[Racer Duck]

Christian Vietoris gave A1 Team Germany a lift with his first A1GP race win!
Courtesy of A1GP

A1 Team Germany’s Christian Vietoris, who has been on sensational form all weekend, secured his first A1GP race win in this afternoon’s action-packed Feature race at Taupo Motorsport Park while New Zealand’s points haul put the home team at the top of the championship standings.

Germany was joined on the podium by Canada’s Robert Wickens in second, the team’s best result of the season, and pole-sitter France’s Loic Duval in third. The local favourite, New Zealand’s Jonny Reid, was on incredible form, racing to a brilliant fourth place, having fallen back seven places to 12th at the start. The points picked up this weekend put New Zealand two points ahead of Switzerland and France in the championship.

Jonny Reid's win in the Sprint race was enough to put A1 Team New Zealand in the top championship slot.
Courtesy of A1GP

Ireland’s Adam Carroll put in a superb performance to finish fifth after starting from 13th on the grid despite an early collision which led to an additional pit stop for the emerald green car. He was closely followed by Brazil’s Sergio Jimenez who carried out some impressive overtaking manoeuvres on his way to sixth place, having started 11th.

South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg, USA’s Jonathan Summerton and the Netherlands’s Jeroen Bleekemolen crossed the line in seventh, eighth and ninth place respectively while Mexico’s David Garza drove hard from 15th on the grid to finish 10th and pick up his first point for the team on only his second A1GP race outing.

Previous championship leader Switzerland’s Neel Jani endured a difficult afternoon, receiving two drive through penalties for a false start and for overtaking under yellow flags. The Swiss team picked up a bonus point for the fastest lap and finally crossed the line a disappointing 14th behind Portugal. Joao Urbano started sixth and had been on course to score Portugal’s best result of the season, running in third for 12 laps of the race, until he was hit with a drive through penalty for crossing the white line on entering the pit lane.

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