A1GP news

Zaug wins sprint race at Zandvoort

Pole position man Adrian Zaugg has won the first race of the 2007-2008 A1GP season. At Zandvoort Zaugg finished well ahead of Loic Duval and Jeroen Bleekemolen, who finished second and third.

Pole-sitter South Africa's Adrian Zaugg took the advantage as the pack crossed the line for the rolling start of the 20-minute Sprint race in mild but dry conditions. The field got away well as the rain clouds cleared, the only exception being A1 Team Australia's Ian Dyk who started from pit lane after stalling on the grid.

By lap three Zaugg had pulled out an impressive 2.5-second lead on A1 Team France and the South African continued to storm away from Loic Duval and third placed A1 Team Mexico. Zaugg was never really under threat from the rest of the field and by lap nine he had a comfortable lead over Duval of over five seconds.

The gap was up to an incredible seven seconds by the penultimate lap and one lap later A1 Team South Africa took the chequered flag in first place, winning the season-opening Sprint race from pole for the second consecutive year.
Loic Duval had a fairly uneventful race, continuing the impressive form he has been enjoying all weekend at Zandvoort. The Frenchman managed to hold off a strong challenge from the home nation to cross the line in second position and pick up 12 championship points.

Home driver Jeroen Bleekemolen made a sensational start from fifth on the grid, taking fourth place from Switzerland's Neel Jani and making a move on A1 Team Mexico before the end of the first lap. The Dutchman delighted home fans as he continued to chase down Mexico's Salvador Duran, his sights firmly set on a podium position. On Lap three Bleekemolen snuck past the Mexican car and by the fourth lap he was all over the back of second placed A1 Team France. The Dutchman pushed hard for the remaining eight laps and went on to cross the line in an impressive third place, taking A1 Team Netherlands' first podium finish at home and collecting 10 championship points.

A1 Team Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis, who started 10th on the grid, enjoyed a thrilling first race of the season, carving his way through the field to pass Ireland's Ralph Firman for seventh position on lap eight. Jarvis immediately started to hunt down A1 Team Germany and on lap 11 the British ace was still fighting hard with Christian Vietoris for sixth place. Jarvis went on the cross the line in seventh position, opening his championship account with a valuable four points.

Lebanon's Chris Alajajian put in a superb performance on his A1GP debut, finishing in 14th position having started from 18th on the grid. The Lebanese driver enjoyed a mid race tussle with Czech Republic and China, the trio of cars getting side by side at one point.

All 22 A1GP cars finished the race - the first time the cars had driven the track in dry conditions this weekend - in front of packed grandstands and sand dunes.

Race winner, A1 Team South Africa's Adrian Zaugg was pleased with the win and is confident the team will be able to repeat its performance this afternoon. 'We prepared a really good car for today and yesterday in wet conditions and we have shown we can be competitive in both the wet and the dry, so it's looking good,' he said.

'After two or three laps I looked in my rear mirrors and I couldn't see anyone anymore so from then I never had to go to the maximum, but it was very hard not to lose my rhythm. I hope to do it again for the Feature race. When you look at the times we should be the ones to beat in that race so we have every chance.'

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