Depending on where you look, the definition of a ‘rookie’ is different. A few dictionaries A1GP.com searched gave definitions that ranged from ‘an inexperienced person’ or ‘novice’ or a ‘sports star participating in their first season as a member of a professional team’.

In A1GP, the term rookie is a little different. In A1GP, a rookie driver should simply be classed as: ‘the future’.

In A1GP, a rookie is defined as someone who is under 28 and has competed in just six races or less. More often than not, it is someone who is trying to break into their A1GP nation’s race team on a more regular basis.

Unlike any other motor racing series in the world, A1GP sets aside a free practice session specifically for rookies, to give the more inexperienced drivers a chance to shine while out of the pressure of the races on Sunday.

The practice was introduced at the start of the second season, after seat holders wanted to find a way of introducing their younger talent to the power and speed of an A1GP car and develop them further.

It causes intrigue right from the word go on a race weekend. Occurring on Friday morning, the session is split into two 25-minute segments, with a ten-minute break in between. Costs are saved by having the rookie use a set of tyres used at the previous race meeting.

Sometimes teams use it to give their main driver a little bit more track time for the weekend, assuming he is eligible. Sometimes a team uses it to trial a driver they have had their eye on who is performing well in their junior category.

It has helped some drivers show their talent and earn more regular race drives. Just ask Great Britain’s Oliver Jarvis, Canada’s Robert Wickens or USA’s Jonathan Summerton – all of whom started off as rookies but were quickly visitors to the podium when they got a chance to race.

Just this week it was announced that John Martin was going to take over as lead driver at A1 Team Australia for the rest of the season on the back of impressive performances in the rookie session.

And if it wasn’t for the rookie sessions, some drivers wouldn’t even have been a part of their nation’s plans.

‘I wouldn’t have been considered for this season or for next season for sure if it wasn’t for the rookie session,’ insists A1 Team South Africa’s rookie Wesleigh Orr.

‘Adrian Zaugg, the team’s main driver has got a lot more experience than I have, so I would only be expecting to be involved in a few years time. But I’ve jumped ahead a little bit and this has obviously opened up a lot of doors for me.’

Orr won the chance to be South Africa’s rookie after a special shoot-out was held back home with four inexperienced, but talented, drivers. Thanks to his performance over two-days in a high-powered open wheel car, he now gets to drive the A1GP car in every rookie session this season.

‘They weren’t necessarily looking for the fastest time, but the fastest pace,’ he says. ‘The lap times are made in the high speed corners in A1GP. They looked at a lot data and I was making up the time there.

'This is a great opportunity to get my standard up quickly and impress. Who knows when the door could open for me? I’m playing a waiting game but who knows, I might get my chance to race in A1GP eventually.’

But the Friday morning rookie session isn’t about the youngsters getting behind the wheel and going all-guns-blazing on every lap. A considered and planned job of collecting technical data for the benefit of the team’s race weekend is imperative.

‘What the team do is send me out first on a light fuel load,’ Orr says. ‘Then I go and learn the track, and find out if we’ve got a problem with the car or not.

‘And in the second half of the session they load the car with a full amount of fuel to see how the car would behave in the races. My role is to check the car and make sure it is ready for Adrian to go into the free practice sessions.’

A1 Team USA rookie Charlie Kimball’s ultimate goal is to try and stand out in the session to help his chances in breaking into the main squad. But, like Orr, he has to temper his enthusiasm by doing a professional job and focus more on his team’s aspirations for the race weekend itself.

At 22, he is still a relatively experienced driver, having competed in junior formulas such as British F3 and World Series by Renault.

‘Anytime I’m in any car I try and do my best,’ he says. ‘But I endear myself to the team by not only going quick but by doing a good job in providing them with all the necessary information they need for the weekend.

‘I’m helping them by not overheating the brakes so that that the race driver has problems over the weekend. Or by not going off, so they have repairs to do.

‘Being a rookie is about doing a good job, but a solid one at that and not just going fast. The team has to be impressed with the level of professionalism I can bring to the weekend.’

Kimball’s job is not just to gather technical data, but to get a feeling himself for the car so he can give opinions on the how it is performing throughout the weekend.

‘I get the first taste of the track, and how the car is behaving,’ he explains. ‘I get the initial impressions.

‘What I can offer the team as rookie is information so that when the race driver drives the car they have an idea on the set-up, whether it is going to be way off or if the team is going to encounter problems that they need to start assessing quickly.

‘While the rookie session is not critical to the race result, it gives the team the leg up on the weekend and gives them a good headstart.’

However, the rookie does not just fly home after they get out of the car on Friday morning. The job is wider than that and the rookie has a roll to play throughout the weekend, often sitting in on major technical and strategy meetings as well as giving input on some of the major decisions.

‘During free practice on Friday afternoon I’ll often take a scooter and go to different corners of the track and look at split times,’ Kimball adds. ‘I’ll watch the car’s behaviour and see if I can help from having driven the car in the morning. I’ll see if I can relate to any of the problems the driver is talking about and look at it from an outside perspective. Sometimes being in the car is too close and personal and you can miss the forest for the trees.’ 

Some rookies have been so impressive, that they have taken victories while still in their A1GP infancy. Since the rookie sessions was introduced, five have gone on to win races the same weekend.

They were:

But even more have simply impressed in the rookie session itself, leading to racing with their team in future events.

However, a rookie’s job is still important, even if they know their ‘first team’ opportunities will be limited. Aaron Lim is A1 Team Malaysia’s choice as rookie driver for this season. With four-time race winner Alex Yoong as the team’s regular race driver, he knows how tough it will be to get the chance of racing on Sunday for the team.

So he focuses on carrying out the necessary work for the team, while attempting to show some of his pace towards the end of the session. One of the jobs he usually has to carry out is to spend a few laps carefully ‘bedding’ brakes, to make them work best for Alex.

‘We usually start off the session bedding in new brake pads and discs for the race driver to use in the races,’ Lim says.

'This is necessary because the outer surface of the brakes pads and discs has to be carefully worn in and brought up to temperature before the driver can get optimum performance from it.

‘I then bring the car in, and the team changes the discs and puts new brakepads on, and then I bed them in as well. With the change, that process takes about half of the time of the session.

‘Some teams do some of this brake work just before the races on the installation laps coming out of the pits. But, of course, if you have rain it messes up that plan because you won’t be able to do this effectively.

‘After that is done we work on a little bit of set-up and I end up having about five or six timed laps.

‘I have to be 100 per cent on the limit and I have to learn the track as fast as possible. When you know the circuit, like I did in Malaysia, it was a lot easier, because I could focus on set-up more.’

‘My run is the first data that we have from the weekend. Normally we do a bit of aero work in my session, just to have some data so we can compare a lot when Alex is driving. The data is quite important and it can be used throughout the weekend. The engineers can look at several things including damper movement, aero balance – all small things where it would make a difference at the end of the day.’

The A1 Team and the rookie driver is therefore a symbiotic relationship. By giving them the opportunity to get in an A1GP race car over the course of an official weekend the team gives the driver a chance to shine and fight for a bigger role within the squad.

In return, the team gets a competent driver to help do some of the necessary installation work, who could be a useful find for the future.

This season’s rookies could be next season’s winners.