2005 A1 GRAND PRIX

A1 GP (2005/2006)

FEATURE RACE RESULT, DEC 11, 2005

• 1 France - Nicolas Lapierre
• 2 UK - Robbie Kerr
• 3 S Africa - Stephen Simpson
• 4 Portugal - Alvaro Parente
• 5 China - Tengyi Jiang
• 6 Canada - Sean McIntosh
• 7 Austria - Mathias Lauda
• 8 Mexico - Salvador Duran
• 9 Netherlands - Jos Verstappen
• 10 Australia - Will Davison
• 11 Italy 12 Germany 13 New Zealand 14 India 15 Japan 16 Lebanon 17 Switzerland 18 Czech Republic 19 Pakistan 20 USA

SPRINT RACE RESULT, DEC 10, 2005

• 1 Neel Jani, Switzerland
• 2 Enrico Toccacelo, Italy
• 3 Tomas Enge, Czech Republic
• 4 Ireland
• 5 Canada
• 6 Indonesia
• 7 France 8 Portugal 9 Great Britain 10 Malaysia

TEAM FRANCE RACE REPORT:

• A1 Team France took another victory in the feature race at Dubai, its ninth of the season with Nicolas Lapierre fighting his way through the field. He finished seventh in the sprint race after a spin in the closing stages.
• "We had a really good car all weekend," Lapierre said. "I really wanted very much to win the sprint race as it is so important for the feature race. I started from the clean side of the track but Ireland managed to pass me and I my car had contact with Ireland's as I had no where to go and I went wide slightly off the track. This did some damage to my car which affected its handling."
• Lapierre fought hard from start to finish in both races. In the sprint race he had a difficult start and then lost the car as he tried to record the fastest lap during one of the final laps. "Three laps before the end, I still had two power boosts available, and was still looking for an overtaking manoeuvre possibility. But the track was very slippery and sandy and I spun right at the end. I kept the car running, but I dropped back down to seventh and I didn't have enough time to fight back."
• "In the feature race had a good first lap although I started from seventh," Lapierre added. "I chose not to come in during the first safety car period. Later on, my pit stop was perfect. The team called me in at the exact perfect time and I could push hard and could pull away from the others and close in on Robbie Kerr. With 14 laps to go, Robbie Kerr was only 1.022 ahead of me. I was determined to finish the race on the first step of the podium and raced very hard. It was an exciting end to the race and I noticed that Kerr had some trouble braking and decided to push hard to pass him. I had to be careful and wait for the right time seven laps before the end of the race. We were then side by side. I had no trouble keeping my line and I was back in the lead. I'm delighted to add another win to our tally and it's great to finish on a high note in the last race having won from seventh position on the grid."
• Jean-Paul Driot, team Principal of A1 Team France, added: "I'm really happy with Nicolas Lapierre for scoring ten points in the feature race after a hard sprint race. What a race! I really can't say a lot more except congratulate the Team."
• After the sixth round of the new A1 Grand Prix Series, Team A1 France has extended its lead in the championship and has 106 points. The team has notched up nine victories. The next round will be staged at Sentul (Indonesia), where Alexandre Premat is the nominated driver.

TEAM SWISS RACE REPORT:

• Team Switzerland won its first race of the A1 Grand Prix series today in Dubai when Neel Jani triumphed in the sprint race. Starting from pole position, Jani took a comfortable win to break A1 Team France's eight- race dominance of the top step of the podium.
• Neel Jani commented: "I'm incredibly happy to have taken my first win of the season. It's a nice birthday present. We finally got the car as we wanted today and I didn't make any mistakes. We got it all together for the sprint race and towards the end, I could enjoy a bit of a cushion I had built up over my rivals. I'm really happy to with the ten points for a win and to have taken our team's total to 75 points having also recorded the fastest lap."
• "In the feature race I started from pole, but had a much tougher time. I had a good strategy and waited for the second safety car to pit. The potential and the speed were there, but we lost some valuable time with a drive through penalty. Unfortunately we lost it there, and I wasn't able to fight back. I finished in a disappointing 17th place which does not reflect our potential. We are still second in the championship with 75 points. And this is a good result. I am really happy to have scored valuable points in the first race today!"
• Max Welti, team principal, A1 Team Switzerland commented: " A strong drive for the sprint race saw Neel Jani take his first win in the series in the sprint race and score the fastest lap. I am extremely proud of Neel. He did a fantastic job. I have never been more happy in my life for a long time. Neel was unlucky in the feature race after an excellent start when it all looked good, but that's motor racing."

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