|
NZ drops in A1GP standings |
|
|
|
|
Sunday, 25 November 2007 |
New Zealand has dropped to 3rd overall in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport after a problem-plagued weekend in Malaysia.
The championship leader heading into the 3rd round at Sepang, Black Beauty could only finish 6th in the opening Sprint Race and 8 th in the grueling Feature Race after an early accident sent the car to the back of the field.
Kiwi driver Jonny Reid worked overtime to work his way through traffic into the top 10 as Switzerland scored a double victory to rocket to the top of the table.
The Swiss now have 61 points, ten clear of France with New Zealand six points further back in 3rd on 45 points.
Team spokesman Bob McMurray said it was a disappointing weekend, but it could've been much worse.
"It was a typically strong performance from Jonny Reid, who kept his cool in the extreme heat and humidity," McMurray said. "When he tangled with Malaysia on only the second lap and was forced into the pits for a tyre change, he had a mountain of work to do to come back from 21 st place. It was a spirited drive."
McMurray said that because a number of pre-race favourites like Great Britain, South Africa and the Netherlands dipped out on meaningful points, the damage on the points table was minimised.
"A weekend that promised so much from our preparation and started so well with the rookie driving of Earl Bamber went strongly downhill from that point to be one to forget and put behind us," McMurray said.
"Gearbox failure hampered our qualifying and it was a credit to the team that we collected enough points to stay in the top three given the clash with the Malaysian car.
"We must keep our focus on winning the overall championship and with seven rounds remaining that is still extremely possible."
A1GP has one more round in 2007, heading to Zhuhai on the southern coast of China in three week's time (16 December 2007).
|
