The A1 Grand Prix of Nations visited Zhuhai International Circuit for the first time this weekend. Zhuhai played host to the first race on Chinese soil for the fourth round of the series (the penultimate round taking place at the Shanghai International Circuit on April 13 2008) and saw the rise of two new winners.

Among the 22 nations that did battle, it was clear from qualifying that Team Germany’s Michael Ammermuller, who took pole position, looked dominant and very comfortable out on the track – perhaps due to him wanting to right his wrongs of the previous round in Malaysia. Neel Jani of Team Switzerland, wanting to extend the distance between Switzerland and France in the standings, took the fight to Ammermuller from as early as qualifying.

The rolling start of the sprint race saw Ammermuller and Jani pulling way ahead of the rest, while further down the grid Brazil and South Africa collided in the scramble for position – resulting in the South African car careening out of control and taking a few cars out with it. The safety car was sent out and after all the debris was cleared, on lap four, racing resumed. Team China’s Cheng Cong Fu pleased the home fans with superb driving and prodigious use of his power boost to eventually pass Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll for third place.

Leading the race from start to finish, Ammermuller sealed Germany’s first win of the season and took his first victory in an A1GP car. “It was a very nice race,” said Ammermuller. “We did a good job yesterday in qualifying and we had a good start today. The car was very good and I didn't make any mistakes. The last race in Sepang wasn't so nice but this time the start was a lot better and I’m happy.”

Though he finished the sprint race second, Jani certainly had the pace to sit on podium and earned an extra point for fastest lap, though Ammermuller’s good defence kept Jani honest. It went according to plan, for as France placed eighth, Team Switzerland pulled ahead in the championship. Naturally, the Chinese were ecstatic about their first podium of the year happening at home and Cheng got huge praise from the fans on the stands.

At the standing start of the feature race Jani seemed to have the lead, but was soon passed by Oliver Jarvis of Team Great Britain Racing (GBR). Due to the usual first lap chaos, the safety car was again brought out once again. In the mayhem, Team Germany was pushed far down the line, while New Zealand and Malaysia suffered a collision - sending Malaysian entry Alex Yoong’s car into the barriers.

The race continued on lap five and after Jarvis managed to hold Jani at bay while third placed India kept France in fourth, the first pit window opened. GBR suffered a slow stop and Jani once again took the lead. After more laps into the feature, France was assigned a drive-through penalty and fell out of the top ten and Adrian Zaugg of Team South Africa slipped past Jarvis.

Unfortunately for Switzerland, the second mandatory stop proved to be the bane of Jani’s the feature race, as a problem with his right-rear tyre delayed the Swiss entry. Team India’s Narain Karthikeyan managed to steal the lead, followed by Jonny Reid of New Zealand and Team South Africa’s Zaugg. Karthikeyan managed to keep his cool and won the 45-lap race by the skin of his teeth. All the way to the finish Ammermuller who had valiantly fought his way back to the top of the order closely dogged Zaugg (and no doubt wanted another podium finish to complete his weekend), though the South African out-manoeuvred the German entry, who tried a few of the stunts he did at Sepang.

“The team has been working really hard at pit stop practices and they’ve done a really good job this weekend. Both the pit stops were excellent and we got ahead but unfortunately I got stuck behind Pakistan on my out lap so I couldn’t push but I came out just ahead of Jonny. There was a lot of pressure towards the end but then his tyres went off as well as mine and then we were equal - after that I just got the job done,” said Karthikeyan.

The next event will be held on January 20, 2008 at the Taupo Motorsport Park in New Zealand, the first Southern Hemisphere race this season.

Original article from Car