Neel Jani of Team Switzerland put on a dominant display at the Malaysian A1 GP at the Sepang raceway this weekend, taking not only the pole position for the sprint race and winning it – but doing the exact same for the 35 lap feature race.
Dominant from the rolling start, Jani pulled away from France’s Loic Duval – closest to Jani, while lower down the field, cars were as much as four cars wide to secure a good spot – and this only on the first turn. Duval looked to overtake Jani on that first hairpin after the Swiss had braked late, but Canadian rookie Robert Wickens rubbed tires with Duval in the first turn chaos, causing him to lose the rear a bit and losing Jani (who went on to set the fastest lap time, not to mention win) in the process. This is the second time Jani has taken the sprint race in Malaysia, having done the same last season.
Another rookie, Team Germany’s Michael Ammermuller took the fight to Wickens until the very last lap – when he tried a desperate pass on the Maple Flag car. Ammermuller braked far too late, was way on the inside and having no chance of a clean manoeuvre, bounced off Wickens to get around the apex. Although both drivers continued, after the race the stewards sent Team Germany to 16th, giving the Canadian a podium finish in his first A1 GP race. Local hero Alex Yoong managed to finish in ninth place after spectacular driving saw him manoeuvring the yellow Malaysian car up the field from 19th.
With rain looking inevitable, the feature race promised to bring on much more with an extra 25 laps, though except for a few spots, the circuit stayed relatively dry. The standing start caught a few of the rookies, and Jani took off tom lead the feature race as well. Further down the grid, like a few others, Canada fell foul to first turn chaos. Wickens, while trying to work his way up, was eventually taken out by South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg who tried to regroup after a spin, ending the Canadian campaign for the weekend.
Their collision brought out the safety car and started the first pit window. Although Jani was first in the pits, Duval held him up in his box in the French pit stall ahead. Because of the safety car, the pit exit remained closed and due to a moment of confusion, Brazil and GBR lined up alongside Switzerland and France when they should have been behind in a queue. When the race restarted Brazil’s Sergio Jimenez held the lead while Oliver Jarvis of GBR passed Jani. Jani quickly took back 2nd and Duval soon overtook Jarvis as well, finding himself in third.
While Jani was worrying Jimenez for the top spot, Duval fell victim to a superb pass by Jeroen Bleekemolen of the Netherlands, who drove his car around the French entry on the outside of a hairpin. Jarvis couldn’t really catch a break, and got knocked out of the way by Ammermuller – who was yet again under investigation for a reckless passing attempt.
Jani went in early for his second mandatory stop and proceeded to throw down a few really quick lap times while Brazil went in for its second stop – resulting in Jani again setting the fastest lap time and Jimenez in second for the rest of the feature. Duval once again found himself in third after Bleekemolen stalled in the pits.
As was the case with the first race, Jani didn’t see any of the chaos that was happening further down the grid. Ammermuller hit the Czech Republic car, sealing him a rather unsavoury reputation. His kamikaze late braking driving style made the stewards decide to disqualify him after the race. Other teams were placed under investigation for the entirety of the feature race including France, China, Malaysia and New Zealand. Brazil and GBR also fell under scrutiny after the mix-up in the pits.
When the race ended, Jani had finished ahead of Brazil and then France, but because of the number of incidents that occurred throughout the race, everything was provisional. Receiving a two-second penalty for what transpired in the pit lane, Brazil dropped just behind France.
“My dream is fulfilled and I won two races on this fantastic Sepang track. We getting to understand each other better and better in the team and I hope we can continue like this all year round. Just a fantastic weekend and I was able to fight for this second consecutive win all through the race,” said an ecstatic Jarni.
I am very proud for the team and the country about our two race wins. To earn two poles, the fastest laps in each sprint and feature races and two wins the same week-end is a fantastic achievement from Neel Jani ,” commented Team Switzerlands Principal Max Welti.
A1 GP now heads to the fifth instalment of the A1 GP 2007-2008 season in China at the Zhuhai International Circuit in three weeks time. Expect to see some rulebook amendments (especially regarding pit-lane procedure) and a bit more conservative driving on a circuit that is not nearly as wide as Sepang.