Brazil

A1 Team Brasil finished today's sprint race in second place, scoring its fourth podium of the season, and then picked up three points in the feature race after a brilliant comeback from Nelson Piquet Jr, who stalled on the grid at the start.

After starting on pole, Nelson fell to second in the 18-lap sprint race after he was squeezed on the first corner by Team France and Team Switzerland. Team France's Alexandre Premat took the lead, and stayed at the front until the end. Nelson finished a strong second, which put the two teams on equal championship points heading into the second race.

Nelson unfortunately stalled on the grid at the start of the 36-lap feature race and had to be pushed into the pitlane to be restarted. There was a delay from the team in restarting the car and by the time Nelson rejoined the circuit, he was a lap down. Putting in a magnificent drive, by lap 18 he had made up that lap and then began to work his way through the field. By lap 27 he had worked his way up to tenth, a points scoring position, and made up two further places on lap 30. He remained in eighth place and scored three championship points. Team France won the race and also picked up the extra point for the fastest lap.

A1 Team Brasil has now fallen to second place in the championship, just eight points behind Team France. The fight will continue in a fortnight when the A1 Grand Prix series makes its next stop at the Eastern Creek Raceway in Australia.

Nelson Piquet Jr: "I'm happy I got the second place in the sprint race, although obviously I'm disappointed I couldn't win the race. It was a messy start because the pace car stayed in front of us for a long time before it suddenly went in at the last moment. Alex just came from nowhere and braked really late and I had to give him the space or I would have crashed. We improved the car between the races and I'm really unhappy that I made the bad mistake at the start when I stalled the car. Then when the marshals pushed the car into the pits it took too long to restart. I am sure we could have been in the top five if we did not lose the whole lap at the start. It was looking really good because we just kept gaining places, made up a whole lap and then got right up to 8th. We did an okay pitstop which is the first one that has worked so far, so that looks good for the next race."

Emerson Fittipaldi: "The first race we did a good job, it's a shame we lost the place at the start, but we got nine points and had a strong car, which we improved even further for the feature race. In the second race, Nelson stalled the engine and then we lost a full lap when the mechanics took a lot of time to restart the car. I think in the circumstances though we did a fantastic job to finish eighth. Nelson challenged and was aggressive and it was a great performance. He has the kind of winning spirit and fighting attitude that we need. In the championship, we have fallen to second but there is a long way to go. The key is consistency in this series, and we have that. We have been strong in every race and if we continue that until the end we will do well."

Ireland

A1 Team Ireland scored its first podium finish of the inaugural World Cup of Motorsport when Ralph Firman produced a superb performance in the Feature Race of the A1 Grand Prix of Nations in Estoril, Portugal, to claim 3rd position from 19th on the grid. The Irish car scythed its way through the field, a combination of consistently quick lap times, good race strategy and excellent pit work enabling Ralph to work his way into the top 3. The earlier Sprint Race saw the Irish car damaged in a collision with Britain's Robbie Kerr, necessitating a pit stop for a new nose section which dropped Ralph to finish 19th. In the Feature Race, however, a strong start saw Ralph take 11th place on lap 1, and then move up the field as other's made their pit stops. Once into the leading group Ralph made his pit stop during the second of three safety car periods, the pit crew ensuring a quick stop maximised his track position. Ireland are now 7th in the A1 Grand Prix of Nations with 16 points. Today's Feature race was won by Alexandre Premat for France and Neel Jani of Switzerland took the second place on the podium.

Ralph Firman: "I am delighted for the team; this was a great result at the end of a difficult weekend. The accident in the Sprint Race was just one of those things that can happen during a race as Robbie locked up and ran wide and I tried to slow down the inside of him and we touched. That put us at the back of the grid for the Feature Race, but I made a good start and deciding to stay out and not pit early was the right call. The team did a fantastic job in the pits and I made the most of the safety car restarts. The car felt good and I really hope this is the beginning of more podium results for Ireland in A1."

Andy Miller, Technical Director: "Highly delighted to get a podium today having started at the back of the grid for the Feature Race. Following a good start we used most of the other teams pitting on the first safety car by staying out and putting in some fast laps. Along with the great pit stop we were suddenly in contention for a podium. A highly pleasing result proves that we have got the pace."

Mark Gallagher, Team Principal: "Having built A1 Team Ireland from scratch in August, it's an outstanding result for us to be in the podium in our third race against some massively experienced teams. After having had qualifying ruined by gearbox problems and an accident in the Sprint Race, Ralph did all that was asked of him in the Feature Race and the team worked brilliantly with Andy Miller calling the pit stop at the right time and the pit crew executing a perfect stop. This is what A1 Grand Prix is all about, enabling a country like Ireland to compete for top honours at this level."