Results of the 2005/2006 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Durban, South Africa

Round 7

France does it again, but only just. After a delayed start in this coastal city, round seven got off to an action packed start through the streets of Durban. France, Netherlands and Great Britain lead from the start and that would've been the finishing order had it not been for a reckless challenge from Dutchman Jos Verstappen on the race leader in the final laps, forcing his retirement. The eventual second place went to Great Britain, with the usual contenders of Switzerland and Ireland behind.

Further down the grid Indonesia and Italy collided, out came the safety car, and the first two retirements of the day were recorded. In the final stages of the sprint race Nelson Piquet Jr of Team Brazil clipped the wall on a hairpin, spinning out, copied a few laps later by China who took out Team Lebanon in the process.

The Home crowd were disappointed by team South Africa's mid-race retirement due to engine failure. They were to fare better in the feature race

The second race of the weekend was incident packed which saw a number of safety car deployments create havoc for the strategy and fortunes of several teams. It was also a day when many of the main contenders suffered pit stop delays effectively keeping them out of the points

Team Switzerland led their title rivals France out of the tight hairpin start, but within a lap France suffered a 53 second pit stop effectively ruining their chances of another victory. Great Britain also had a double nightmare, forcing an unscheduled stop to remove an air gun that was still attached to the car!

A safety car period on lap three to untangle teams USA and Australia, scuppered early tactics for some teams, and again on lap twelve - following a collision between Indonesia and India - when Ireland were leading but yet to make a pit stop - they eventually squandered their potential second placed finish through a delayed stop.

With Switzerland and the Netherlands staying clear of the trouble, a podium position for them and also Team Germany looked certain until the latter hit a wall on lap 36. But in a carbon copy of the sprint race, Jos Verstappen again had a go on the race lead in the dying laps and benefited from Swiss driver Neel Jani having to finish with virtually no brakes, costing him the victory. He held on for second ahead of Portugal. New Zealand had a quiet race to finish fourth and the South Africans were thrilled to see their car finish fifth, for one of their best results of the season.

France limped home in eighth, but maintain a convincing overall lead in the competition. Brazil, whose fortunes in the competition have been on a constant wane did managed to post the fastest lap and earn at least a bonus point despite finishing in the top 10 in either race.

Full results of the A1 Sentul Sprint Race 2005

1. France
2. Great Britain
3. Switzerland
4. Ireland
5. Czech Republic
6. New Zealand
7. Germany
8. Portugal
9. Australia
10. Mexico

Full results of the A1 Dubai Feature Race 2005

1. Netherlands
2. Switzerland
3. Portugal
4. New Zealand
5. South Africa
6. Italy
7. Austria
8. France
9. Austria
10. Canada

Fastest lap: Brazil

Standings after six races