This time John Martin in the Australian entry tagged Michael Ammermüller from behind, spinning the German around and subsequently dragging Ireland's Adam Carroll into the mix for good measure. Loïc Duval somehow escaped sustaining any damage to the French car, before Indonesian Satrio Hermanto piled into Ammermüller, and Pakistan's Adam Khan hit the back of Hermanto. Time for safety car period number two…
Once the safety car had left the track again five laps later, everyone finally made it around the first corner all in one piece – nine laps in – but New Zealand was the next nation to suffer misfortune as Reid required a nose change at his first pit-stop after colliding with Mexico's David Garza in the pit-lane, dropping
Black Beauty well down the pecking order. Further back, home hero Adrian Zaugg's miserable weekend continued as the South African was delayed by a sticking wheel.
France now led, and following Duval's qualifying troubles,
les bleus clearly intended making up some places by staying out as long as possible, an audacious strategy that would pay dividends later in the race. Portugal's Albuquerque would also lead the race during the first pit-stop window, an impressive achievement for the 22-year-old's maiden competitive A1GP weekend.
To further add to his cup of woe, Reid was handed a drive-through penalty for the collision with Garza, whilst Jani would encounter some difficulty in getting past new boy Parthiva Sureshwaren, catapulted into the Indian entry at late notice following regular driver Narain Karthikeyan's wrist injury sustained during practice. Sureshwaren led the field by dint of staying out longer than anyone else, but frustrated Jani who – unable to find a way by – saw Wickens gaining ground fast.
The order following the first flurry of stops was thus Switzerland, Canada, Great Britain and France – Duval the principal beneficiary having moved up four places from eighth into fourth.
![[L-R] Filipe Albuquerque, Neel Jani and Loic Duval on the 2008 A1GP feature race podium in Durban [pic credit: A1GP Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/409775.jpg)
