Loοc Duval became his nation's hero in the Eastern Creek sprint outing in Australia today, by finally ending France's 37-race losing streak in A1GP stretching all the way back to the start of 2006 with a magnificent win in the wet to propel
les bleus to the top of the series' standings.
The 25-year-old thoroughly dominated the 14-lap race from pole position, mastering the difficult conditions as the predicted rainfall arrived right on cue and ultimately taking the chequered flag a mammoth nine seconds clear of the chasing pack, led by former championship leader New Zealand's Jonny Reid and Canada's Robert Wickens.
What's more, the triumph marked the former F3 Euroseries ace's maiden success in the World Cup of Motorsport, on his 21st and, he hinted, penultimate start in the category, and afterwards he was clearly overwhelmed by the result.
It feels great, Duval enthused. We've been running behind for a long time so it's really good for us to win this race, and the team did a great job it was perfect and we needed it. It was important for us to win a race and this may be my last weekend in A1GP, so I'm really happy to leave the series with a victory.
It was really hard in the rain, but because of our pace in the dry conditions I had a really good gap so we were not really worried about the other guys. We were just trying to stay on the track and not take any risks.
Behind the wheel of Black Beauty, Jonny Reid whose Taupo performance two weeks ago had seen New Zealand enter the meeting atop the nations' standings snatched second place off erstwhile championship leader Switzerland's Neel Jani with a superb move on lap nine to seal the runner-up spot from fourth on the grid, and with it keep the Kiwi entry well in the title chase. Jani would spin off later in the race, throwing away valuable championship points into the bargain.
![Loic Duval - A1 Team France [pic credit: A1 GP Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/398957.jpg)
