Pakistan and Lebanon both had reasons to be cheerful in the latest A1GP World Cup of Motorsport meeting in Taupo, after the former finally broke its 2007/08 points duck in the nation vs nation series, and the latter came the closest it has ever been to doing the same.
Adam Khan wound up just shy of the points in eleventh place in the 20-minute sprint dash, after profiting from a strong start from dead last on the grid, an opening lap collision ahead of him and a gutsy move on Satrio Hermanto in the Indonesian entry. That would be the prelude to an even better result in the longer, drama-strewn feature outing, as Khan recovered from a trip across the grass whilst defending against erstwhile championship leader Neel Jani and took advantage of the USA's subsequent disqualification to claim tenth spot – and with it the final point.
“I was pleased that we were finally knocking on the door of a points finish,” the 22-year-old remarked after the sprint race. “It was a good step forward; the team is gelling well, the car is good and we are moving up half the field. A few more laps might have helped us to reach the top ten, but it certainly gave us confidence as we headed into the main feature race.
“That was a very physical, difficult race, particularly on my hands which were very sore. A point is a welcome reward for the team's efforts and I'm delighted we've got off the starting blocks. I'm really looking forward to the next one, and if we can keep this momentum going a podium will soon be in our sights.
“Danny, our driver coach, is very beneficial during the races as well, feeding me valuable information throughout, motivating me and sharing his racing experience, so that really helps.”
![A1 Team Lebanon's Chris Alajajian [pic credit: A1GP Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/403142.jpg)
