Great Britain hits back at Ireland

A1 Team Great Britain team principal Katie Clements has hit back at criticism by her Irish counterpart that the British squad can no longer be considered a ‘top A1GP team’.

Ahead of this weekend’s championship finale at Brands Hatch, which both teams claim as their home race, the bosses of both have become embroiled in a pre-event war of words.

A1 Team Ireland seat holder Mark Gallagher scoffed at the suggestion Great Britain would be in contention for victory this weekend, and Clements has angrily reacted by labeling the comments as gamesmanship.

Clements, A1GP’s only female team principal, added she didn’t think anyone from Ireland was in a position to criticize, because it is currently three places behind it in the standings.

‘Some mind games are possibly at play here,’ Clements claimed. ‘We prefer to target the teams ahead of us in the championship, and we do not focus on the ones behind.

‘All I will say is that the statistics speak for themselves and, in three years of A1GP, we have four wins and 24 podiums compared to Ireland’s single win and four podiums, so Ireland is not in a position to be critical.

‘Obviously there are some slick teams in operation in the A1GP paddock now and I firmly believe we are one of them, so I trust that our experienced and dedicated team will be able to adjust quickly to the new challenge of the new A1GP car, powered by Ferrari, next season.

'For now though, we are just concentrating all of our efforts on this coming weekend at Brands Hatch. Our wonderful fans will be out in force as usual, and we want to show them exactly what A1 Team GBR is capable of.’

Ireland is currently seventh in the standings, but could theoretically overhaul Great Britain and finish as high as third depending on other results.