Cristiano Morgado makes his second appearance as rookie driver for A1 Team South Africa alongside regular race driver Adrian Zaugg in the sixth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Portugal this weekend (April 10 to 12).

The 29-year-old from Durban, who is a former national kart champion and won the Rotax Max kart world championship in 2003, will be at the wheel of Vulindlela in Friday’s rookie session at the brand new Autódromo Internacional do Algarve circuit. A1GP returns to Portugal for only the second time in its four-year history following the round at Estoril in the series’ first year in 2005.

Mike Carroll, general manager of A1 Team South Africa: “Heading towards the event we had discussions about executing the rookie shoot-out that didn’t get to happen before Kyalami, but also had discussions about rotating the rookie session through the key contenders. Coming out of the A1GP, Gauteng, Gavin Cronje felt he was unable to operate to the best of his ability within the tight confines of the latest race car’s cockpit – unfortunately this means the tight cockpit has claimed another victim and Gavin will be out of the running for driving duties with A1 Team South Africa until such time as a solution is found.

“Cristiano is being rewarded with his second opportunity as rookie driver in Portugal on the back of his dominant wins in the recent Formula Volkswagen round at Kyalami, which reinforced his standing relative to any other contenders and we’re really pleased to give him another shot.”

Adrian Zaugg: “I feel well prepared for the races and am looking forward to getting back in the car after such a long break. I haven’t driven this track before. There are a few drivers who have, including Nicolas Prost (France) and Neel Jani (Switzerland), who tested there with their LMP1 team for Le Mans, and also Felipe Albuquerque (Portugal). We need to score a lot of points in the final three rounds to climb back into the top 10 at least!”

Autodromo Internacional do Algarve is situated near the city of Portimao and is one of the most modern and multi-functional race circuit complexes in the world. With a karting circuit nearby, it offers a world-class road circuit with 64 different layout permutations and lengths from 3,46 km to 4,69 km, an off road circuit, a sports complex, a modern technology park and a top-class tourist resort. Vodafone A1GP Algarve will utilise the full 4,69 km circuit, which is clockwise and has 17 turns.

Saturday’s qualifying will be broadcast live on SABC3 from 15.00 to 17.00 and Sunday’s sprint and feature races will be broadcast from 1500 to 1730 (the recorded sprint race will be screened from 1500 while the feature race will be live from 16h00).

Championship points after race 10 of 16:
1 Switzerland 73; 2 Ireland 70; 3 Portugal 64; 4 Netherlands 56; France 41; 6 New Zealand 36; 7 Malaysia 32; 8 Australia 30; 9 Monaco 23; 10 Great Britain 20; 11 South Africa and United States 19; 13 Brazil 16; 14 Italy 10; 15 India and Lebanon 8; 17 Korea and China 4; 19 Indonesia 2.