Reid romps to Mexico sprint success

Reid, who started alongside Zaugg on the front row of the rolling start, pulled off a sensational round-the-outside passing move on early leader Zaugg at Turn 1 on lap two, who immediately went out with a left-rear puncture. This was likely caused by contact between the two of them on the opening lap at Turn 1.

The race had to be restarted after a calamitous initial rolling start, caused by poleman Zaugg setting a painfully slow pace to the startline and appearing to make a dummy start and then back off. That caused chaos behind as Oliver Jarvis (Great Britain) hit the back of Jonathan Summerton (USA), while Adam Carroll (Ireland) had to lock up and swerve right, as Bruno Junqueira (Brazil) was forced onto the grass on the left-hand side.

"He went, then he braked," said Jarvis. "He should be taken off the grid for the restart."

Zaugg denied braking, however, and argued: "I've no idea what the people behind were doing. I was just building up speed."

Carroll added: "The front guys went, then slowed up again. It was very slow at the start anyway, we shouldn't be approaching a rolling start in first gear using the clutch."

Further back, Adam Khan (Pakistan) reared over the back of Michael Ammermuller (Germany), briefly flying through the air before crashing back down and being stranded in the middle of the track. Ammermuller's car suffered severe rear-end damage but, amazingly, Khan's car made the restart with only minor injuries.

Zaugg led the restart following the red flag, with Reid drawing alongside him on the outside of the first corner. They made slight contact, but Zaugg stayed ahead until the same place on lap two, when Reid rocketed past him as he locked up and slid down the escape road with a blown rear tyre.

Oliver Jarvis took third for Great Britain despite immense pressure from series leader Neel Jani (Switzerland) at a restart following a safety car for Filip Salaquarda's spin in the Czech car at the chicane. Jarvis had also done well to hold off a first lap attack from Ireland's Adam Carroll, who was forced onto the grass on the run down to the first turn.

Jani finished fourth, ahead of Carroll and Summerton, who lost out in the opening exchanges but got the better of a battle with Felipe Albuquerque over fifth.

Reid's win lifts New Zealand to second in the title race, 15 points behind Switzerland. France drop to third as Jonathan Cochet failed to score down in 12th.

Results:

Pos Driver               Team            Time
 1. Jonny Reid           New Zealand     20:59.462
 2. Oliver Jarvis        Great Britain      +2.697
 3. Neel Jani            Switzerland        +3.745
 4. Adam Carroll         Ireland            +4.291
 5. Jonathan Summerton   USA                +4.721
 6. Filipe Albuquerque   Portugal           +7.125
 7. Robert Wickens       Canada             +7.787
 8. Jeroen Bleekemolen   Netherlands        +8.597
 9. Alex Yoong           Malaysia           +9.599
10. Bruno Junqueira      Brazil            +10.952
11. Edoardo Piscopo      Italy             +11.538
12. Jonathan Cochet      France            +12.483
13. Narain Karthikeyan   India             +14.859
14. Satrio Hermanto      Indonesia         +15.600
15. Jimmy Auby           Lebanon           +16.970
16. David Garza          Mexico            +18.363
17. Cheng Cong Fu        China              +1 lap

Not classified:

    Filip Salaquarda     Czech Republic     4 laps
    Adam Khan            Pakistan           4 laps
    Adrian Zaugg         South Africa       2 laps
    John Martin          Australia          0 laps
    Michael Ammermuller  Germany            0 laps