A1 Team South Africa travels to Malaysia this week to join 22 other nations in contesting the fourth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at the ultra-modern Sepang International Circuit 60 km south of Kuala Lumpur.
Twenty-year-old Adrian Zaugg, who got A1 Team South Africa off to the best possible start by convincingly winning the season-opening sprint race at Zandvoort in the Netherlands in October, will be at the wheel of Vulindlela (which means 'clear the way') and looking for his country's second win in this unique motor racing series that pits nation against nation in identical 550 bhp V8 A1GP formula cars.
Two weeks ago in Beijing, China the Red Bull Junior Team driver was the unofficial driver of the day in round three when he came from the back of the 22-car grid to finish a remarkable fifth in the feature race. It was a stunning drive, during which he held off a strong challenge from A1 Team Czech Republic's Tomas Enge in the closing stages to finish four tenths of a second ahead of the former Formula One driver and A1GP winner and three tenths of a second behind A1 Team France (Nicolas Lapierre).
"Vulindlela has proved to be one of the quickest cars so far this season and the two races at Sepang (a 20-minute sprint race on Sunday morning and a 70-minute feature race on Sunday afternoon) provide us with an opportunity to put more points on the board and improve our position in the championship," said Zaugg.
Zaugg has been one of the 'rookie' finds in a second season of A1 that has been marked by strong performances by rookie drivers. He was unfortunate to be knocked out of the feature race in the Netherlands in a first lap incident and was again disappointed in the sprint race in China after clipping a wall on the Beijing street circuit and then being hit by another car.
Problems with the brand new Beijing circuit (it was the first motor race ever held in Beijing) resulted in the only official practice session being used to determine the starting grid for the feature race. Zaugg, who was still settling in to the practice session when it ended prematurely, had to settle for an unexpected seventh place on the grid.
"We didn't really have any time to test the car before the Beijing sprint race," said Zaugg. "I'm sure we would have done a lot better than seventh. There were few overtaking opportunities on the narrow street circuit, with the result that the finishing order was pretty much unchanged from the starting order, with the exception of my retirement."
The young South Africa marginally misjudged a turn on lap three and barely touched the wall with his right rear wheel. His car was tipped into a spun and was narrowly missed by three cars before being hit by a fourth.
"It was my fault," said Zaugg. "It was difficult concentrating on the car in front and the car behind while keeping the right line during the opening laps. I got too close to the wall in turn nine and there was contact with my rear wheel. This kind of thing happens in street races, where there are no curbs. I'm just sorry for the team and our supporters that it was me.
"We'll be doing our very best to make up for it with two good results in Malaysia," he promised.
Sepang International Circuit is a clockwise 5,54-km circuit featuring 15 turns and eight straights and is located 60 km south of Kuala Lumpur. The circuit is covered by 27 closed circuit television cameras via fibre optic cabling and includes on-line, real time tracking of race cars, combined with electronic marshal posts that flash coloured warning lights to the drivers instead of flags.
Its architecture is unique and blends modern technology with the Malaysian culture. It can accommodate some 130 000 spectators with 30 000 alone in the unique double-fronted main grandstand whose roof resembles a banana leaf. The Canopy Tower, nestling at the tip of the V-shaped double grandstand, has a roof resembling the Malaysian national flower, the hibiscus.
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