Brands Hatch Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision company completed the purchase of Brands Hatch and the other Octagon venues (Cadwell Park, Oulton Park, and Snetterton). Palmer immediately implemented a programme of improvements to the venue, designed to heighten customer experiences both for spectators and competitors. 25 September 2005, the inaugural A1 Grand Prix of Nations was held at Brands Hatch. A1 Grand Prix was a single-seater one-make series where the drivers represented their nation, as opposed themselves or a team. The first race, an 18-lap Sprint saw Nelson Piquet, Jr. lead flag-to-flag to win for A1 Team Brazil, ahead of Alexandre Premat (France)
What Is a Nation? today". At the current time, however, the existence of separate nations serves to guarantee liberty, in a way which would be lost if the whole world served under one law and one master. "Each brings one note to the great concert of humanity..." Renan gives Switzerland as a prime example of a nation established by volition (choice, will): Renan's argument was summarized in the German term "Willensnation" ("nation-by-volition"), used to describe the status of Switzerland as a federal state by choice, and not along ethnic boundaries. The term became popular to describe the Swiss political model after World War I