is the
British team of
A1 Grand Prix , an international racing series.
A1 Team Great Britain was one of the first six seat holders in the series announced, with chairman
John Surtees hosting the event. The car was unveiled to the public in September
2005 , displaying a distinctive blue, red and white livery to reflect the colours of the
Flag Of The United Kingdom . It is not known why the car was not painted in the traditional
British Racing Green .
British financier
Tony Clements is the national seat holder, and will run the corporate arm of the team. Former
Formula One and
500cc Motorcycle World Champion
John Surtees has been appointed as the team principal, working with the organisational structure, technical development, recruitment and race operations for the team. The
Arden International racing organisation is responsible for race operations of the A1 Team Great Britain car.
negotiates Pilgrim's Drop at
Brands Hatch during the
2005-06 Curtain Raiser .]]
In
May 2005 , A1 Team Great Britain held a "shoot-out" evaluation test to select their driver(s) for the
2005-06 Season . The drivers used an ex-
Arden International Formula 3000 car for the test, which was held at the
Brands Hatch circuit in
Kent .
Ralph Firman and
Robbie Kerr drove the car on the first day, both completing over 60 laps each in dry conditions. The following day,
Alex Lloyd and
James Rossiter were faced with wet conditions, and both drove 20 laps before Kerr was put back in the car for a further 20 laps so that the team could have a useful comparison between the two days.
On
July 4 2005 , Surtees announced that A1 Team Great Britain had selected Kerr and Lloyd as their drivers for the series' first season. At the first full official A1 Grand Prix test session, at a shortened
Silverstone Circuit , Kerr set the fastest time of the day ahead of 14 other countries.
A1 Team Great Britain were the first team in the series to offer a testing role to a woman driver.
Katherine Legge (who had previously tested a
Formula 1 car for the now-defunct
Minardi team), tested at the
Dubai Autodrome during the
United Arab Emirates Race Weekend .
Despite Lloyd being selected as the team's second driver, when Kerr was unavailable for the
Season Finale In China , former
British American Racing test driver and
IndyCar racer
Darren Manning was drafted in to replace him.
For the
2006-07 Season the team selected
Oliver Jarvis to join the squad alongside Kerr and the now full-time recruit Manning. Jarvis will primarily drive the car during Friday's "Rookie Practice Sessions", with Kerr and Manning competing in the races, though Jarvis will be given chances to race.
