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Well one of the highlight weekends of motorsport lies ahead this weekend.

In Formula 1 we have the Monaco Grand Prix, for many the highlight of the season and the one every driver wants to win. Whilst in the IRL we have the world famous Indy 500.

For Aussies we have three drivers taking part, including Ryan Briscoe on the front row at Indy. With Team Penske behind him Briscoe is a genuine chance and has shown pace throughout the month of May at the circuit.

Speaking in the lead he talked about where the team is at “Helio likes to compare our situation to the one he faced when he first came on board with Team Penske and Gil de Ferran was his teammate,” Briscoe says. “The ages are the same, the situations are similar. Now he’s playing the role of Gil, and I’m playing the role of Helio. Except I’m not Helio, and I never will be. He’s made that clear on more than one occasion.”  

What they share is the same joy and playfulness that Castroneves and de Ferran shared, along with a serious approach to their craft. What Briscoe and Castroneves hope to find in the similarities is the enormous success Team Penske encountered at Indianapolis during the Gil/Helio tenure. Castroneves won the 500 in 2001 and 2002, while de Ferran won it in 2003.  

“We’re going to see some great racing between the two of us, but there’s always a great amount of respect,” Briscoe says. “We are a team, and we work as a team on the track.”  

Like de Ferran, Castroneves likes to keep the mood light, especially when the focus and the work moves away from the racetrack. He instills that notion in his new teammate, trying to maintain Briscoe’s smile and his mood.  

“He really made me feel welcome on the team,” Briscoe says. “He’s always in a good mood, and he always wants people around him to be happy. His philosophy is that people can’t be productive if they’re too serious, and in many ways, he’s right. He’s never made it difficult for me in any way, and that’s really good. He’s openly complimentary, which helps my confidence. A lot of times in racing, your teammate is your biggest rival, but we’ve got a close and open relationship. That’s a big bonus for the entire team.”

Joining him on the grid will be Will Power starting from 23rd place. Power has shown pace also at various times but a large crash in practice seems to have had an effect. He spoke after final practice of where the team were heading into the race.

It was a really productive day,” Power said.  “Even with these windy conditions we had a really good setup and ran close behind cars comfortably.  We were able to do plenty of miles and the Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia car felt good over the whole run, so the KVRT team have done a really good job with the #8 car.  We definitely have a good race pace, but it’s just unfortunate we are going to be starting a little bit further back than where we need to be.”

Meanwhile in Formula 1 Mark Webber will look to continue his great season with more points at Moanco. He no doubt will be boosted by the news that his boss Christian Horner this week said he was in the form of his career. Not bad when you have just opened discussions on a new contract, or at least Mark tells us he has.

On that front things may be a bit tense with his teammate David Coulthard. Coulthard in a regular column for ITV has questioned why Webber would go public at this time of the season about his contract. He was of the view it may be in part to remind some other teams that he is in fact out of contract at the end of the season, as much as getting the ball rolling with Red Bull.

“Speaking of career moves, my team-mate Mark Webber told the media over the Istanbul weekend that he has opened talks with Red Bull to extend his contract. If I try to rationalise why Mark would say that, I can only presume it was either to stimulate talks with the team or to stimulate interest in the rest of the paddock, reminding people that he’s on the market.

When you think about it logically, you do your private negotiations in private and then when you’ve reached an agreement you make an announcement. You don’t normally say, ‘Er, I’m about to enter negotiations…’

So I would conclude that it was a positioning tactic rather than anything else.”

Either way Webber right now is in an ideal place to get a new contract with Red Bull or indeed start talks with other teams. Looking at the grid though I am not sure there would be many seats for Mark given his age. Perhaps Renault and a return to Williams but both would be long shoots in my view.

So make sure your TV is working and your set up to record what hopefully is some great racing this weekend. Lets hope with see some great results for the Aussies and who knows even get to hear the national anthem!

London, Great Britain - A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has revealed the first image of its brand new 'Powered by Ferrari' car for use in season four (2008/09). The CAD drawing was released ahead of the car's inaugural shakedown test in Southern England.

A1GP's own tv commentator and Formula One legend, John Watson, will have the honour of driving the car for the first time, powered by a V8 Ferrari engine producing in the region of 600 bhp.

The chassis is based on the design of the highly successful F2004 chassis, incorporating A1GP's core values to deliver close, exciting racing among a competitive field where overtaking is an essential part of the entertainment.

A1GP Technical Director, John Travis, is overseeing the design, development and production of the car from premises in Bognor Regis in the UK, with Rory Byrne acting as a consultant. Meanwhile the work on the manufacture and supply of the A1GP engine is being overseen by Ferrari's Jean-Jacques His.

The Powered by Ferrari project was first announced on 11 October 2007 when the most famous name in motorsport signed a six-year agreement to manufacture and supply all A1GP engines for this unique series and provide consultancy on the design of all A1GP chassis from season four onwards.

Speaking ahead of the shakedown and what will be an intensive testing programme for the new car and engine, Tony Teixeira, Chairman of A1GP, said:

'Everyone is very excited about this project and it will be fantastic to see the new A1GP powered by Ferrari car turn a wheel for the first time on Friday. 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 am very happy with the progress made so far. We have a small, dedicated group of people in Bognor Regis and are very lucky to be able to use some well known motor racing companies for certain areas of expertise. I am pleased to say we are on schedule and we will be announcing the date of the official unveiling of the car soon.'

Team India won the Feature Race with style and put on a great show for the fans with donuts on the main straight to celebrate their victory.

Early in the race on lap two both Team Pakistan and Team Australia collided on the back straight with major damage on the Team Australia car. John Martin's race was over and Adam Khan left the circuit after a quick medical centre check up.

John Martin was not impressed with Khan's attitude to the shunt and was quick to let Khan know how he felt when they met together in the medical centre.

Team Australia end the 2007-2008 season in 17th place overall.

Next race will be at Mugello on September 21 showcasing the new A1GP car "Powered by Ferrari"

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "It was not the race result we expected, the accident appeared to be another racing incident. We are now looking to the new season that starts in September to launch our new car with Ferrari"

John Martin: "I was upset with Adam Khan as we were both on the back straight and had room for both of us. All he had to do was stay on his side of the race track and everything would have been fine. Instead he moved over towards me, so I had to move back and we touched. There was no way I could save the car once I hit the grass. We spoke at the Medical Centre and he left the circuit"

Image and following press release courtesy of A1GP.com and Team Australia

A very difficult weekend for the team here in Shanghai China with a 14th place result in the Feature Race. Not what the team expected after numerous changes to the car throughout the weekend.

John Martin had a good clean start and kept his position until the first pitstop which did not go well, costing him at least two places as he was closing in on Teams Germany, Brazil and Italy.

The second pitstop was better though track placement never improved throughout the entire race for Team Australia. The first set of tyres towards the end were causing more understeer than previous oversteer and the second set were obviously no better.

Martin's track speed was good and his times comparable to the top end of the racing grid. A1GP is so close and the cars identical, endless changes being made to the car over the weekend did not deliver the targeted results expected by the team prior to arriving here in Shanghai.

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "We tried a lot more setup changes here than we expected to do and still no improvement. John was in a position to improve during his pitstops, unfortunately we lost a bit of time during both stops and that cost him some places. The car was quick during the race on a better second set of tyres, the grip improved as most cars were lapping faster and making overtaking a lot more difficult"

John Martin: "The first set of tyres were no good as I had understeer all of a sudden, after battling oversteer all weekend. The second set were better and where I had very little traction out of a corner during Friday and Qualifying, I ended up with too much. The car was changing every lap and all weekend I havent been able to be consistent anywhere. The team have tried loads of setup variations to help me get the car sorted and I thank them for their perseverance. We'll do better at Brands Hatch"

Rob Arnott: "Everyone experienced similar track changes today, and John was no better off as we did cost him some places during his pitstops. The team are normally perfect on a stop, you have a day when a second costs you places in pitlane. We have already started planning the setup for Brands Hatch and should do better there after a tough Shanghai A1GP"

Well we haven't really covered A1GP to date, and yes we have even expressed strong views on the series. However at the end of the day, the team is giving some up and coming Aussie racers a chance so we think we should cover them.

we pick them up ahead of the Chinese round of the series and news that A1 Team Australia will start a new rookie at the next round of the ‘World Cup of Motorsport’ in Shanghai, China. Sydneysider Nathan Antunes comes to the team with extensive open wheel experience including stints in Formula BMW, Formula 3 and GP2. Both Nathan and lead driver John Martin will experience the Shanghai circuit for the first time in this penultimate round of season three.

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "This is a very important race like all others, where we have to secure the best points to move back up the championship ladder. John has not raced here before, nor has our new Rookie Nathan Antunes ever driven our A1GP racecar. Again we have created the opportunity for young talent to shine on the International motorsport stage with A1 Team Australia. Shanghai International Circuit has a very long fast back straight, with challenging corners and a long pit lane. We provided Nathan Antunes the best information possible in Mexico with our engineers and driver on the car setup and team strategies and communications. Both young guys are working and talking to each other so we feel confident of a good weekend"

John Martin: "Shanghai is a great circuit to simulate on with Playstation, as many international drivers use this type of feedback on tracks they have never been on before. The last race there for the team was a good one to start though the result was not so good in the end. Year before was a podium so I have my target set to do well there. This week I have spent valuable time talking over race strategy with Rob [Arnott] and Ash [Edwards]. We arrive on Thursday morning to have a good walk around the entire circuit with our engineers and rookie driver to review what we discussed this week and take notice of the weather forecast for tyre selection"

Rob Arnott Chief Engineer: "Shanghai has a lot of speed on the front and back straights, so we are confident as the car is quick. Tyre degradation will play a vital part in our plan to get our car high up on the grid for both races. John like Nathan is new to Shanghai, as are some other drivers. We will let Nathan get used to the car at his pace so John can set it up for Saturday’s all important qualifying"

Nathan Antunes: "I am keen to get into the car, and thank everyone for the opportunity. The information and feedback from Alan Jones is no doubt a very valuable asset to have access to at anytime. We have so much to draw from with his experience; the engineers were excellent in Mexico to understand the entire car setup. Adam Gotch with his crew made it quite clear, on how to best prepare for Friday in Shanghai and look forward to a walk around the circuit on Thursday with John Rob and Ash. I met John again in Mexico, we soon swapped information together over the weekend, good vibe inside the team, and together we will do our best for the team and our country in China.

Ted Toleman founder of Toleman Motorsport, the Team who gave Ayrton Senna his first Formula One drive:"After observing Nathan in Australian, France and driving competitively in New Zealand, we are convinced he has the ability to be a frontrunner in his chosen sport. He has the correct mental and personal attitude to compete at the highest level. He is professional in his approach to motor racing and aware of the ‘up’s and downs’ he will encounter whilst attempting to achieve a permanent seat in A1GP"

We would love to hear your thoughts on the A1GP series. Is it worthwhile? Should we cover it? Have we been to harsh in the past with our comments? Just use the comments section in the blog or the e-mail link at the top of the page.

Forget the debate over a night race, as we discussed in the last podcast it is time the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC)  took steps to provide cover for the fans.

Despite being raced often in 30+ degrees the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park has no cover in the stands for paying spectators.  There is shelter often at the back of the stands for Corporate Guests but punters shelling out over $400 Aussie dollars are expected to sit in the sun and enjoy it.

As Ryan has noted, the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide next year is aiming to cover all stands with shade cloths.  It is hard to see any reason why Melbourne can not follow suit.

It can only be a matter of time before someone sues the AGPC for the exposure to the sun, and whilst not clear who would win such case it seems plain dumb to wait for it to happen.

Anyway providing shade for the fans is just plain smart marketing.  At a time when numbers are no longer growing to the heights seen in the early days, shade from the sun is a great way to encourage more fans into the stands.

Certainly it is our view that before any money is spent on lights or importing any other overseas acts to star at the grand Prix, even if Kiss were great, they should first put some money into look after the people who help make it one of the great Grand Prix’s of the season.

Surely after all this time that is not asking to much.

The OzRacingWrap team.