Australia

With the crowd building by the hour here in Kyalami, the expectation from the Feature Race starting from 4th position was the obvious, a Podium.

On the start John Martin was boxed in and challenged the leading four cars with some attrition giving way to a move forward. After some excellent moves early we saw Team Malaysia collide with Team Ireland and then Team Malaysia colliding again with Team New Zealand. Martin was then racing in third place and gaining on the front two cars.

Settling into the race Rob Arnott Team Chief Engineer called Martin in for his first mandatory pit stop on Lap 7, at the same time Team Germany pitted in the second bay ahead of Team Australia. As Martin tried to exit and continue his race as planned, Team Germany arrived and failed to stop properly in their pit bay when Rob [Arnott] called Martin to stop after he released him to avoid any collision. The engine stopped when the anti-stall never engaged as he braked in that split second placed third at that stage of the race. Adam Gotch Team Manager called over the radio for the crew to rush to Martin's aid
and push start the car down pit lane. In the end they had to run the starter from the pit garage half of the pit lane for Martin to keep racing.

The Feature race hopes of a podium at that stage looked ominous as Martin pushed as hard as he could with a lap to the lead group. With another pit stop remaining there was some hope to gain a point and perhaps the fastest lap of the race. Neither would eventuate with a result of 13th position the best possible result in the Feature.

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: "I am very disappointed in the result. The anti-stall didn't work as it is programmed to do as John braked to avoid a collision into the back end of the Team Germany car. The engine stopped. The German team was not due to pit until the next lap and that ended our chances to podium. John, the team and I feel the good work this weekend was taken away from us because of an electronic error and the team. We'll analyse the data and look into the electronics of this new car."

John Martin: "I was watching Rob with the lolly pop and when he let me go all I saw was the German car in front of me so I braked and the engine stopped. The guys tried pushing me to restart and that didn't work so they had to run half way down pit lane with the starter to get me going again. I had the best times over most of the race and was second fastest overall. We had Brazil covered and Monaco, all I had to do was to keep the car going as it was quick and running perfect. The boys worked hard this weekend for us and I thank them for that, just wish this wouldn't happen and we got what we had planned for, the podium."

Brazil

A1 Team Brazil's Felipe Guimaraes led the squad to its first podium position in 23 races today when he took a fine second in the Feature race at A1GP Gauteng at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Brazil's last podium came in November 2007 when Sergio Jimenez took third in the Feature at the Malaysian round.

From his eighth place grid slot in the Feature Race, Felipe made a good start up to sixth. With New Zealand going off track on lap four, Brazil was up to fifth and Felipe then passed Malaysia for fourth. After making the team's first compulsory pitstop on lap nine, Brazil emerged in third place and over the next quarter of the race began to put pressure on second-placed Monaco. When Monaco's Clivio Piccione ran wide on lap 23, Felipe seized his chance to move into second, and increased the gap between the two after his second stop on lap 24. After 40 long laps in the searing heat, 17-year-old Felipe became the youngest ever podium finisher in A1GP.

Earlier in the day Felipe began the 14-lap Sprint race form the seventh row of the grid in 14th. He had lost a position after lap one down to 15th, and retained that position after the round of mandatory pitstops. There was an incident on lap nine when GBR's Danny Watts came together with Felipe's Brazil car when attempting to overtake, but luckily Felipe was not affected and crossed the line in 15th.

The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will be visiting another brand new circuit for the next round of the championship when it visits Portugal's Portimao Circuit in the Algarve. It will be A1GP's return to Portugal after three years away - the last round in the country was in season one when the event took place at Estoril.

Felipe Guimaraes:

Sprint Race: "The car was good, we had some problems with the set-up but it will be better for the Feature race as we are making some changes. For the Sprint race I just wanted to be safe so the car was good ready for the Feature as we are starting eighth. I just wanted to save the tyres and bring the car home."

Feature Race: "I'm really happy with the result. Yesterday I had the big crash in qualifying and I didn't think that today I would finish on the podium! But I had a great start then during the race the car was good. It was a bit worrying at the end because the engine was losing power and it was just going but we managed to keep going to the finish thankfully. I was pushing hard but not taking any risks and we brought it home in second. I really wanted to do a good job today and I have."