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52-606: The Circuito do Estoril or Autódromo do Estoril ( Estoril Circuit ), officially known as Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva , is a motorsport race track on the Portuguese Riviera , outside of Lisbon , owned by state-run holding management company Parpública . Its length is 4.182 km (2.599 mi). It was the home of the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996. The circuit has an FIA Grade 1 license. Estoril,

104-470: A Dutch auction . While the A1GP liquidators were apparently selling all intellectual property rights along with cars, it is unclear if a buyer was also expected to assume franchise agreements and financial obligations, or if the series and its necessary operating entities could be bought free and clear of any and all claims by Teixeira, Lyndhurst, and RAB. The liquidators appointed GoIndustry DoveBid to handle

156-468: A 4.5-litre Ferrari/Maserati V8 engine was capable of delivering up to 600 brake horsepower (450 kW) in PowerBoost mode. Michelin took over the tyre contract for the final season. Richard Dorfman was the A1GP's director of broadcasting. All broadcaster information is correct for the 2008–09 season . The first Chinese round of the 2006–07 A1GP took place on the streets of Beijing . However,

208-680: A different way for the Sprint Race: 10 for the winner, counting down 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point for eighth place. In addition, one point was awarded to the team that set the fastest single lap time in either the Sprint or Main Race. Cash prizes were also awarded. Below is a list of pointscoring systems used to determine the winner of the A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport since the 2005–06 season . The World Cup of Motorsport

260-471: A group of new investors. The season would constitute 18 countries making up the grid and ten race weekends, spread out either side of Christmas 2011, visiting many of the series' previous venues. The series would also run under a new model, similar to the GP2 Series whereby teams are responsible for finding their own funding. In 2011 rumours surfaced of A1GP's potential return with a new name. The series

312-399: A near-backward flip after colliding with Gerhard Berger on the main straight in 1992 ; and Jacques Villeneuve overtaking Michael Schumacher around the outside of the final turn in 1996 . Throughout the years, Estoril has had numerous problems with safety, failing safety inspections on more than one occasion. After the death of Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix , a chicane

364-406: A single-seater competition named Formula Acceleration 1 , which was part of Acceleration 2014 . In May 2015 AFRIX Motorsport of South Africa announced that they had purchased the remaining 21 'Powered by Ferrari' A1GP cars – together with their engines and spares, but less engine management electronics and steering wheels – from Delivered on Time, a freight company that had been granted a lien on

416-621: A sizeable gap. By the start of the winter break, France had run away with the lead with A1 Team Switzerland 28 points behind. At the final race of the season in Shanghai , A1 Team France were crowned the first-ever A1 Grand Prix world champions with 172 points. Switzerland were second with 121 points and A1 Team Great Britain third with 97 points. Katherine Legge was the first woman to drive A1 Grand Prix cars during test session in December 2005 on Dubai Autodrome . Changes were made for

468-634: A special stage at the circuit. Estoril became a popular event on the F1 calendar, the setting for many well-known moments including Niki Lauda winning the 1984 championship, his third and final, from McLaren teammate Alain Prost by just half a point by finishing second to Prost at the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix ; three-time world champion Ayrton Senna 's first F1 win in 1985 ; Nigel Mansell 's notorious black flag incident and subsequent collision with Senna in 1989 ; Riccardo Patrese being launched airborne in

520-622: A three-day period, from Friday to Sunday. The teams were given five sets of dry weather slick tires , and two sets of wet weather treaded tires per weekend. However, if the weather was extreme, the team could be given more wet weather tires at the expense of the slick tires. The race weekend started with two one-hour practice sessions held on the Friday, and then another on the Saturday morning. A two-hour qualifying session took place on Saturday afternoon, and two races took place on Sunday. Primarily,

572-558: A total of 55 minutes for qualifying. The grid for the Sprint Race was set based on the cars' fastest time from either the first or the second session. The grid for the Feature Race was determined the same way, but using sessions three and four. However, if there was a red flag due to an accident on the circuit, the timing to the end of qualifying continued to run. The Sprint Race used the grid determined in sessions one and two of

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624-458: A vacation-destination beach town located 32 km (20 mi) west of the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon has had a motor racing dating back to the 1930s, with a 2.8 km (1.7 mi) street circuit used in 1937 for a local race. The current Estoril circuit was built and completed in 1972 on a rocky plateau near the village of Alcabideche , 9-kilometre (5.6 mi) from Estoril ,

676-591: The Brands Hatch circuit in Kent , United Kingdom. The first season was planned for 12 rounds (24 races, with two each weekend); however the cancellation of a race scheduled for Curitiba , Brazil in January 2006 reduced this number to 11. Nelson Piquet Jr. won the inaugural race of the series for A1 Team Brazil . Their winning form was not to continue. Wins at Estoril and Malaysia saw A1 Team France build up

728-481: The French team. The track hosted Superleague Formula series events in 2008 and 2009. In 2020, due to rescheduling of major international sport series due to COVID-19 pandemic , Estoril hosted the final race of 2020 Superbike World Championship (after hosting the series in 1988 and 1993) and the final race of 2019–20 FIM Endurance World Championship (after hosting the series in 1987 and 2000). As of October 2024,

780-401: The "Powered by Ferrari" A1GP car was used. According to 2007–08 champion Neel Jani, 90% of teams in the paddock warned Teixeira ahead of time that this car change was untimely and an inefficient use of funds. Rule changes included shorter qualifying sessions, a pit-stop during the now longer Sprint Race, removal of limits on Friday test drivers, and reduced Sprint Race points scoring. Throughout

832-483: The 2006–07 season to race durations and distances to improve the spectacle for attendees and TV viewers. The 2006–07 schedule was released on 7 July 2006, with the first race at Circuit Park Zandvoort on 1 October 2006, and the last race at Brands Hatch on 29 April 2007. New teams Team Singapore and Team Greece joined the competition but Team Turkey failed to secure funding for the season. Team Austria , Team Japan , Team Portugal and Team Russia did not return for

884-508: The A1GP investment had been written down for a third time. A1 Team Australia boss Alan Jones later suggested that "it is common knowledge that Mr Teixeira bought RAB Capital out from A1GP" before the current season, yet A1GP prominently displayed RAB Capital branding until A1GP discontinued racing operations in 2009. Following doubts that the fifth season would go ahead due to financial constraints and reports that engine suppliers Ferrari would pull out over non-payments, Teixeira announced that

936-562: The Boavista street circuit in Porto . Its first years saw many national races, as well as an occasional Formula 2 race. However, the course soon fell into disrepair due to the owning company having been taken over by the state between 1975 and 1978, and a significant redevelopment effort was needed before international motorsport returned in 1984. In the 1980s, the Rally de Portugal also had

988-413: The Feature Race. Each team had to complete three compulsory pit stops over the course of the race weekend – one during the Sprint Race, and two during the Feature Race. During the pit stop, all four tyres on the car had to be changed. A total of eight mechanics could be used during the stop, however, only four were allowed to 'touch the car', none of which (save the so-called "lollipop man" that directed

1040-474: The Saturday of the race weekend, to determine the grid lineup for Sunday's races, the Sprint Race and the Main Race. The qualifying period was split into four, ten-minute sessions. Each car was permitted three laps per session, including the laps required for leaving the pits, and for re-entering it. This allowed one lap to set a competitive time. There was a five-minute break between sessions, which added up to

1092-554: The building of the Autódromo do Estoril for Portuguese motor sport, the circuit was renamed in her honour. She died in Rio de Janeiro , aged 93. This Portuguese business-related biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix ( A1GP ) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It

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1144-523: The car into its pit) could be present in the pit lane before the car came to a complete halt. Refuelling was also not permitted; infringements of these rules or of the pit-lane speed limit resulted in the imposition of a drive-through penalty. At the end of Season 3, A1GP released the results of the season's pit stop times. Although having never won a race, A1 Team Australia had the fastest pit crew of all teams. Unlike almost all other forms of auto racing, drivers did not score points individually; instead

1196-443: The case with A1 Holdings. The assets were awarded to A1 Grand Prix Operations, and therefore Bramston became their administrator. Bramston said he was trying to secure the best price in liquidation and would not rule out a sale to an entity controlled by Teixeira. RAB Capital's Special Situations fund missed out on the market recovery of 2009 and its shareholders forced manager RAB to allow the entire fund to be put up for sale through

1248-404: The corner being wider and had to avoid the pitlane entry barrier. It had to suffice, though, as otherwise the race would have been cancelled. However, another problem arose in qualifying when manhole covers on the roads were coming undone due to the racing cars' high downforce and low ride height. Grid positions were decided based on practice times. Some advertising banners also came loose around

1300-1102: The country. The team owner, principal and crew, however, did not need to have the same nationality as the team. Twenty-nine nations started one race in A1GP – as in the table below: [REDACTED] South Africa [REDACTED] Brazil [REDACTED] Canada [REDACTED] Mexico [REDACTED] USA [REDACTED] China [REDACTED] India [REDACTED] Indonesia [REDACTED] Japan [REDACTED] Korea [REDACTED] Lebanon [REDACTED] Malaysia [REDACTED] Pakistan [REDACTED] Singapore [REDACTED] Austria [REDACTED] Czech Republic [REDACTED] France [REDACTED] Germany [REDACTED] Great Britain [REDACTED] Greece [REDACTED] Ireland [REDACTED] Italy [REDACTED] Monaco [REDACTED] Netherlands [REDACTED] Portugal [REDACTED] Russia [REDACTED] Switzerland [REDACTED] Australia [REDACTED] New Zealand A1 Grands Prix of Nations took place over

1352-714: The fastest official race lap records at the Circuito do Estoril are listed as: Fernanda Pires da Silva Da Silva was born in Lisbon , Portugal. On 16 November 1972, she was made Commander of the Industrial Class; on 20 February 1989, she was made Grand Officer of the Order of Merit ; and on March 11, 2000, she was raised to the Grand Cross of the same Order. By her first husband Abel de Moura Pinheiro, she

1404-472: The operation of international teams. Thirty franchises were made available; twenty-three of them were restricted to specified nations, while the other seven were opened to tender for nations that had not been initially targeted. Twenty-five of the franchises were purchased in time for the 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix season , which began on 25 September 2005 with the A1 Grand Prix of Nations Great Britain at

1456-483: The organisation was confirmed in December. The 2007–08 season was the final season that used the Lola-Zytek A1GP car, with rule changes including two mandatory pit-stops in the Feature Race and an introduction of E30 biofuel as the cars' fuel. Team Switzerland was the winning team with Neel Jani behind the wheel. In what proved to be the series' final season, the 2008–09 season was the only season in which

1508-520: The parabolica turn which saw its length reduced to 4.182 km (2.599 mi) was implemented in 2000 in order to obtain FIM homologation. On 3 September 2000, the Autódromo do Estoril held its first Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix , an event held annually. On 23 October 2005, the circuit hosted the third round of the first ever A1 Grand Prix racing season , with both races in the event being won by

1560-534: The points they earn were ascribed to their national team. This means that teams could change drivers between rounds, which was often necessary because some drivers had commitments in other formulae, and still accumulate points to their score. Points were awarded for the first ten places but the amounts changed during the series' run: 15 for the winner, 12 for second place, 10 for third place, 8 for fourth place, 6 for fifth place, 5 for sixth place, and so on with 4, 3, 2, and one point for tenth place. Points were awarded in

1612-421: The previous day's qualifying session, and was held in the early afternoon. The race began from a rolling start , and its duration was a maximum of 24 minutes plus one additional lap. Additionally, each team had to make one mandatory pit stop between laps four and eight. Drivers were permitted four uses of PowerBoost during the Sprint Race. The Feature Race used the grid determined in sessions three and four of

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1664-474: The previous day's qualifying session, and was held mid-afternoon. The race began from a standing start , and was a race of approximately 180 kilometres (110 mi), with a maximum time limit of 69 minutes plus one lap. Teams had to make two mandatory pit stops during the Feature Race, one between laps eight and sixteen, and another during a pit window, which was not announced until the first window has closed. Drivers were permitted eight uses of PowerBoost during

1716-528: The sale of the assets, and the liquidators are seeking £10 million for the assets. If a revival plan for the series could not be agreed with interested investment parties then the A1 Grand Prix assets were to be put up for auction. On 5 July 2010 Autosport magazine published in its "rumours & speculation" blog that the series, in one form or another, was to be revived for a new 2011–12 season, citing an unidentified source who claims backing from

1768-729: The season, three rounds (in Italy, Indonesia, and Mexico) were cancelled for various reasons, and a proposed race in Brazil fell through. Team Ireland won the series with Ulsterman Adam Carroll. The opening round of the season, scheduled as part of the already well established Nikon SuperGP race meeting, was cancelled five days before practice was due to begin. With cars and series infrastructure still tied up in London and no comment forthcoming from A1GP, organisers in Australia were forced to announce

1820-531: The second season. However, after securing funding Team Portugal competed in the final four rounds of the second season in South Africa, Mexico, China and Britain. Team Germany won the series with 128 points, 35 points lead ahead of Team New Zealand. On 29 September, Sheikh Maktoum announced he was resigning his position as chairman and chief executive of the series, seeking to have his place taken by increased shareholder interests: I am happy that I have built

1872-599: The series had secured its long-term future, following a financial restructuring. As part of the restructuring, administration had been applied for the previously liquidated A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. A dispute over the ownership of the series' cars was heard on 18 January 2010 at the High Court of Justice in London , with a judicial decision on 21 January 2010 ruling that the Administrator, Tim Bramston, had won

1924-457: The series later liquidated after failing to host any races during the 2009–10 season. The nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai , initially in 2003. Once the series had received the backing of the FIA, a management structure including new executive directors Brian Menell and Tony Teixeira were appointed to oversee the sale of franchises for

1976-713: The series with fans in mind. I feel like I have fulfilled my promise to them by bringing A1GP from concept to reality and am confident that the World Cup of Motorsport will go from strength to strength. Having devoted all my efforts to making A1GP the success it is today, this transaction will allow me to devote more time to my Dubai International Holding Company which currently manages a substantial portfolio of assets and new ventures and which continues to actively pursue other significant investment opportunities. Maktoum announced his intended resignation in September and his exit from

2028-565: The series would not appear at what had been a high-profile addition to the A1 Grand Prix calendar. The event was underwritten by the Queensland state government , who mentioned the possibility of taking legal recourse against A1 Grand Prix. The series was thrown into further doubt as more races were cancelled, with an announcement made on 5 November 2009 stating that the races in China and Malaysia would not be taking place. The last race that

2080-423: The three practice sessions were for car setup and track familiarisation before the official competition began with Saturday qualifying. Three different drivers could participate in the three practice sessions; the driver elected for qualifying or for one of the races was required to have taken part in at least one such practice session. A1 Grand Prix used a unique qualifying format, which began at 14:00 local time on

2132-414: The tight hairpin at the end of the back straight was too tight for the cars to negotiate safely, as it was a 180 degree left turn. Cars were running wide and stopping mid corner; therefore, the sessions were red flagged. A shorter circuit was created, creating another, less tight hairpin halfway up the straight, bypassing most of the old straight. This corner was still not ideal, as drivers ran wide despite

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2184-499: The town lending its name to the circuit. The course has two hairpin turns, noticeable elevation changes, and a long 0.986 km (0.613 mi) start/finish straight. Its original perimeter was 4.350 km (2.703 mi), and the maximum gradient is nearly 7%. Monsanto Park , another street circuit in Lisbon hosted a variety of motor racing events in the 1950s, including the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix , an event it shared briefly with

2236-471: The vehicles in lieu of unpaid bills. AFRIX stated that the cars were to form the basis for a one-make series to be run in South Africa during the southern hemisphere summer. Announced in May 2023, A1GP was planned to make a return with a 100 million dollar funding. Each A1 Grand Prix team represented a nation. Drivers must have the same nationality as the team they drove for. The team car should also represent

2288-612: Was added which increased the circuit length to 4.360 km (2.709 mi). Estoril sometimes has strong winds. Many teams were fond of using Estoril for winter testing. Estoril was dropped from the F1 calendar for the 1997 season , though it continued to play host to top-level single-seater, sports car and touring car events, including the FIA GT Championship , the DTM and the World Series by Renault . A new redesign of

2340-420: Was awarded to the A1 Grand Prix team which accumulated the most points over the course of a season. The A1GP formula provided a single "spec" car for each team. Each car was mechanically identical, built with many technical restrictions designed to limit performance, reduce running costs, and prevent any one or number of teams gaining an advantage through better equipment. The Lola A1GP, chassis Lola B05/52,

2392-405: Was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai , initially in 2003. After a successful first season of A1GP, it was announced on 29 September 2006 that Maktoum was to sell his position as chairman and director of A1GP. The transfer of his share in the organisation of A1 Grand Prix to RAB Capital was finalized in December 2006. Tony Teixeira took control of the series in 2006, and

2444-432: Was intended to ease some of the concerns regarding A1GP's ongoing financial viability, the continued input of existing backers, and the platform's ability to attract sponsors. CEO Pete da Silva reported a loss for the initial season, and yet RAB Capital paid $ 200 million to the exiting Dubai founder for his 80% stake. Before the 2008–09 "Powered by Ferrari" season was to begin, Bloomberg reported that RAB Capital announced that

2496-501: Was the mother of the businessman Abel Saturnino da Silva de Moura Pinheiro (25 April 1946), who married Maria João de Lacerda de Barros Caetano de Moura Pinheiro (2 May 1957), and has children. By her second husband Alberto Teotónio Pereira (6 July 1893 – 23 June 1957), she was the mother of João Paulo Teotónio Pereira (29 July 1948 – 14 September 2001), who married Ana Margarida Buzaglo Zagury Teotónio Pereira (October 4, 1951), and has children. In recognition of her family's contribution to

2548-625: Was to be called the A10 World Series, keeping the A1 from A1GP to signify the continuation of the idea. The series was billed as a Global single seater series with 600BHP V10 engines. A source told Autosport magazine that the A10 World Series would use A1GP's idea of pitting countries against each other. However, the holding company for the series was formally dissolved in early 2012. In 2014 ISRA (International Sport Racing Association) took 2005–08 A1 Grand Prix racing cars (Lola-Zytek) and created

2600-530: Was to be held in the season, the Dutch round, was switched for Superleague Formula . This put an end to the hopes the season would start and also put the future of the series in doubt. Chairman Tony Teixeira announced in October 2007 that Italian manufacturer Ferrari would design and build the engines for six years, and that Ferrari would consult in the design and manufacture of the car. The Ferrari involvement

2652-516: Was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most formula racing series. As such, it was often promoted as the " World Cup of Motorsport". The series was ratified by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), and races were held in the traditional Formula One off-season, the northern hemisphere winter. The nation-based A1GP concept

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2704-459: Was used in the first three seasons. These chassis were fitted with 3.4-litre Zytek engines delivering up to 550 brake horsepower (410 kW) in PowerBoost mode, and ran on Cooper tyres. A1GP partnered with Ferrari in the 2008–09 season to run upgraded Ferrari F2004 chassis, with the intention of using the cars for six seasons. The original 3.0L Ferrari V10 engine was replaced with

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