A1GP news

Jani recovers to podium for Switzerland

At the second round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at Brno, Czech Republic, A1 Team Switzerland driver Neel Jani finished the 10-lap sprint race in eighth position. He finished the feature race on the podium in third position. The team has now collected 29 points in the championship after four race starts.

Neel Jani said: "The rolling start of the sprint race behind the pace car was a bit preoccupying even if it is meant to make it more disciplined for a clean start. The first danger in this race was the oil at turn one. But I managed to avoid it partly even if I drove on it and got a bit of oil on the tyres as I was sandwiched between two cars and could not do much. Then things started to settle down in the pack. There was a lot of dirt, sand and gravel going into turn 2 after the contact between Britain and Ireland ahead of me on the track. I pushed Germany hard but there wasn't enough time to get past."

"In the feature race, I had a good start in the second race yet still lost one place in the first lap," Jani added. "Then I came under attack from New Zealand and I did not panic. I then pushed the pace strongly until the first cars came in when the pitstop window was opened. I chose to come in on lap 10. I was running third when I came in. After my stop I rejoined in 9th place and picked up some places after that to stabilize back again in third. The race was eventful but I kept out of trouble. Our second pitstop was early into lap 25, in the pit-window and I quickly rejoined in eighth to get back to third. I almost lost the car two laps before the end locking up into turn 3, but luckily nothing happened. Towards the end of the race the finish was far from lonely with China catching very strongly. I was careful not to make any mistakes because China was so fast and clocked the fastest lap. The guys in the team did a really excellent job for the two pitstops. I can't thank them enough. "

Max Welti, Team Principal, A1 Team Switzerland commented: "I am very proud for the team and the country about our bronze medal. In the feature race Neel drove a superb, solid race with a well thought out team strategy. It brought Switzerland our second podium of the season. It was great team work showing how much the team has progressed. Finishing eighth in the morning sprint race also allowed us to get three additional points in the classification. We had our final race team together for the second time this weekend and I would like to congratulate the guys for a very professional job over the weekend and one of the fastest and best-oiled pitstops today."

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