APRIL 29, 2009

Swine Flu strikes down A1GP race in Mexico

The A1GP race scheduled for Mexico City on May 22-24 has been axed because of Swine Flu. This will save the organisers a great deal of money, at a very difficult time.

The A1GP race scheduled for Mexico City on May 22-24 has been axed because of Swine Flu. This will save the organisers a great deal of money, at a very difficult time.

"To say we are disappointed to have to make this call is an understatement," said A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira. "When the news of the health problems broke last week we made sure we kept ourselves up to date with the latest information. It soon became obvious this was not an isolated health risk, and when the UK Foreign Office put out its advisory and the World Health Organization raised the level of influenza pandemic alert that was when we had to make our decision. We must have the safety of all members of the A1GP community as well as the thousands of loyal fans in Mexico City as our prime concern," he added.

The cargo A1GP was due to be flown out to Mexico directly after the Brands Hatch race and so this was another factor in the decision. If we had flown our cars out and not been able to send the teams to run them it would have been a waste of time and money. However, this cancellation does not impact on the future of the series."

The Brands Hatch event thus becomes the final round of the championship (and much money is saved). A1Team Switzerland, A1 Team Ireland and A1 Team Portugal will be fighting over the title.