Dominant win for South Africa
South Africa took the first win of the second A1 GP season at Zandvoort, after a dominant performance in today's Sprint Race
Adrian Zaugg started from pole and fought off an early challenge from Mexico's Salvador Duran before pulling clear to win by over two seconds.
Duran briefly took the lead at Tarzan on the opening lap but ran wide and allowed Zaugg to dive back underneath him. The two cars touched briefly, but no damage was done and Zaugg was able to retake the lead.
Duran, France's Nicolas Lapierre and Niko Hulkenberg (Germany) initially hung on to the South African car, but Zaugg proved too fast as the race developed and was never under threat.
As Hulkenberg dropped back to a lonely fourth, Lapierre challenged Duran. The Frenchman got close on a number of occasions, but Duran held firm and the reigning champions were forced to settle for third.
Behind Germany came Darren Manning in the Team GB car. Manning gained a place before the race even began when Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi was penalised for an anti-roll bar canister infringement in qualifying and dropped from fifth to eleventh on the grid.
Manning lost the place to the fast-starting American car of Philip Giebler but had grabbed fifth back by the end of the opening tour. He drew away from his pursuers but could not match the pace of the leading four.
Star of the opening lap was New Zealand's Matt Halliday. Starting ninth, Halliday shot up to seventh in the opening exchanges and then dived down the inside of Giebler at the chicane to complete the first lap in sixth. He was able to edge away from the American car, but was unable to catch Manning.
Canada's James Hinchcliffe came home eighth, followed by a train of cars that included Jeroen Bleekemolen's Dutch entry, Buemi, China's Congfu Cheng, Alex Yoong (Malaysia) and Ryan Briscoe in the Team Australia car.
The group circulated together for the entire race, but no one was able to make a move stick and the cars finished in the above order.
Zaugg's win, combined with his pole position for the Sprint race and his fastest lap in the event itself, gives the 19-year-old pole for the Feature Race to be held this afternoon.
Pos Team Time 1. South Africa 18:03.570 2. Mexico + 2.272 3. France + 2.934 4. Germany + 6.190 5. Great Britain + 12.007 6. New Zealand + 14.940 7. USA + 22.438 8. Canada + 23.771 9. Netherlands + 24.281 10. Switzerland + 24.778 11. China + 25.325 12. Malaysia + 25.885 13. Australia + 26.666 14. Brazil + 28.317 15. Ireland + 38.351 16. Lebanon + 44.165 17. Czech Republic + 44.763 18. Greece +1:09.669 19. Indonesia +1:14.939 20. Pakistan + 1 Lap 21. Singapore + 8 Laps 22. India 23. Italy Fastest lap: South Africa (Adrian Zaugg), 1:29.125 on lap 7
About this article
| Series | General |
| Author | Kevin Turner |
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