Zandvoort 2007: Jarvis wins for McRae.

Sunday, 30th September 2007

Emotional success for Oliver Jarvis in Zandvoort feature race as Britain sets out its stall as a serious A1GP title contender.

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The Briton would ultimately take the chequered flag almost six seconds to the good, with Zaugg making it an excellent day for early pace-setters South Africa in second, Jani sealing third and Duran, Duval and an inspired Firman completing the top six. Reid finished seventh with Bleekemolen eighth, Vietoris ninth and Czech A1GP debutant Erik Janis – officially the 100th driver to start a race in the series – claiming the final point despite receiving some unwanted late attentions from Canada's James Hinchcliffe that resulted in the Canadian's retirement. Mexico took the additional point for fastest lap.

“The whole team has done a fantastic job all weekend and I'm really pleased with today's result,” enthused the emotional winner after the race. “It's a great way to kick off the season for the team.

“I was actually starting to slow down about five or six laps from the end. My pit crew were a little bit worried about fuel consumption so I started to back off – there was no rush because I had a big gap. I just wanted to enjoy the moment. You're representing your country, but not just that, my family are here so it was quite a proud moment for me after a difficult start to the weekend.”

The result has left Britain sitting second in the nations' standings after the opening encounter, nine points adrift of leaders South Africa and one in front of France. Despite the early advantage, Zaugg was eager to remain cautious when looking further ahead.

“I tried to push as hard as I could,” he stressed. “With the second set of tyres I was able to close up on him (Jarvis) during the first couple of laps. It was a tough race but the conditions were changing all the time so it was quite difficult to get the maximum from the car.

“(A nine-point gap) sounds good, but it's early days and just the first race weekend. We have to keep delivering good results and we should be up there.”