A1 Team Switzerland is to use the same trick this weekend in Shanghai that it when it was last in China - by using a track expert to help it in the rookie session.
Alexandre Imperatori was born in the Freiburg region of Switzerland, but has been racing in the Far East for the last two years in the Asian Formula Renault championship.
The 20-year-old was first called up in Zhuhai last December, where his track knowledge, gained from his time in Formula Renault, was helpful to the team. He finished fifth overall in the rookie session.
Now, his knowledge of the Chinese track will be put to good use, with him helping to set the Swiss car up on the 4.6km Shanghai track before regular driver Neel Jani takes over for the rest of the weekend.
Switzerland has a 15-point lead in the championship going into the weekend, and if things went its way could potentially be confirmed as the 2007/08 champion with one race to fo. For that to happen, it would need to leave Shanghai with a 33-point lead over the rest of the field.
a1gp.com
a1gp.com