A1 GP: Malaysia wins Sprint race and Second Place on Feature Race

Fauzy took up his pole position on the grid for the Feature race this afternoon, but with the rain relentlessly pouring down at the Zandvoort circuit there was no alternative but for the organisers to declare a safety car start for this race. After two laps the field of 17 nations taking part this weekend were released to race for national glory.

Fauzy led the grid away at the green flag and retained his lead in the opening laps pitting early in the first pitstop window, while second placed team, France, continued on. An errant wheel nut delayed the team by a few seconds but Fauzy was soon back out.

The French team made a late stop and in the process took the lead of the race with Malaysia four seconds behind at the end of the first round of pitstops. As the laps counted down Fauzy remained in second place, and the second round of pitstops saw a clean stop from the Malaysian crew placing Fauzy back out on track in the runner up spot. A dramatic accident for the Lebanon and China cars brought out a safety car close to the end of the race, with the race finally finishing under the safety car. A1 Team Malaysia claimed second place, and after winning the Sprint race now lead the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport standings.

Fauzy said of his two podium results, "It's been a dream start to the season for A1 Team Malaysia. We were certainly hoping to have a good performance here, and two podiums is just great. The weather conditions were treacherous today, which made it difficult for all of us, but that makes it all the more rewarding. There is something extra special when you are driving for your nation, so I'm very proud of our achievements today. Its been a real team effort and Im delighted that we are leaving Zandvoort leading the championship."

A1 Team Malaysia Chief Executive, Jack Cunningham, added, "Fairuz performed extremely well. These are probably the worst conditions we've seen and he showed real professionalism, real ability to think under pressure, recognition of how to get the best out of the car, defeat the weather; a really excellent performance. On top of that I think all the teams should be congratulated on the fantastic event they have put on today, defying all the odds that have faced us in the build up to the start of the season."

The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport continues its ten event global tour next month with the second round taking place at Chengdu, China from 7 - 9 November 2008.

RESULTS: Sprint race

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Pos	A1 Team	Driver	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Malaysia	Fairuz Fauzy	10	19'44.533
2	New Zealand	Earl Bamber	10	19'48.007	3.474
3	France	Loïc Duval	10	19'50.803	6.270
4	Netherlands	Jeroen Bleekemolen	10	19'57.966	13.433
5	Switzerland	Neel Jani	10	20'01.429	16.896
6	South Africa	Adrian Zaugg	10	20'05.458	20.925
7	Italy	Fabio Onidi	10	20'06.747	22.214
8	USA	Charlie Kimball	10	20'08.683	24.150
9	Portugal	Filipe Albuquerque	10	20'13.960	29.427
10	Lebanon	Daniel Morad	10	20'23.462	38.929
11	Australia	John Martin	10	21'12.004	1'27.471
12	China	Ho-Pin Tung	9	18'09.652	1 lap
13	Brazil	Felipe Guimarães	9	19'24.409	1 lap
14	Korea	Jin Woo Hwang	3	7'27.249	7 laps
15	Indonesia	Satrio Hermanto	2	5'27.400	8 laps
16	Ireland	Adam Carroll	2	5'58.094	8 laps
17	Monaco	Clivio Piccione	1	2'48.422	9 laps

RESULTS: Feature race

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Pos	A1 Team	Driver	Laps	Time	Gap
1	France	Loïc Duval	36	1:11'58.723
2	Malaysia	Fairuz Fauzy	36	1:12'01.011	2.288
3	New Zealand	Earl Bamber	36	1:12'01.432	2.709
4	Australia	John Martin	36	1:12'05.052	6.329
5	Netherlands	Jeroen Bleekemolen	36	1:12'06.996	8.273
6	Monaco	Clivio Piccione	34	1:12'03.356	2 laps
7	Korea	Jin Woo Hwang	33	1:12'28.432	3 laps
8	Lebanon	Daniel Morad	32	1:03'15.216	4 laps
9	China	Ho-Pin Tung	31	1:03'14.803	5 laps
10	USA	Charlie Kimball	30	59'04.806	6 laps
11	Portugal	Filipe Albuquerque	15	29'34.235	21 laps
12	Indonesia	Satrio Hermanto	12	26'14.548	24 laps
13	South Africa	Adrian Zaugg	5	11'00.955	31 laps
14	Italy	Fabio Onidi	5	11'01.706	31 laps
15	Brazil	Felipe Guimarães	5	1:12'03.879	31 laps
16	Ireland	Adam Carroll	4	9'17.297	32 laps
17	Switzerland	Neel Jani	4	9'52.638	32 laps