A1 Team GBR is due to line up on the grid for A1GP’s first event of the season, a slot at Australia’s SuperGP event due to be held on the country’s Gold Coast in 10 days’ time.
However there has been no announcement about a new franchisee to run the outfit after Tony Clements’ A1GP (UK) Ltd went out of business in the spring. The team’s website has not been updated since May.
After the last franchise was put in administration by Britain’s High Court in April a makeshift crew was put together for the series’ visit to The Algarve. Team GBR was serviced by the neighbouring Team Germany pit crew, tipping off fans to the extent of its problems.
Series supremo Tony Teixeira said then that as long as there was an A1GP series there would be a Team GBR – and he appears to have been as good as his word.
But that doesn’t extend to details of who’s running it and who will be driving. Among the more obvious possibilities are last year’s personnel Dan Clarke, based in America and seeking a drive in the IndyCar Series, or Danny Watts, a former A1GP tester who recently made the move into sportscars for Silverstone-based Strakka Racing.
Beyond that it is wide-open with plenty of drivers very keen to take advantage of the exposure that a winter season in the red, white and blue car would bring.
The provisional entry lists 19 teams including New Zealand and USA, neither of which is believed to have finally confirmed its attendance. Team Malaysia has already said it will not compete due to lack of opportunities for driver preparation.
Canada, Korea and last season’s rapidly-improving Team Lebanon are also absent.
Team Ireland and Adam Khan’s Team Pakistan are also listed – but with no indication whether the six-foot-plus Briton, who struggled so much with the chassis for the first half of the season before accepting a demonstration role with Renault F1, will be taking the wheel.
The series has also confirmed that its November 15 China date will take place in Zhuhai, a venue it last visited in 2007.
Entry list for the Gold Coast event
- Australia
- Brazil
- China
- France
- Germany
- Great Britain
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Italy
- Mexico
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Portugal
- South Africa
- Switzerland
- USA