HD quality for A1GP fans

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport enters a new era as the 2008/09 season approaches, moving to the forefront of technology by becoming one of the first international racing series to offer its World Feed TV Broadcast in High Definition (HD). A1GP is carried by more than 45 broadcast licensees worldwide, reaching nearly 180 countries and territories around the globe. They will all now be given the option to receive A1GPs host broadcast in HD, while broadcasters without HD channels will still be able to receive the Standard Definition feed.

The World Feed is generated in a state of the art HD Outside Broadcast facility that is transported around the globe to each race event to ensure the series continues to provide top quality television, regardless of its location. From there, pictures from 60 cameras situated around the track, in the pits and on the A1GP cars can be selected for broadcast.

The highly experienced crew consists of 130 production staff and engineers, who are all specialists in their fields. The international broadcast team is dedicated to capturing the essence of A1GP’s racing action, along with all the vibrant characters in the paddock and the colour of each competing nation.

As well as offering pictures in HD, there are a number of exciting new developments set to enhance A1GP’s TV broadcast next season. A1GP Productions have been working closely with the designers of the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car since its inception to integrate new and exciting On Board Camera positions. There will also be further telemetry available from the car, alongside more advanced TV graphics to give viewers a greater insight into the efforts of the driver inside the cockpit.

Richard Dorfman, Director of Broadcasting: "It’s an extremely exciting time for A1GP as we head into the 2008/09 season with plenty of interesting developments in the pipeline. We are always looking at ways to enhance the television viewers’ experience, and we are proud to be at the cutting edge when it comes to quality TV production as A1GP continues to lead the way in motorsport broadcasting."

[a1.gpupdate.net]

Ferrari’s A1GP car continues testing

The new A1GP World Cup of Motorsport car for the 2008/09 season continued its intensive testing programme this week with two days at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.

Following on from successful tests at Fiorano, the Ferrari test track in Italy, Andrea Bertolini has been back behind the wheel of the Powered by Ferrari car, putting it through its paces at Imola.

This is the first time the car has run outside the confines of Fiorano but feedback continues to be positive with the car running on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Testing will continue next week with five-days running scheduled at Guadix Circuit, a recently constructed facility in Spain. The three-kilometre track near Granada has a good mix of fast and slow corners with varying cambers and a 750-metre main straight set against the stunning back drop of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

"We’ve completed about 900-kilometres of testing so far and everything is going relatively smoothly," said A1GP General Manager, technical and operations, John Wickham.

"The car is performing very well and the driver is happy with it; the balance is good and the tyres are working well. We haven’t done as much testing as we hoped but that’s partly because we were waiting on the weather at Fiorano."

"We ended up just running in the rain in the end but the car looked very quick in the wet! In general the car has been very reliable. We look forward to five consecutive days running next week with the tight Guadix Circuit ideal for further testing of the handling of the car."

The official pre-season testing for all the teams will take place at Silverstone on 18 - 20 August 2008 and Mugello on 17 - 18 September 2008.

[a1.gpupdate.net]

A1GP reveals new calendar

The fourth season of A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will take place over 11 events and 22 races, A1GP officials have confirmed. The 2008/09 schedule, released first on A1GP.com this morning, will have one more event than last season. There will also be at least three completely new events, with Portugal and Indonesia joining the previously announced season-opener in Italy.

The Portugese round will take place on the 18-turn Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, currently being built in Portimao, Portugal. Construction will be finished by October, with A1GP will be the circuit’s first international car racing meeting next April. Exact details on the round in Indonesia will be announced later this week.

A few final details have yet to released. The exact venues for events in China, South Africa and Great Britain have yet to announced, however, it is expected these will be revealed shortly. For the Chinese round, negotiations are taking place with a number of venues, including Zhuhai and Shanghai, both of which have hosted successful A1GP rounds previously. The ninth round of the championship has been left open with an event to be announced at a later stage.

The championship finale will also take place in Great Britain for the third season running. Last season’s championship was settled at the country’s Brands Hatch circuit, the first time the championship had gone to the wire. This season will be the first for the next generation of A1GP cars, powered by legendary Italian sportscar manufacturer Ferrari.

Calendar 2008-2009:
1; 21 September 2008; Mugello, Italy
2; 05 October 2008; Zandvoort, Netherlands
3; 09 November 2008; Jakarta, Indonesia
4; 23 November 2008; Sepang, Malaysia
5; 14 December 2008; China (venue TBA)
6; 25 January 2009; Taupo, New Zealand
7; 22 February 2009; South Africa (venue TBA)
8; 15 March 2009; Mexico City, Mexico
9; 29 March 2009; TBA
10; 12 April 2009; Algarve, Portugal
11; 03 May 2009; Great Britain (venue TBA)

The 2008/09 calendar is subject to FIA approval.

New A1GP Car

A1GP has revealed the first image of its brand new "Powered by Ferrari" car for use in the 2008-2009 seasons. The car will begin testing shortly with TV commentator John Watson doing the driving. The car will be powered by a V8 Ferrari engine producing around 600bhp.

Click on the picture to see a larger one

The chassis is based on the design of the highly successful Formula 1 F2004 chassis, and is the work of John Travis, who runs operations at premises in Bognor Regis in the UK, with Rory Byrne acting as a consultant. The manufacture and supply of the A1GP engine is being overseen by Ferrari’s Jean-Jacques His.

Wallpapers English Grand Prix of 2007-2008

Here are eight wallpapers, all taken during the English Grand Prix of 2007-2008. Click on the preferred size of a picture to see the actual wallpaper.

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