A1 TEAM USA leaps forward in 2nd A1GP season

WASHINGTON, D.C.--A1 TEAM USA showed salient progress in the second A1GP
season, jumping to ninth place in the championship of the World Cup of Motorsport and significantly increasing its points total to 42.
 
Phil Giebler and Jonathan Summerton each drove the "We The People" car to second-place finishes in Feature races and share the distinction of A1 TEAM USA's best performances. Giebler, Summerton and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who drove at New Zealand, combined for seven top-10s in the Feature races and eight top-10s in the Sprint races. They scored points in 11 of the combined 22 races--two in each of the 11 A1GP events.
 
In A1GP's inaugural season of 2005-06, A1 TEAM USA ranked 16th and
scored 23 points in 11 races.
 
"I'm very pleased with our improvement to ninth place and the more competitive performances we had," A1 TEAM USA owner Rick Weidinger said. "All the pieces are in place for us to make a run at the championship next season and bring the A1GP World Cup Trophy home to the United States."
 
Giebler, of Oxnard, Calif., drove in six events and scored 23 of A1 TEAM USA's points.
 
"We had a great group of people this year with (engineer) Greg Wheeler and West Surrey Racing operating the team," Giebler said. "It was a good match. "In almost every race, we were fighting for podiums and on pace. I wish we had the results to back up the pace we had. We were robbed a couple of times.  All-in-all, I'm really happy with our performance.
 
"Germany and New Zealand were a little ahead of everybody else. Besides them, we could fight with anybody. The competitive bar in the series was definitely raised this season. It's a series that is just going to get better."
 
Giebler also drove for A1 TEAM USA in the 2005-06 season.
 
"It was an honor to drive for A1 TEAM USA again," Giebler said. "It's a great feeling to represent the United States of America. At all the A1GP events, you had a good feeling of patriotism from the crowds. Some people traveled around, some lived in the countries where we race, and they came to cheer for their teams."
 
Summerton, of Kissimmee, Fla., began the season driving in the all-rookie  practices that began the race weekends. The 19-year-old drove the full schedule in the final four events and scored 18 points.
 
"I was really happy to run for A1 TEAM USA and represent the United States," Summerton said. "It was a real privilege. We proved we can be fast and run at the front in an international series. The team was really good and Greg  Wheeler and I worked together really well.
 
"I'm happy with how we performed. I made a few mistakes, but every race
we were running in the top five."
 
Hunter-Reay, of Boca Raton, Fla., scored one point for his 10th place in
the Feature at New Zealand.
 
A1 TEAM USA was joined during the season  by several commercial partners, with logos from Burger King, FBR Capital Markets, Braintech and Castlerock Management supporting the team.
 
"We had a successful season on the track and in our commercial activities," Weidinger, of Washington, D.C., said. "There is strong patriotic appeal to supporting a team that races for the USA in an international series that limits one entry from each nation. I feel the team is now well positioned for next year with drivers, engineers, and mechanics. The entire team has really come together and we are all looking forward to September 30,
2007 in Holland for next season's opening race.

"I continue to believe that A1GP World Cup of Motorsport is the best product in motorsports. From an owner's perspective, A1GP delivers a level playing field with fixed operating budgets where more money can't buy you more speed. It is the relationship between driver and engineer that delivers more speed. Additionally, one team represents its country and the series has attracted young and aggressive drivers from that country. An excellent mix of excitement, business model and patriotism."
 
A1 TEAM USA also is supporting the 66th Greater Washington D.C. Soap Box Derby on June 16. Through the American Red Cross of the National Capitol Area, A1  TEAM USA donated 11 cars to youth Red Cross volunteers. A1 TEAM USA is a major  sponsor of the event.
 
For more information on A1 TEAM USA, visit www.A1TEAMUSATV.com. For more information on A1GP, visit www.A1GP.com.

A1 TEAM USA finished ninth in the A1GP championship with 42 points.
 

 
Photos from the 2006-07 season are available at www.A1TEAMUSAtv.com/photos.htm or www.A1GP-photo.com/usa.

Media/Press Relations
Contact:
Tim Tuttle
office: 765 246 6335
timetuttle@aol.com