A1 Grand Prix: Grandstand finish for Alex Yoong

SHANGHAI: Malaysia's Alex Yoong brought his campaign in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series to a perfect end by claiming a historic win in the sprint race in the 11th and final round at the Shanghai Circuit, China yesterday.

The former Formula One driver went on to chalk up another podium finish, taking second place behind Tomas Enge of Czech Republic in the feature race. Alex had converted his first pole position into the team’s first race win with a dominant performance in the sprint race. The win earned him the pole position for the feature race.

The A1 Grand Prix involved single-seater racing cars of the same make and capacity and driven by drivers from 25 countries. There are 11 rounds and points are awarded for the top 10 finishers in the sprint and feature races.

In the sprint race, Alex had to stave off tremendous pressure from France and Britain to stay in front after the first lap. He settled down after that and finished the 18-lap race in 28:17.807.
Britain's Darren Manning took second place in 28:27.648 while Mexico's Salvador Duran, double winner in Laguna Seca last month, finished third in 28:28.224. Alex also clocked the fastest lap of 1:52.508.

The 30-lap feature race saw the safety car coming out after Ireland's car came wheel to wheel with Indonesia on turn seven of the first lap, causing a spectacular shunt. The green Irish car flipped over the Indonesian car, spinning several times before coming to a halt upside down in the gravel trap.


Alex led until the fifth lap before he was overtaken by Enge. The Malaysian regained the lead after the compulsory pit stop but his lead did not last long. Enge pounced on the Malaysian and made his move around the outside at turn one. The Czech driver never looked back after that and went on to take his first ever chequered flag in 59:23.250. Alex came in second, 6.721 seconds later, followed by Australia's Ryan Briscoe who had his first podium finish of the season.

Alex had plenty of reasons to celebrate with his team members after strong performances in the second half of the season. He had scored his first podium finish when he took second place in the Sentul leg (Round 8) last month. His fine display yesterday helped Team Malaysia jump from 10th in the standings to fifth overall.

"Before the weekend, we joked that we could get fourth in the series if we won both races. And it nearly happened. The car was really good in the first race, in the second the balance was not quite there, and Tomas (Enge) was doing a good job. But we are pleased with a second place finish," said Alex from Shanghai.

He was also pleased to have claimed his first race victory in the sprint race. "We knew the temperature was rising, and were worried about the condition of the tyres. Fortunately after the start I was able to conserve the tyres and still able to push at the end."

Enge, whose victory in the feature race saw Czech Republic became the eighth team to win an A1 Grand Prix race said: "It's great to get this result today.
"We've had a lot of bad luck during the second half of the season. We've had lots of ups and downs in the last few races.
"I must thank the team for all their work. I think it will take us about a week to realise what has happened today."

A1 GRAND PRIX (SHANGHAI LEG) RESULTS
Sprint race:
1. Malaysia (Alex Yoong) 28:17.807;
2. Britain (Darren Manning) 28:27.648;
3. Mexico (Salvador Duran) 28:28.224;
4. Ireland (Michael Devaney) 28.31.712;
5. Indonesia (Ananda Mikola) 28:36.978;
6. Czech Republic (Tomas Enge), 28:38.622;
7. France (Alexandre Premat) 28:43.148;
8. New Zealand (Matt Halliday), 28:43.546;
9. Australia (Ryan Briscoe) 28:44.477;
10. Brazil (Christian Fittipaldi) 28:51.550.

Feature race (leading finishers):
1. Czech Republic (Tomas Enge), 59:23.250;
2. Malaysia (Alex Yoong) 59:29.971;
3. Australia (Ryan Briscoe) 59:33.103;
4. New Zealand (Matt Halliday) 59:49.716;
5. Pakistan (Adam Khan) 59:51.433;
6. France (Nicolas Lapierre) 59:54.682;
7. Canada (Patrick Carpentier) 59:56.707;
8. Mexico (Salvador Duran) 59:57.665;
9. Italy (Enrico Toccacelo) 1:00:11.625;
10. United States (Philip Geibler) 1:00:14.581.