The 2008 A1GP Season Review

Neel Jani arrived at the season finale at Brands Hatch last weekend virtually assured of winning the championship, but the season was anything but a one-team show.

The title fight went, at least mathematically, down to the wire for the first time in three installments of A1GP, and it was an open, three-way battle for almost the duration of the season.

Switzerland and New Zealand were runners-up in the first and second seasons respectively, and were back, vying to go one better from the outset. Inaugural champions France had a winless season last year, but returned to form this time around and the title could have gone to any one of the three.

In the end, it was Switzerland and Neel Jani's consistency that made the difference. The Taupo round, on the home soil of his major rivals, New Zealand, was the only time Jani didn't bring significant points home from an event.

Things started going wrong for the Kiwis in South Africa, the seventh of 10 events. In fact, Jonny Reid only made the podium once in the last nine races, falling from championship leader to long shot over the last couple of rounds.

France suffered similarly. They too were in the thick of the fight, with Loic Duval carrying the nation's hopes. But his prior commitment to Formula Nippon in Japan ruled him out of the last three events and his nation's charge ended abruptly with his departure.

Oliver Jarvis, A1 Team GB, racing in Durban © A1GP

Other countries showed signs of challenging, with another seven winning races. Great Britain has now finished third in every season of A1GP after another promising but ultimately frustrating season.

A terrible mid-season patch which produced just 17 points from eight races left the squad languishing in the midfield, but they rebounded well at the end and were only a point shy of pinching second from New Zealand on home soil at the weekend.

Reigning champions Germany had a poor season without Nico Hulkenberg. Willi Weber's next prospect, Christian Vietoris was decent, and scored his maiden win. Michael Ammermuller made no friends when he joined the series in combative fashion, but he also won. The results were just too few and far between for them to play a significant role.

South Africa was another country on the fringes. Adrian Zaugg burst into life at the beginning of the season, but his race pace didn't match that of his qualifying often enough.

Emerging series front-runners Ireland and Canada chalked up their first victories as both came on strong later in the season. Narain Karthikeyan also turned in a couple of outstanding performances to give the growing motorsport base in India something else to shout about.

But all these nations were too far adrift on their not-so-perfect weekends to be anything more than fringe players in the end.

The momentum in the title race swung back and forth round by round. And while Switzerland, New Zealand, and France didn't have many heated bouts with each other, there were plenty of hairy moments when they were racing countries with rather less to lose.

Reid got New Zealand heading in the right direction in the second event at Brno when he drove round the outside of Zaugg to snatch the lead and streaked away to an excellent Sprint Race win. He completed the double later that day, and the Kiwis were away with the lead of the championship.

Everyone else's season was just getting going at Brno, but South Africa had peaked already. Zaugg followed his Zandvoort victory with a pole at the Czech circuit, but he dropped away after Reid demoted him in the Sprint Race and he fell from grace after the Feature where he stalled in the pits and ended up 16th.

Zaugg did pop up again with a Feature Race victory at Eastern Creek, but he was a long way adrift of the leaders by then.

Neel Jani, A1 Team Switzerland, won both races in Malaysia © A1GP

Switzerland had to wait until the third event of the season to mark itself out as possible champion. Jani utterly dominated at Sepang with two pole positions, two wins, and two fastest laps. Nobody could live with his pace, but Duval did the next best thing and brought home two second places for the French to keep them at the sharp end.

Ammermuller made his infamous A1GP debut in Malaysia and was welcomed with a penalty after hitting Robert Wickens and Oliver Jarvis in separate incidents. Ammermuller followed the drama with victory next time out at Zhuhai, with Jani wisely settling for second rather than risking becoming his next victim.

Jani thought he'd complete another strong weekend with a win in the Feature Race, but a sticking wheel nut in a pit stop dropped him to 16th.

It was random incidents like this that kept the championship close throughout the season. To make matters worse for Jani, Reid cashed in on his misfortune with a second place behind Karthikeyan, who was sending the Indian fans wild with the first A1GP victory for his nation.

Things just kept getting better for Reid, who looked like the title favourite after Taupo, where he took a popular win on home soil. Jani, meanwhile, had his worst weekend of the year. He only made it as far as the first corner in the Sprint Race, where he collided with Alex Yoong.

Another lead was forfeited when he was adjudged to have jumped the start in the Feature Race. He was trying to make up the time lost to the drive-through penalty when he tangled with the Pakistan car and had to pit for a new nose.

His frustration at failing to chalk up good results with a clearly strong car was evident when he lapped over a second quicker than anyone else at the end of the race, rescuing a point for fastest lap.

Duval had been collecting podiums to keep France in the hunt. At this point he was tied with Switzerland, and two points behind New Zealand. The Frenchman excelled himself in Australia to take a brilliant victory with slick tyres on a wet track. Reid also prospered in the conditions and finished second, while both Jani and Zaugg fell off and lost more points.

Jani was able to claw back some of the lost ground in the Feature Race with second place, while Reid stalled in the pits and Duval's clutch broke. Now there were three points covering the first three countries.

But it couldn't stay that close forever. Things started to go wrong for New Zealand in South Africa. Reid hit Jarvis and knocked his nose off in the first race, then lost another nose later in the day when he was released from his pit box into the side of the Mexican car.

Jani was back on consistent form with a podium and a win, while Duval signed off in style - picking his way through the carnage to an excellent second place.

Jonny Reid, A1 Team New Zealand, leads in Mexico City © A1GP

Unfortunately for France, Duval's absence would prove costly and their championship ambitions had soon evaporated. Jonathan Cochet was nowhere near the pace in Mexico, and Franck Montagny wasn't a lot closer at Shanghai or Brands Hatch.

That left two. Reid won the Sprint Race in Mexico but had a nightmare in the Feature. He hit Jarvis as he came in for a pit stop, then he ran over his lollipop man and got the rear jack stuck under the car. He was seventh by the time he rejoined and he later crashed while being distracted by Ammermuller straight-lining a chicane.

Jani still couldn't put any significant distance between the Swiss and the Kiwis, and once again lost a strong lead. He was given another drive-through penalty, this one for not giving way to Adam Carroll as he exited the pits side-by-side with the Irish car. He rejoined down the order but picked up a puncture and crashed into Pakistan.

Switzerland finally had at least one hand on the trophy when Jani won the Sprint Race at Shanghai while Reid crashed at the start with Jonathan Summerton.

The Swiss would have clinched it in the Feature Race, but Jani lost second gear and dropped to fifth, one place behind New Zealand. That allowed Summerton to take a popular victory for Team USA, with Filipe Albuquerque's second place underlining the exceptional job he did late in the season after joining Team Portugal.

So to the finale, and it needed a miracle for New Zealand to overhaul the 29-point deficit with only 32 on offer. Things looked bleak for Reid after qualifying in the midfield for both races and Jani cruised round to a safe fourth to clinch the crown.

Britain's Robbie Kerr (having taken over from DTM-bound Jarvis for the end of the season) repeated his Brands Hatch Sprint victory from a year earlier, and Reid's poor weekend meant that Britain nearly leapt into second place. But that would have been something of a false result as they were never really in the title race.

Karthikeyan rounded off the year with a second victory for Team India, which was a fitting close to season three. With the title chase not quite reaching the last race, India's win underlined the fact that 10 different nations tasted victory in the season's 20 races.

The competitiveness of A1GP has improved each year and it was important for the series' credibility that it produced a genuine battle for the championship, rather than one nation running away with it as in years one and two.

The partnership with Ferrari for season four will give A1GP something of a relaunch later this summer. The association with arguably the most famous brand in motorsport can only further increase how seriously the championship is taken by both the industry and the fans, so expect to see more countries and more familiar drivers on the grid come September.