Zaugg celebrates with Jani and Kerr

Related links

Teams

• South Africa

Team South Africa won their second A1GP race of the season as Adrian Zaugg stormed to victory in Australia.

Zaugg defied torrential rain to drive a magnificent race at the Eastern Creek Raceway as South Africa closed the gap on third-placed Switzerland in the Championship standings.

New Zealand and France lead the way in the standings and they will each head to Durban for the next race on 96 points.

Zaugg crossed the finishing line almost 20 seconds ahead of Switzerland's Neel Jani, giving his team a huge boost ahead of their home race in three weeks' time.

Great Britain's Robbie Kerr also managed the conditions well to claim the third place on the podium.

"I could see I was able to go at a better pace than at least Robbie and Neel, so I thought we had a good chance,' Zaugg said.

Tough conditions

"We stayed out and put in some good laps and then pitted and got out ahead. It was very, very hard in these conditions. Each time I was trying to get a move or to pass someone, but when you come so close the visibility gets so bad I couldn't see anything.

"It was just safer to wait until we got a chance for some clear laps and that's all we did. The track conditions stayed pretty consistent but there was maybe a little less rain right at the end."

After claiming pole position, New Zealand's Jonny Reid was forced to start the race from the pit lane when his card ground to halt on its way to the grid.

Sprint race winner Loic Duval then stalled the French car and was forced to start the feature race from the back of the grid.

Brazil's Sergio Jimenez drove superbly to take fourth place from ninth on the grid, providing his team with their second best result of the season.

Australia's John Martin delighted the home crowd as he forced his way through the field from 14th on the grid to take fifth place and continue his impressive form.

New Zealand are tied with France on 96 points, but the Kiwis hold the Championship lead having gained more race wins.

Feature Race:

1 South Africa (Zaugg) 1hr 12mins 00.930secs

2 Switzerland (Jani) 1:12:20.490

3 Great Britain (Kerr) 1:12:26.124

4 Brazil (Jimenez) 1:12:43.700

5 Australia (Martin) 1:13:09.577

6 Canada (Wickens) 1:13:11.251

7 Germany (Ammermuller) 1:13:17.229

8 Netherlands (Bleekemolen) 1:13:18.085

9 New Zealand (Reid) 1:13:23.377

10 China (Congfu) 1:13:34.843

11 India (Karthikeyan) 1:13:36.344

12 Pakistan (Khan) 1:13:40.426

13 Ireland (Carroll) 1:12:15.720

14 Italy (Piscopo) 1:12:18.089

15 Czech Republic (Enge) 1:12:48.379

16 Portugal (Urbano) 1:12:48.520

17 Malaysia (Fauzy) 1:13:07.685

18 Mexico (Garza) 1:13:08.663

19 Lebanon (Alajajian) 1:12:41.811

20 Indonesia (Hermanto) 1:12:32.846

21 France (Duval) at 11 laps

22 USA (Summerton) at 22 laps

Leading Championship Standings:

1 New Zealand 96pts

2 France 96

3 Switzerland 93

4 South Africa 79

5 Germany 77

6 Great Britain 58

7 Netherlands 55

8 Ireland 50

9 Brazil 38

10 Canada 37

11 China 29

12 India 28

13 Mexico 19

14 Australia 15

15 USA 12

16 Czech Republic 10

17 Portugal 5

18 Italy 4

19 Malaysia 2

20 Pakistan 1

21 Indonesia 0

21 Lebanon 0