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Dismal day loses Switzerland lead

At the fifth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at Taupo, current title leader Switzerland's sprint race was over on the first lap due to a turn one collision. Jani's strong start in the feature race came to nothing after he was judged to have made a jump start.

"What a day," said Jani. "I score one point that I dedicate to my team for their strong team work on a tough day for us. I had a very good start in the sprint race and gained three positions. I was in the inside going into turn one and Malaysia didn't have anywhere to go really so we touched. Fortunately the car was not too badly damaged and the team helped me bounce back strongly and repaired the car for the feature race where I started in third place. Again I had a strong start. I took the lead of the pack. But I was suspected of jumping the start and got a stop and go penalty after two laps. With the team we checked different camera angles and all we can see it that the wind may have pushed me a bit. That's all. It's really unfortunate because it ruined our strong race. I could only rejoin in 16th place after a safety car period but I was fighting hard and cruising back up the field. Then unfortunately while overtaking Pakistan, I ran into the grass and broke my front wing. Coming out of the pits after changing my wing, there was another safety car. I was inflicted another drive-through penalty. Overall, in the last stints my speed was excellent. My car was perfect and thanks to my team, I score one point for a fastest lap and track lap record. Now we still have 80 points in the championship equal with France Loic Duval behind New Zealand and hopefully we've got all our bad luck out the way here."

Max Welti, Team Principal, A1 Team Switzerland commented: "What a day. I want to thank the team for their dedication and Neel for his strong and focused drive. They never gave up despite the adverse conditions that we encountered today in Taupo. Not only after the first race crash, our car was ready for the feature race but it was strong and in excellent condition. Today we really had a rough race on Neel, who showed he is a really tough fighter. The positive side is that for now Switzerland is still the fastest car in the field. 80 points to get to Australia is an advantage after the Taupo race even if Neel had never driven Taupo before."

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