Duval: Available www.a1gp.com

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

Round seven of the 2007/08 A1GP season takes place in South Africa on Sunday, with France, New Zealand and Switzerland all hoping that success on the streets of Durban will allow them to break clear of their rivals and establish momentum towards the championship.

With four rounds remaining, New Zealand's superior number of race wins leaves them ahead of France, despite the two nations being level on 96 points.

Meanwhile, Switzerland lie just three points behind, with this weekend's host nation fourth on 79 points after Adrian Zaugg's feature-race win last time out at Eastern Creek.

France also made inroads in Sydney thanks to Loic Duval's success in the sprint race and the good news for them is that, despite now having commitments in the Japanese Formula Nippon series, the 25-year-old will available to take part in at least some of the upcoming weekend.

In fact, France will field no less than three drivers, with Nicolas Prost taking part in the rookie session before Jonathan Cochet takes over for the remainder of Friday.

Having flown in overnight from Japan, Duval will then drive the French car from Saturday qualifying on.

Jarvis returns

There are three major driver changes this weekend, however, with Oliver Jarvis returning for Great Britain in place of Robbie Kerr, despite the latter's feature-race podium finish at Eastern Creek.

Jarvis has experience of the tight and twisty 2.04-mile Durban track, having taken part in last year's rookie session, although Kerr, who has two second-place finishes in Soutrh Africa, will be on hand to support the team.

The line-up at Team Brazil has also been shuffled, with Bruno Junqueira behind the wheel this weekend in place of Sergio Jimenez and Alexandre 'Xandi' Negrao performing rookie duties.

Junqueira drove in six races for the team last season, with one of them being Durban. He finished seventh in the feature race last season, and his experience could prove vital.

However, Junqueira's last outing in an A1GP car was during the official pre-season test at Silverstone last summer.

"I'm looking forward to Durban and competing in A1GP again," he told www.a1gp.com. "I raced in Durban last year so at least I know the track, although it's been a long time since I last drove the car.

"Last year went reasonably well, but this year we have a more competitive car and team so I hope we can get onto the podium. I'm ready to go."

Kral gamble

Elsewhere, the Czech Republic are taking a gamble by announcing that 17-year-old Josef Kral, runner-up in last year's UK Formula BMW championship, will be their driver for the final four rounds of the season.

The move comes after recent poor form which saw Tomas Enge fail to record top ten finishes in either Taupo or Sydney, after taking a double points scoring finish on his season debut in Zhuhai.

"This is great news for me," Kral told www.a1gp.com. "It is going to be my entry to a new world and I am really looking forward to it. It will be quite a tough debut for me but I hope to do the best possible job.

"I have never driven such a powerful car but I have never had any problems with moving up to more horsepower."

A1GP Round Seven (Durban):

Track length: 3.28 km (2.04 miles)

Lap record: 1m18.178s, recorded by Nelson Piquet Jr., A1 Team Brazil, January 2006

Points standings after round six:

1 New Zealand 96 points
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