More points, trouble-free race and a podium go to Jani

At the second round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at Brno, Czech Republic, A1 Team Switzerland driver Neel Jani finished the 10-lap sprint race in eighth position. He finished the feature race on the podium in third position. The team has now collected 29 points in the championship after four race starts.

Starting the sprint race from sixth on the grid after an exciting qualifying on Saturday, Jani was blocked and forced down two positions to eighth where he stayed until the chequered flag.

In the feature Race, Neel Jani had a good start. At the start, Neel went to grab second place, but with 37 laps to go ranked only fifth in the first lap classification despite the Swiss driver was pushing really hard to catch the teams in front of him. The pitstop windows strategy (8-16 and 24-32) was a bit of a gamble and changed the race game plan; but it turned out positively for Neel Jani after two perfect pitstops as the team's strategy was well-planned and the Swiss was improving his lap times and was able to fight for his position all through the 37 laps race. A great drive and really entertaining.

Neel Jani said: "The rolling start of the sprint race behind the pace car was a bit preoccupying even if it is meant to make it more disciplined for a clean start. The first danger in this race was the oil at turn one. But I managed to avoid it partly even if I drove on it and got a bit of oil on the tyres as I was sandwiched between two cars and could not do much.

Then things started to settle down in the pack. There was a lot of dirt, sand and gravel going into turn 2 after the contact between Britain and Ireland ahead of me on the track. I pushed Germany hard but there wasn't enough time to get past.

"In the feature race, I had a good start in the second race yet still lost one place in the first lap. Then I came under attack from New Zealand and I did not panic. I then pushed the pace strongly until the first cars came in when the pitstop window was opened. I chose to come in on lap 10. I was running third when I came in. After my stop I rejoined in 9th place and picked up some places after that to stabilize back again in third.

The race was eventful but I kept out of trouble. Our second pitstop was early into lap 25, in the pit-window and I quickly rejoined in eighth to get back to third. I almost lost the car two laps before the end locking up into turn 3, but luckily nothing happened.

Towards the end of the race the finish was far from lonely with China catching very strongly. I was careful not to make any mistakes because China was so fast and clocked the fastest lap. The guys in the team did a really excellent job for the two pitstops. I can't thank them enough. "

Max Welti, Team Principal, A1 Team Switzerland commented: "I am very proud for the team and the country about our bronze medal. In the feature race Neel drove a superbe, solid strong race with a well thought out team strategy. It brought Team A1Switzerland our second podium of the season. It was great team work showing how much the team has progressed.

Finishing eighth in the morning sprint race also allowed us to get three additional points in the classification. We had our final race team together for the second time this weekend and I would like to congratulate the guys for a very professional job over the weekend and one of the fastest and best-oiled pitstops today."

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A1 Team Switzerland is the Swiss national team in motorsport, representing its country in the unique global A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport. A1 Team Switzerland is entering its third year of racing in the A1 GP series.

After 11 events and22 races around the world, A1 Team Switzerland finished the inaugural A1GP season as runners-up, winning from pole position in Dubai. In 2006-2007 they again won from the pole in Malaysia, on the way to securing another top eight championship finish.

The drivers racing for their country in 2007-2008 will be Neel Jani and Sébastien Buemi. The rookie drivers will be Marcel Fässler, Tom Dillmann and two lady rookie drivers, Rahel Frey and Natacha Gachnang who participated successfully to a shootout event at Silverstone in September 2007.

They will have the chance to represent their national team starting with the Brno Grand Prix, 2nd leg of the A1 GP Championship.

2 x 1st - Malaysia 2006/2007 (Neel Jani) and Dubai 2005/2006 (Neel Jani)

Feature race:

3 x 2nd 2005/2006 South Africa (Neel Jani), Malaysia (Neel Jani), Portugal (Neel Jani)

Malaysia 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 (Neel Jani), Dubai 2005/2006 (Neel Jani)

First 2007 podium: Zandvoort (Neel Jani)

Agnes Carlier -   photos A1GP