Monday, 4th February 2008

Tough times for champions Down Under.

A1 Team Germany remains in contention for a second straight A1GP title despite a somewhat disappointing weekend of racing at Eastern Creek.

Having taken victory in each of the last two meetings in China and New Zealand, the team headed to Australia looking to continue the good progress made in recent events – but instead had to settle for just twelve points from the weekend.

Having started the sprint race from seventh place, Ammermuller enjoyed a solid run to fourth place after electing to remain on slick tyres despite the fact that rain was falling by the time the race drew to a close, with the gamble paying off as a number of others struggled in the conditions.

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From twelfth place on the grid for the feature race, the 21-year-old improved to seventh position on the opening lap, but he lost time during his mandatory stop when a power wrench was dropped and an air hose came off. A jammed wheelnut during the second stop later cost the squad a few more seconds and he had to settle for a somewhat disappointing seventh place.

"That was definitely not our best weekend,” he said. “I'm happy that we still managed to collect quite a few points and were able to keep our position on the heels of the front runners. In the sprint race when the rain set in the team asked me by radio whether I wanted to continue running on slicks. I did, and it paid off although the conditions were pretty difficult.

“In the main race, which began very well for us with a nice start, we consistently used wets. Unfortunately, the team's two stops were not as efficient as usual. Our biggest mistake, no doubt, was choosing used wets instead of new tyres for the second tyre change. They were simply too slow and probably cost us some places as well. Up to fourth gear, I was struggling with spinning wheels. We'll take this as a lesson for the future.”

Seat holder Willi Weber admitted that the weekend hadn't gone to plan for his team in its quest to defend the championship title, although the Germans still remain in contention for the title in fifth place.

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