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Sunday, 20 January 2008 |
This weekend, A1 Team France scored 20 points on the Taupo circuit in New Zealand,
putting it only 2 points behind the leader. Mission accomplished! Since the start of the
season, the team has shown remarkable consistency and competitiveness with
5 podium finishes and ten places in the top 10.
Loïc Duval started the « Sprint Race » from third on the grid and he finished third 14 laps later. In the « Feature Race », he was unable to take full advantage of his pole position and was passed by the Swiss team in the first corner. The latter was handed a drive-through penalty and A1 Team France took the lead, but several safety car periods prevented Loïc from opening up a gap.
Germany took advantage of this to snatch first place after the first refuelling stops, and Canada also gained a place during the second round. A1 Team France
finally saw the flag in third position.
This event marked the halfway point of the 2007-2008 A1 GP season. There are still 10
races to go, with the next round in Australia, in 2 weeks. A1 Team France is feeling pretty optimistic and hopes to continue its series of excellent results.
Olivier Panis, Sporting Director: “It’s always a bit disappointing not to win a race when you start from pole. But the team has done a good job this weekend. The 20 points we’ve scored in New Zealand represent our second-best haul since the start of the championship. This has enabled us to hold on to our second place, and above all to get to within two points of the leader. Our next objective is to take first place.”
Loïc Duval: “Consistency is the most important factor in our quest for the title, and apart from our Zhuhai disappointment, we’ve shown that we’ve always been potential podium finishers since the start of the season. But we’d like to add a bit of panache and score a victory soon. Psychologically, this could unlock our full potential and help us finish the championship with flying colours. We’ve had a solid weekend, though, and we should be very competitive in Sydney in two weeks’ time.”
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