The World Of Open-Wheel Racing Unveils A New Player

The new A1GP car – The 600bhp V8 is due to be given its first shakedown, by former grand prix driver, and A1GP commentator, John Watson on Friday, May 16, 2008. Image Credit: CAD drawing released by A1GP series organizers

The World Of Open-Wheel Racing Unveils A New Player

The world of open-wheel racing is expected to have a new platform on which to base the next generation of a racing series starting sometime around September 2008.

The new chassis and engine combination was designed by Farrari for the international team racing series, A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, and will have its first shakedown run later this week.

The 600bhp V8 is due to be given its first shakedown, by former grand prix driver, and A1GP commentator, John Watson on Friday, May 16, 2008.

About A1GP – from the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport website:

A1GP is the first opportunity in any area of motorsport for nations to compete on a level playing field. It is a series where technology and innovation are deliberately equalized, making success dependent on human bravery and pure driving skill. Team and driver combine to create a performance advantage and the winning nation raises its flag in celebration.

A1GP is more than just another motorsport phenomenon; it's an entirely new concept. Pitting driver against driver and country against country for the first time in history, A1GP brings together 22 nations, representing 80 per cent of the world's population, to compete as equals, without financial or technological advantage.

A1GP made the deal with Ferrari in October, 2007. Image Credit: Atlas F1 Bulletin Board

This excerpted from AutoSport News -

Series reveal first image of new car
By Steven English – autosport.com/news, Monday, May 12th 2008, 08:59 GMT

A1GP have revealed the first image of the new Ferrari-designed car.
----
The chassis is based on the F1 world championship-winning Ferrari F2004, but incorporates features intended to to allow overtaking and close racing, as with the previous A1GP car.

The design of the chassis was overseen by Rory Byrne, who designed the F2004, and A1GP technical director John Travis.

A1GP chairman Tony Teixeira has been pleased by the progress of development with the new car, and hopes to unveil the new machine in the coming weeks.

"Everyone is very excited abut this project and it will be fantastic to see the new A1GP Ferrari turn a wheel for the first time," he said.

"We obviously still have a lot of work to do as this is just the first step in what will be an intense development and testing programme, but I'm very happy with the progress made so far. We're lucky to be able to use some well-known motor racing companies for certain areas of expertise.

"I'm pleased to say we're on schedule and we'll be announcing the date of the official unveiling of the car soon."
Reference Here>>

Go figure ... The Panoz DP01 has plenty of chassis available for teams to race at 750+bhp since the unification of AOWR ... even though the Panoz does not have the name cachet of Farrari, wouldn't this be a better option?

... notes from The EDJE