Hildebrand Shows Speed in A1GP Debut Race Weekend

05.05.2009

J.R. Hildebrand, of Sausalito, California, made his debut as the race driver for Team USA in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsports this weekend on the famed Brands Hatch GP Circuit in Kent, England, showing great speed all weekend in a tough international field. Hildebrand was never out of the top five through all three practice sessions, took the team's best ever qualifying position of fourth for the Sprint Race finishing fourth in that race, then unfortunately he ran into some trouble in both the Feature Race qualifying and race, but had the pace of the leaders all along.

Since it was Hildebrands first race weekend in the A1GP Series, he was able to take advantage of the rookie sessions on Friday to acclimate himself to the car and the track, as he has done for three previous events this year. The setup of the car already seemed close, as normal race driver Marco Andretti and the team had improved it over the last few races, and Hildebrand was able to be third quickest straight away. He was then treated to his first set of new tires in the A1GP car at the beginning of the first practice for all race drivers, further familiarizing himself with the ins-and-outs of the car and working with the team on the setup to go fifth quickest overall, ending Friday on a positive note.

Saturday would prove to continue along those same lines, as Hildebrand and Team USA were able to post the third quickest time in the final practice for all race drivers with qualifying up next. The A1GP Series employs a form of single lap qualifying where each driver gets two single lap runs for both the Sprint and Feature Races. Their best time sets their grid position for each race, but drivers also have the option to use the 60hp PowerBoost for one of the four laps. Hildebrand and Team USA opted to go for pole in the Sprint Race and had it not been for a late downshift that threw the young Californian off line into the second corner, they very well could have done it! He nonetheless qualified fourth, the teams best effort yet. In Feature qualifying, Hildebrand was on his flying lap and right on the limit, but pushed it just a bit too far and bottomed the car out on a rumble strip that forced him off-track to gather it up. He could manage only 11th for Sunday's second race.

"All things considered it was a good result for us, but it's still very frustrating to me that we could have done even better!" Hildebrand said. "It wasnt very difficult to adjust to the one-lap aspect of qualifying, but it was definitely hard to know how hard I could push and where to do it with new tires since I had only run one set in practice and we had three still to use in qualifying. The team has done an awesome job, but I think if I had the chance to do it all over again I could have had the pole in the sprint race and been in the top six for the feature looking at all our split times and knowing how the tires worked."

Hildebrand was again faced with new challenges on Sunday for both races as it would be his first time taking a standing start in a car with a hand-clutch (and 550hp) and also the first time he would have to do in-race pitstops. Hildebrand got a fantastic start in the Sprint, overtaking Team Netherlands off the line and eventually leading laps early while pitstops were made. After his stop, Hildebrand rejoined in third and was pulling away from the pack for a podium finish in his first ever race when he had to make a huge save out of the last corner, barely keeping the car from spinning. That unfortunately allowed one car to pass and he finishing fourth. In the Feature Race, Hildebrand again got a great start but was caught up in a first corner accident that forced Team USA to make an extra pitstop to replace the front nose, putting him on track right in front of the leader. From there Hildebrand showed the speed that he truly had by being able to stay in front of leader and eventual series champion Adam Carroll for nearly forty laps, both of them pulling away from second place Team Netherlands. Hildebrand eventually decided to move over with a few laps to go, finishing 14th.

"Much like qualifying, I feel like we did a really good job, but had a few things gone a little differently we may have had some really tremendous results," Hildebrand stated afterward. "If nothing else, we were undeniably fast all weekend. Everyone did a great job to help me get used to everything - it's really a huge difference in so many ways to the racing that Im used to. I feel like there are a lot of things having done this once now that I can improve on and get more used to, and that would make us a serious force to be reckoned with."

Hildebrand will now switch gears again and hit the pavement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday. He would like to thank Andretti Green Racing and all the crew for Team USA for their help and support this weekend.