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A look through the record books...

Tuesday, July 01, 2008
After three epic seasons, containing 64 races across 17 circuits in 14 countries, there have been many feats of brilliance in A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. Many records have been set, only for them to be broken, and broken again.
With the clock counting down until the 2008/09 season begins in September, and the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari cars being readied for the battle, it was time for A1GP.com to have a little look back through the record books and pull out some of the standard… and not so standard A1GP records.


Most wins
Team: France (14)
Driver: Nico Hulkenberg (nine)
France heads the team victory league, while Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg is A1GP’s most successful driver.
Most pole positions
Team: Switzerland (nine)
Driver: Neel Jani (nine)
Neel Jani’s brilliance over a single lap means that both he and Switzerland top the pole positions league, having started first in each of the last three seasons.
Youngest capped driver
Armaan Ebrahim (16 years, five months, six days)
This record will take some beating. Teenager Ebrahim (A1 Team India) become A1GP’s youngest ever racer in the Estoril Sprint race way back in 2005, and nobody has since come close. He remains the only 16-year-old to race an A1GP car.


Youngest person to win an A1GP race
Christian Vietoris (18 years, nine months, 19 days)
Germany’s Vietoris brilliantly won Taupo’s Feature race in 2008 to become A1GP’s youngest winner, knocking four months off the record held by country man Nico Hulkenberg. Robert Wickens (A1 Team Canada) was just two months older than Vietoris when he won his first race a few weeks later in Durban but…
Youngest driver on pole position
Robert Wickens (18 years, five months, six days)
…his stellar qualifying performance meant he was still good enough to be A1GP’s youngest ever pole sitter that very weekend.
Team with most number of different winners
France and Germany
Both have had three different winners racing for it. France’s gold medal roll-call includes Alexandre Premat, Nicolas Lapierre and Loic Duval, while Germany’s victories were taken by Nico Hulkenberg, Michael Ammermuller and Christian Vietoris.


Most caps
Alex Yoong (54)
So far, Malaysia’s Yoong is the only driver to achieve the milestone of a half-century of races for his country…
Most consecutive caps
Alex Yoong (45)
…so it is no surprise to learn he is also the driver with the highest number of consecutive races too. He managed a 45-race stretch from his home event in 2005 through to Taupo in 2008. The run was broken when the team elected to recall Fairuz Fauzy in a bid to strengthen competitiveness.
Most consecutive points finishes
A1 Team France (21 races)
A1 Team’s France’s strong run of points finishes stretches from Germany’s Sprint race in 2005 through to its maiden victory at Zandvoort 2007. New Zealand got a run of 16 going, but it ended when Jonny Reid spun out of contention early in the Mexico City Feature race in 2008.
Largest gaps between caps for a country
David Martinez (49 races)
Mexico chose to recall the 26-year-old to its squad in Brands Hatch in 2008, and with his last start coming 49 races previously, it meant that Martinez set the unusual record for the largest number of races between caps for a driver in A1GP. Martinez was capped four times for the squad in the 2005/06 season, finishing in the points in his maiden race in Germany in ’05. Before Brands Hatch, he last raced in Durban, South Africa in January ’06.
Longest gap between race wins
France (36 races)
Sure, teams like Brazil are still currently on a 62-race winless streak since their last glory, however, France holds the record for the longest wait between wins. A whopping 36 races separated Alex Premat’s win in the Mexico Feature in 2006 with Loic Duval’s Sprint win in Sydney in 2008.


Most races competed in before actually winning one
Robbie Kerr (33 races)
Despite being one of the fastest and most consistent drivers on the A1GP grid, it didn’t stop Robbie Kerr being unlucky. Despite leading in only his second race, it took him 31 further races to break his duck, with a dominant win in the Sprint race in Shanghai. Only one other driver has competed in more races but remained winless – Indonesia’s Ananda Mikola.
Biggest winning margin
42.849 seconds (A1GP Sepang, Malaysia 2006/7 Feature)
In torrential rain showers, A1 Team Germany talent Nico Hulkenberg mastered the conditions to win by a staggering margin. In the ultra-close world of A1GP, it has never even come close to being beaten.
Smallest winning margin
0.243 seconds (A1GP Durban, South Africa 2005/06 Sprint race)
France’s Alexandre Premat just managed to hold off Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr around the tight and unforgiving streets of Durban in the inaugural season. It is the only A1GP race to be decided by less than a quarter of a second. Blink and you would have missed it.
Team with most amount of drivers to lead a race
France (Five)
A1 Team France has managed to get five different drivers out front in its car - Alexandre Premat, Nicolas Lapierre, Loic Duval, Jonathan Cochet, Franck Montagny – although only the first three have managed to be there when the chequered flag flew at the end.
Medal toppers
France (30 medals)
Thanks in part to its dominant first season, Les Bleus have racked up a staggering 30 medals for their trophy cabinet.


Nation with the most amount of capped drivers
Australia, Brazil, Mexico (eight drivers each)
To date, 116 drivers have raced in A1GP, but three teams in particular have been responsible for a significant proportion of that. However those three, it could be argued that Australia is infact the most successful because…
Nation with most number different drivers collecting medals
Australia (Five)
….it took less than two seasons for a quintet of drivers to score podium finishes in Jackaroo. The roll call even comprises three drivers, Will Power, Marcus Marshall, and Ian Dyk, who won them in their maiden A1GP weekends. Ryan Briscoe and Karl Reindler were also quite quick off the mark, and both scored their podiums with just a few races under their belts. Australia’s incredible record here still stands, despite no further podium places being scored in the 2007/08 season.

Season with most number of victors
2007/08 (Ten different winners)
In what proved to be the closest season ever, just under half of all nations won a race. Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, USA all heard their national anthem being played to the crowd.
Nation with the most A1GP victories on home soil
Great Britain (Two)
A1 Team Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr has taken two victories at Brands Hatch – in the Sprint race in 2007 and the corresponding race in 2008. Only one other nation has taken a home victory, New Zealand, in Taupo in ‘08.

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