Source: A1 Grand Prix Press Office
A1 Team New Zealand raced to its third Sprint race victory of the season in this morning's incident-packed race at Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in perfect weather conditions, moving them up to second place in the championship.
New Zealand held off Great Britain who crossed the line second to secure a superb podium finish while Switzerland took the final podium position, increasing its title lead as France failed to score any points.
The 22-car field was forced to reform on the grid for a second time after the scheduled start of the 20-minute race was red-flagged, as eight teams were involved in collisions at the rolling start and many sustained damage to their cars.
Once the debris had been cleared from the track, the race finally got underway and the pack jostled for position heading into turn one. Pole-sitter South Africa's Adrian Zaugg held the lead while GBR's Oliver Jarvis moved up two places to snatch third, slotting in behind New Zealand's Jonny Reid and just ahead of Switzerland's Neel Jani.
Reid started to hunt down Zaugg and by lap three 'Black Beauty' had taken control, snatching the race lead from Zaugg when he locked up and went straight on at turn one as a result of a slow puncture sustained at the start, putting the South African car out of the race.
A spinning Filip Salaquarda in the Czech Republic car at the final turn brought the safety car out on track on lap five, allowing the field to bunch up behind New Zealand. The action restarted on lap eight and Reid started to pull away from Jarvis in the British car, who was under pressure from Switzerland's Jani.
The Kiwi went on the win the race ahead of GBR's Jarvis in second, collecting crucial championship points and moving New Zealand to 15 points behind title leader Switzerland, who finished the race third.
Sprint race results
POS DRIVERA1 TEAM LAPSTIMEGAP FIRST
1Jonny REIDNEW ZEALAND 1420:59.462-
2Oliver JARVISGREAT BRITAIN 1421:02.159+2.697
3Neel JANISWITZERLAND 1421:03.207+3.745
4Adam CARROLLIRELAND 1421:03.753+4.291
5Jonathan SUMMERTONUSA 1421:04.183+4.721
6Filipe ALBUQUERQUEPORTUGAL 1421:06.587+7.125
7Robert WICKENSCANADA 1421:07.249+7.787
8Jeroen BLEEKEMOLENNETHERLANDS 1421:08.059+8.597
9Alex YOONGMALAYSIA 1421:09.061+9.599
10Bruno JUNQUEIRABRAZIL 1421:10.414+10.952
11Edoardo PISCOPOITALY 1421:11.000+11.538
12Jonathan COCHETFRANCE 1421:11.945+12.483
13Narain KARTHIKEYANINDIA 1421:14.321+14.859
14Satrio HERMANTOINDONESIA 1421:15.062+15.600
15Jimmy AUBYLEBANON 1421:16.432+16.970
16David GARZAMEXICO 1421:17.825+18.363
17Congfu CHENGCHINA 1321:18.1111 Lap
18Filip SALAQUARDACZECH REPUBLIC 405:47.32710 Laps
19Adam KHANPAKISTAN 406:26.17610 Laps
20Adrian ZAUGGSOUTH AFRICA 202:46.39312 Laps
21John MARTINAUSTRALIA 0 14 Laps
22Michael AMMERMÜLLERGERMANY 0 14 Laps
Fastest lap: A1 Team China's Cong Fu Cheng set the fastest lap (1m21.589s) of the Sprint race on lap 11.
A1 Team New Zealand raced to its third Sprint race victory of the season in this morning's incident-packed race at Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in perfect weather conditions, moving them up to second place in the championship.
New Zealand held off Great Britain who crossed the line second to secure a superb podium finish while Switzerland took the final podium position, increasing its title lead as France failed to score any points.
The 22-car field was forced to reform on the grid for a second time after the scheduled start of the 20-minute race was red-flagged, as eight teams were involved in collisions at the rolling start and many sustained damage to their cars.
Once the debris had been cleared from the track, the race finally got underway and the pack jostled for position heading into turn one. Pole-sitter South Africa's Adrian Zaugg held the lead while GBR's Oliver Jarvis moved up two places to snatch third, slotting in behind New Zealand's Jonny Reid and just ahead of Switzerland's Neel Jani.
Reid started to hunt down Zaugg and by lap three 'Black Beauty' had taken control, snatching the race lead from Zaugg when he locked up and went straight on at turn one as a result of a slow puncture sustained at the start, putting the South African car out of the race.
A spinning Filip Salaquarda in the Czech Republic car at the final turn brought the safety car out on track on lap five, allowing the field to bunch up behind New Zealand. The action restarted on lap eight and Reid started to pull away from Jarvis in the British car, who was under pressure from Switzerland's Jani.
The Kiwi went on the win the race ahead of GBR's Jarvis in second, collecting crucial championship points and moving New Zealand to 15 points behind title leader Switzerland, who finished the race third.
Sprint race results
POS DRIVERA1 TEAM LAPSTIMEGAP FIRST
1Jonny REIDNEW ZEALAND 1420:59.462-
2Oliver JARVISGREAT BRITAIN 1421:02.159+2.697
3Neel JANISWITZERLAND 1421:03.207+3.745
4Adam CARROLLIRELAND 1421:03.753+4.291
5Jonathan SUMMERTONUSA 1421:04.183+4.721
6Filipe ALBUQUERQUEPORTUGAL 1421:06.587+7.125
7Robert WICKENSCANADA 1421:07.249+7.787
8Jeroen BLEEKEMOLENNETHERLANDS 1421:08.059+8.597
9Alex YOONGMALAYSIA 1421:09.061+9.599
10Bruno JUNQUEIRABRAZIL 1421:10.414+10.952
11Edoardo PISCOPOITALY 1421:11.000+11.538
12Jonathan COCHETFRANCE 1421:11.945+12.483
13Narain KARTHIKEYANINDIA 1421:14.321+14.859
14Satrio HERMANTOINDONESIA 1421:15.062+15.600
15Jimmy AUBYLEBANON 1421:16.432+16.970
16David GARZAMEXICO 1421:17.825+18.363
17Congfu CHENGCHINA 1321:18.1111 Lap
18Filip SALAQUARDACZECH REPUBLIC 405:47.32710 Laps
19Adam KHANPAKISTAN 406:26.17610 Laps
20Adrian ZAUGGSOUTH AFRICA 202:46.39312 Laps
21John MARTINAUSTRALIA 0 14 Laps
22Michael AMMERMÜLLERGERMANY 0 14 Laps
Fastest lap: A1 Team China's Cong Fu Cheng set the fastest lap (1m21.589s) of the Sprint race on lap 11.