A1GP Portugal Takes Maiden A1GP Victory

Chengdu, China Filipe Albuquerque claimed A1 Team Portugals maiden win in the A1GP Chengdu, China Feature race to become the 17th different nation to take an A1GP victory. Portugal took the lead thanks to a slick first pit stop and held off the charge from A1 Team Irelands Adam Carroll in the closing stages. Great Britains Danny Watts took the final podium position after starting on pole but dropping back after his two mandatory pit stops.

{mosimage}

From pole position, Watts made a good start to lead the pack into the first corner. Portugal also made a great start from third to challenge Ireland for second position. Ireland, starting on the dirtier side of the track, struggled to get traction, allowing Portugal to get a good run round the outside of turn one on the racing line and       take the position. Starting eighth, Robert Doornbos A1 Team Netherlands car       stalled on the grid forcing the immediate deployment of the safety car before the     end of the first lap, while the car was pushed back to the pits. The team got the      car re-started and Doornbos made his way back out, albeit a lap down.

Great Britain led from Portugal, Ireland and Monaco as the race re-started on lap      four with Watts powering across the line with a clear gap at the front. Carroll was   right on the back of the Portuguese car, having a look around the outside through   turn one while also defending from Monacos Clivio Piccione in fourth.

Watts lead was now 1.5-seconds from Portugal as the first mandatory pit stop    window opened. Great Britain were first to dive into the pits with Monaco,    Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and China also following suit. A lap later       Ireland pitted with a quick, clean tyre change from the Irish squad getting Carroll    back out on track in second, but when Albuquerque pitted on the next lap, a blisteringly quick stop from the team handed Portugal what would be the lead of       the race, after the field had all pitted.

As Great Britain and Ireland made their way through traffic, Albuquerque began    building up a comfortable lead when New Zealand appeared to be slowing along         the pit straight with an electrical problem. Chris van der Drift eventually managed       to get Black Beauty going with seemingly no further problem.

By the end of lap 14 Portugal had a 2.385-second lead from Great Britain and Switzerland were starting to hunt down Ireland for third. Albuquerque increased        his lead to four seconds, leaving him in a strong position in the lead.

Portugal now led from Great Britain, Ireland, Switzerland, Australia, Malaysia,       Monaco, France, USA and China.

Further down the field Lebanons Daniel Morad was having a good battle with Italy     for 14th as the second pit stop window drew closer. For the second round of mandatory pit stops it was Portugal and Great Britain who were first to come in.   Ireland took advantage of the extra time out on track, pushing hard on his in lap        to try and make up time on the pair in front. Portugal re-joined in the lead but      Watts emerged in traffic losing vital seconds. A1 Team Ireland made another          great stop and Carroll was able to take second from Watts and set his sights on a second win of the day. On new tyres, Carroll set the fastest lap of the race so far       , 1m 16.003s, his pace allowing him to close the gap on Albuquerque and       as the pair started lap 33 the Carroll was visibly closer, just 0.422-seconds adrift.

The order was now Portugal, Ireland, Great Britain, Switzerland, Australia,        Malaysia, France, Monaco, USA and India.

After going a lap down at the start Doornbos from Rotterdam in the Netherlands, showed what might have been if he had kept his eighth grid-slot as he clocked         the fastest lap of the race, a 1m 15.212s on lap 33, faster than yesterdays pole position time set by Danny Watts. 

On lap 35 the battle for fifth began to heat up as Malaysias Fairuz Fauzy        challenged John Martin for position eventually passing the Australian two laps         later with a great move around the outside of the first corner. On lap 38, Frances Nicolas Prost tried the same manoeuvre on Martin but gave him a little too much   space and spun into the gravel on the exit after getting onto the dirtier part of         the track.

The safety car was deployed for a second time on lap 40 as the French car was recovered. With the pack bunched back together, all advantages were lost and      when the race re-started five laps later the race was back on to the finish.

A1 Team USAs Marco Andretti was now running in eighth on his debut weekend         as the cars came around for the re-start. Ireland was now in prime position to challenge for victory and as racing resumed Portugal and Ireland were both on the PowerBoost button into turn one. Ireland momentarily edged alongside, but   Albuquerque held station and despite a number of exciting challenges the top        eight remained the same to the finish. South Africas Adrian Zaugg and Chinas           Ho-Pin Tung were the only nations to move forward in the closing stages, taking      9th and 12th respectively.

Despite all Carrolls efforts, Filipe Albuquerque crossed the finish line to take the     teams first ever series victory and became the 17th nation to win in A1GP.       Malaysias fifth position was enough to hold on to the championship lead, but      Irelands points haul brought them right into contention, and they now sit equal    second with France on 23 points.

Race winner Albuquerque said: The lap times were getting faster and faster. In        the second stint, I was really fast, faster than anyone else. I was pulling away  and        had four seconds and everything was under control. But then Ireland        was way too fast with the new tyres. I could not go any faster so I just had to     keep the car on the track, not make any mistakes and get the win.

After a successful day in which he claimed Sprint victory and second in the       Feature race, Irelands Carroll said: Well thats the start we really wanted at    Zandvoort. I came here determined to have the best weekend we could and at l      east try to win a race or come away with a couple of podiums.

Practice actually hadnt gone that well but I knew the circuit was extremely tricky    and put the new tyres on to try to do a good lap in qualifying as you had to start      at the front here to try and win. Its just great for the team and everybody. Its        the confidence we all need and I really think we can challenge the rest of the     season for the championship.

Third placed Great Britain driver Watts said: How quickly the ten days have gone    from getting the call, getting on a plane and arriving here to walk around the      circuit. We never would have thought wed be going away with two podiums - two        third places.

When I saw the car when we arrived here, it was still in bits with a lot to do. I       think the two podiums have to go to the mechanics. Theyve been working so        hard through the nights so its been a huge effort from everyone within the team.     For them, its been a fantastic weekend. Were just really glad to come out of our     first weekend in A1GP with a big haul of points.

Feature race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team NED set the fastest lap (1m15.212s) of the Feature        race with a speed of 159.4 kph on lap 33.

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

A1GP Ireland Dominate Chengdu Sprint Race

Chengdu, China Adam Carroll drove a faultless race to take A1 Team Irelands second series victory in Chengdu, China today. A1 Team Netherlands , Robert Doornbos came home a comfortable second, while Danny Watts held off a fierce challenge from Switzerlands Neel Jani to claim the final podium position for A1 Team Great Britain.

As the cars came round the final corner for the rolling start, Carroll controlled the pack with Netherlands Doornbos making a good start alongside him to challenge into the first corner. Carroll held his line and by the end of the first lap had built up a 0.918s lead which he never looked in danger of relinquishing.

It an was impressive drive from Robert Doornbos on his debut for A1 Team Netherlands taking a comfortable second position, the teams best result in 19 races.

A1 Team Great Britains Watts, also having his first A1GP race, made a move around the outside of Switzerlands Jani to take third position off the start and began to pull out a small gap.

In the closing laps of the 18-lap race, the battle for third began to heat up as Switzerlands Jani closed in on the British car. Watts advantage over the Swiss driver was down to 0.686 seconds and Jani was preparing to make a move. In the final two laps the tension mounted but the experienced Watts held position, taking the first points of the season for A1 Team GBR.

Out at the front Carrolls superb drive saw the Celtic Tiger cross the line two seconds ahead of the chasing pack, the  dominance underlined as he continued to set fastest lap after fastest lap, eventually taking the extra point for his efforts on lap 16, a 1m 16.084s.

South Africas Adrian Zaugg brought Vulindlela home in fifth ahead of Portugals Filipe Albuquerque. New Zealands Chris van der Drift, also on his race debut, brought Black Beauty home in the final points-paying position.

Chinas Ho-Pin Tung had a spin on the first lap putting him further down the order. He made his way back to a lowly 17th and is looking to improve in front of his home crowd in this afternoons Feature race.

Brazil had electrical problems causing it to drop down the order and at one point stop out on track but, as the safety car waited on stand-by, Felipe Guimares managed to crawl back to the pit lane.

Its brilliant, said Carroll  The guys have worked so hard and were due the results and this year I think we are going to get what we deserve.

I managed to get into turn one first and tried control it from there, said Irelands Carroll. Obviously, I knew Robert was going to be very quick and pushing extremely hard so I just kept my head down and tried not to make any mistakes, I know its going to be a pretty long race this afternoon.

Doornbos commented: It feels good, obviously, its the best impression you can make. We started strong, just missing pole by six thousandths, and in the race it was the same. We kept each other alive going into turn one, which is important because there is another race, but with second place, I am very happy. I think we had a strong pace compared to the rest of the field so we can be proud of this result.

Great Britains Danny Watts said: Its a great result and a great reward for all the hard work all the boys have put in over the week, because they have put in a massive amount of hours through the nights. The third place is good points on the board.

I had a good move round the outside of Jani at the first corner and I just had to pursue it. After that it was just a case of trying to hold onto the back of these two (Carroll and Doornbos). I had to keep it clean and tidy and not let Jani by again.

The cars now prepare for this afternoons Feature race. Great Britain is on pole and hoping to take victory from Ireland, who are also starting from the front row and will be eager to make it back onto the top step of the podium.

Sprint race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team IRL set the fastest lap (1m16.084s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 157.6 kph on lap 17.

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

A1GP Great Britain and Ireland on Pole in Chengdu

Chengdu, China A1 Team Great Britains Danny Watts claimed pole position for tomorrows Feature race in A1GP Chengdu, China posting the fastest lap of the weekend so far, a 1m 15.325s. Adam Carroll put in a great performance to take Irelands maiden A1GP pole position for tomorrow mornings Sprint race.

In the first qualifying segment Australia was first on track to get a banker lap because half the grid opted to wait for the final few minutes of the 10-minute session to record their times. With the dusty track making it difficult to judge how hard to push, many of the teams came out on track late in the hope of getting a clear run.

Switzerlands Neel Jani went out early in the first session clocking a time of 1:15.683s, the quickest of the weekend at that point and good enough for an eventual third place on the grid. Robert Doornbos, on his debut for A1 Team Netherlands, jumped to the top of the timesheets as the seconds ticked away but his time wasnt enough to hold off the late charge from Ireland. 

As the chequered flag came out Italys Edoardo Piscopo went into the gravel due to a broken wish-bone, and caused a lengthy delay. Eventually time ran out due to a logistical problem when trying to recover the car from the gravel trap in turn ten, so the second Sprint race qualifying segment was cancelled.

Carrolls time of 1m 15.423s was therefore good enough to give the Irish squad its first ever A1GP pole position.

A1 Team Netherlands will start alongside Ireland on the front row of the grid, with reigning champions Switzerland third.

As qualifying segment three for the Feature race got underway, Indonesia was first to emerge before Marco Andretti, on his first weekend in the US car, provisionally went quickest with a time of 1m 16.557s. Brazil was next to head the grid but in the final minutes Switzerland, Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland were all gunning for the top-spot.

Danny Watts put in a fantastic lap of 1m 15.325s as the time ran out. Switzerland provisionally moved into second before being pushed down by a flying Adam Carroll whose time was only 0.031s slower than Great Britain. Filipe Albuquerque had a great final run to boost Portugal up to third, just 0.075s from Watts.

The drivers were geared up for a thrilling session as they prepared to take to the track for the final qualifying segment of the day but Frances Nicolas Prost, on an extremely quick lap, went off into the gravel bringing out the red flag.

After a short delay the session restarted, but with none of the top three improving their times and no one else going quicker the top four remained the same. Malaysia made a big improvement from 14th in the Sprint qualifying posting a 1m 15.963s, putting it sixth, behind South Africa for the Feature.

A1 Team China had a disappointing start to the weekend and will start 18th for tomorrows Sprint race after only setting a time on old tyres due to the cancellation of qualifying two. Ho-Pin Tung then made a mistake on both his runs in Feature race qualifying leaving him 17th on the grid.

After a close-fought session, Watts held onto pole position on Team GBRs first outing of the season.

I think it was nine days ago I found out that I was actually coming here, said Watts, so to be sitting here now, in pole position for the Feature race is really amazing. I think the credits got to go to the team. Theyve had four hours sleep in the last two nights, working through the night just getting the car prepared and ready for practice yesterday. Its been an amazing few days. Its a new car for the team to get used to. A new driver in the car for Team GBR and luckily the whole package has come together really nicely.

"It feels great to get Ireland's first ever pole position and to make it a double front row start is even better," said a delighted Carroll. "It's quite a bumpy circuit so it's very important to put together a really clean lap.

"We were quick in final practice but we didn't focus too much on lap times from there because we knew we would be quite a lot faster in qualifying with the new rubber. The times are so close and the drivers are of such quality that it feels great to be at the front. The new Powered by Ferrari car is extremely quick with huge levels of downforce and it has really suited the team and my driving so far."

A1 Team Netherlands Doornbos said: Its great to be here in A1GP. When Jan Lammers called me and asked if I wanted to drive for my own country, it sounded quite cool but I think the car made a big difference in me actually considering it. This years car is actually quite fast so I can use my experience. I knew there was no time for testing so I had to come straight to China and get on with it.

Commenting on the car he continued: I couldnt even fit my TW Steel watch in because I dont have a millimetre to spare, but the car has been good. The team has been working well which we showed with fastest time in practice. Unfortunately Adam just pipped me to pole but I think the front row is good.

After two thrilling fights for pole the Chengdu International Circuit looks set to provide the scene for two equally thrilling races tomorrow.

A1GP Chairman Tony Teixeira said: I want to say a personal thank you to everyone who has made this race possible.  There has been a lot of hard work done to bring the track up to the correct standard and I think the result is amazing. We realise the people of this province went through many traumas due to the earthquake, and hope we can highlight their plight and also help by contributing to the Sichuan Earthquake Relief Fund.

Sundays Sprint race at Chengdu, China will start at11.00 local time with the 70-minute Feature race at 15:00.

Sprint Race Qualifying Results - A1GP Chengdu, China

Feature Race Qualifying Results - A1GP Chengdu, China

A1GP France Storms to Victory in Rain-Soaked Feature Race

The Netherlands A1 Team France has claimed the first Feature race victory of the season in extremely wet conditions at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands. From third on the grid Loc Duval put in a mature drive to take Frances 15th win. Sprint race winner Fairuz Fauzy finished second for Malaysia, losing time in the first pit stop due to a problem with the left-rear wheel. Earl Bamber put in an outstanding performance this weekend on his race debut for A1 Team New Zealand claiming third, his second podium finish of the day.

{mosimage}

With the rain continuing to fall the decision was made to start the Feature behind the safety car instead of the usual grid start due to the standing water around the circuit. The race ran this way for two laps before the Safety Car pulled off an and it was Sprint race winner Fairuz Fauzy who had the best view as the pack headed into Turn 1, with those behind having almost no visibility due to the spray. Charlie Kimball got caught out in the terrible wet condition spinning the USA entry at Turn 6 but continuing on track.

After a couple of attempts, France made a move on New Zealand passing Bamber cleanly down the pit straight and tuckin in front of Black Beauty as the pair headed into the first corner on lap four.

China also had a spin at Turn 2 under pressure from Ireland, who started in 15th after failing to finish the Sprint race. A lap later, Adam Carroll lost the back end of the Ireland car and aquaplaned into the gravel ending a disappointing weekend for the team after looking promising in qualifying.

Meanwhile, local hero Jeroen Bleekemolen passed Bamber for third, much to the delight of the cheering Dutch crowds.  Current A1GP champion Switzerland looked to be in trouble when Neel Jani dived into the pit lane for an unscheduled stop due to a suspected gear selection problem. Up at the front, Malaysia was building a comfortable margin in the lead, now 1.760s ahead of France, making the order Malaysia, France, Netherlands, New Zealand after lap five.

With wet weather continuing to test the drivers, lap seven brought about another incident as Italy and South Africa came together. Italy's Fabio Onidi made a mistake spinning across the kerb and Adrian Zaugg's South African car taking them both out of the race. China dropped further back down the field after being given a drive through penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag while Malaysia extended its lead over France to 2.4-seconds.

On lap eight the first pit window opened with race leader Malaysia making the first scheduled stop of the day but lost time due to a problem with the left-rear wheel. Bleekemolen also had a problem changing a wheel but eventually got back on track. Australia had a quick stop with France now leading from New Zealand and Portugal.

A1 Team Korea, making its A1GP debut this weekend, moved into the top ten, by passing Satrio Hermanto in the Indonesian car making the order now France, New Zealand, Portugal, Malaysia, USA, Lebanon, Netherlands, Australia, Monaco, Korea.

With the rain still pouring Netherlands moved up ahead of Lebanon for sixth with the pair both managing to stay on track despite getting extremely close through Turn 13.

On lap 15 France finally came in for its first pit stop and after a quick one retained the lead, as Jeroen Bleekemolen headed back into the pits for the second time, with the team looking to replace the steering wheel. He continued but had to pit later to make the change.

Korea had a minor spin on lap 17, just before Portugal crashed out after just taking the lead. Filipe Albuquerque had a big crash at the quick final turn resulting in the Safety Car being deployed for the first time in the race. As the field closed up, the order was France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, USA, Netherlands, Monaco and China.

After a couple of laps for the debris to be cleared the Safety Car was in and the field bunched up ready for the re-start. Korea managed to get going again after its earlier spin meaning - being guaranteed a point on its debut event due to so many retirements.

With racing back underway, Netherlands was now right on the back of USA and Australia and moved ahead of USA for sixth place when Charlie Kimball slide off line at the back of the circuit. On lap 19 Lebanon were running fourth with Daniel Morad, on his debut for the team, looking to score the teams first ever point in A1GP.

As the second pit stop window approached France held a 4.587-second lead from Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, Netherlands, USA, Monaco, China and Korea.

John Martin was pushing hard to catch Lebanon, which was made easier when Morad had a 360-degree spin gifting the position to Australian as he tried to get back up to speed. The Netherlands began dropping back as Jeroen Bleekemolen appeared to be having gear-shifting problems.

On lap 27 the pit window opened, with Loc Duval now with a 6.3-second lead over Malaysia as Fauzy came in for his second stop.  Australia and Lebanon both pitted with Lebanon retaking fifth. France made a great stop and Duval retained the lead heading into the final third of the race.

With the terrible conditions causing problems for a number of teams the race was turned into a timed event with nine-minutes remaining. On lap 31 Charlie Kimball put in a fantastic lap in the Andretti Green Racing run US car to record the fastest lap of the race with a 1m 47.115s on lap 30 but only a lap later he ended up in the gravel at Turn 5 making it a bitter-sweet end to the Californians weekend.

With the order now France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, Monaco, Netherlands the clock continued to tick down but with the weather making things really tough for all the drivers there was a huge crash on the main straight. Lebanon's Daniel Morad lost control of his car, and spun into the back of China's Ho-Pin Tung. Both cars careered at speed into the tyres at Tarzan, bringing out the Safety Car for the second time.

The seventeenth car made an appearance in the closing stages of the race as Brazil came out for the final laps due to the repairs taking so long after the Sprint race crash. As the time ran out the cars were released to take the chequered flag with A1 Team France taking its first victory since last February in Australia. Malaysia and New Zealand completed the podium with Malaysia and France joint championship leaders. A1 Teams Korea and Monaco both scored on their debut much to the delight of both teams and Daniel Morad scored the first ever points for A1 Team Lebanon despite not finishing the race.

Frances Loc Duval said: The weekend was really difficult, we received the car yesterday morning and we were in the car for the first time during qualifying so everything was brand new and today it was a really, really tough race. It was hard with the safety car but at the end everything went well and the mechanics did a great job.

Malaysias Fairuz Fauzy said of his two podium results: Its been a dream start to the season for A1 Team Malaysia. We were certainly hoping to have a good performance here, and two podiums are just great. The weather conditions were treacherous today, which made it difficult for all of us, but that makes it all the more rewarding. There is something extra special when you are driving for your nation, so Im very proud of our achievements today. Its been a real team effort and Im delighted that we are leaving Zandvoort leading the championship.

New Zealands 18-year-old Earl Bamber commented on his fantastic weekend: It was always going to be a tough weekend. There is a lot more horse power from the Powered by Ferrari car and I think its just been a challenge for all the drivers to get around and finish the Feature race. Its been a fantastic weekend for me though, the team did a great job all weekend with the car, and we still managed to hold third position after a mishap with the wheel nut. It was a little bit slow to come off in the pit stop but the guys handled it well and we got back out and still finished on the podium.

We had a lot of power boosts left in the bag just in case the safety car came out later on and we could challenge for second place but we ran out of time on the clock unfortunately so thats the way it goes, we will live to fight another day.

The very final words on what has been a hard but rewarding first weekend of Season Four for A1GP World Cup of Motorsport came from Chairman, Tony Teixeira: I have always loved the Dutch and I do so even more after this weekend.  We had our dramas getting here, but I never doubted we would make it and want to say a big thank you to everyone who made this possible.  The weather was dreadful, but this did not stop the fans coming to see the races in their tens of thousands with the patriotic orange clearly visible in the packed grandstands. All the teams have been working day and night to put on the show and they did us proud today.

Feature race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team USA set the fastest lap (1m47.115s) of the Feature race with a speed of 155.5 kph on lap 30.

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

Next race: A1GP Chengdu, China, 7-9 November 2008.

A1GP Malaysia Take First Victory in New Season

The Netherlands A1 Team Malaysia has won the first race of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands. In a rain-soaked Sprint race, Fairuz Fauzy came from fourth on the grid to take the teams first victory since Season Two, which was 27 races ago. After initially taking the lead from The Netherlands, Earl Bamber put in a great drive on his race debut for A1 Team New Zealand to take second place with Loic Duval storming through from 11th on the grid to take the final podium position for A1 Team France. Pole-sitter Jeroen Bleekemolen struggled in the extremely tricky conditions finishing fourth as the red flag came out to end the race.

{mosimage}

 In a thrilling start to the new season, the drama began before the cars even crossed the start line after doing two laps behind the Safety Car due to the atrocious conditions. On an extremely wet track, Ireland spun in the final corner with Monacos Clivio Piccione running into him, so putting the pair out the race before it had even started. As the new Powered by Ferrari cars came down the pit straight for the rolling start, the action behind gave the front row duo of the Netherlands and New Zealand a comfortable gap as they came across the start line for the first time.

Lebanons Daniel Morad ran wide in the first corner, narrowly avoiding USAs Charlie Kimball, as both drivers made their race debut for their respective nations. A lap later, Koreas Jin Woo Hwang collided with John Martin at the first corner while making an ambitious move down the inside of the Australia car which left both in the gravel and Korea out the race and with a fine and a drop to the back of the grid for race two for causing an avoidable accident and trying to overtake under a yellow flag.

Malaysia and Switzerland battled it out for third with Neel Jani getting ahead of Fauzy on lap four. From 16th on the grid, and having only done a few laps this weekend, Chinas Ho Pin Tung was putting in a stunning drive to challenge Italy for seventh by lap five. China claimed the position taking the inside line through turn 11 and began chasing down South Africa.

Out at the front the race was really on with new-comer Bamber pushing the Netherlands for the lead. On lap seven the 18-year-old made a great move trying to go around the outside of Bleekemolen through the chicane. The Netherlands ran off the circuit while trying to defend the position but with a better run out the corner Bamber grabbed the lead.

As the rain continued to fall, Malaysia were flying, re-taking third from Switzerland before passing local hero Bleekemolen for second. Fauzy then set about closing the gap to New Zealand who was still in the lead. France moved up to fourth as Loic Duval took advantage of a mistake from Switzerland.

At the start of lap nine the order at the front was now New Zealand, Malaysia, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, China, South Africa and Italy.

Fauzy, whose car was working really well in the wet conditions, was right on the gearbox of Bamber and on lap nine made his move, snatching the lead through turn eleven. Meanwhile, France stole the final podium position from Netherlands.

Chinas tremendous charge came to an end on lap ten when the back end got away from Ho Pin Tung and he spun coming out of the final corner, crashing out of fifth. With Brazil also crashing the red flag was brought out taking the final race classification back to the end of lap 10.

Race winner, A1 Team Malaysias Fairuz Fauzy said: I am so happy to take this win. It was very difficult on the track today and made even more challenging with the lack of experience we have with this new car, but we have worked really hard as a team and now we have a fantastic win. We start from pole position for the next race as well, so I hope we can have more success, but if the weather stays like this it will be another huge challenge for everyone. Im looking forward to it!

A1 Team New Zealands Earl Bamber said: Its pretty atrocious conditions this morning. We got a good start and then managed to get past the Netherlands. He (Bleekemolen) got on some oil which made him have a slow exit so I got down the outside into the chicane and then as he out-braked himself he ran wide and I managed to get in front. It was a good pass, but pretty close. We held the lead for quite a while but then Fairuz was just a little bit quicker and got past me on the infield. I think second is good and hopefully we can make some changes for this afternoon and see what happens with the weather.

Third placed Loic Duval driving for A1 Team France said: Its very difficult to see anything but Im really happy. We received the car yesterday, but just ran in the qualifying session so to finish on the podium today its great for us. Everything is possible for this afternoon so I am confident now. We lost a lot of laps yesterday morning, so this morning we had the chance for an extra test. We managed to work on the car and I think its been quite fair with the amount of laps everybody has had.

Jeroen Bleekmolen was disappointed not to be on the podium in front of his home crowd: When you start from pole you want to win the race, so it didnt go to plan. The first few laps were alright but then I lost a lot of grip and people passed me on the outside, inside and everywhere so we need to find more grip and hopefully we can do better the second race. Its really great to see the fans and even with this weather they are still here enjoying it so I hope I can give them a good result this afternoon.

With this afternoons Feature race grid determined by the Sprint finishing order, Malaysia is in pole position to aim for a double victory in the opening weekend of the new season.

Sprint race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team France set the fastest lap (1m45.939s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 157.2 kph on lap six.

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings