Team Australia's John Martin looks ahead to upcoming A1GP race in Portugal

Team Australia lead driver John Martin talks to foxsports.com.au about the upcoming A1GP race at the new Algarve circuit in Portugal.

Martin will be looking to erase the disappointment of his last start at Kyalami, South Africa when a pit stop problem in the feature race prevented his team from capitalising on a promising position.

I hear you're travelling through Italy on your way to Portugal - will you be hopping into the simulator for the new Algarve track?

I will definitely hop into the simulator in Italy, which is a week before I head to Portugal. It will be great to put some practice laps in because the track looks pretty interesting. It’s a brand new circuit and I don't think many people have raced there yet. Only the superbikes have raced there so far and F1 and has done a bit of testing there but apart from that I think we (A1GP) will be the first major race there.

So what are your thoughts on the new track?

It’s pretty big really, fairly wide and smooth - really good. I’ve seen some footage of it on the internet and it looks really impressive. There are plenty of hills and stuff in it - different cambers and corners - I think it will be great. Should be plenty of opportunity for passing; A1 is always fast, anyway.

What have you been up to since the South African GP? There must have been some mixed emotions after the Gauteng race.

I've been great chilling out back home in Queensland and doing some training. As for the South Africa incident, we have moved on. Everyone realised what happened and it was an unfortunate ending but at least we proved we had the pace. We just have to push on for Portugal, where we have the potential to be right up the front.

Talk us through the problems you encountered in South Africa.

We qualified OK for the feature race and had a reasonably good start due to a collision between the New Zealand and Malaysian teams. I got into third quite easily and had some really good pace at that stage coming in for the first pit stop. We had an agreement with the German team before the start of the race that we were going to stop on the first available opportunity - which we did - but they decided to come in after us. I don’t know whose idea that was but when we attempted to leave the pits the German car was blocking our exit. When I hit the breaks to avoid them the anti-stall failed and the car wouldn’t start again. It was a bit of a pain, really.

What were relations like between the Australian and the German teams after that?

Obviously nobody was very happy but I don’t think there was anything said. We just took that incident on the chin and we will learn from it and move on.

Was any action taken against the Germans?

No, it was just a congested area in the pit lane - they did nothing illegal. But I thought our team had an agreement with theirs. Unfortunately, they didn’t stick with that agreement - it’s their decision I guess.

You mentioned your speed was very good until that happened. It must give you confidence for the remaining rounds.

Yes it was, and later on in the race when we put the new tyres on we held the fastest lap time for a long period of the race. It was a good genuine race-speed lap. By the end of the race we had a lot more pace than Team Switzerland (who won the race). Team Switzerland were a long way in front before we ran into trouble in the pits but I think second was definitely achievable.

What are the chances of a podium placing before the end of the season?

The ability is there; we just need to pull it all together. I want to try to improve my sprint qualifying times because I have been lacking a bit there. But we should be OK, I think. The last two rounds are great - Portugal looks like an awesome track and I know the Brands Hatch track and have raced well there. There are positive signs for the future.

A1GP News Round Up

London, Great Britain On Monday (26 January) following the Taupo event, and at the request of Ferrari, A1 Teams Ireland and New Zealand completed some additional running to try out a version of the pressurised fuel collector at high ambient temperatures. The data collected will be validated by A1GP Technology in further factory tests to produce a modification for all team cars prior to the A1GP Gauteng event in three weeks time.

Team Principal Mark Gallagher: "We were asked to help out with the test and were happy to oblige. Naturally for reasons of fairness we could not use Adam Carroll for this test, nor carry out any performance testing of benefit to the team, but it was very useful for Niall Quinn to get some decent running in the car. It was nice as championship leaders to be asked to assist A1GP and Ferrari with this test and to help them ensure that the superb new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car continues to provide the teams with a strong, reliable package. Well focus all our energies on the next race in Gauteng, South Africa. Kyalami is a new track for everyone in A1GP and will be another leap into the unknown.

A1 Team New Zealand also ran its car in the test, and worked with Ferrari and Magneti Marelli so they could gain a better understanding as to why a small number of cars including the New Zealand car were affected by problems during the Taupo event with the drivers application of the anti-stall system. New Zealand did not have a rookie driver at the Taupo event, and therefore Jonny Reid undertook the testing.

South Africa is already gearing up for the next event, A1GP Gauteng on 20 - 22 February. As part of the build up the A1GP test car has already arrived in the province from New Zealand last week and was on display at The MPH Show, which also incorporates Top Gear Live, at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg from January 29 to February 1.

A1GP Village will also be at the Montecasino Piazza from Thursday 12 February to Thursday 19 February with the test car on show from 12 -15 February. Visitors will also get the chance to hear the distinctive notes of the Ferrari engine that propels all the cars on the A1GP grids around the world. The Tyre Change Challenge will also be activated from 12 15 February with TW Steel watches also up for grabs on 14 and 15 February. Adventure biker and Supermoto Champion, Brian Capper, will be doing a display in the Piazza over the weekend with other exhibitors including Fantastic Racing, TW Steel, Neo Solutions super cars, a super bike display and EA Sports Need for Speed gaming pods. The A1GP Adrenalin Rush will also be set up for children.

Looking further ahead, tickets for A1GP Algarve, Portugal are now on sale via www.autodromoalgarve.com. The event is due to take place at the Autdromo Internacional do Algarve, from 10-12 April 2009. Ticket prices vary according to the selected grandstands with children under 12 able to attend the event free-of-charge. For anyone buying tickets before 28 February, there will also be an additional promotion in place with four tickets sold for the price of three.

Congratulations also go out to A1 Team Great Britain's Danny Watts and his partner Fiona who are proud parents to Joshua Louis, born at 0915 on 15 January 2009.