Driving for Change

From the Daily Telegraph:

Team pakistan aiming to change a nation's image
By Kevin Garside
(Filed: 23/09/2005)

Think of Pakistani sport and the first images that spring to mind are dashing batsmen and fearsome bowlers: the sub-continent is cricket territory and - with occasional intrusions from squash and hockey - the game of leather and willow has dominated Pakistan's sporting imagination since the country was born.

High hopes: Pakistan's president sees A1-GP as a way to improve his country's international profile But the foundation of the country's first top-level motor sport team seems likely to challenge cricket's pre-eminence. Team Pakistan will take part in the A1-GP series, and the two nominated drivers, 30-year-old Nur Ali and 20-year-old Adam Khan, have been feted by the public and made aware by the nation's leaders of the burden of expectation they will be carrying.

Motor racing has previously been seen as the preserve of wealthy, "first world" nations. But A1-GP is aiming to interest a new audience in the sport, and the vast populations of India, China and Pakistan are obvious targets. The incongruity of Pakistan and a high-tech, glamorous sport is a challenge, not an oddity, and the pride prompted by the team's formation was evident at the launch ceremony in Lahore.

Few Formula One teams host heads of state at their launch parties, but Team Pakistan had the country's President, General Pervez Musharraf, who brought with him half his cabinet to mingle with the assembled business moguls, state governors and media stars. The day after the launch, the team tried to capture the public imagination when the A1-GP series founder, Sheikh Maktoum, drove one of the powerful single-seaters through the streets of Lahore, watched by more than 15,000 people.

The team's drivers, Ali and Khan, were charged by the president with the task of rehabilitating the nation's image in the eyes of the world. "The first race is in Britain, where so many innocents lost their lives," Ali said. "So this is a chance for me to redeem the Pakistani community by winning. I want to drive for Pakistan and its youth. The President told me to drive the point that Pakistan youth are constructive. Some rotten apples have tainted the image of Pakistani youth, and I want to clear that misconception."

Another misconception that Ali and Khan will be keen to knock down is the idea that a team representing a nation such as Pakistan will necessarily struggle against teams from Europe and the United States. To help adjust to the level of competition, Team Pakistan's wealthy backers have recruited the experienced Super Nova racing team to prepare their car. And in testing with the other teams at the Paul Ricard circuit, young Khan demonstrated great talent and showed that he could run comfortably in the pack.

But even if Khan is unlikely to challenge for outright victory this weekend, he is sure to inspire great interest back home by challenging Team India. One of Sheikh Maktoum's insights when developing the series was that by maximising the number of nations competing, he could maximise the number of rivalries. Just as English fans will, for traditional reasons, be keen to beat the French and the Germans, so the battle between the Indian and Pakistani teams will stir emotions and inspire headlines on the sub-continent.

Only one driver per nation is allowed at a race, and Khan seems likely to take the wheel for Team Pakistan at Brands Hatch. According to the team's operations director, Asim Husain: "Adam holds all the qualities that we are looking for in a driver: natural speed, a strong racing pedigree, intelligence and integrity."

Just as well, for Khan will be racing for a nation of 154 million people, a nation who love winners, but has limited patience with losers.

After the completion of qualifying today, Pakistan will start 8th on the grid tommorrow (25 countries competing).

the qualifying was today. anyone have an idea where we qualified?

ahem

Full list:

1 N Piquet (Brazil) 2:30.789
2 M Halliday (New Zealand) +0.328
3 A Premat (France) +0.417
4 W Power (Australia) +0.599
5 R Kerr (Great Britain) +0.925
6 N Jani (Switzerland) +0.940
7 S Duran (Mexico) +1.518
8 A Khan (Pakistan) +1.607
9 A Yoong (Malaysia) +1.843
10 R Fukuda (Japan) +1.900
11 A Parente (Portugal) +1.916
12 M Devaney (Ireland) +2.022
13 T Scheider (Germany) +2.192
14 J Verstappen (Netherlands) +2.286
15 S Simpson (South Africa) +2.297
16 E Toccacelo (Italy) +2.445
17 S Speed (USA) +2.528
18 A Mikola (Indonesia) +2.635
19 K Chandhok (India) +3.337
20 J Charouz (Czech Republic) +3.997
21 S MacIntosh (Canada) +5.089
22 M Lauda (Austria) +6.089
23 K Beschir (Lebanon) +6.315
24 Tengyi Jiang (China) +7.961
25 A Vasiliev (Russia) +10.514

Here's the site: http://www.a1teampak.com/

result:
1. Brazil - Nelson Piquet Jr
2. Australia - Will Power
3. Mexico - Salvador Duran
4. New Zealand - Matt Halliday
5. Malaysia - Alex Yoong
6. South Africa - Stephen Simpson
7. Netherlands - Jos Verstappen
8. Japan - Ryo Fukuda
9. Canada - Sean McIntosh
10. Germany - Timo Scheider
11. Austria - Mathias Lauda
12. China - Tengyi Jiang
13. Pakistan - Adam Khan
DNF Czech Republic - Jan Charouz
DNF Russia - Alexey Vasiliev
DNF Great Britain - Robbie Kerr
DNF Lebanon - Khalil Beschir
DNF Italy - Enrico Toccacelo
DNF USA - Scott Speed
DNF Portugal - Alvaro Parente
DNF Switzerland - Neel Jani
DNF Indonesia - Ananda Mikola
DNF India - Karun Chandhok
DNF Ireland - Michael Devaney
DNF France - Alexandre Premat

finished last out of all those that finished, but we still beat GB and india, so it was no mean feat finishing the course. well dne adam

Finished 7th in the sprint race and 13th in the feature race.

He was a bit unlucky in the feature race. The pit stop was a disaster for him. He went into the pits in 4th place, and then it took eternity for them to put the tyres on. That is what messed things up for him.

well done Adam

from all accounts...a lot of potential to take Pakistan further....

ggm , were they showing this on one of the sports channels on Sky?

yes. They showed it on sky sports 1

Oh ok. Wouldn't have been able to watch since I'm not currently subscribed to the sports channels at the minute. Was hoping they might have shown it on Eurosport.

Big step for pakistani sport!

cool

I watched the whole thing of course, the qualifying rounds on Saturday and the whole shebang on Sunday.

My fave team of course NOT the Pakistani's (this time around, I'm shouting Brazil!!! Loved Brazil since the days of Ayrton Senna....)But Adam Khan was really brilliant. And I use that word with discretion most of the time.

He impressed all the commentators, and for a young man really showed some amazing spunk...He didn't seem intimidated at all by the "big names"...Piquet, Yong, Verstappen and the like...as a matter of fact, he was really doing more than just "holding his own" on the track....Pretty impressive. Can't wait to see how he and the rest of the team does in the weeks and months to come...

They could have really great in the main race, if not for that awful tyre change at the first pit stop...Man that cost them some time..from 4th place down to 15th... BUt the team is young, the sport is young...They'll learn...

Anyhow...I'll be watching them.

admittedly without following this thing much, from The News:

Anglo-Mongolian driving for Pakistan?
By our correspondent
KARACHI: Earlier this summer Nur Ali made newspaper headlines, promising to put Pakistan on the world motor racing map. The lanky US-based driver was selected to represent Pakistan in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix, which began in London last week.

But where is he now? While the so-called World Cup of Motorsport was taking place in London, Nur was in Karachi after being thrown out of Team Pakistan due to unknown reasons.

Instead a non-Pakistani driver is flying the green flag on the A1 circuit. Adam Langley Khan drove for Pakistan in the opening leg of the AI Grand Prix and according to the information he is an Anglo-Mongolian who has never been to Pakistan.

Adam was actually the stand-in driver for Team Pakistan with Nur as their main entry in the AI Grand Prix. But he replaced Nur just days before the opening race.

Who is Adam Langley Khan? According to the sources, Adam is a British-born racing car driver who is of Anglo-Mongolian heritage. He even traces his linage back to the Mongol conquer, Gengis Khan.

It remains to be seen as to how a non-Pakistani can drive for Pakistan in an event that is actually competed by countries rather than manufacturers.

Eish...I never knew that. This being the inaugural race and all, our local commentators were focussing on the South African racers.

Like one explained: You do not ACTUALLY have to live in your country, or have been born there, as long as you can PROVE national lineage or sumpin'

Therefor one of the 4 saffie drivers, was NOT born in South Africa, or even lives in South Africa, but his parents are saffies...That's how he qualified to race for the SAF team. He also said, he COULD race for the British team too, actually. Seeing as he was born there and stays there...

Maybe Adam's parents were Pakistani...That automatically qualifies him then...

PS...Where've you been Gasher?

thanks 4 updates guys
hope they change tyre quickly next time and driver continue his good work as well.
so when ll b next race ?

BTW color of Car looks gr8

Next race in a week's time...

They finish European leg first.

BTW. Don't know if you're aware of this, but unlike in Formula 1, each tyre can only be changed by ONE person, using a manual jack....

That makes pit stops really interesting....although slower, but a team can lose out dearly, as the Pakistan team did...But like I said, early days..lots to learn. For all the teams.

Thank 4 info
I hope they improve then.
taking ur driveer from 4th to 13th place is damn poor really.

Go Pak team

Absolute rubbish. I think this journalist has got verbal diarrhoea because Adam Khan is a British Pakistani. And it is quite obvious when you look at him that he is.

And every team has two drivers but only one is allowed to drive in a race. Adam Khan was selected because he is a better driver, nothing else. Pakistani journalists don't deserve the freedom of speech and expressiont that Musharaf has blessed them with.