What and where is Zhuhai?
Round 4 of the 2007/2008 A1GP series takes us to a new venue, Zhuhai (pronounced Ju-hai) in Guangdong province of southern China. While Zhuhai may be new to A1GP, and to most motor sport fans in general, neither the circuit nor surrounding area are new to the sport.
Situated across the boarder from Macau, which holds the famous F3 Grand Prix each November, Zhuhai was the first location in China to both hold noteworthy racing events, and the first purpose-built facility. International sports cars arrived in the city in the mid 1990’s to race on a temporary street circuit, and in November of 1996 Zhuhai International circuit (ZIC) was opened. The intention was originally to bid for a F1 Grand Prix, and in the late nineties Jacques Villeneuve sampled the circuit. This ambition failed to come to fruition, however in the years since ZIC has developed into a busy hub for motor sport in the region, with regular visits from Asian Formula 3, and the Asian Festival of Speed (including Renault V6 Asia, Formula BMW, touring cars and the Asian Porsche Supercup series). These events typically fill a large grandstand along the start/finish straight, with corporate sponsorship, product promotions and activities for fans providing a suitable atmosphere. Zhuhai therefore has already developed a feel of being a teenager in racing circuit terms, and the arrival of A1GP can be considered it’s coming of age.
The circuit itself, being a modern site planned from a new site on flat land, is wide enough for overtaking, and already includes all of the permanent facilities need by the teams, organizers, guests and media. The track is reasonably wide, and should therefore be good for overtaking, and produce an exciting race. From a drivers point of view, there are perhaps too many slow corners rather than fast ones, however TV viewers will hopefully find few causes of complaint.
The weather will not likely be a factor. While rain is possible in December, winter in southern China usually involves mild temperatures of mid to low 20’s, and if rain does arrive it would not be of the tropical nature as can be seen at Sepang.
Should the drivers find time away from their racing and commercial commitments to look around, they will find a pleasant city. With a population of only 860,000 as of 2004, it is small by Chinese standards, with a low population density. The city is dotted with parks and greenery, and being next to the South China Sea, enjoys much more clear air than is found in Shanghai or other parts of this rapidly industrializing nation. It is also remarkably new, with the city only developing into a significant urban area in the 1980’s after being designated a special economic zone in 1980. Prior to that it was mainly rural fields! Being a neighbour and weekend retreat from Macau and Hong Kong, Zhuhai also enjoys an active nightlife.
Zhuhai will therefore no doubt provide a more than suitable addition to A1GP, with a large, enthusiastic and motor sport savvy crowd providing a great atmosphere, at a tried and tested circuit where the combination of straights and slow to medium corners will encourage close racing. A1GP provides great racing in any case, and this weekend will be no exception.
Sources:
http://www.zic.com.cn/zicen/
http://www.visitzhuhai.com/english/
Zhuhai Friday
Rolling out of bed, I then opened my hotel room curtain windows to reveal a fine but somewhat hazy day. Not normally a morning person, it didn’t take long to perk up with the realisation that three days at an A1GP race meeting lay ahead, thanks to A1GP and A1podium.com After a quick breakfast, I grabbed a taxi outside the hotel, expecting to get to the circuit in time for drivers photo shoot, scheduled for 10.10am. I’ve been to the circuit once before, but forgot how far it was. After at least a half hour taxi ride along the relatively scenic (for China anyway) coastal road heading north out of Zhuhai, I made it to the circuit front entrance with about five minutes to spare. The media accreditation centre was well sign posted and easy to find, just off one side to the main entrance. I promptly handed my New Zealand drivers licence as a form of ID.
“Your confirmation letter please sir”, the charming local lass said in very good English. A moment of panic then swept across me, as I fruitlessly dug into my camera kit bag for the printout. Circuit map, found. Weekend schedule, found. Media guide, found. Confirmation letter, nada! With thoughts of another two long taxi rides back to the hotel to retrieve it from my email and printing it out running through my head, I was then asked what media organisation I was from. “A1podium.com” I replied. “Ah ok, here is your pass, Mr.Steve!”. With the magic phrase “A1podium”, I was in!
I entered the paddock at precisely 10.10am, precisely the time and location that the drivers’ photo shoot was supposed to be. Walking the length of the paddock, no drivers were to be found, however. Thinking they might have moved it to the media centre, I then climbed a flight of stairs into the pit lane building in order to find it. On the second floor however, I was confronted with a wave of drivers, including Tomas Enge, Ian Dyk, Adam Khan, Jonny Reid, Earl Bamber and Narain Kartikeyan, who had come down from the corporate hospitality areas. Thinking they were perhaps now on their way to the photo shoot I tailed them, only to find they were heading back to their respective team offices. Plenty of time to get driver snaps later, anyway.
A few minutes later, I decided to head out to the back of the circuit to find some good photography locations before the rookie sessions began. I soon found a gateway to the circuit inner access road, and walked quite a distance down to a slow right hander, at the far end of the circuit. With the sun behind me this was a good location, and some images can be found on the appropriate page in this A1reporters web site.
On my way there I had come across the amusing site of Khalil Beschir and Adam Khan being accosted by an over-zealous security guard, not happy at their vantage point half way up an observation tower (what else is an observation tower for I wonder?). A while later these two joined me down at the far end right hander, to watch proceedings, before disappearing again off towards the paddock.
In between the rookie sessions and afternoon practice, I stayed out around the circuit to also catch the supporting Asian F3 practice, and spent the breaks in between sheltering behind a tree.
While I am not enough of an expert to spot subtle differences in driving style, Erik Janis’ ability to lock an inside brake on every consecutive lap, and Narain Kartikeyan’s unique corner entry were two things I remember from the sessions. While every other driver took a linear approach to the left hander where I watched the afternoon session, Kartikeyan would position his car on the very outside of the circuit, almost with his right rear wheel off the circuit. In the final braking area he would then dart across the track, entering the apex on a narrow inside line.
Surprisingly on a circuit that was new for almost all the drivers, there was little incident. Near the very end of the afternoon session Joao Urbano’s Portugal car stopped just past the corner I was standing, but apart from that there were no significant offs or spins that I saw.
Following the end of the afternoon session I started legging it back to the media centre, in order to catch the afternoon’s press conference. I was happily intercepted by a golf buggy shuttle, so had no problem making it. An irony of being at the circuit is that you actually often have no idea of the results, so didn’t have a clue why it was Cheng Congfu, Adam Carroll and Michael Ammermuller who appeared. A1GP circuit commentator Bruce Jones started proceedings, stating that Ammermuller was the fastest rookie, Carroll fastest for the day, and Frankie Cheng as the local driver.
Michael Ammermuller was asked for comments on the circuit, who said it was good, but dirty offline and would therefore be difficult to overtake on, therefore requiring an error from the man in front. The irony of that comment considering his controversial moves in Sepang three weeks ago seemed to pass over everyone’s head or the assembled journalists perhaps had decided it was already yesterday’s news.
Adam Carroll covered how things are now clicking into place for the Ireland team, and after earlier seat fitting troubles he can now drive the car comfortably. He expressed hope that their Friday form can continue throughout the weekend.
Frankie Cheng mentioned the disadvantage of not having someone running in the rookie sessions, as it means the afternoon driver has to both bed in the brakes for the weekend etc, and also work on the setup program for Saturday. He suggested that the standard of A1GP is higher than before in terms of both drivers and teams, and that others would catch up tomorrow. He stated a podium as a realistic target for the weekend. Following that he then had most people in the room lost as he responded in Mandarin to a question posed by a local reporter.
The remaining half hour I spent at the circuit was then spent wandering up and down the pit lane, snapping a few more photographs before my memory card capacity ran out. All in all a great day at the circuit, and the best of all is that there is still two days to go!
Zhuhai Saturday Report
Day two of three down and excitement is certainly building here before the race tomorrow. Previously it was sometimes disheartening being an A1GP fan, as your friends and colleagues around you claimed total ignorance of what you love, however today was a very pleasant surprise. In the hotel elevator on my way back, two locals recognised the A1GP logo on the shirt I was wearing, and assuming that I wouldn’t understand Chinese started talking about that A1GP thing. Then when having a beer with dinner a Macau resident pulled out about five A1GP tickets out of his pocket. I believe tomorrow will be an exciting day, but even if not it is nice to discover that A1GP has been properly promoted here.
The coming of age of A1GP, following the Ferrari announcement, was also clearly evident in this afternoon’s press conference. Following the televised interviews by John Watson after qualifying, the three top qualifiers then also make their way to the media centre, where yours truly and the regular media get to hear more of their thoughts. Following that there was an additional session today, featuring A1GP Team China seat holder Liu Yu, A1GP Asia Pacific General Manager David Clare and A1GP Chief Executive Tony Teixeira (henceforth refered to as TT). A question posed by the circuit commentator Bruce Jones, put to TT, was telling: “I understand that your phone has been ringing non-stop since the Ferrari announcement, what other big announcements do you have up your sleeve?”. While the answer given did not give away any major announcements, it was put in a tone that suggests that he indeed does have a few. He did at least give away that there will be 26 Ferraris on the grid next season, including some new teams…
David Clare for his part stated that he has a problem – that there are now too many potential franchises and circuits in Asia, and that they might not be able to accommodate them in order to remain a “World Cup”. Presumeably Zhuhai will retain it’s place, as Clare outlined how nice it is to come to a well organised, well developed track, in a warm place in winter. He didn’t express it explicitly, but he could almost have been taking a dig at the freezing cold farce that was the Beijing street circuit this time last year.
Other interesting points covered during this press conference were that Rory Byrne at Ferrari will be designing the new A1GP car as a special consultant (which was described by TT as a “huge accolade for A1GP”), and that A2GP is planned for 2009 as a national championship. This press conference was a highlight for me, as it was so positive and illustrated what a bright future A1GP has.
Before those three, Michael Ammermuller, Neel Jani and Oliver Jarvis had commented on how tight the field now is in A1GP, and how one small mistake will lose you places. Ammermuller suggested that of the two races the Sprint is the better one to be on pole for, as in the feature race there is time and pitstops to make up places. Neel Jani expressed relief at being on the front couple of rows, as he believes further back there will definitely be trouble at the first corner.
The rest of the day was spent alternating between the media centre, F3 support race paddock, the pit lane (between sessions, as only photographers are allowed while the cars are active), and A1GP paddock for the driver’s autograph session. Being on the inside of the spectator fence there is always something to go and see or do.
Being a little sunburnt from being around the circuit yesterday I decided the best plan of attack was stay around the paddock, and the best vantage point for qualifying was actually in the media centre. In air conditioned comfort it was possible to watch the action on large screens, and the timing monitors at the same time.
As it turned out the media centre was also the best place to take pictures anyway. Being located just about the pitlane entry, it was easy to snap the cars returning from the track. I was seated directly above the team China pits, and before Frankie Cheng pulled out the loud noise of his engine being fired up gave me enough warning to get prepared. Following scruitineering other cars were also pushed up the pitlane directly under my nose, resulting in some birds-eye view shots which I am very pleased with.
The action starts again tomorrow morning at 11am with the Sprint race, and it is sure to be one to watch. I am looking forward to an exciting day again tomorrow, and know that at the end of it I’ll have mixed emotions having had a very enjoyable experience, but at the same time sad that the weekend will be over.
Zhuhai Sunday Report
What a sensational day to top off an excellent weekend. Speaking to someone in the know outside the Team India garage after the race, the comment was made that today’s result will be a popular victory. From observations in the paddock it appears that Team India is one of the most passionate about their team, and was the only team to have a PR person stationed in the media centre, a sign that they are serious about raising their profile and the long term future.
I watch both Sprint and Feature races from the media centre, with the benefit of large screen TV’s and timing screens. The atmosphere during both was electric. With 80% of the assembled media local, the cheers that went up when Cheng Congfu overtook Ireland’s Adam Carroll to take third spot in the Sprint race almost brought the roof down. Likewise in the Feature race when the United States ran wide allowing China to overtake, a loud cheer went up.
As mentioned also evident in the media room were some team PR, plus a couple of Indian media. Their joy is clear to see when early in the Feature race Narain Kartikeyan set what was fastest lap up to that point. When Switzerland and the UK had slow pit stops the joy turned to quiet nervousness, until a couple of laps before the end when it was realised that India would hold off New Zealand for their first win, at which point the joy once again became evident.
I deliberately sat next to the window for both races, and another highlight was looking out to see the China team celebrating on the pit wall after their Sprint race podium. A comment made more than once during the weekend was that China personifies one of the main objectives for A1GP, which is to develop motorsport in nations where it previously had not been popular. The race weekend program mentions that in the very first test session before season one China was seven seconds of the pace, and to show such improvement, and to score a podium at home, was a great result.
Looking across the track at the main grandstand, it was also fantastic to see the large crowd cheering on their nation. The Chinese language circuit commentator had whipped up the crowd’s enthusiasm before the race by leading a mass chant of “Go China!”, and after third place had been taken during the Sprint race a wave of cheers from the grandstand followed him down the front straight.
From first arrival at the circuit before the Sprint race I could see that the crowd size was going to be decent, although was somewhat disappointed at that point to see that the grandstand was only half full. By the time I arrived in the paddock at about half an hour before the race, the team garages were already empty and the cars in position on the grid, with drivers milling around and tyre warmers on the cars. As I watched proceedings have out the window of the media centre and half on the TV monitors, the countdown to the race seemed to pass quickly. The atmosphere at that point was like the calm before a storm, except for one poor team Indonesia mechanic who sprinted as quickly as he could down the length of the pit lane back towards their garage, and repeated the exercise in the other direction clutching a tool of some sort. A hurried front wing adjustment seemed to follow.
Following the Sprint race I made my way down to the paddock, although the drivers seem to have quickly disappeared back into the team offices within a few minutes of the race finishing. I therefore went back to the media centre to watch the supporting Asian F3 race on the monitors (some good racing despite less than 10 cars). I was almost alone at this point as the rest of the media seemed to decide that lunch was a higher priority. After then grabbing some food myself from the very nice buffet that A1GP puts on for the media, I decided to head back across the foot bridge that crosses the start finish straight into the public areas. The crowd was obviously building, with large groups keeping display stands and food and beverage outlets busy. In a tent a replica of the black car that John Watson drives was being photographed on masse (the real one was in a pit garage). I managed to find some merchandise sales, however to my surprise this was very limited, with only a few China shirts, and lone South Africa and USA shirts available. As A1GP can claim to be ‘Powered by Ferrari’ from January 1, I presume that this was a case of selling off old stock and that a new range of merchandise will be available in Taupo.
Heading back to the paddock, I saw that there were a large number of people in the pit lane, so snuck through the Cooper tires garage and snapped a few pictures before the pit lane were cleared. It was then back to the media centre again for the feature race. Five minutes before the start of the race people were still taking their seats in the grandstand opposite, and in total it would have been over 90% full.
The feature race seemed to pass quickly, which I mostly watched on the monitors, except for the pit stop windows, when I stood by the window with camera in hand. With team China directly below and Pakistan next to them, I kept an eye on the mechanic holding out the pit board, so I knew when these two cars would be coming in. Fortunately they came in on separate laps, so I was able to be well prepared to rattle off a number of snaps of their pit stops.
Following the feature race all and sundry make their way into the pit lane, or at least onto the track for the spectators. I got there in time to see most of the drivers queuing to be weighed, having just climbed out of their cars. The podium was just above where I was, so together with assembled India, New Zealand and South Africa team personnel, I clapped the top three place getters. I then had just enough time left to take some more shots of the cars parked in the pit lane, before heading upstairs one more time to grab a complimentary race program, before then putting my life in the hands of an insane Zhuhai taxi driver to get me to the airport.
I left tired but happy after a great weekend, for which I would very much like to thank A1GP and A1podium.com
