A1 team Switzerland
Spin
at the Sprint race -- 2nd place in main event
The Swiss A1GP-Team experienced all facets of motor
sport during their three days in Eastern Creek near
Sydney (AUS). Helplessness and mishaps alternated with
feelings of happiness. In the end, Sunday finished with
Neel Jani ranked number 1 in the main event. Earlier on,
Neel Jani, who was in second place for much of the race,
fell back to tenth after he spun wide with two laps to
go.
'This weekend I felt like a
passenger on a roller coaster', commented Jani following
his experience here in Australia.
'Friday and Saturday training sessions, which went
totally wrong, were followed with a promising
qualification and brilliant places in the first row. In
the sprint race I had a tough setback. After all I
managed to make up for my mistake in the following
Feature race.'
'In lap 13 I went a bit too
fast at the 9th bend which was a right-hand bend with a
slop to the outside. I went onto the grass from which I
barely managed to get out. Afterwards I was really
annoyed with myself because instead of taking the secure
10 points I achieved only one point. Loïc Duval, saw the
chequered flag in front the New Zealand driver Jonny
Reid, which gave their teams a comfortable lead over
Switzerland in the meantime.
The entire team tried to
motivate Neel Jani for the Feature race. After the
spring race, he was obviously under pressure. The main
task for the coming race was to limit the damage by
gaining podium place. 'You first have to finish before
you finish first" was the motto. Actually, Jani gave a
fine performance in the wet. Consciously we made the
first of the two compulsory pit stops early, during lap
10,' explained team principal Max Welti. 'Unfortunately,
he still went into heavy traffic behind the rest of the
field. I doubt that we could have managed to contest the
South Africa's victory.' When crossing the finish line,
there was nearly a 20 second gap between Neel Janis and
the winner Adrian Zaugg.
The Swiss car did not lack
speed. During the sprint race Neel Jani's time before
the rain started in the middle of the race was third
best, right after Duval and Zaugg. During the feature
race his best time was only 0.154 seconds slower than
Zaugg's time. 'Considering the fact that the car
understeered on the wet track, which is serious
drawback, I am satisfied with the result,' said a happy
Neel Jani. 'I was holding back because this time I did
not want to risk another spin like in the sprint race.
Otherwise we would have ended up without any position.'
There was lots of action
before and after the main event. Jonny Reid was a bit
unlucky and instead of starting from pole position, the
New Zealander ground to a halt just after leaving the
pits to line up on the grid. This happened because he
was not able to push start the stalled car uphill and as
a result he started from the pit lane. The same happened
to Loïc Duval who was forced to start from the back of
the grid.
The French driver stalled
the car on the warm-up lap due to trouble with the
clutch. The same happened during the pit stops. After
the second pit stop the mechanics tried to push the car
but with no success. Earlier on, Duval incurred a
drive-through-penalty after he had nudged out the
American Jonathan Summerton.
Sydney-Eastern Creek
(AUS). A1GP. Sprint race
(rolling start/14 laps à 3.93 km/55,02 km: 1. France (Loïc
Duval) 20:18,536. 2. New Zealand (Jonny Reid) 9,198 sec
gap. 3. Canada (Robert Wickens) 11,016. 4. Germany
(Michael Ammermüller) 11,929. 5. USA (Jonathan
Summerton) 12,604. 6. Australia (John Martin) 14,210. 6.
South Africa (Adrian Zaugg) 14,523. 8. Brazil (Sérgio
Jimenez) 30,260. 9. Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen)
33,471. 10. Switzerland (Neel Jani) 33,806. -- 22
drivers started, 21 finished the race. - Fastest lap:
Duval (2.) in 1:19,350 (178,298 km/h).
Feature race
(grand prix start/42 laps/165,06 km): 1. South Africa
(Adrian Zaugg) 1:12:00,930. 2. Switzerland (Neel Jani)
19,560 sec gap. 3. Great Britain (Robbie Kerr) 25,194.
4. Brazil (Sérgio Jimenez) 42,770. 5. Australia (John
Martin) 68,647. 6. Canada (Robert Wickens) 70,321. 7.
Germany (Michael Ammermüller) 76,299. 8. Netherlands (Jeroen
Bleekemolen) 77,155. 9. Reid 82,447. 10. China (CongFu
Cheng) 93,913. -- 22 drivers started, 20 drivers
finished. -- Retired: Summerton and Duval. - Fastest
lap: South Africa (Adrian Zaugg) (33.) in 1:39,034
(130,864 km/h).
Championship standing
(12/20): 1. New Zealand 96 (3
victories). 2. France 96 (1). 3. Switerland 93. 4. South
Africa 79. 5. Germany 77. 6. Great Britain 58. 7.
Netherlands 55. 8. Ireland 50. 9. Brazil 38. 10. Canada
37. -- 22 nations. - Next race: 24th February in Durban
(SA).
