Friday, March 6, 2009
PaddockSpy Headline
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
A quick look through A1GP’s interactive results database – the Stats Zone – shows that two drivers stand out above anyone else in A1GP history.
And now after A1GP Gauteng, those two drivers are tied at the top for one of the most coveted records by A1GP drivers – that of the most number of career wins for a driver.
In Gauteng, Switzerland’s Neel Jani equalled former German racer Nico Hulkenberg’s record of most career A1GP victories. Now both of them have nine each, and the record for the ‘winningest’ driver in A1GP history. While A1GP is all about nations versus nations, if you asked all the individual drivers which record they would like to have by their own name – after being a part of the most championship-winning team, it would be winning the most gold medals.
“It’s definitely good to get that record finally.” Jani told A1GP.com. “We feel already that we lost a lot of races that should have been wins now in the first three seasons. I should have got this record sooner.
“It looks like this season, its not falling apart in the last sections of the races and the luck is on our side with the pit stops now. It’s a nice thing to be up there and to have the most wins, let’s hope I can add another win soon so I can be the sole leader.”
Fans of both nations – and many more besides – are now debating which of the two records holders they believe is the greatest A1GP winner ever.
The case for Nico Hulkenberg 
Let’s face it, both drivers achieved their victories in very different fashions. Hulkenberg bust into A1GP with a bang, winning in his very first meeting for Germany at the start of the 2006/07 season by driving a mesmirising race in changeable conditions in the wet. He racked up his nine victories in just 20 starts – a much higher win-to-starts ratio than Jani’s. Hulkenberg’s nine wins also contain six Feature wins to three Sprint wins, while Jani’s profile of four Feature wins to five shorter Sprint victories. You could also argue that if Hulkenberg had stayed in A1GP beyond 2007 he would have won many more races, but then, that’s purely hypothetical.
| Seq | Race | Grid | Cla |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2006/07-Netherlands-F | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | 2006/07-Malaysia-F | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 2006/07-New Zealand-S | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 2006/07-New Zealand-F | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 2006/07-Australia-S | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 2006/07-Australia-F | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 2006/07-South Africa-S | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 2006/07-South Africa-F | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 2006/07-Great Britain-F | 2 | 1 |
The case for Neel Jani 
However, Jani has his own impressive stats that give cause for him to standalone in many people’s eyes. He is the only driver in A1GP history to have won a race in all four seasons of the championship – and his nine wins have come in two generations of the A1GP race car, giving him points for versatility in different equipment. In addition – all nine of Neel’s wins came after individual qualifying sessions determining the grid. In three of Hulkenberg’s cases he was gifted pole position at the start because the rules at the time said that the Sprint race finishing position determined the grid position for the Feature race later on.
| Seq | Race | Grid | Cla |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2005/06-Dubai-S | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2006/07-Malaysia-S | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2007/08-Malaysia-S | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 2007/08-Malaysia-F | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 2007/08-South Africa-F | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 2007/08-Shanghai, China-S | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 2008/09-Malaysia-S | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 2008/09-New Zealand-F | 5 | 1 |
| 9 | 2008/09-South Africa-F | 5 | 1 |
So who do you think is the greatest A1GP winner – Neel Jani or Nico Hulkenberg?
source: www.a1gp.com
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A1GP
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