Jani takes feature win and points lead

Date published : 22 Feb 2009 - 14:19:53

Neel Jani took Switzerland back to the top of the A1GP standings with a commanding victory in the Kyalami feature race.The reigning champions followed pole-sitters Monaco in the early stages of the race, as the pair got a long way ahead of the field while several incidents went on behind.Jani then took advantage of a slow first pit stop for Monaco driver Clivio Piccione to pick up a lead he wouldn't lose. As the ninth win of his A1GP career, the result means Jani now shares the honour of being the series' most successful driver with Nico Hulkenberg, who led Germany to the 2006/7 title.Brazil's Felipe Guimaraes took second place despite a fuel pressure problem late in the race, while Piccione eventually had to settle for third after a slow middle stint that cost him second place to the Brazilian.Sprint race winner Jeroen Bleekemolen came through from ninth on the grid to take fourth for the Netherlands, while the man who followed him home in the morning - Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque - was behind him again in fifth, after charging from the back of the grid when his car struggled off the line.Daniel Morad was another driver to come through from the back to take sixth place - only the second time that Lebanon have scored points in A1GP.Morad passed Danny Watts in the late stages of the race, meaning the British driver had to settle for seventh after a difficult weekend for his team.Several drivers had their races ended early on after taking promising grid positions. New Zealand's Earl Bamber and Malaysia's Fairuz Fauzy collided under braking towards the end of the lap, while Fauzy had already clipped Adam Carroll when the Irish car tried to pass him on the outside of a fast right hander.That contact put Carroll out of the race, and cost Ireland the championship lead, while another front-runner early on - Australia's John Martin – had his race ruined when he stalled in the pits.Pos Driver Team Time 1. Neel Jani Switzerland 1h02:24.617 2. Felipe Guimaraes Brazil + 13.176 3. Clivio Piccione Monaco + 14.193 4. Jeroen Bleekemolen Netherlands + 17.024 5. Filipe Albuquerque Portugal + 17.995 6. Daniel Morad Lebanon + 31.210 7. Danny Watts Great Britain + 34.328 8. Marco Andretti USA + 59.000 9. Zahir Ali Indonesia + 1:03.99510. Edoardo Piscopo Italy + 1:04.85611. Michael Ammermuller Germany + 1:08.60312. Narain Karthikeyan India + 1:09.15013. John Martin Australia + 1:20.545Retirements: Driver Team Laps Ho-Pin Tung China 22 Fairuz Fauzy Malaysia 17 Adrian Zaugg South Africa 15 Earl Bamber New Zealand 3 Nicolas Prost France 3 Salvador Duran Mexico 3 Adam Carroll Ireland 0