With the A1 Grand Prix series running into financial difficulties, the teams competing in the “World Cup of Motorsport” have been left in the dark about their future in the series. A1 Team Malaysia is one of those teams involved, so to get the inside scoop on what’s happening and what the plans are, here’s an interview with Jack Cunningham – CEO and CMS of A1 Team Malaysia. Conducted by the guys at Daily Sports Car, Jack speaks about the racing in Le Mans, A1GP, and Lotus F1.
There have been recent reports that you are looking to move into sportscars for next season. Which series are you looking at and which category?
We’re interested in the Le Mans Series in Europe, either running an LMP1 or LMP2 prototype. We would be aiming to include the Le Mans 24 Hour race within this programme as well if possible.
What has brought about this decision?
In 2001-2002 we ran the factory-backed MG sportscar programme. Since that time I’ve always wanted to return to the category, as I believe it offers sponsors very good value for money, with a worldwide appeal. I think you only have to look at the expansion of this type of racing to appreciate that there is a strong fanbase in Europe, America and Asia. Over the last few years we’ve been running in the A1GP Series and that has also been successful.
In 2006 we placed our Malaysian A1GP driver in to the LMP1 class at the Le Mans 24 hr race. The following year we had our Malaysian A1GP driver again in the LMP1 class in the Le Mans Series and for the Le Mans 24 hr race we placed 2 of our Malaysian A1 Team Malaysia technical crew members in to the team in addition to our driver.
With doubts over the future of A1GP we’re starting to accelerate our plans to diversify, although we have already been looking to add in this type of programme for some time now as you can see by the activity in 2006 and 2007. Ideally, we would be running in A1GP series during the winter or ‘off season’ and focusing on sportscars outside of this in the traditional northern hemisphere summer months.
This delivers a 12 month all year round programme of motorsport at the highest of levels.
Which manufacturers are you looking at?
When we have our ducks in a row, we will be looking at all the manufacturers of relevant cars. We ran Lola’s with our MG programme and, of course in A1, and we are very happy with Lola’s products and service. I’m keen to rekindle that relationship. But we will quite rightly look at a number of cars.
You are obviously involved in Malaysian motorsport with A1 Team Malaysia. Would you expect to link your sportscar programme with the country and/or Lotus F1?
Lotus F1 will have a big impact on Malaysia’s motorsport, and I think they have enough on their plate at the moment with their F1 programme so I don’t think they will be looking to link with any other motorsport activities outside of F1 for some while. However, I think there is potential scope for us to build on the foundations we laid with A1GP with the motorsport fans. We have a fan base of over 35,000 for A1 Team Malaysia and I think that there could be an opportunity to provide these enthusiasts with a team which they can support and build an affinity with. We would certainly be looking to have the involvement of our Malaysian mechanics and at least one driver so, in effect, we are looking at a sportscar version of the A1 Team Malaysia programme.
How advanced are you with your plans?
At the moment we’re putting in place the various pieces of the jigsaw. We already have a team of people with the necessary credentials to go top level sportscar racing – engineers, mechanics, operational staff as well as the commercial team to support this. We are in discussions with a number of sponsors about the project and this is undoubtedly our biggest challenge at the moment.
What are your aims for the programme?
We’re looking to carry on from our A1GP programme. That initiative really captured the hearts of Malaysian motorsport fans and after four years we have built very strong brand equity. We’d like to continue on from this, giving the fans a new, different, national racing team to support. I also think we can complement the Lotus F1 programme, perhaps even help them in a small way. We’ve successfully trained Malaysian mechanics to work in a professional, high level international motor racing team. This new programme should offer more opportunities for Malaysians to become involved in motor racing and this can only help the development of the infrastructure of Malaysian motorsport.
Have you selected your drivers?
We haven’t made any decisions on drivers, as this is not a prime area of focus at the moment. There is a large pool of talent available for the type of programme we’re planning, so this element of the plan will be considered at a later stage. As I have mentioned, we would be looking to include a Malaysian driver within the team. We would also be looking to have an experienced sportscar and Le Mans driver, as I think it is the right strategy to balance new young talent with older, more experienced veterans in long distance driving.
When do you expect to announce your programme?
It is too early for us to be specific on this. Our priority at the moment is to put in place the financial backing to make this a viable programme and this is progressing, although inevitably it does take some time to finalise the details. Although the plans are heading in the right direction, we remain cautious, as there is still some way to go to pull it all together, within a relatively short space of time. I would hope that we will be in a position to announce a programme early next year.
Finally, what is happening with A1GP?
A1GP has run in to financial difficulties. The current shareholders are working hard to refinance the business. As I interpret things, in all likelihood the series will not see any racing at all until at least October 2010 at which time the series will be re-launched. A number of key players in the series for the past 5 years are working very closely to ensure that the series can emerge again successfully. In modern motorsport it is still one of the best concepts around that simply needs to be done better.
