France sparkle in the rain

Loic Duval took the feature race victory for France in the A1GP season-opener at Circuit Park Zandvoort.

A1GP off to a thrilling start in Zandvoort

Loic Duval took victory for France in the A1GP season-opener at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands. Duval, starting from third on the grid, defied wet conditions with a controlled performance to see off his rivals. He hit the front just before the first round of pit stops and, despite two safety car periods, was able to stay ahead for the remainder of the race. Malaysia's Fairuz Fauzy followed up his win in the sprint race with second place, New Zealand's Earl Bamber completing the podium.

Sprint

Earlier in the day, Malaysia's Fauzy claimed the sprint race in atrocious weather. Starting from fourth on the grid, he seized the lead on lap nine from New Zealand, just before the red flag came out to signal the end of the race due to the difficult conditions. The positions were classified after 10 laps - New Zealand's Bamber securing second and Duval of France third. The result was Malaysia's maiden victory at the 27th attempt. "I am so happy to take this win," said Fauzy. "It was very difficult on the track today and made even more challenging with the lack of experience we have with this new car. "But we have worked really hard as a team and now we have a fantastic win." Great Britain did not participate in the opening round due to car-build delays but are one of five teams - India, Germany, Mexico and Canada being the others - expected to return to the grid for round two in China next month. Results: Sprint Race A1GP:
1 Malaysia (Fauzy) 19mins 44.533secs,
2 New Zealand (Bamber) 19:48.007,
3 France (Duval) 19:50.803,
4 Netherlands (Bleekemolen) 19:57.966,
5 Switzerland (Jani) 20:01.429,
6 South Africa (Zaugg) 20:05.458,
7 Italy (Onidi) 20:06.747,
8 USA (Kimball) 20:08.683,
9 Portugal (Albuquerque) 20:13.960,
10 Lebanon (Morad) 20:23.462,
11 Australia (Martin) 21:12.004,
12 China (Tung) 18:09.652 +1 lap,
13 Brazil (Guimaraes) 19:24.409 +1 lap,
14 Korea (Hwang) 7:27.249 +7 laps,
15 Indonesia (Hermanto) 5:27.400 +8 laps,
16 Ireland (Carroll) 5:58.094 +8 laps,
17 Monaco (Piccione) 2:48.422 +9 laps Feature Race A1GP:
1 France (Duval) 1hr 1min 58.723secs,
2 Malaysia (Fauzy) 1:12:01.011,
3 New Zealand (Bamber) 1:12:01.432,
4 Australia (Martin) 1:12:05.052,
5 Netherlands (Bleekemolen) 1:12:06.996,
6 Monaco (Piccione) 1:12:03.356,
7 Korea (Hwang) 1:12:28.432,
8 Lebanon (Morad)1:03:15.216,
9 China (Tung) 1:03:14.803,
10 USA (Kimball) 59:04.806,
11 Portugal (Albuquerque) 29:34.235,
12 Indonesia (Hermanto) 26:14.548 +1 lap,
13 South Africa (Zaugg) 11:00.955 +1 lap,
14 Italy (Onidi) 11:01.706 +7 laps,
15 Brazil (Guimaraes) 1:12:03.879 +8 laps,
16 Ireland (Carroll) 09:17.297 +8 laps,
17 Switzerland (Jani) 09:52.638 +9 laps