A1 Grand Prix rookies off to a false start

Published on Saturday 24 September 2005 00:40

THE new A1 Grand Prix series kicked off in chaotic fashion at Brands Hatch when first practice was halted by three red flags yesterday.

The new championship, which is billed as a World Cup of motorsport, pits nation against nation on the track, with a key feature being the arrival of countries so far unused to the sport. But that backfired in first practice in Kent when rookie mistakes littered the session, causing it to be stopped three times.

India's Karun Chandhok caused the most spectacular accident when he turned in on ex-Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen at Druids hairpin. The two cars made contact, pitching Chandhok into the air and badly damaging his car.

Chandhok had already allowed another Formula 1 refugee, Alex Yoong, to pass him but inexplicably failed to notice the bright orange Netherlands car of Verstappen, causing the pile-up.

China's nominated driver Qinghua Ma spun at the fast Paddock Hill bend and brought out the red flags once again, whilst

Russian Alexey Vasilev caused yet another stoppage when he crashed into Ireland's Michael Devaney.

Despite promises of an equal playing field with even drivers from countries with little motorsport pedigree being able to compete, the timing sheets at the end of first practice told a different story.

Scott Speed set the pace amongst wildly varying times for the United States, setting a fastest lap of one minute 16.875 seconds. Speed's GP rival Nelson Piquet Jr was a quarter of a second behind for Brazil while Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre took third. Chinese driver Ma was nine seconds off the pace.