After six rounds of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, South Africa has accumulated its best performance statistics in three seasons of the unique international motor racing series that pits nation against nation in identical cars.

In 12 starts, A1 Team South Africa's 21-year-old driver Adrian Zaugg (right) and Vulindlela, the car that carries the prison number of Nelson Mandela and is painted in the distinctive red, white, blue, black, yellow and green colours of the South African flag, has scored two wins, four podium finishes, two fastest laps and three pole positions in qualifying.

South Africa is joint second in number of wins, third in podiums, second in fastest laps and joint first in poles. In the process, our national team, competing against 21 other nations in a competition that will see 10 rounds and 20 races in nine countries including South Africa, finds itself in fourth place in the championship with four rounds and eight races remaining.

When Zaugg and Vulindlela line up for the start of Sunday's Sprint race on February 24, there will be high expectation from the tens of thousands of South African fans in the grandstands circling the unique Durban street circuit and among the thousands more watching on television around the country.

Last year, in his debut race on 'home' soil, the young South African was unfortunate not to have qualified higher than ninth (a top four position was very much on the cards) after being denied an opportunity to record a time in the second of the four 15-minute segments that make up the exciting A1GP qualifying format, and having his timed lap in the third session compromised by the mistake of another competitor.

Zaugg endured a heart-breaking weekend at the wheel of Vulindlela. The 20-year-old followed up a seventh place finish in the 20-minute Sprint race in the morning with a luckless outing in the afternoon's 70-minute Feature race.

He was stranded against the tyre wall on the opening lap after two cars collided in front of him in turn one, a 90-degree hairpin, and he rode over a piece of one of the cars. The safety car was deployed and Zaugg managed to get going again to rejoin the field in 19th place.

After two laps behind the safety car, the race got underway again, but just two laps later an over-ambitious attempt by Indonesia (Ananda Mikola) to pass Zaugg down the inside of turn one saw the two cars collide. Mikola retired on the spot while the South Africa limped back to the pits.

The South African team spent the next 40 laps repairing the extensive damage to Vulindlela and Zaugg rejoined the race – to the delight of the partisan crowd - with five minutes remaining. He was rewarded with the fastest lap of the race – on the 49th and final lap - and was officially classified in 17th place, 38 laps behind the winner.

“It was not the South African debut I had hoped to make,” said Zaugg. “I am hoping to make up for it and give the South African supporters something to cheer about this time around.

“I'm really looking forward to racing in Durban, in my home country. I am highly motivated to do well in front of the home fans, especially after our win in Australia three weeks ago. I enjoy the street circuit format. I have developed an excellent working relationship with my engineer (Briton Humphrey Corbett) and we have a great technical team behind us, so I am confident we will deliver a good result this weekend.

Fresh and relaxed from spending a few days with his family in Cape Town, Zaugg said he was very proud and felt privileged to be representing his country in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. “It's a great platform for aspiring young drivers to show off their skills in a very competitive environment. The cars are evenly matched and at the end of the day it's all about the skill of the drivers, their engineers and the technical teams,” he said.