A1GP news

France happy with Czech points

After yesterday's qualifying, A1 Team France's ambition was to score points in the two Sunday races and seize any opportunities that presented themselves. Mission accomplished this evening as the team bagged 11 more points in today's Sprint and Feature races on the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. 

Nicolas Lapierre made a lightning start in the first race and gained 4 places. Ten laps later he crossed the finishing line in 6th position. In the long event a good first refuelling stop enabled A1 Team France to gain a place and then Nicolas passed two cars at the end to finish 5th. These performances have enabled A1 Team France to gain a point on the overall leader, now New Zealand. A1 Team France is now only 9 points behind, and with 18 races remaining victory is a realistic hope for the team. 

"The team has had a good weekend," said sporting director Olivier Panis. "In addition, Nicolas Lapierre found his marks very quickly, and drove a couple of good races enabling us to gain several places in relation to our qualifying performances. We're leaving Brno without being on the rostrum, but the points we've scored this weekend help close the gap to the overall leader." 

Nicolas Lapierre commented, "I made a very good start in the Sprint race and managed to pass four cars on the outside in the first corner. We knew we had to take risks at that moment as the race lasted only ten laps. In the second event I made an average start as I was on the dirty side of the track, and my tyres spun when I let the clutch out. We decided to come at the start of the refuelling window and gained a place. I rejoined behind Great Britain and South Africa. We had a good scrap from which I emerged victorious: I finished fifth. Today's result is positive as we gained places in relation to where we were on the grid in each race. On the other hand, the weekend's been a bit mixed. Had we qualified better I think we'd have been on the podium."

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