A1 Team Indonesia continued preparations for the fourth round of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Taupo, New Zealand today. The team will line up in 19th place for tomorrow’s Sprint race and 18th for the main Feature race.

With the track kicking up plenty of dust, the field of A1GP drivers took to the track for a final practice session this morning. Satrio and the Indonesia team were hot off the mark to gain as much track time as possible in preparation for the afternoon qualifying session. The demanding track, with 13 turns over the 3.5km lap distance is a test for driver and car. The tight corners have heavy G-forces and require top level driver fitness, and the narrow Taupo track features dusty runoffs, needs precise driving and a well balanced car to get the most from it. Satrio drove consistently to finish 18th fastest after the hour and the team then started work on final preparations for qualifying.

The first two parts of the qualifying session set the Sprint race grid and the second two parts determine the order that the cars line up in for the Feature race. In the first of the team’s flying laps Satrio put in a solid effort to line up in 19th place to line up in this position on the Sprint race grid. In the final two segments he drove another two consistent laps to line up in 18th position for the Feature race.

Satrio said of the day, “It was a tough session, I made a mistake on the first corner which cost me six tenths, so we could have had a better time for the Sprint qualifying. In the Feature race I braked too late in the last corner, so again I didn’t put in a good lap time. We have the pace, so we should be better tomorrow. We need to keep the car on the track and away from any incidents as I’m sure there will be a lot of these and safety car periods, as it is such a narrow track. Hopefully tommorow we can some track positions.”

Bobby Issazadhe, Team Manager for the Indonesia team adds, “Overall it’s been a bit disappointing, as we didn’t gain enough with the new tyres and not enough improvement. I think the car has a decent balance on old tyres, so we have to play it safe and pick up on other peoples mistakes.”

The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, New Zealand race weekend concludes tomorrow with the finale of the weekend, the Sprint and Feature races.