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China - A1 Team India's
Narain Karthikeyan made history today when he took his and the
team's first ever A1GP race win in this afternoon's
incident-packed Feature race at China's Zhuhai International
Circuit. Karthikeyan was joined on the podium by New Zealand's
Jonny Reid, who started from 10th on the grid, and South
Africa's Adrian Zaugg in third.
The 30-year-old Indian driver, who started from third on
the grid, took the lead from New Zealand during the second pit
stop window on lap 29 and, despite a huge amount of pressure
and some excellent racing from Reid, Karthikeyan held off
Black Beauty and went on the cross the line in first place and
score India's first A1GP win in the history of the sport.
South Africa's Zaugg also enjoyed a strong race to take the
final podium position, having started from ninth on the grid.
Zaugg was under attack from Germany's Michael Ammermüller
during the last 10 laps of the 45 lap race but the 21-year-old
South African pushed hard to take third place ahead of the
German rookie who ultimately finished fourth.
Fifth place was taken by Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis, who
got away well from second on the grid and snatched the early
lead from pole sitter Switzerland as Brazil, Ireland, Canada
and Malaysia were all involved in an incident behind them at
turn one, bringing out the safety car for four laps. Fast work
in the pits during the first pit stop window allowed
Switzerland to steal the lead when they rejoined the action
while GBR fell back to sixth place.
Having enjoyed an early lead, the British and Swiss teams
were both hampered with delays in their second pit stops due
to technical issues, ultimately finishing in fifth and sixth
positions respectively. Despite a disappointing finish, GBR's
Jarvis was clearly pushing hard, picking up a bonus point for
setting the fastest lap in the Feature race on lap 29.
France, who finished the race seventh, was hit with a drive
through penalty on lap 16 due to releasing their car unsafely
from its first pit stop. As he drove past the USA pit box,
Loic Duval caught the hose connected to one of the airguns
causing a USA mechanic to be pulled to the ground.
Tomas Enge, making his A1GP race return for the Czech
Republic after an absence of 10 months, had a superb
afternoon, racing from 16th on the grid to finish a solid
eighth.
Home nation China's CongFu Cheng, who was running in sixth
place on lap 31 after the second round of pit stops, fell down
the order to 10th after taking a drive through penalty for
speeding in the pit lane. The Chinese star was determined not
to give up, charging past USA with five laps remaining and
finally crossing the line in ninth place, picking up two
valuable championship points, moving the team up one position
in the overall championship standings.
Netherland's Jeroen Bleekemolen was forced out of the
action on lap nine due to a puncture caused by suspected
suspension failure at the final corner while 12th placed
Portugal received a drive through penalty on lap five for
making a false start.
Narain Karthikeyan, who made history today by scoring
India's first ever A1GP win, praised his team's brilliant work
in the pits:
'The team has been working really hard at pit stop
practices and they've done a really good job this weekend.
Both the pit stops were excellent and we got ahead but
unfortunately I got stuck behind Pakistan on my out lap so I
couldn't push but I came out just ahead of Jonny. There was a
lot of pressure towards the end but then his tyres went off as
well as mine and then we were equal - after that I just got
the job done.'
Jonny Reid, who raced from 10th on the grid to finish a
superb second, was delighted with New Zealand's team work this
weekend:
'It was a fantastic team effort. Obviously I'm very pleased
to come from P10 on the grid and having struggled in
qualifying to threaten for the win in the end. It's a credit
to the team. My in laps were good, my out laps were good, and
there were a few mistakes from my side of the fence so overall
I'm very pleased with the whole team this weekend. Fantastic
effort.'
South Africa's Adrian Zaugg was pleasantly surprised by his
team's podium finish today and enjoyed some competitive
racing:
'I was quite surprised myself that we had the pace to
finish on the podium. We were quite strong from the beginning
of the race and passed quite a few people, Great Britain was
one of them. He (Oliver Jarvis) made a slight mistake into the
second last turn so I got a good run down the straight and
passed him into the last turn. It was really good racing.'
Switzerland has extended its championship lead to 79
points, 19 ahead of second-placed France on 60, closely
followed by New Zealand just one point behind in third place
on 59 points.
The championship now takes a five-week break before heading
to New Zealand for round five in Taupo, marking the first race
of the New Year on 18-20 January 2008.
Fastest lap: A1 Team Great Britain set the
fastest lap in the Feature race, lapping Zhuhai International
Circuit in 1m24.703s with a speed of 183.6 kph on lap 29 of
the 45 lap race.
Next race: A1GP Taupo, New Zealand, 18-20
January 2007
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