Endurance – India and Karthikeyan achieves a first
Narain Karthikeyan delivered a great performance today for his country by winning an A1GP championship race for the first time. Karthikeyan and India indeed claimed victory in the second race of the weekend, known as the Endurance race, in China. India, starting third on the grid, finished ahead of New Zealand with Johnny Reid and […]
Narain Karthikeyan delivered a great performance today for his country by winning an A1GP championship race for the first time. Karthikeyan and India indeed claimed victory in the second race of the weekend, known as the Endurance race, in China.
India, starting third on the grid, finished ahead of New Zealand with Johnny Reid and South Africa with Adrian Zaugg after 70 minutes of racing.
Narain Karthikeyan wanted to commend the determination of his team upon arrival for reaching this level: « The team has worked really hard since the beginning of the weekend. Our two pit stops went perfectly and we were ahead… »
« Unfortunately, I found myself behind Pakistan during my out lap, and I couldn’t attack fully. »
« Finally, after the New Zealand pit stop, we maintained first place and once the tires were warm, we were as fast as each other and we did it… » Concluded the happy Indian.
Unlike India, Switzerland, who started in pole position, did not manage its pit stops properly and lost a lot of time, ultimately finishing in 6th place.
Those who benefited the most are New Zealand and South Africa, which started from the 10th and 9th position on the grid to reach the podium in this second race.
Germany with Mickael Ammermuller had a great weekend by taking the 4th position. Despite going off track in the first lap, the young German, winner of the previous race, returned to his original position. He was then long threatened by Great Britain.
Great Britain ends its weekend in 5th position, ahead of Switzerland and France. Loic Duval received a stop-and-go penalty (driving through the pit lane without stopping) after hitting an American mechanic during his first pit stop, fortunately without injury.
The Czech Republic is 8th, ahead of China and the USA. At home, Chen Cong Fu also received a penalty, this time in the form of a fine after entering the pit lane speeding.
Italy and Brazil will never reach the finish, caught a lap after the start due to a somewhat hasty overtaking.
**Endurance Race Results – Top 10**
| A1 Team | Drivers | |
| 1 | India | Narain Karthikeyan |
| 2 | New Zealand | Johnny Reid |
| 3 | South Africa | Adrian Zaugg |
| 4 | Germany | Mickael Ammermuller |
| 5 | Great Britain | Oliver Jarvis |
| 6 | Switzerland | Néel Jani |
| 7 | France | Loic Duval |
| 8 | Czech Republic | Tomas Enge |
| 9 | China | Cheng Cong Fu |
| 10 | United States | Jonathan Summerton |
At the championship, the A1 Team Switzerland, thanks to its second position in race 2, maintains the lead with a 19-point advantage over France and 20 points over New Zealand; once again in the running for the title.
Germany, 10th yesterday, gains two positions… 42 points behind the leader. It still has 6 meetings left to retain its title.
