Full Throttle

Robert Doornbos took his maiden A1GP victory for Team Netherlands in a shortened sprint race in Algarve, Portugal.

Adam Carroll, of Ireland, brought his car home in second place while Filipe Albuquerque secured the final podium spot in front of his home crowd in Portugal.

Doornbos raced into the lead at the start as Italian polesitter Vitantonio Liuzzi made a poor getaway. Behind them, New Zealand’s Earl Bamber and Lebanon’s Daniel Morad tangled, bringing out the safety car.

Carroll and Albuquerque managed to leap-frog Liuzzi during the pit-stop window thanks to some great work from their mechanics.

“From first practice onwards we were aiming for this,” said the Netherlands’ Doornbos. “The target is the big one though, and that is where we’ve got the pole so we’re in a strong position for this afternoon. To get my first win for the team is great and it keeps us in the championship hunt as well, so it’s good.

“I got a good run on Antonio (Liuzzi). At the safety car restart and I pulled away with a nice gap and then afterwards cruised it home so it was a good morning. I came especially for this race. It is the last one I can do this season for A1 Team Netherlands so I’m very keen on making my mark and to leave with some fireworks this afternoon.”

Championship leaders Switzerland, with Neel Jani at the wheel, pitted late and rejoined in fifth position. However, the stewards deemed that their stop was outside the window and slapped them with a time penalty.

A crash involving Brazil’s Felipe Guimaraes and South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg brought out the red flag with three laps to go. Carroll’s extra point for the fastest lap helped Ireland regain the championship lead.

Sprint Race Results:
1. Netherlands (Doornbos) 19mins 33.501secs
2. Ireland (Carroll) 19:37.136
3. Portugal (Albuquerque) 19:39.229
4. Italy (Liuzzi) 19:42.588
5. Monaco (Piccione) 19:43.549
6. India (Karthikeyan) 19:46.097
7. Brazil (Guimaraes) 19:46.798
8. Malaysia (Fauzy) 19:51.515
9. Mexico (Duran) 19:54.046
10. Australia (Martin) 19:56.184
11. Great Britain (Clarke) 19:56.581
12. USA (Andretti) 19:56.655
13. France (Prost) 19:57.676
14. Pakistan (Ali) 20:12.901
15. Switzerland (Jani) 20:17.797
16. China (Tung) 20:24.156
17. South Africa (Zaugg) +2 laps
18. Lebanon (Morad) +10 laps
19. Germany (Lotterer) +11 laps
20. New Zealand (Bamber) +11 laps