A1GP news

Alajajian 'gutted' after error

Chris Alajajian said he was 'gutted' about his qualifying accident that meant A1 Team Lebanon will start from last place in both of tomorrow's races at Eastern Creek, Australia.

The Australian-based 21-year-old made a mistake on his first out lap for Sprint race qualifying this afternoon, spinning and hitting the tyre barriers at Turn 5. The accident caused significant damage to the car, meaning he was not able to complete a flying lap in any of the four sessions and leaving the team facing a long night of repair work to be ready for tomorrow.

'I want to apologise to the team for my mistake which has been so costly to us,' Alajajian said. 'I know that everyone will now have a hard night ahead of them repairing the car and I'm sorry that this has happened. 'I can't quite believe this and I can only hope that we can salvage something tomorrow.'

Sydney's A1GP round is considered as the team's 'home event', because of the large Lebanese population in the city. Team manger Trevor Bale insisted that the car would be ready for the fans that arrive to watch tomorrow's two races.

He said: 'We have to completely rebuild the car which will take considerable time, but we will be able to make the grid for the two races tomorrow and ensure that the Lebanese fans will be able to support the team here.

'It's been a very difficult day for us. There's obviously tremendous pressure on Chris at his home circuit and I think his inexperience got the better of him. Unfortunately a fairly small mistake has had major repercussions on us.'

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