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The 2007/08 A1GP championship will be decided at Brands Hatch next month after leaders Team Switzerland failed to clinch the title in Shanghai.

Driver Neel Jani dominated Sunday morning's Sprint Race from pole position and, with New Zealand's Jonny Reid failing to finish, Switzerland needed to take another two points from their nearest rivals in the Feature Race to claim the title.

Jani gave himself the best possible opportunity by qualifying on pole, but he was beaten off the line by Team USA's Jonathan Summerton.

And a gearbox problem then saw the 24-year-old slip down the field and eventually finish fifth - one place behind Reid.

After leading into the first corner, Summerton never relinquished his grip at the front to claim Team USA's first victory in the series.

Jani shadowed Summerton in the early stages but a fantastic out lap from the latter after his first pit stop allowed Team USA to increase their gap - which increased to over seven seven seconds by lap 20 due to Team Switzerland's mechanical woes.

Problem

The Swiss car fell into the clutches of Portugal, Ireland and New Zealand - a further problem with a rear wheel during their second stop allowing the trio to then leapfrog the championship leaders.

Summerton, who drove the Feature Race with a bruised hand after colliding with Reid in the Sprint Race, cruised to the chequered flag 9.729 seconds ahead of Filipe Albuquerque, who recorded a second podium of the day for Portugal after finishing third in the sprint.

Adam Carroll took third for Ireland while Reid finished fourth.

However, it was a day to forget for Great Britain's Robbie Kerr, who finished a disappointing ninth in both races, well off the pace.

"It's a win and I'm really happy," said Summerton.

"It's been a long time coming. It wasn't that hard a race physically."

Albuquerque was also delighted with his day's work.

"Being twice on the podium is awesome," said the Portuguese.

"We could never fight for the wins, the starts weren't so good. I needed to push more in the race and I had Ireland on my back."

Ireland's Adam Carroll added: "We fought hard but didn't get a great start.

"I had to chase down India and then pushed really hard but couldn't catch the guys in front."

Battle

Despite failing to settle the championship battle in the Far East, Switzerland nevertheless head to Brands Hatch with a commanding 29-point lead over New Zealand.

France remain third on 111 points after new driver Franck Montagny managed an eighth in the Sprint Race, meaning that Great Britain, placed fourth on 99 points, can still overtake them on home ground.

"It's been a challenging weekend, but we've come away with some points and still have a fighting chance of getting third in the championship with a strong performance at Brands Hatch," said Kerr.

Earlier, Jani finished 4.643secs ahead of Canada's Robert Wickens in the Sprint Race, with Albuquerque third.

Feature Race:

1 USA Jonathan Summerton 38 laps
2 Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 38
3 Ireland Adam Carroll 38
4 New Zealand Jonny Reid 38
5 Switzerland Neel Jani 38
6 Malaysia Alex Yoong 38
7 India Narain Karthikeyan 38
8 France Franck Montagny 38
9 Great Britain Robbie Kerr 38
10 Germany Michael Ammermüller 38
11 Czech Republic Filip Salaquarda 38
12 Italy Edoardo Piscopo 38
13 Brazil Alexandre Negrão 38
14 Australia John Martin 38
15 China Cheng Cong Fu 38
16 South Africa Adrian Zaugg 38
17 Pakistan Adam Khan 38
18 Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 38
19 Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 38
20 Canada Robert Wickens 38
21 Mexico Jorge Goeters 1 lap
22 Lebanon Jimmy Auby 1 lap

Sprint Race:

1 SWITZERLAND 10 laps
2 CANADA 10
3 PORTUGAL 10
4 MALAYSIA 10
5 INDIA 10
6 GERMANY 10
7 SOUTH AFRICA 10
8 ITALY 10
9 GREAT BRITAIN 10
10 CHINA 10
11 IRELAND 10
12 FRANCE 10
13 CZECH REPUBLIC 10
14 BRAZIL 10
15 AUSTRALIA 10
16 PAKISTAN 10
17 NETHERLANDS 10
18 LEBANON 10
19 INDONESIA 10
20 MEXICO 10
21 USA 9 Laps
22 NEW ZEALAND 10 Laps