January 28, 2006 - Bumps, a lack of traction and the proximity of the ever-present concrete walls were the main impressions of the drivers after they returned to the pits after the first practice session for this weekend's A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Durban, South Africa.

The bumps are an inevitable feature of any circuit built on public roads, as are the concrete walls that line the circuit. However, the lack of traction was down to rain. Having fallen solidly for a day and a half, the rain actually stopped just before the start of the session but returned before the thrice-stopped, one-hour session was over and the conditions were tricky enough even to catch out frontrunners Team France and Team Switzerland who ranked among the spinners.

While the drivers commented on all of these, A1 Team Ireland's Ralph Firman added: "Yes, it's bumpy, but that's to be expected. What is impressive, though, is that the organisers have worked wonders to build the track on time. It would be nicer to have a few quicker corners, though, as there are many slow ones and it's much slower than Monaco."

Perhaps mindful of the fact that his country will be hosting the next round of the A1 Grand Prix series, A1 Team Indonesia's Ananda Mikola was fastest of all, having been brave enough to push hard on wet weather tyres on a track that was damp in some places and wet in others. "It's not bad," he commented, "but some of the kerbs seem to be in surprising places. And this, along with the bumps and the slippery surface, made it very tricky out there."

One thing is for sure, overtaking is going to be very difficult to undertake anywhere other than at the end of the pit straight and down the back straight, as much of the track in the linking sections is too narrow for any other than the most foolhardy to consider making a passing move.