Interview A1 GP Netherlands team boss Jan Lammers
Published on 01 August 2005 by Huub Rothengatter
We were able to get more information concerning A1 Grand Prix, the new series in which Jos will be competing, in an interview with team boss of Team Nederland; ex-Formula 1 driver Jan Lammers. Despite the busy times ahead with the planned tests at Silverstone Jan was prepared to give this website more information.
What is the A1 Grand Prix series like?
It is a single seater series in which countries compete for a World Championship. This series is the brainchild of Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum.
The cars are especially build for this series by chassis constructor Lola and it has a 3.5 liter Zytek engine and Cooper (Avon) tyres. One of the most important demands of the Sheikh was that the cars were made for exciting races with plenty of overtaking.
Is it true that there will not be an individual drivers championship?
The aim is to win the A1 Grand Prix World Cup. The ‘orange’ feeling will play a big part.in this competition. The final title will go to a country and not to a team or driver. In total there will be a maximum of 25 countries participating in this series. The Netherlands will be able to play an important part with a very motivated team.
How many cars can each country enter?
Each country can only enter one car. It will be driven by the same driver all throughout the season, in our team that is Jos Verstappen. We are able to employ a spare driver though.
This week you are testing at Silverstone, are there more tests to be expected?
In principal there won’t be a lot of testing in this series. After each race all the cars are handed in to the organisation. Then it will be disassembled, checked over and prepared for the next race. The only chance you have to do a proper setup for the car is during the race weekend.
In this series will there be a race weekend, like in Formula 1, or just a one day race?
A race weekend will last 3 days but we don’t know what the exact schedule for each weekend will be like. This will be announced together with the sports regulations. A1 Grand Prix is very careful with these things. If there is anything they are unsure of, they will not announce it.
The series are being advertised as affordable entertainment, can you explain this?
When you imagine how much entertainment and glamour will be offered this would mean the A1 Grand Prix is definitely affordable. Weekend tickets are about 59 Euros, a day ticket is about 44 Euros and for and extra 15 Euros you will have a decent seat on one of the stands. For another 15 Euros you can buy a paddock or pit card.
Is the definite colour of the car known yet?
The grapevine has worked well on this one, this knowledge is already in the public domain…yes it will definitely be in the national colours of The Netherlands; ORANGE!
There are also rumours that the Sheikh is taking the total risk of financing the whole this for the complete first year. Is this true? I know of the rumours, but I don’t know if they are true. And if they were I am not the right person to make any comments on that.
Don’t you think that there will be a big difference in quality in teams and drivers, because of the fact that there are quite a few nations represented who don’t have a racing history. Aren’t you afraid to have your car knocked out of the race by another, inexperienced team?
Not yet, it will be up to the most intelligent of the parties concerned to have the right solution, so the better drivers just have to get along with the inexperienced drivers. You need each other, at least the teams do, to create competition which in its turn will have a good effect on growth. There is a very sportive atmosphere, we will help our competitors where we can. Then we have the aim to beat them so you have to force yourself to improve as well. As long as we are able to make the action and everybody else is following that’s how we like to see, but it’s not that far yet…..we will just have to wait and see.
Thorsten Hendriks
