25/11/07 - SEPANG, MALAYSIA A1GP: SPRINT & FEATURE RACES
SPRINT RACE

Pole sitter A1 Team Switerzland's Neel Jani took his second consecutive Sepang Sprint race victory this morning at the third round of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season in Malaysia. He dominated from start to finish to cross the line almost four seconds ahead of second-placed A1 Team France driver Loic Duval. The pair were joined on the podium by Germany's Michael Ammermüller, who put in a superb performance to secure a top-three finish in his maiden A1GP race.

As the ten-lap Sprint race got underway in hot and humid weather conditions (air 29 degrees C, humidity 78 per cent), Jani stormed off the grid to take the lead as Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis made contact with France into turn one. The British car sustained damage to the front wing and fell back to sixth place, letting Canada, Germany and Brazil through into third, fourth and fifth position respectively.

By the end of lap two, Switzerland had romped into the distance and pulled out a two-second lead from France. The excitement continued just behind the leading pair as German new boy Ammermüller piled the pressure onto third-placed Canadian driver, Robert Wickens, also making his A1GP race debut.

On lap four New Zealand's Jonny Reid stole sixth position from the damaged GBR car coming out of turn 14 onto the main straight and two laps later the Netherlands' Jeroen Bleekemolen snatched eighth place from Ireland's Adam Carroll, as Jani extended his lead over France to a commanding 3.5 seconds.

The Swiss ace went on to take victory by almost four seconds from second-placed France while Germany's Ammermüller, who had made several attempts to pass Wickens in the closing stages of the race, finally made it stick with an ambitious move past the Canadian. They touched during the manoeuvre on the last lap, to take third place, demoting Canada to fourth.

Brazil's Sergio Jimenez enjoyed a strong race to cross the line fifth and record his best finish in an A1GP race while New Zealand, GBR and the Netherlands finished in sixth, seventh and eighth position respectively.

Irish rookie Adam Carroll, who qualified 13th, made the most of a great start to bring the emerald green car home in ninth place while Malaysia's Alex Yoong thrilled his home crowd by carving his way through the pack from 19th on the grid, enjoying a thrilling battle with India's Narain Karthikeyan in the opening laps to eventually cross the line in 11th position.

On form Jani was delighted with his team's win and is hoping for a repeat performance in this afternoon's Feature race:

'The car was perfect so I have to thank the team and I hope we get another car like that for the second race. I braked a little bit too late going into the first corner and went wide, I was very lucky that I didn't touch with Loic there, but after it was ok - I had a gap and I thought ok, this I can manage now. Sepang is a great track, it's got quick and slow corners and I like the flow, it's a little bit like Spa. I like these flowing tracks, it's definitely one of my favourites.'

Duval, who finished second in the French car, commented:

'I took a good start and we were side-by-side, Neel braked really late and I tried to come in to overtake him but unfortunately I think it was actually Canada who crashed into me and I lost the rear. It was quite scary for the first corner and then after it was ok. I was not so far off the pace compared to Neel so we can be confident for the second race this afternoon.'

On his last lap tussle with Canada, German rookie Ammermüller said:

'I think it was quite fair, it was racing. It's the last lap and everybody wants to be in a position if he is behind and not first. We tried to push a lot and I tried to overtake him on the main straight, but it's quite difficult because you have very good gip on the inside for braking and I tried on the outside but it didn't work. Then on the next corner I was on the inside and I just went as much to the inside as I could and I overtook him. I had a little bit of contact with him but I think it was just normal race overtaking I would say.'

Switzerland now lead the championship by three points from New Zealand with France just a point behind in third. All 22 nations are now preparing for the Sepang Feature race, which starts at 15:00 this afternoon.

Sprint race results: See Below

FEATURE RACE

Pole sitter and Sprint race winner A1 Team Switzerland took its second win of the day in this afternoon's incident-packed Feature race at Sepang in scorching weather conditions, moving the team into the championship lead by 10 points. Jani was joined on the podium by Brazilian rookie Sergio Jimenez, who started the race sixth and led for 15 laps, in second position and French driver Loic Duval in third.

Jani made a perfect getaway in the Swiss car as Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis held second off the grid and further down the pack five cars tangled going into turn one. Jani pulled out a 2.5 second advantage by the end of lap one as third and fourth-placed France and Brazil concentrated on making their way past GBR, demoting Jarvis to fourth.

After a second lap tussle for 10th position, New Zealand's Jonny Reid and local hero Malaysia's Alex Yoong were forced to pit for repairs, rejoining the action at the back of the field. Lap five saw German rookie Michael Ammermüller snatch fifth from Ireland's Adam Carroll, who had made another superb start to make up two places from seventh on the grid.

Two laps later eighth-placed South Africa's Adrian Zaugg made a mistake going into turn seven and spun off into the gravel before returning 'Vulindlela' to the track, forcing Canada's Robert Wickens to run wide to avoid him.

The incident brought out the safety car and as the first pit stop window opened on lap eight, 20 of the 22 nations decided to pit under yellow. The crowds watched in amazement as the pack was then held at the end of pit lane for an unusual standing start as they waited to rejoin behind the safety car.

Brazil's Jimenez took the lead and pulled away as Switzerland, GBR and France went side-by-side in a battle for second place, Jani taking position followed by Duval and Jarvis in third and fourth place.

By lap 16 the order had settled behind the top four to Germany, Netherlands, India and China, followed by Mexico and Ireland in ninth and tenth. Race leader Jimenez did an incredible job to hold off the Swiss driver who was all over the back of the Brazilian car while Germany's Ammermüller received a drive through penalty for hitting GBR when he tried an ambitious move on Jarvis at turn two on lap 19.

The second pit stop window opened on lap 22 and Brazil decided to stay out while Switzerland pitted from second on lap 23. Jimenez pitted one lap later and rejoined the action behind Jani, as the Swiss driver regained the lead and started to pull away once again. GBR continued to endure a difficult race as the team struggled with a sticking wheel nut in their second stop on lap 24 and then received a drive through penalty three laps later for speeding in the pit lane.

With seven laps remaining, Ammermüller launched the German car ambitiously into turn two for the third time this weekend, taking out the Czech Republic's Erik Janis on his way.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Jani continued to pull away from Jimenez and went on to cross the line in first position, giving the Swiss team a perfect end to the weekend with its first double victory and Feature race win. Jimenez, who has been improving all weekend, brought the Brazilian car home in second place, scoring the nation's first podium finish since round four of season one. Third place went to Duval in the French car, promoting the team to second in the championship while the Netherlands' Jeroen Bleekemolen crossed the line a well-earned fourth.

A1 Team China's CongFu Cheng put in a strong performance to finish fifth, having started from eighth on the grid while India's Narain Karthikeyan crossed the line sixth. Ireland's Adam Carroll finished seventh while the final three point-scoring positions were taken by New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain, as Jarvis snatched tenth from USA in the closing seconds of the race.

Jani was clearly delighted to take Switzerland's first Feature race win and can't wait to get back on track at the next round in China:

'I mean how many times have I lead a Feature race when something happened in the last lap, the pit stop messed up everything, it was just a horrible dream so far of a Feature race for us. And now finally we got that win and the first time in the championship lead for the A1GP for Switzerland, so it's really great and I'm really looking forward to Zhuhai.'

Jimenez, who crossed the line second and gave Brazil its first podium since season one, said:

'I'm really happy but it was a very tough race for me. I had a very good start - we jumped to third and I could keep Switzerland and France in my sights. After the first pit stop we had red lights but it was lucky for me because I could stop side by side with Neel and go to the front, and after that I was with new tyres so I was able to put some distance between us and we were on a different strategy. It was good, but it could be better though!'

Duval, who has impressed all weekend, brought the French car home in third place, moving his nation into second in the championship:

'It was a very difficult race for me, quite tough. I had a good fight with Oliver, good overtaking before the fast corners and then I overtook Jimenez before the main straight. So I was quite OK during the first stint. I had the same problem as Neel during the first pit stop on the safety car when we arrived at the end of the pit at the red light. So like him, I don't know if it's allowed to overtake under the safety car in the pit. So I was fourth again and I had to overtake Oliver again, and then I couldn't follow the guys because I had massive understeer during the second stint. We put the new tyres on for the last stint which was good, the car was much better like this so I could catch the Brazil car but not enough to finish second. It's quite a good weekend.'

Switzerland now leads the title challenge on 61 points, ahead of France on 51, as the series heads to Zhuhai, China for the first time on 14-16 December 2007.

Home nation Malaysia scored its first point by default this morning after A1 Team Netherlands was given a 42-second penalty for jump starting the Sprint race. The penalty dropped them from eighth to 20th in the Sprint race classification, stripping the team of the three points it scored. The penalty also meant that Ireland and Italy received an extra point.

AMENDED RESULTS

Malaysia - Confirmed Sprint and Feature race results

Sprint race
As a result of Germany being demoted to 16th place due to causing an avoidable collision during this morning's Sprint race, Canadian rookie Robert Wickens has scored the team's first podium finish since Brno last season and notched up a valuable 10 points for his country, moving Canada into 12th place in the championship.

Home nation Malaysia scored its first two points by default this morning after Germany's demotion and A1 Team Netherlands' 25-second penalty for a false start in the Sprint race. The penalty dropped them from eighth to 18th in the final Sprint race classification, stripping the team of the three points it had scored. The penalty also meant that Ireland and Italy received an additional two points each.

Feature race
A1 Teams Brazil and Great Britain have both been hit with a two second penalty for gaining an unfair advantage in the pit lane during the first mandatory stop in this afternoon's Feature race, promoting France to second place, USA to tenth and Mexico to 11th.

Germany was penalised with the equivalent time of a drive through penalty for causing an avoidable collision with Great Britain on lap 19 and following a further avoidable collision with the Czech Republic on lap 28, Germany was excluded from the final Feature race results.

Switzerland now leads the championship on 61 points, eight ahead of second-placed France on 53, followed by New Zealand in third on 46.

Sprint race results

Pos

Driver

A1 Team

Laps

Time

1

Neel JANI

SWITZERLAND

10

18:20.910

2

Loic DUVAL

FRANCE

10

18:24.702

3

Robert WICKENS

CANADA

10

18:34.037

4

Sergio JIMENEZ

BRAZIL

10

18:34.647

5

Jonny REID

NEW ZEALAND

10

18:35.386

6

Oliver JARVIS

GREAT BRITAIN

10

18:35.847

7

Adam CARROLL

IRELAND

10

18:40.589

8

Enrico TOCCACELO

ITALY

10

18:44.131

9

Alex YOONG

MALAYSIA

10

18:44.497

10

Adrian ZAUGG

SOUTH AFRICA

10

18:46.015

11

Narain KARTHIKEYAN

INDIA

10

18:46.114

12

Jonathan SUMMERTON

USA

10

18:47.437

13

Joao URBANO

PORTUGAL

10

18:48.682

14

Chris ALAJAJIAN

LEBANON

10

18:55.031

15

Erik JANIS

CZECH REPUBLIC

10

18:57.238

16

Michael AMMERMÜLLER

GERMANY

10

18:57.845

17

Adam KHAN

PAKISTAN

10

18:58.456

18

Satrio HERMANTO

INDONESIA

10

19:05.30

19

Michel JOURDAIN

MEXICO

10

19:08.326

20

Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN

NETHERLANDS

10

19:18.237

21

Congfu CHENG

CHINA

1

02:08.009

22

Ian DYK

AUSTRALIA

0

0

Feature race results

Pos
Driver A1 Team Laps Time
1 Neel JANI SWITZERLAND 35 1:08:13.459
2 Loic DUVAL FRANCE 35 1:08:22.387
3 Sergio JIMENEZ BRAZIL 35 1:08:23.873
4 Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN NETHERLANDS 35 1:08:24.681
5 Congfu CHENG CHINA 35 1:08:30.813
6 Narain KARTHIKEYAN INDIA 35 1:08:31.053
7 Adam CARROLL IRELAND 35 1:08:32.831
8 Jonny REID NEW ZEALAND 35 1:08:33.856
9 Ian DYK AUSTRALIA 35 1:08:57.753
10 Jonathan SUMMERTON USA 35 1:08:58.008
11 Michel JOURDAIN MEXICO 35 1:08:58.174
12 Oliver JARVIS GREAT BRITAIN 35 1:08:59.818
13 Alex YOONG MALAYSIA 35 1:09:02.254
14 Adam KHAN PAKISTAN 35 1:09:10.336
15 Erik JANIS CZECH REPUBLIC 35 1:09:11.778
16 Satrio HERMANTO INDONESIA 35 1:09:34.365
17 Chris ALAJAJIAN LEBANON 26 0:53:00.577
18 Enrico TOCCACELO ITALY 17 0:34:54.917
19 Adrian ZAUGG SOUTH AFRICA 7 0:13:18.875
20 Robert WICKENS CANADA 7 0:13:29.020
21 Joao URBANO PORTUGAL 0 0
22 Michael AMMERMÜLLER GERMANY Disqualified

2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

Pos

A1 Team

Points

1

SWITZERLAND

61

2

FRANCE

53

3

NEW ZEALAND

46

4

NETHERLANDS

39

5

SOUTH AFRICA

37

6

GREAT BRITAIN

36

7

IRELAND

31

8

BRAZIL

22

9

MEXICO

17

10

CHINA

16

11

GERMANY

14

12

CANADA

10

13

INDIA

8

14

ITALY

4

15

PORTUGAL

2

16

AUSTRALIA

2

17

MALAYSIA

2

18

USA

1

19

CZECH REPUBLIC

1

Fastest lap: A1 Team Switzerland set the fastest lap in both the Sprint and Feature races gaining two bonus points for its efforts. On lap 10 of the Sprint race, Neel Jani clocked a time of 1.49.221 going on to set a time of 1.49.260 on lap 25 of the Feature race

Next race: A1GP Zhuhai, China, 14-16 December 2007

Reporting by A1GP.com
TOP^  
SPRINT RACE
Neel Jani (Team Switzerland) on his way to an easy Sprint Race win.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Loic Duval was a comfortable second for Team France.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Robert Wickens was sensational on his debut for Team Canada.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Sergio Jimenez continues to impress for Team Brazil.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Jonny Reid (Team New Zealand) drove a gritty race.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Oliver Jarvis (Team Great Britain) never recovered from a difficult start.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Adam Carroll finished seventh for Team Ireland.
(Picture A1GP.com)
The eighth place Team Italy car of Enrico Toccacelo waits on the grid.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Alex Yoong (Team Malaysia) is moving back towards the front runners.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Adrian Zaugg (Team South Africa) was never on the pace.
(Picture A1GP.com)
New Team Germany driver Michael Ammermüller did not impress with his forceful driving tactics in both races.
(Picture A1GP.com)
A good race for Chris Alajajian in the Team Lebanon car.
(Picture A1GP.com)
FEATURE RACE
Neel Jani took the lead at the start of the Feature race.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Loic Duval was second again for Team France.
(Picture A1GP.com)
An excellent third for Sergio Jimenez and Team Brazil.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Jeroen Bleekemolen was fourth for Team Netherlands.
(Picture A1GP.com)
A fine fifth for "Charlie" Cheng and Team China.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Team India were closer to the pace in the Feature Race.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Adam Carroll fights for position in the Team Ireland car.
(Picture A1GP.com)
A tyre change for the eighth place Team New Zealand car.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Ian Dyk (Team Australia) took ninth.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Jonathan Summerton (Team USA) rounded out the top ten.
(Picture A1GP.com)
The start of the Feature Race.
(Picture A1GP.com)
It was a tight squeeze towards the back...
(Picture A1GP.com)
...and towards the front.
(Picture A1GP.com)
A steady run for Adam Kahn and Team Pakistan.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Joao Urbano (Team Portugal) was an early casualty.
(Picture A1GP.com)
The Team Switzerland crew celebrate...
(Picture A1GP.com)
...and so does their driver.
(Picture A1GP.com)
Sergio Jiménez (Team Brazil), Neel Jani (Team Switzerland) and Loic Duval (Team France) on the victory podium.
(Picture A1GP.com)
The beautiful Malayan grid girls.
(Picture A1GP.com)