A1 Team Malaysia concluded their two day test at Silverstone today, recording the twelfth fastest time this morning and tenth quickest in the afternoon. The test was the first time all 22 nations in the World Cup of Motorsport had been together since the last race of the second season. It was also the first time the team’s drivers; Aaron Lim and Alex Yoong, had been in the car for four months. 

The circuit, one of the F1 World Championship venues, hosted this all-team official test and it provided A1 Team Malaysia with two productive days of shaking down the car, developing the set-up for the new season and giving the two drivers the chance to be reacquainted with the A1 machinery.

Team Malaysia finished the first session of the day in 12th, having completed over 37 laps, although the team focused on their planned test programme rather than posting quick laps. 

Yoong said of the test, “It’s been a productive two days. We’ve shaken the cobwebs off and started to work on various aspects of the car, as we prepare for Zandvoort. I think it’s difficult to assess the relative performance of each team as there were many drivers testing here, running to different programmes, but I think we’re in the ball park and can improve our pace as we head into the next test later this month.”

As a tribute to the fact that Malaysia is celebrating its 50^th anniversary since independence of British rule in 1957, the team branded the car with the official 50^th anniversary celebratory logo.

Team Malaysia CEO Jack Cunningham commented on the test; “We’ve had two solid days of running here at Silverstone, the team continued to develop the car and work on getting quicker. I’m pleased with the team and drivers; they have both been working hard over the two days and we’re confident that by the time that we reach Zandvoort we’ll have consolidated our pre-season test programme and be ready for the challenge of this highly competitive series.  We are sad not to be at our home base in KL for the Merdeka celebrations this week, and so we thought that the best tribute to this milestone for Malaysia would be to brand the car with the official “Malaysiaku Gemilang” logo which has drawn many comments from other teams in the paddock. As a team we congratulate and salute Malaysia.”

The Malaysian team return to the track in three weeks time, running on biofuel for the first time, as part of a new environmental policy to be introduced by A1GP. This week the Series unveiled an ambitious series of initiatives to help reduce its environmental footprint. Measures include switching to biofuel (30% ethanol mix), waste reduction measures, carbon-offsetting unavoidable emissions and promoting environmental awareness to a global audience spanning 150 countries.