"A KNOCKOUT WEEKEND"
It’s shattering to think about the loss of life suffered in the Chengdu area in May earlier this year. An estimated 80,000 people lost their lives and many others were seriously injured in a huge natural disaster that is almost off the scale of our comprehension, and yet we saw virtually no sign of the devastation around the area of this circuit that’s new to A1GP.
Yes, there were one or two cracks in the wall of the race control building, but nothing too alarming and the site had been rigorously inspected and approved before we all turned up. Some people reckoned they felt a tremor on Thursday evening, but then, being in a known earthquake zone can make people somewhat sensitive.
Chengdu is rebuilding and determined to demonstrate a positive outlook, and that was part of the reason we were there. The power of sport to open a new perspective on a venue was so amply demonstrated by China in hosting the Olympics, and while Chengdu differs considerably from Beijing, it is still a hugely significant business metropolis with some of the world’s biggest companies taking a stake in office and factory space. High quality sporting contests attract attention from around the globe as well as making the locals feel proud of their city, and A1GP wasn’t the only show in town this weekend.
Don King, the infamous boxing impresario, he of the high hair and hyperbole, was promoting a boxing event on Friday night and some of our crew went along for the evening. Step forward Clivio Piccione of A1 Team Monaco. Never one to let a PR opportunity slip by, the seat holder/driver of this new team on the block managed to get in the ring, be announced to the crowd and have his photo taken alongside the eccentric Mr King.
He’s making quite an impression one way and another; points scored at both opening events of the season, a team of very experienced and talented personnel, and an eye for the media. Thankfully he stepped outside the ropes before the serious business began, but somehow the psychology of boxing seemed to be a suitable backdrop to the race weekend as well.
One of the most valued commodities in the ring is the ability to take a punch, to suffer a knockdown and to come back fighting. This was the perfect analogy for the achievements of Adam Carroll in Chengdu. The events of Zandvoort, when he had thrown away third on the grid with a spin in the wet at the start of the Sprint race, followed by other mishaps and problems, meant a huge missed opportunity for the team that had gone so well in testing.
Having hoped to steal a march on their less well prepared or absent rivals, the team found themselves in the situation where they may as well have not turned up at all.
And let me tell you, this is not a team that accepts failure. Each crew member is intensely competitive and there is a burning desire to put one over all the other teams in the series in the races, while being one of the most helpful teams when others have problems. For example, they even offered personnel to GBR this weekend because of the lack of sleep the British lads had had leading up to the race.
But losing is not tolerated, and a less strong character than Adam Carroll may have suffered a crisis of confidence after the events in the Netherlands with that sort of expectation on his shoulders. Adam, however is a fighter and he could be a boxer himself with that powerful upper body and lightness of foot. He’s not the sort of driver to over-analyse a mistake, he just gets in and drives.
Chengdu was by far A1 team Ireland’s most successful weekend in the series. The team’s first pole position, followed up by a win and a battling second place. In the feature race, Adam was bobbing and weaving, trying to unsettle Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque, throwing in the odd lunge, always on the front foot. It was a classy performance and perhaps what made it even more so was the fact that he also knew when to back off.
Ultimately there is a core difference between boxing and motorsport. In A1GP, it’s the long game that counts over a season of races and not one single prize fight. Adam’s maturity in stepping out of the clinch as he and the Portugese car went side-by-side into Turn 1 demonstrates that his sights are set on the long term goal, not the short term glory and that will concern Ireland’s rivals as much as his sheer pace.
Mind you, the team won’t give him a break even if he wins every race. I was outside the garage on Saturday afternoon as Adam took himself off for a ‘comfort break’ following his pole position. Immediately, three crew members dashed to the cubicle and as one of them puffed talcum powder through the gap beneath the door, the others switched on their hand-held brake cooling air-blowers and shoved them into the space. Verbal explosions emanated from within, followed rapidly by Adam attending to his decorum and using language unsuitable before the watershed (or this blog).
Yet there was a wry smile on his face and a gleam in his eye. He’s in his element with these guys and he proved it the following day. So, does that make him my driver of the weekend?
No, in fact it doesn’t. I’m finding it hard to choose this time. Adam was superb, Felipe Albuquerque was brilliant and a fully deserving first time winner, and Great Britain’s Danny Watts was mighty for a man who hasn’t raced a single-seater in more than two years.
So, I’m not going to choose between them.
Instead, my person of the weekend goes to a nine-year-old local boy that I saw walking through the paddock on Sunday. Eyes fixed ahead, in his hands he held an imaginary steering wheel and in his mind he was powered by a Ferrari engine.
In an area that has seen such recent tragedy, it’s the dreams and aspirations of the young that will forge the path forward.
Opinions expressed are solely those of the writer