Premat makes it French double win
Alexandre Premat continued the trend of A1 Grand Prix double winners by cruising to a comfortable second win in Estoril
Premat led from the start and despite three safety periods, his lead was never seriously threatened. With the Team Brazil car of Nelson Piquet stalling at the start, Premat's win also took France to the head of the championship table.
Piquet's stall was the cue for a storming comeback drive. He played the safety car periods perfectly and managed to unlap himself and get back into the points in eighth place.
Neel Jani added another podium finish to his sprint race third, with a steady drive to second. Ralph Firman produced his best drive yet, making full use of a good pit strategy from Team Ireland to take third.
USA's Scott Speed held third at one stage, but lost two places on the final restart. He regained one of them when Robbie Kerr's Team Great Britain car suddenly slowed.
Alvaro Parente made the best start and briefly challenged for the lead. He would have been guaranteed for a podium had he not stalled during his mandatory pitstop. But he charged back to take a rewarding fifth.
On his A1 debut, Will Davison did a good job to take sixth to Team Australia, holding off the Italian car of Enrico Toccacelo.
Tomas Enge was another podium candidate, but was penalised for speeding in the pitlane. The drive-through dropped him to ninth, while Mathias Lauda took the final point - the first for Team Austria.
Pos Team Time
1. France 1h 1:05.454
2. Switzerland + 7.517
3. Ireland + 15.933
4. Usa + 19.023
5. Portugal + 27.320
6. Australia + 34.774
7. Italy + 35.629
8. Brazil + 36.265
9. Czech Republic + 37.730
10. Austria + 51.380
11. Lebanon + 58.733
12. Great Britain + 1:01.947
13. India + 1:05.544
14. China + 1:10.581
15. Pakistan + 1:16.517
16. New Zealand + 1 Lap
17. Russia + 1 Lap
Retirements:
Team On lap
Canada 20
Netherlands 18
Germany 17
Malaysia 15
South Africa 14
Indonesia 11
Mexico 9
Championship standings:
Pos Team Points
1. France 50
2. Brazil 42
3. Switzerland 34
4. New Zealand 29
5. Australia 21
6. Canada 18
7. Ireland 16
= Mexico 16
9. Great Britain 15
= Netherlands 15
11. Malaysia 14
= Portugal 14
13. Czech Republic 8
= Germany 8
15. Usa 7
16. Japan 6
= South Africa 6
18. Indonesia 5
19. Italy 4
= Pakistan 4
21. Austria 1
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