to turn left I knew there was something wrong with the car. I guess the tire wasn’t made properly as it started to delaminate.”
He continued, “I managed to stay on the pace for the next five laps but I could see a black line starting to form on the tire. Eventually it just let go so I came back into the pits for the change. I managed to put in some pretty quick laps, up there with the likes of Germany and Great Britain. It’s too bad as otherwise we could have been looking at a top-six finish!”
The 2007-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport starts with a return to Circuit Park Zandvoort, The Netherlands, Friday 28th – Sunday 30th September 2007 – www.a1gp.com
Final 2006-07 A1GP Nations Standings after Round 11/11: 1st Germany (128) - CHAMPIONS, 2nd New Zealand (93), 3rd Great Britain (92), 4th France (67), 5th Netherlands (57), 6th Malaysia (55), 7th Italy (52), 8th Switzerland (50), 9th USA (42), 10th Mexico (35), *11th CANADA (33)
