Monaco, 12 May 2009: At the end of its first season in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Team Monaco and driver Clivio Piccione finished in 9^th place in the Championship with 35 points, just one point away from 7^th place! The Monegasque squad kept improving from one race to the next and demonstrated the full extent of its potential, giving the more experienced teams and drivers a real run for their money. Clivio Piccione looks back on this exciting adventure; the official launch of the team took place in Monaco in the presence of HSH Prince Albert II on September 25^th 2008, just ten days before the first A1GP event in Zandvoort (Netherlands).

You started from scratch and took up the challenge; is that a victory in itself?

CP: I wouldn’t quite go that far, but I would say that it is the culmination of a project, with all the complexity, the doubts and the risks that that involves. Even though it was not always easy, we followed through and ended up proving that A1 Team Monaco belongs at this level of the competition. I was really proud to represent my country in the World Cup of Motorsport.

How would you sum up your results for the 2008/09 season?

CP: Our goal was to finish in the top ten in our first season and we achieved that. We missed a few opportunities to make it on to the podium, particularly in Portugal and possibly at Brands Hatch, which means that we would have been capable of doing even better. The team kept improving as the season went along and the operation of our car was one of our strong points. Starting from nothing and ending up doing so well in such a short time [just eight months] was not exactly a piece of cake. The whole team worked very hard and I want to thank everybody, including our team manager Graham Taylor, whose experience got us off to a fast start and enabled us to react effectively in a lot of situations.

Here are some pictures from some of the Xpress Coffee teams day out!!

Xpress Coffee At Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch, 1 May 2009:  The concluding round of the 2008/9 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport ‘Powered by Ferrari’ is being held at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit this weekend following the announcement that the Mexican race, due to take place on 24 May, has been cancelled. The season finale is therefore once again taking place at the Kent circuit which played host to the eagerly anticipated inaugural A1GP event back in September 2005.  

Team Monaco commenced its final weekend campaign with co-seat holder Hubertus Bahlsen taking to the track for the first of the usual “Rookie” free practice sessions. Hubertus, one of only 11 “Rookie” drivers participating in these sessions today, emerged from the pits with twenty minutes of running remaining. He made steady improvement lap after lap, clocking five personal best times consecutively and setting a fastest lap time of 1:19.187. After six laps, however, a spin at the exit of Druids Hairpin ended the team’s running until Official Practice 2 later in the afternoon. 

For the team’s final Friday practice session of the 2008/9 season, main driver Clivio Piccione took over Monaco’s driving duties. Fifteen minutes into the hour-long session Clivio joined the field and as the session progressed and the times toppled, he was running in 11^th position with a time of 1:14.944. A Red Flag was deployed midway through running due to a stop out on track by Mexico. When the session restarted Team Monaco’s planned practice programme meant that Clivio would only have a few laps in which to set a decent time. He was able to clock a superb fastest lap time of 1:13.398 on his final outing to steal fourth position in the closing moments of the session.

Brands Hatch

Monaco, 21 April 2009: A1 Team Monaco is ready to get back to business at Brands Hatch Circuit next week for the penultimate round of the 2008/9 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport (1-3 May 2009). With a top five finish in the Sprint race in Portugal and a potential podium denied to driver Clivio Piccione in the Feature event, Team Monaco has its sights set firmly on improving its current ninth place in the Championship table.

One of the most iconic sporting venues in the world, Brands Hatch has laid claim to being ‘the busiest race circuit in Europe’. Having undergone a series of major improvements in recent years, the Kent circuit now attracts some of the biggest international events on the motorsport calendar and has hosted three A1GP races to date.

The inaugural A1GP World Cup of Motorsport meeting took place at the circuit in September 2005 in front of 72,000 expectant motor racing fans. The second meeting was the 2006/07 season’s championship finale and it was the first time a home nation won its home event in the series. Last season the venue held the first A1GP championship race to go to the wire in the final event on the calendar.

Starting out as a dirt track motorcycle circuit in 1926, Brands Hatch has been characterised by its natural amphitheatre which affords excellent views of the racing action from the spectator banking and grandstands. The circuit has witnessed a number of significant moments in motorsport history including Ayrton Senna’s first car win, Nigel Mansell’s debut F1 victory and James Toseland’s only double win in World Superbikes.

Ready for Business at Brands Hatch

Portimão, 12 April 2009: A day of mixed fortunes ended A1 Team Monaco’s Portuguese charge this weekend. A solid 5th place finish in the Sprint race was over shadowed by the denial of a potential podium in the Feature event this afternoon. The results of round six of the 2008/9 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport mean that Monaco remains in 9th position in the championship, with 27 points and six Top Ten finishes.

 Clivio Piccione made a great start to the 15-laps Sprint race this morning, jumping from his 10th grid position to 5th place by the end of the first lap. The safety car came out after a coming together by New Zealand and Germany, but after Monaco made its mandatory pitstop on lap five, Clivio rejoined the action retaining 5th place. Keeping extremely close to the rear wing of Vitantonio Liuzzi, Clivio engaged in an exciting battle for position with Team India. He continued to fill the rear view mirrors of pole-sitters Italy when a Red Flag raised with only 3 laps to go ended the running prematurely. Netherlands took the Sprint race victory from teams Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Team Monaco coming home in the points once again, in 5th position.

Looking Forward to the next round at Brandshatch where yyou can enjoy the racing along with our XpressCoffee.

 A1 Team Monaco – Ready to Return to the Action in Portugal

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A1 Team Monaco’s Clivio Piccione is targeting the team’s maiden victory in A1GP after proving it can be a front runner last time out in Gauteng.
Piccione secured the squad’s maiden pole position and medal in the Feature race in South Africa in what was one of the event’s major feel-good stories, and has now set his sights on securing a gold for what is the smallest nation in A1GP, in terms of both population and size.

“Monaco is now back in the front and I think that’s where we should be,” Piccione told A1GP.com. “We finally found out what the problem was from the start of the season so now we realise that we can be at the front without any issues.

“I am really looking forward to the rest of the season and to keeping up the form we had in Gauteng and to be in the top five in every race.

“The target is now the first win. Everyone knows each other; they know what they have to do and how to behave with each other and the whole atmosphere in our team is very good.

“We’ll be even stronger in every race and by the end of the year we want to be one of the strongest teams so we can attack in the 2009/10 season at the front. Our aim is to win the fifth A1GP Season. We can make up ground in this one, get a few more points and learn everything we need to learn to be there.”

Went Up to see Team Monaco before they leave for Portugal. Xpress Coffee will be at the following A1GP race which is in the Uk at Branda Hatch with full VIP provided by Team Monaco and XpressCoffee.

A1 Team Monaco’s Clivio Piccione is targeting the team’s maiden victory in A1GP after proving it can be a front runner last time out in Gauteng.

Piccione secured the squad’s maiden pole position and medal in the Feature race in South Africa in what was one of the event’s major feel-good stories, and has now set his sights on securing a gold for what is the smallest nation in A1GP, in terms of both population and size.

“Monaco is now back in the front and I think that’s where we should be,” Piccione told A1GP.com. “We finally found out what the problem was from the start of the season so now we realise that we can be at the front without any issues.