Team Brasil has revealed that GP2 Series veteran Alexandre ‘Xandi' Negrão will make his A1GP race debut at next weekend's penultimate round in Shanghai, having undertaken rookie duties on two occasions.
Having backed up Bruno Junqueira in Durban, Negrao finally gets a chance to compete in the World Cup of Motorsports, while Felipe Guimaraes, who joined Team Brasil as rookie driver at the last round in Mexico, will continue his role for the Shanghai weekend.
Negrão first drove for Brasil as rookie driver at the Brno round in October 2006, but had to wait a long time before taking on the role again at this year's South African weekend, where he impressed the squad by finishing sixth fastest in the Friday morning practice sessions.
“I am so happy to be given this opportunity by A1 Team Brasil and I can't wait to get out to Shanghai to give this my all," he said, "The car looked very good in South Africa, and we were very competitive, so I hope that we can have the same pace. I would like to finish in a strong points finishing position and reach the expectations of the team.”
Guimaraes will drive in Friday's two-part rookie practice session and, like Negrao, will have to spend time learning the Herman Tilke-designed circuit before moving onto set-up work.
“Things are happening very quickly for me - I didn't imagine at the age of 17 that I would be in China, driving a 550bhp car on an
F1 level circuit, representing my country and being guided by Emerson Fittipaldi," the youngster admitted, "The level of driving and competitiveness in A1GP is very high.”
![Alex Negrao (BRA) - A1 Team Brazil [Pic credit: A1GP Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/272282.jpg)
