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A1 Team Switzerland has won the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, after
finishing fourth in this morning's sensational Brands Hatch Sprint race in the
UK, in which Great Britain's Robbie Kerr took a fantastic home race victory
ahead of USA and Ireland.
The crowd went wild as home favourite GBR's Robbie Kerr dominated the action
from pole position to win the 20-minute race, moving the British team up into
third place in the championship before this afternoon's final race of the
season. Kerr, who took victory in the Brands Hatch Sprint race last year, has
now scored three wins for his nation during his A1GP career.
Much to the delight of the home fans, Ireland's Adam Carroll finished on the
podium in third place, after making a brilliant start from fourth on the grid,
diving past the Swiss car going into Paddock Hill and seizing third.
Twenty-five-year-old Carroll has now notched up a total of four podium finishes
- including one win - for the Irish team in his debut A1GP season.
USA's Jonathan Summerton, who started second and has been on impressive form
all weekend, held position throughout the race and, despite pressure from
Carroll in the Celtic Tiger, went on to finish second and take his third podium
for the American squad this season.
New Zealand's Jonny Reid, who had a poor qualifying session on Saturday but
was still in with a chance of overhauling the Swiss team in the title fight this
morning, crossed the line eighth. The Kiwis are now preparing to defend second
overall in the championship during this afternoon's season finale Feature race,
as third-placed GBR is set to pile on the pressure.
An emotional Max Welti, seat holder of newly crowned A1GP champion A1 Team
Switzerland, said:
'It's absolutely outstanding. It's such a great feeling - you just cannot
believe it! To represent Switzerland all over the globe and to actually do it is
fantastic. We're writing a page in the history books. Neel came on the radio
after he crossed the line to thank the team - he knows that to win the world
championship is not only his achievement, but everybody in the team as
well.'
Sprint race results
|
POS
|
DRIVER
|
A1 TEAM
|
LAPS
|
TIME
|
GAP FIRST
|
|
1
|
Robbie KERR
|
GREAT BRITAIN
|
15
|
19:19.143
|
-
|
|
2
|
Jonathan SUMMERTON
|
USA
|
15
|
19:20.269
|
1.126
|
|
3
|
Adam CARROLL
|
IRELAND
|
15
|
19:21.329
|
2.186
|
|
4
|
Neel JANI
|
SWITZERLAND
|
15
|
19:23.268
|
4.125
|
|
5
|
Narain KARTHIKEYAN
|
INDIA
|
15
|
19:23.610
|
4.467
|
|
6
|
Filipe ALBUQUERQUE
|
PORTUGAL
|
15
|
19:24.540
|
5.397
|
|
7
|
Adrian ZAUGG
|
SOUTH AFRICA
|
15
|
19:25.257
|
6.114
|
|
8
|
Jonny REID
|
NEW ZEALAND
|
15
|
19:27.528
|
8.385
|
|
9
|
Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN
|
NETHERLANDS
|
15
|
19:28.968
|
9.825
|
|
10
|
Franck MONTAGNY
|
FRANCE
|
15
|
19:30.021
|
10.878
|
|
11
|
Michael AMMERMÜLLER
|
GERMANY
|
15
|
19:30.346
|
11.203
|
|
12
|
Filip SALAQUARDA
|
CZECH REPUBLIC
|
15
|
19:31.138
|
11.995
|
|
13
|
Fairuz FAUZY
|
MALAYSIA
|
15
|
19:33.497
|
14.354
|
|
14
|
John MARTIN
|
AUSTRALIA
|
15
|
19:34.989
|
15.846
|
|
15
|
James HINCHCLIFFE
|
CANADA
|
15
|
19:36.460
|
17.317
|
|
16
|
Xandi NEGRAO
|
BRAZIL
|
15
|
19:37.250
|
18.107
|
|
17
|
Edoardo PISCOPO
|
ITALY
|
15
|
19:37.744
|
18.601
|
|
18
|
Adam KHAN
|
PAKISTAN
|
15
|
19:43.030
|
23.887
|
|
19
|
Satrio HERMANTO
|
INDONESIA
|
15
|
19:49.097
|
29.954
|
|
20
|
David MARTINEZ
|
MEXICO
|
15
|
19:49.465
|
30.322
|
|
21
|
Congfu CHENG
|
CHINA
|
15
|
19:50.664
|
31.521
|
|
22
|
Khalil BESCHIR
|
LEBANON
|
15
|
19:55.381
|
36.238
|
2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings
|
POS
|
A1 TEAM
|
POINTS
|
|
1
|
Switzerland
|
158
|
|
2
|
New Zealand
|
124
|
|
3
|
Great Britain
|
114
|
|
4
|
France
|
112
|
|
5
|
South Africa
|
96
|
|
7
|
Germany
|
83
|
|
8
|
Netherlands
|
82
|
|
9
|
Canada
|
75
|
|
10
|
USA
|
56
|
|
11
|
Portugal
|
55
|
|
12
|
China
|
47
|
|
13
|
India
|
46
|
|
14
|
Brazil
|
44
|
|
15
|
Malaysia
|
25
|
|
16
|
Mexico
|
22
|
|
17
|
Australia
|
20
|
|
18
|
Czech Republic
|
10
|
|
19
|
Italy
|
10
|
|
20
|
Pakistan
|
1
|
Fastest lap: A1 Team China's Congfu Cheng set the fastest
lap (1m16.184s) of the Sprint race on lap 14.
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