South Africa's Adrian Zaugg, the USA's Jonathan Summerton and Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen took seventh, eighth and ninth places respectively, whilst Mexico's David Garza drove hard from 15th on the grid to finish tenth and pick up his first point for the team on only his second competitive A1GP outing.
There was further woe, however, for former championship leaders Switzerland. Following Neel Jani's opening lap retirement from the sprint race, the 24-year-old fared little better in the feature, receiving two drive-through penalties for a false start and overtaking under yellow flags that left him a distant 14th at the chequered flag, with fastest lap the team's only small consolation from a desultory weekend.
Jani finished five seconds behind Joao Urbano, who after starting sixth had been on course to score Portugal's best result of the season as he ran third for twelve laps. A drive-through penalty for crossing the white line on entering the pit-lane, though, would torpedo his chances and leave the 20-year-old out of the points come the end of the race.
Eight of the 22 teams failed to finish the race, including China's Congfu Cheng, who spun off the track from seventh place as he like others fell victim to the dusty and slippery conditions.
The championship now remains in the Southern Hemisphere and the teams will be back on-track in two weeks' time for round six of the World Cup of Motorsport in Sydney, Australia on 1-3 February.
![Team Germany's Christian Vietoris celebrates his breakthrough A1GP success in the Taupo feature race [pic credit: A1GP Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/403133.jpg)
