2005-06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, United States of America

A1GP race summary
race=United States of America
race no=10 of 11
season=2005-06
date=March 12, 2006
circuit=Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
city=

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pole_team=Mexico
pole_driver=Salvador Durán
pole_time=2'30.744
pole_time1=
pole_time2=
sprint_1st_

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sprint_1st_team=Mexico
sprint_1st_driver=Salvador Durán
sprint_2nd_

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sprint_2nd_team=France
sprint_2nd_driver=Nicolas Lapierre
sprint_3rd_

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sprint_3rd_team=Portugal
sprint_3rd_driver=Alvaro Parente
main_1st_

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main_1st_team=Mexico
main_1st_driver=Salvador Durán
main_2nd_

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main_2nd_team=Germany
main_2nd_driver=Timo Scheider
main_3rd_

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main_3rd_team=Great Britain
main_3rd_driver=Robbie Kerr
FL_

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FL_team=France
FL_driver=Nicolas Lapierre
FL_time=1'17.951
FL_l

FL_mainOrsprint=Main|

The 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, United States of America was a A1 Grand Prix race, held on the weekend of March 12, 2006 at Laguna Seca.

__FORCETOC__

Report

The first American stop for the A1GP (and so far only) was doomed to fail from the start. The race was announced before Laguna Seca announced it. There was little to no advertisement for the event, and very few fans of European open wheel racing in America even knew about the event. Due to constant rain, the A1GP weekend was canceled by the track a week before the race. Fortunately, the rain did stop; however, the ground was still soaked to the point that most of the parking lots were closed in fear of vehicles getting stuck in the mud. Laguna Seca is located just a few miles from the Monterey Bay, and is at an elevation of about 750 feet. The weather chased away more fans as snow fell on Friday night.

Even with snow, a cloud burst, cold temperatures and missing cars, the A1GP was a great weekend for motorsport fans. Unfortunately, fewer than 2000 people (estimate) attended the race.

Practice

Qualifying

Qualifying was held in "ideal" conditions compared to the rest of the weekend and the lap times were quick

print race

With rain near by, officials changed the start times for both races. Temperatures were in the 40's, and the diehard fans were in for quite a show. Less than five minutes before the start, a torrent rain storm hit the track hard. Teams quickly switched to rain tires and put on a great show. By the half way point of the 30 minute sprint race, the rain stopped, yet there was enough water that a dry line could not be found.

Main race

By the start of the main race, the track was mostly dry, however there were enough wet spots on the track to make it dangerous for slicks. Many cars spun hitting the wet curbs. There were also some questionable calls by the officials causing Jos Verstappen to storm out of his car in the middle of the race.

Results

Qualifying Results

Qualifying took place on Saturday, march 11, 2006.

1. Mexico Salvador Duran 2min 30.744secs2. France Nicolas Lapierre 2min 30.895secs3. New Zealand Matt Halliday 2min 31.596secs 4. Malaysia Alex Yoong 2min 31.810secs5. Australia Ryan Briscoe 2min 31.964secs 6. Great Britain Robbie Kerr 2min 31.970secs7. Portugal Alvaro Parente 2min 32.042secs 8. Ireland Ralph Firman 2min 32.098secs9. Germany Timo Scheider 2min 32.307secs10. South Africa Stephen Simpson 2min 32.535secs11. Lebanon Graham Rahal 2min 32.560secs 12. Netherlands Jos Verstappen 2min 32.571secs13. Italy Max Papis 2min 32.745secs14. Czech Republic Tomáš Enge 2min 32.838secs 15. Indonesia Ananda Mikola 2min 33.249secs16. Switzerland Giorgio Mondini 2min 33.299secs17. USA Bryan Herta 2min 33.602secs 18. Canada Patrick Carpentier 2min 33.641secs19. Brazil Christian Fittipaldi 2min 33.686secs 20. Austria Mathias Lauda 2min 34.338secs21. Pakistan Adam Khan 2min 36.325secs22. China Tengyi Jiang 2min 37.715secs

Sprint Race Results

The Sprint Race took place on Sunday, March 12, 2006.

Main Race Results

The Main Race took place on Sunday, March 12, 2006.

1. Mexico Salvador Duran 1hr 00min 52.974secs 40 laps2. Germany Timo Scheider +2.042secs3. Great Britain Robbie Kerr +3.117secs4. Portugal Alvaro Parente +10.420secs 5. Canada Patrick Carpentier +14.183secs6. Ireland Ralph Firman +20.805secs7. Italy Max Papis +23.199secs8. Australia Ryan Briscoe +24.236secs 9. Austria Mathias Lauda +29.229secs10. Malaysia Alex Yoong +30.072secs11. Pakistan Adam Khan +31.391secs12. New Zealand Matt Halliday +31.977secs 13. Switzerland Giorgio Mondini +2 laps14. France Nicolas Lapierre +3 laps15. USA Bryan Herta +3 laps 16. Czech Republic Tomáš Enge +6 laps 17. China Tengyi Jiang +7 laps18. Brazil Christian Fittipaldi +11 laps 19. Indonesia Ananda Mikola +12 laps20. Lebanon Graham Rahal +13 laps21. Netherlands Jos Verstappen +23 laps22. South Africa Stephen Simpson +37 laps

A1 Grand Prix race report
Years_of_season = 2005-06
Previous_race_in_season = 2005-06 A1GP, Mexico
Next_race_in_season = 2005-06 A1GP, China