The Australian leg of the A1GP, held at the Eastern Creek Raceway in New South Wales, saw Team France take top honours, while Team South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg also put on a superb performance to win the 42-lap Feature Race.
Loic Duval of Team France started the sprint race in pole position and even with the heavy downpour later in the race managed to finish the 14 laps with a nine second advantage over the closest threat. Initially that threat consisted of New Zealand’s Jonny Reid and Team Switzerland’s Neel Jani, but due to a spin the Swiss car lost valuable points and ended the race in 10th position.
While Reid and Jani tussled for second, Team Canada’s Robert Wickens had managed to work his way up the grid from 15th position. Having passed more experienced drivers on his way to the podium fighters’ battle he inherited 3rd when Jani spun out. Team Germany’s Michael Ammermuller, Jonathan Summerton for the US and Australian John Martin finished after Wickens in that order.
“I really wanted to leave Sydney with at least one victory. And I did! It’s a good morale booster for the whole team. We’ve felt this result was coming for several races now, but we never managed to nail it until today,” said Duval. Due to other racing commitments, Duval may have raced in his last A1 events for this season and Team France will probably send rookie Jonathan Cochet into the hotseat for the next round of A1GP in Durban.
Speaking of Durban, Team South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg will go into the race full of confidence thanks to his win in the Feature Race at Eastern Creek. Due to the sudden downpour midway through the Sprint Race, the Feature Race required the grid to start on wet tyres.
When it was time to start the formation lap, Reid who had secured pole stalled on the line and after the Kiwi team looked at the car, he was able to get back in line at the end of the 21-car grid. A similar hiccup on the formation lap for Team France caused Duval to take a place alongside his championship rival at the back.
As the top drivers in the previous race were now stuck at the bottom of the field, Jani took full advantage of the rare opportunity and gained an early lead. Robbie Kerr of Great Britain quickly took second and by the end of lap two the top contenders for podium were Switzerland, Great Britain, South Africa and Brazil. Zaugg took the lead when Jani and Kerr made their pit stops and maximising his advantage, Zaugg put in a few quick laps while out ahead.
When he rejoined the race after an excellent trip to the pits, Zaugg was still over six seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. A comedy of errors for Duval and Team France led to the French entry deemed out of contention for any more points during the weekend. Australian John Martin made a pass on Wickens who was in 7th, and spurred on by his home crowd, went on to overtake Germany for 6th as well.
Zaugg finished the race with over 19 seconds to Jani who managed to bring in the 2nd position again for Team Switzerland. Robbie Kerr took 3rd, followed by Sergio Jimenez of Brazil, Martin (Australia’s highest finish position for their home race) and Wickens.
“It was one of my best races. The win gives you lots of confidence but each time it’s a new race and a new day and I always give it my best, but definitely we have a great motivation coming to Durban,” said Zaugg in a post-race interview with co-commentator John Watson, who had earlier described the South African’s performance as “A drive of absolute class under the most difficult of conditions.”
Although the top three teams in the championship standings (New Zealand and France tie for first, while Switzerland trails with only three points less) have a comfortable lead over South Africa and Germany, more slip-ups like those at Eastern Creek could cause a considerable upset in the upcoming podiums. Zaugg especially will want to perform well at his home event and podium-regular Ammermuller will push for more championships for Germany come the next few rounds…
The next round of the A1GP season takes place on the streets of Durban, South Africa from the 22nd to the 24th February.
To view the current championship standings and TV broadcast times for the next round CLICK HERE.
