Asian Motor Sports

Jonny Reid capitalized on his pole position for this morning’s A1GP sprint race at Taupo, leading the 14-lap race from start to finish.

The bright red Ferrari pace car pulled into pit lane and the green flag dropped on the rolling start at 11am, the thunderous sound of the 3.4-litre V8-powered single seaters filling the air.

And as local hero Jonny Reid rocketed to the first corner the Taupo grandstands erupted as one.

After qualifying for the sprint race yesterday with a best lap of 1:15.241 around the 3.5km circuit, Reid was looking to set a rapid pace.

South African driver Adrian Zaugg was on P2, with on-form Frenchman Loic Duval looming in the threatening third grid position.

The action started straight away, with three cars clashing as the field of 22 race cars tried to negotiate the tightening second gear first corner. This early incident bought out the safety car and saw the exit of Malaysia’s Alex Yoong and Swiss championship leader Neel Jani.

“I was comfortably pulling away, pushing very hard at the start - then the safety car,” he said.

From the restart, the 24-year-old Kiwi didn’t look back, setting up an early lead as championship points rival Duval, Zaugg and German Christian Vietoris gave chase.

“We did a few laps behind the safety car, got a good restart and I controlled the race, really.

“I knew we had a gap, and saw Germany jump into second, but controlled it and didn’t do anything stupid - we wanted to get maximum points for the first race.”

British hope Robbie Kerr became another victim as American driver Jonathan Summerton turned in on his line, but managed to regain his composure and rejoin the race.

A battle for second, third and forth places was pitched, but when Vietoris found some clear track in front of him, he pushed hard and gained on Reid.

This left Zaugg and Duval fighting for third place, leaving the German to try and get within striking distance

Czech driver Tomas Enge, who spun several times during yesterday’s difficult qualifying sessions was the next to exit the race after touching the rear of Lebanon’s Chris Alajajian’s car.

Canadian driver Robert Wickens put his car off the track next and was unable to continue.

Vietoris got within a second of Reid during the closing stages, but with two laps of the finish, Reid nearly doubled that gap to ensure clear track to the chequered flag.

France, leading New Zealand by one point in the championship before the race, followed Vietoris in to take third place.