Australia

Sprint Race

John Martin started his Sprint Race from 12th place and pushed early closing in on Reid from Team NZ. As he backed off to avoid a possible shunt, the Team Czech car passed him by on a lucky break in the traffic.

Martin's decision to go wide at Paddock allowed Team Malaysia to slip by leaving Team Australia in 14th place. The cars are four tenths apart at the finish with Team Canada taking 15th place in a very close finish overall.

Before the race John Martin was positive on the car's setup with a good warm up lap before the grid formation on the rolling start. He had good pace throughout the race and is confident of a good finish in the Feature Race later today.

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "Overall I think it was a pretty uneventful race. We normally see a lot more overtaking but not this one today. After we lost two places early in the race it's where we finished. Now we look to the Feature Race where we are good in the pits to try and jump some cars on the right call for the driver to pit"

Rob Arnott Chief Engineer: "In the middle of the race John was running two tenths off the lead car, so when he settled down everything was looking good. We need to find two tenths out of the car for the Feature and hopefully have better luck. I thought the race was good, and Team GBR did a good job as well and Team SUI taking the Championship, made it a very special race to be in as well"

John Martin: "I didn't judge the jump from the start quite right, everybody accelerated off and maintained pace, then accelerated again and slowed into the first turn. I came up on Johnny Reid so quick it was an instant back off to save any possible shunt from happening and the Czech car went by me at that point. The move at Paddock allowed Team MAL to go by, you take a gamble and sometimes it pays off. We were two tenths off Robbie Kerr's time throughout the race. I have to do my best to get by a few early in the Feature"

Feature Race

Early in the race on lap two both Team Pakistan and Team Australia collided on the back straight with major damage on the Team Australia car. John Martin's race was over and Adam Khan left the circuit after a quick medical centre check up.

John Martin was not impressed with Khan's attitude to the shunt and was quick to let Khan know how he felt when they met together in the medical centre.

Team Australia end the 2007-2008 season in 17th place overall. Next race will be at Mugello on September 21 showcasing the new A1GP car "Powered by Ferrari"

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "It was not the race result we expected, the accident appeared to be another racing incident. We are now looking to the
new season that starts in September to launch our new car with Ferrari"

John Martin: "I was upset with Adam Khan as we were both on the back straight and had room for both of us. All he had to do was stay on his side of the race track and everything would have been fine. Instead he moved over towards me, so I had to move back and we touched. There was no way I could save the car once I hit the grass. We spoke at the Medical Centre and he left the circuit"

Brazil

A1 Team Brasil's Xandi Negrao finished today's sprint and feature races at Brands Hatch in 16th and 14th places respectively to round off a frustrating 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season finale.

In this morning's 15-lap sprint race, Xandi began from 19th and made a good start, passing Italy and Pakistan on the opening lap for 17th. He moved up to 16th on lap 12 after China fell back and crossed the line in that position.

Brasil began 14th in the feature race but fell back after a disappointing start from Xandi. The 22-year-old tried to pass Indonesia on the opening lap but ran onto the grass after Indonesia went wide. The Lebanese car then spun in front of Xandi and, with nowhere to go, he made contact, sustaining damage to his front wing which resulted in an unscheduled pitstop for a new nosecone. Xandi was able to make up the time to the back of the field after a safety car was deployed after an accident involving Lebanon and Pakistan. He made his first compulsory stop on lap 14 and emerged in 17th and then moved up to 16th four laps later as Ireland pitted for a new nosecone. He made his second stop on lap 33 and emerged in 14th position, which he retained until the chequered flag.

A1 Team Brasil finished the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in 14th position in the championship with 44 points. Next year's championship will kick off on 21 September in Mugello, Italy.