# 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa

The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa was an A1 Grand Prix race which was held at Kyalami, South Africa.

## Pre-race

A1 Team Korea failed to participate the race as the organiser of the series could not supply electrical units and fuel tank due to mistake of the transportation from New Zealand. The team had planned the debut of 2008 Macau Grand Prix winner Keisuke Kunimoto (Lee Kyung-Woo), a Japanese driver of Korean descent, as rookie driver on the weekend.

## Drivers

| Team | Main Driver | Rookie Driver(s) | Reserve Driver |
| Australia | John Martin | Ashley Walsh | |
| Brazil | Felipe Guimarães | | |
| Canada | Did Not Participate | Did Not Participate | Did Not Participate |
| China | Ho-Pin Tung | | Congfu Cheng |
| France | Nicolas Prost | Nicolas Prost | |
| Germany | Michael Ammermüller | Michael Ammermüller | |
| Great Britain | Danny Watts | Danny Watts | James Winslow |
| India | Narain Karthikeyan | Parthiva Sureshwaren | |
| Indonesia | Zahir Ali | Zahir Ali | Satrio Hermanto |
| Ireland | Adam Carroll | | |
| Italy | Edoardo Piscopo | | |
| Korea | Did Not Participate | Did Not Participate | Did Not Participate |
| Lebanon | Daniel Morad | Daniel Morad | Jimmy Auby |
| Malaysia | Fairuz Fauzy | Aaron Lim | |
| Mexico | Salvador Duran | Juan Pablo García | |
| Monaco | Clivio Piccione | Hubertus Bahlsen | |
| The Netherlands | Jeroen Bleekemolen | Dennis Retera | |
| New Zealand | Earl Bamber | Earl Bamber | Chris van der Drift |
| Pakistan | Did Not Participate | Did Not Participate | Did Not Participate |
| Portugal | Filipe Albuquerque | António Félix da Costa | |
| South Africa | Adrian Zaugg | Gavin Cronje | Cristiano Morgado |
| Switzerland | Neel Jani | Alexandre Imperatori | |
| USA | Marco Andretti | J. R. Hildebrand | |

## Qualifying

Sprint race qualifying :
| Pos | Team | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Netherlands | 1:27.717 | – |
| 2 | Portugal | 1:28.072 | + 0.355 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 1:28.153 | + 0.436 |
| 4 | Monaco | 1:28.417 | + 0.700 |
| 5 | India | 1:28.431 | + 0.714 |
| 6 | Ireland | 1:28.437 | + 0.720 |
| 7 | France | 1:28.531 | + 0.814 |
| 8 | South Africa | 1:28.890 | + 1.173 |
| 9 | Malaysia | 1:28.904 | + 1.187 |
| 10 | Italy | 1:29.253 | + 1.536 |
| 11 | Germany | 1:29.337 | + 1.620 |
| 12 | New Zealand | 1:29.364 | + 1.647 |
| 13 | Great Britain | 1:29.567 | + 1.850 |
| 14 | Brazil | 1:29.726 | + 2.009 |
| 15 | China | 1:29.758 | + 2.041 |
| 16 | Mexico | 1:29.884 | + 2.167 |
| 17 | USA | 1:29.916 | + 2.199 |
| 18 | Lebanon | 1:30.136 | + 2.419 |
| 19 | Australia | 1:30.414 | + 2.697 |
| 20 | Indonesia | no time | no time |
Feature race qualifying :
| Pos | Team | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Monaco | 1:27.269 | – |
| 2 | Malaysia | 1:27.405 | + 0.136 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 1:27.569 | + 0.300 |
| 4 | Australia | 1:28.439 | + 1.170 |
| 5 | Switzerland | 1:28.521 | + 1.252 |
| 6 | Ireland | 1:28.593 | + 1.324 |
| 7 | Portugal | 1:28.773 | + 1.504 |
| 8 | Brazil | 1:28.878 | + 1.609 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 1:28.926 | + 1.657 |
| 10 | Great Britain | 1:29.092 | + 1.823 |
| 11 | France | 1:29.155 | + 1.886 |
| 12 | China | 1:29.158 | + 1.889 |
| 13 | Mexico | 1:29.343 | + 2.074 |
| 14 | USA | 1:29.487 | + 2.218 |
| 15 | Germany | 1:29.565 | + 2.296 |
| 16 | South Africa | 1:29.884 | + 2.615 |
| 17 | Italy | 1:30.063 | + 2.794 |
| 18 | India | 1:30.505 | + 3.236 |
| 19 | Indonesia | no time | no time |
| 20 | Lebanon | no time | no time |

## Sprint Race

| Pos | Team | Driver | Laps | Time | Points |
| 1 | Netherlands | Jeroen Bleekemolen | 14 | 21:35.105 | 10 |
| 2 | Portugal | Filipe Albuquerque | 14 | + 4.407 | 8+1 |
| 3 | Switzerland | Neel Jani | 14 | + 10.600 | 6 |
| 4 | Ireland | Adam Carroll | 14 | + 12.925 | 5 |
| 5 | Monaco | Clivio Piccione | 14 | + 14.363 | 4 |
| 6 | India | Narain Karthikeyan | 14 | + 18.474 | 3 |
| 7 | South Africa | Adrian Zaugg | 14 | + 21.178 | 2 |
| 8 | New Zealand | Earl Bamber | 14 | + 26.539 | 1 |
| 9 | Malaysia | Fairuz Fauzy | 14 | + 26.925 | |
| 10 | France | Nicolas Prost | 14 | + 28.101 | |
| 11 | Italy | Edoardo Piscopo | 14 | + 32.081 | |
| 12 | Australia | John Martin | 14 | + 34.474 | |
| 13 | China | Ho-Pin Tung | 14 | + 37.804 | |
| 14 | Germany | Michael Ammermüller | 14 | + 39.068 | |
| 15 | Brazil | Felipe Guimarães | 14 | + 39.717 | |
| 16 | Mexico | Salvador Durán | 14 | + 45.006 | |
| 17 | USA | Marco Andretti | 14 | + 55.636 | |
| 18 | Indonesia | Zahir Ali | 14 | + 1:17.724 | |
| 19 | Great Britain | Danny Watts | 9 | Accident | |
| 20 | Lebanon | Daniel Morad | 6 | + 8 Laps | |

## Feature Race

| Pos | Team | Driver | Laps | Time | Points |
| 1 | Switzerland | Neel Jani | 40 | 1:02:24.617 | 15 |
| 2 | Brazil | Felipe Guimarães | 40 | + 13.176 | 12 |
| 3 | Monaco | Clivio Piccione | 40 | + 14.193 | 10 |
| 4 | Netherlands | Jeroen Bleekemolen | 40 | + 17.024 | 8 |
| 5 | Portugal | Filipe Albuquerque | 40 | + 17.995 | 6 |
| 6 | Lebanon | Daniel Morad | 40 | + 31.210 | 5 |
| 7 | Great Britain | Danny Watts | 40 | + 34.328 | 4 |
| 8 | USA | Marco Andretti | 40 | + 59.000 | 3 |
| 9 | Indonesia | Zahir Ali | 40 | + 1:03.995 | 2 |
| 10 | Italy | Edoardo Piscopo | 40 | + 1:04.856 | 1 |
| 11 | Germany | Michael Ammermüller | 40 | + 1:08.603 | |
| 12 | India | Narain Karthikeyan | 40 | + 1:09.150 | |
| 13 | Australia | John Martin | 40 | + 1:20.545 | |
| 14 | China | Ho-Pin Tung | 22 | Electrics | |
| 15 | Malaysia | Fairuz Fauzy | 17 | + 23 Laps | 0+1 |
| 16 | South Africa | Adrian Zaugg | 15 | Electrics | |
| 17 | New Zealand | Earl Bamber | 3 | Accident | |
| 18 | France | Nicolas Prost | 3 | Accident | |
| 19 | Mexico | Salvador Durán | 3 | Accident | |
| 20 | Ireland | Adam Carroll | 0 | Spin | |

## Post-race

Following the race, the team principals of both Ireland and Malaysia issued statements regarding the on-track incident on the first lap of the Feature Race, which resulted in Ireland spinning out into retirement, and subsequently losing the championship lead to Switzerland.
   Frankly, I'm disgusted. We're pushing to win a championship and it's not the only time that this driver has caused incidents, doing the same thing to New Zealand later in the race. That's cost us the championship points lead that we fought so hard to create.
   We were on course to consolidate our points lead today but for a piece of poor driving. A1 Team Malaysia is one of the very best in A1GP, but today their driver has cost us dearly.
   It's understandable that A1 Team Ireland was feeling emotional and frustrated after this incident, considering also that they lost the lead in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
   However, to blame Fairuz for the incident is unfair and we think the Irish team should stick to trying to win races rather than blaming others for their misfortune. A1 Team Ireland is a highly respected team, but on this occasion their comments are ill-judged.