A1 Team Switzerland's Neel Jani put in a perfect performance during this morning's Shanghai Sprint race, dominating the action from pole position to seize his fourth win of the season. Jani also set the fastest lap of the race to pick up maximum championship points and increase his nation's lead over second-placed New Zealand to 31 after they failed to score. The Swiss team now needs to increase its lead by just two more points to secure the 2007/08 title honours this afternoon, with one round of the championship remaining at Brands Hatch in Great Britain (4 May).

Canada's Robert Wickens, who is making his final A1GP appearance of the season this weekend, raced to an impressive second place to join the Swiss star on the podium, holding off Portuguese rookie Filipe Albuquerque, who was again on superb form to notch up his second podium finish at only his third A1GP event.

Once pole-sitter Switzerland's Jani had made it to the first corner he was never under threat and by the third lap the 24-year-old had pulled out a two second lead over Canada's Wickens and Portugal's Albuquerque. The Portuguese rookie started on the front row but made a mistake as Jani pulled away, allowing Wickens to sneak through from behind and take second. Albuquerque put pressure on the Canadian throughout the race but couldn't make it past and the pair went on to cross the line in second and third position, a massive 4.6 seconds behind race winner Jani.

Malaysia's Alex Yoong, who started seventh, shot up to fourth at the start and enjoyed a good, clean race to finish fourth ahead of India's Narain Karthikeyan in fifth. The Indian driver managed to hold off Germany's Michael Ammermüller, who crossed the line sixth and was closely followed by South Africa's Adrian Zaugg and Italy's Edoardo Piscopo in seventh and eighth place respectively.

Home nation China's Congfu Cheng got a superb start from 15th on the grid, making up five places to take 10th from Ireland's Adam Carroll, slotting in behind Great Britain's Robbie Kerr. Cheng pushed hard throughout the 10-lap race and excited the local fans when he looked like he was going to make a move past the GBR car with two laps to go. The Chinese driver went on to cross the line 10th behind GBR's Kerr and take the final championship point.

New Zealand's Jonny Reid and USA's Jonathan Summerton, who started alongside each other on the third row, clashed during the rolling start, forcing 'Black Beauty' into a spin and out of the action. Amazingly the rest of the field managed to avoid the incident. Summerton, who hurt his hand when the steering wheel kicked back, limped the USA car back to the pits and retired from the race. Both teams will now be working hard to repair the damage sustained to their cars before the start of the 70-minute Feature race, which starts at 15:00 this afternoon and includes two compulsory pit stops.

'It is a great start to the day. I hope I can do it again in the second race and if we are lucky we can even get the Championship. I tried to quickly get some distance between me and the other guys behind me so I would have a calm race. I still had to push to try and get the quickest lap because Robert (Canada) had it once off me so I had to push again, and I had to fight a little bit with the car so we can still improve it and hopefully be even quicker. I hope Jonathan (USA) is ok and can come back for the second race.'

'I think being on the inside on the rolling start here is a big benefit because it's such a long corner. I got a good reaction time to when Neel decided to go and I had a little bit of luck when Portugal got on the limiter a little bit, so it think I lucked out ok and I was just happy to make it to the first corner. From there I just settled in and I attempted to keep up with the Switzerland car but we still have a lot of work to do to the Canadian car. I think we have a tough race ahead of us for the Feature but think it's possible to make it back on the podium.'

'I made a mistake at the start that cost me a lot. I fell back into fifth place and then had to fight with Karthikeyan (India). I was able to be third at least and then I was trying to push Robert (Canada) to get second but it's very hard to overtake here. He was getting the team instructions when I was using the push to pass, so I was not able to catch him on the straight. Third place is still good though and I'm pleased to be on the podium but just not as I wanted.'

1 Neel JANI SWITZERLAND 10 15:59.612 -

2 Robert WICKENS CANADA 10 16:04.255 +4.643

3 Filipe ALBUQUERQUE PORTUGAL 10 16:04.947 +5.335

4 Alex YOONG MALAYSIA 10 16:11.781 +12.169

5 Narain KARTHIKEYAN INDIA 10 16:12.680 +13.068

6 Michael AMMERMÜLLER GERMANY 10 16:13.422 +13.810

7 Adrian ZAUGG SOUTH AFRICA 10 16:14.611 +14.999

8 Edoardo PISCOPO ITALY 10 16:15.447 +15.835

9 Robbie KERR GREAT BRITAIN 10 16:16.732 +17.120

10 Congfu CHENG CHINA 10 16:17.304 +17.692

11 Adam CARROLL IRELAND 10 16:18.193 +18.581

12 Franck MONTAGNY FRANCE 10 16:18.726 +19.114

13 Filip SALAQUARDA CZECH REPUBLIC 10 16:20.777 +21.165

14 Xandi NEGRAO BRAZIL 10 16:21.723 +22.111

15 John MARTIN AUSTRALIA 10 16:23.975 +24.363

16 Adam KHAN PAKISTAN 10 16:25.910 +26.298

17 Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN NETHERLANDS 10 16:27.665 +28.053

18 Jimmy AUBY LEBANON 10 16:28.641 +29.029

19 Satrio HERMANTO INDONESIA 10 16:29.808 +30.196

20 Jorge GOETERS MEXICO 10 16:37.879 +38.267

21 Jonathan SUMMERTON USA 1 02:59.591 9 Laps

22 Jonny REID NEW ZEALAND 0 10 Laps

For additional information about A1GP including ticket sales and television viewing times and a full list of international broadcast partners, please visit www.A1GP.com.  

Launched in March 2004, the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport is more than just another racing phenomenon; it's an entirely new concept. Pitting driver against driver and country against country for the first time in history, A1GP brings together 22 nations to compete as equals, without financial or technological advantage.

With three days of on-track action, an A1GP event offers a rare opportunity for fans to interact with teams and drivers. Exclusively inclusive, A1GP brings the thrill of international motorsport to billions of fans across the globe.

Now entering its third season and taking in a mix of established world-famous venues plus exciting new state-of-the-art facilities and tight twisty street circuits, A1GP promises to deliver high-speed adrenalin fuelled action at every turn.

This season's fixture list is as follows:

9) 13 April 2008 A1GP Shanghai, China

10) 4 May 2008 A1GP Brands Hatch, Great Britain

- Nikki Rooke ,Charlie Reid -  photos A1GP
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