A1 Team Brazil’s Felipe Guimarães had a frustrating day in New Zealand, finishing today’s A1GP Taupo Sprint race in 14th position and the Feature race in 12th position after being hit in both races by Monaco, sending him into a spin in each event.

After struggling with car set-up in yesterday’s qualifying, the team had to begin today’s Sprint race from the seventh row of the grid in 13th place. He made a clean getaway at the start, but was tipped into a spin on the second corner of the first lap by Monaco. He managed to keep the car going but lost time, rejoining the pack ten seconds behind and in 19th position. The team opted to keep him out late and Felipe was the last to come in for his compulsory stop on lap eight. He emerged in 15th and maintained his position until the chequered flag after 15 laps. After the race, Monaco was penalised and Brazil was promoted to a 14th place finish.

Felipe made a brilliant start in the 50-lap Feature race, moving up to eighth from his 12th place starting spot. However, in a case of history almost repeating itself, he was hit on his left rear tyre by Monaco on lap nine which sent him into a big spin off track. He fell back to 13th position and then lost two further places after the first compulsory pitstop. He had made his way up to 12th by lap 44 after off-track incidents for GBR and Malaysia and a drive-through penalty for China, and crossed the line in that position.

The fifth round of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will take place 20-22 February at Kyalami, near Johannesburg in South Africa – a brand new venue for the series.

Felipe Guimarães:
Sprint Race: “It’s disappointing that I couldn’t get a better result but in such a short race it was decided when Monaco touched the back of my car on the second corner of the first lap and sent me into a spin. I was able to get going again and the car actually felt good throughout the race. We changed some things overnight and there was a big improvement from yesterday, especially on the brakes. We had a little problem in the pitstop but it was okay.”
Feature Race: “I am a bit disappointed because it has been a difficult weekend. I had a very good start to the race but then Monaco hit me and I had the spin. I was having a good race after that but unfortunately made a few mistakes. The car was good and should have been in the top ten.”

Fernando Avallone, Franchise Manager: “We have mixed feelings about today. We were on the back foot from qualifying yesterday as we started near the back in both races. Today though we found a pace that we have been chasing for a while and set a few positive laps that were close in time to the leaders. Felipe made a phenomenal start to the Feature race but then encountered Monaco on track for the second time in the day, which put an end to our aims for points. We’ve now found a good direction with our set-up so we are looking forward to going to Kyalami where it will be a level playing field for everyone.”

Sprint Race
1. Ireland (Adam Carroll)
2. Switzerland (Neel Jani)
3. Netherlands (Robert Doornbos)
15. Brazil (Felipe Guimarães)

Feature Race
1. Switzerland (Neel Jani)
2. Ireland (Adam Carroll)
3. Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque)
12. Brazil (Felipe Guimarães)