Sky Sports.com

On top: Jonny Reid leads in New Zealand www.a1gp.com

Also see

• 2007/08 A1GP Schedule
• A1GP Live on Sky Sports

With A1GP heading to Australia this weekend for round six at Eastern Creek, the halfway point of the 2007/08 season sees the battle for the 'World Cup of Motorsport' developing into the tighest yet.

New Zealand exploited home advantage at Taupo a fortnight ago to leap to the top of the standings, driver Jonny Reid taking victory in the Sprint Race and also finishing fourth in the Feature event.

Those results enabled New Zealand to go two points clear of the pack with a tally of 82, but their cause was helped in no uncertain terms by the failure of previous leaders Switzerland to gain any sort of worthwhile result.

Indeed, driver Neel Jani emerged from the Taupo weekend with only a solitary point - earned by taking fastest lap in the Feature Race - with Switzerland's 19-point advantage wiped out in one foul swoop.

With France's Loic Duval finishing third in both races last time out, two points cover all three nations, with Reid acknowledging that A1GP is wide open ahead of this weekend's action on the outskirts of Sydney.

"Coming out of Taupo with the title lead was way more than I expected," he admitted. "With the points the way they were before Taupo, I thought maybe we would come out second if we had a good weekend, but we had a fantastic weekend and we're now leading. We can't ask for more than that.

"It is anyone's game at the moment, but we're on top and we've got to build on that."

Torrid

Jani endured a torrid time in New Zealand, becoming involved in a first-lap crash with Malaysia's Alex Yoong in the Sprint, his Feature Race then being ruined by two drive-through penalties and a collision with Pakistan's Adam Khan.

Nevertheless, Jani's fastest lap was more than 1.1 seconds quicker than any other driver, with the man himself confident that Switzerland can once again successfully translate such pace into solid results this weekend.

"The title is not gone," Jani insisted. "The most important thing is that we have the pace. In fact, we have more than just the pace. We just need to get it done in qualifying and start near the front. The Feature Race showed how much faster we are.

"It was a disappointing weekend and it is not great giving away points like that - fairly crucial points at that end of the season. But given our pace, I'm sure we will get the championship back in Australia."

Germany took victory in Taupo's Feature Race, with their recent run of form seeing the defending champions vault from 12th to fourth in the standings in just two meetings.

Ammermuller back

But, despite Christian Vietoris becoming A1GP's youngest ever winner last time out, Germany have recalled Zhuhai Sprint race winner Michael Ammermuller to their squad for this weekend's races.

Great Britain have elected for continuity, however, with Robbie Kerr once again in the cockpit at Eastern Creek, despite going pointless at Taupo.

Elsewhere, Fairuz Fauzy will replace Yoong at Team Malaysia, the move thus bringing to an end the longest run of consecutive starts by any single driver in A1GP.

Yoong, also A1GP's most capped driver, has started the last 45 successive races, taking four victories in that period.

The team did not go into detail as to why the move had been made, but it did say that with Fauzy eligible for the Friday morning rookie session, it was hoped than an advantage would be gained by running the same driver all weekend.

A1GP Round Six (Eastern Creek):

Track length: 3.93 km (2.44 miles)

Lap record: 1m19.142s, recorded by Nico Hülkenberg, A1 Team Germany, February 2007

Points standings after round five:

1 New Zealand 82 points
2 Switzerland 80
3 France 80
4 Germany 65
5 South Africa 59
6 Netherlands 50
7 Ireland 50
8 Great Britain 48
9 India 28
10 China 28
11 Brazil 27
12 Canada 22
13 Mexico 19
14 Czech Republic 10
15 USA 6
16 Portugal 5
17 Italy 4
18 Australia 4
19 Malaysia 2
20 Pakistan 1