A1 Team Lebanon was out on track for qualifying today at the A1 Grand Prix of Nations EuroSpeedway. The demands of a new car and new engine required the team to devote track time to the technical demands from Zytek, with regard to the engine, and Lola for the chassis. This focus was reflected in the final qualifying times with Khalil Beschir lining up 24th on the grid.A1 Team Lebanon started the EuroSpeedway race weekend with a new A1 racing car, following Beschir’s accident during the Feature race at Brands Hatch, England. The new car required a series of technical procedures to be completed during the practice sessions and the team devoted most of its track time in free practice concentrating on these.  Khalil Beschir drove the car in first practice and with the limited time available for car setup, A1 Team Lebanon elected to optimize this with Beschir continuing to drive throughout the weekend. Team mate, Basil Shaaban, on hand at EuroSpeedway took the opportunity to join the Al Jazeera commentary team for the qualifying session adding a driver perspective for television viewers in the Arab world. The A1 Grand Prix qualifying format requires drivers to make four flying laps, within four 15 minute qualifying segments, with the best two times aggregated to produce the overall qualifying position. A1 Team Lebanon posted four good lap times, improving with each run, and with Beschir’s aggregate time less than three seconds off the pole sitter.

 
Beschir said after the qualifying session, "We’ve had to spend the last two days focusing on the car and I haven’t had as much time as I would have liked to concentrate on the car set up for this circuit. We’ll review the data tonight and I think we can make some improvements. I had a good race at Brands Hatch up until my accident and I hope that I can make a good start for the first race."

Team Principal Tony Snook added, "Khalil is a tough competitor and we expect him to race hard as he showed in the last race at Brands Hatch where he qualified 22nd and had improved to seventh place when he had his accident."

A1 Grand Prix is a new, unique concept in international motor racing, with the 12 race series featuring 25 national teams competing on an equal basis, racing identical cars with no electronic driver aids, leading to performance being determined by human bravery, skill and excellence.

The Series will travel across five continents through the winter months, with visits including Europe, Australasia, South Africa, North and South America. The A1 Grand Prix series returns for more track action tomorrow morning with a 15 minute warm-up. This is followed with a 30 minute, 18 lap Sprint race and the 36 lap main Feature race, which includes a mandatory pit stop. Visit www.A1GP.com for an international broadcast schedule.