Durban,  South  Africa,  Sunday  24  February  2008:  -  A1  Team  Great  Britain’s  Oliver  Jarvis  scored  the  team  a  second consecutive podium with a second place in today’s Sprint race in Durban, South Africa.

In  today’s  A1GP  World  Cup  of  Motorsport  event  in  Durban,  South  Africa,  A1  Team  GBR’s  Oliver  Jarvis  finished in  a  strong second position in the Sprint race, collecting ten crucial championship points for the team. He looked set for another good points haul and possible podium in the Feature race, before he was forced into the pits for an unscheduled front wing change after Team Canada caused a collision with the GBR car by driving the wrong way on the circuit trying to recover from a spin.

Beginning from fourth on the grid in this morning’s 20-minute Sprint race, Jarvis made a brilliant rolling start, darting down the outside and passing Switzerland and Brasil to take second place. After the first hairpin, New Zealand’s Jonny Reid hit the right- hand sidepod of the GBR car quite heavily, but Jarvis was able to keep the car under control and remain in second position behind Canada’s Robert Wickens. After five laps third-placed Switzerland began to put pressure on GBR, with the gap down to around  half  a  second,  but  Jarvis  was  able  to  comfortably  keep  his  position.  The  red  flag  was  shown  on  lap  13  following  a collision  between  Germany  and  the  Netherlands,  and  the  race  ended,  with  the  results  based  on  the  classification  from  the previous lap. Jarvis and Team GBR finished on the podium in second position between race winner Canada and third-placed Switzerland.  

In what turned out to be a frantic Feature race, with three safety car periods due to multi-car accidents at the unforgiving turn 1 hairpin and another red flag ending, Oliver made a good start, moving up to third past Canada before retaking his initial fourth placed starting position at the hairpin, falling behind Brasil. After the first round of pitstops Team GBR emerged in third position behind Switzerland and Canada. From lap 15 Team France began to put pressure on GBR, but Jarvis fought hard and retained his position, until the second round of pitstops when France’s Loic Duval jumped ahead of GBR, putting Oliver back into fourth position.

Still with a podium finish in sight, Oliver was fighting hard until an incident on lap 39. Team Canada’s Wickens spun after the hairpin, and began to drive the opposite way down the track to try to right his error. Heading into the blind corner, Oliver had nowhere to go when faced with a front on view of the Canadian car and he hit Wickens, breaking the front wing. He was able to continue but had to pit for a new nosecone. After a multiple car accident on lap 43 the race was red flagged and the order classified by the positions at the end of lap 41, at which point Oliver was in 11^th position*.  

* Results for the Feature race are provisional as several teams are under investigation for the incidents caused at turn 1  

Following this weekend’s Durban, South Africa round, A1 Team GBR remains sixth in the championship but has moved closer to fifth-placed South Africa. The team will now target this fifth spot at round eight of the championship, which will take place in Mexico City on 16 March.

Oliver Jarvis: Sprint Race: “At the start I noticed everyone in front dive down the inside so I thought I’d try my luck on the racing line.  At one point I thought I was going to get the lead as I saw New Zealand drive into Canada which caused Robert Wickens to come out wide and clip me, but I still managed to get round before New Zealand drove into the side of me, damaging the car quite a bit. From then on, I didn’t really challenge for the lead as I wasn’t totally comfortable with the car - I’m not sure if it was due to the damage or set-up, but we will assess before the Feature race.  But I’m happy with second - it’s great to get a good result on the board ahead of the Feature race.”

Feature  Race:  “We’re  absolutely  gutted...The  team  has  worked  so  hard  this  weekend  and  a  lot  of  guys  have been  ill  or struggling, plus we had to rush to get the car ready after the damage from the Sprint race. But to race for an hour and be taken out is devastating for the team and myself. Hopefully we can make amends over the next three rounds and deliver some wins, particularly at our home race at Brands Hatch in May. Unfortunately though, it looks like our title hopes are over for this season.”

Katie Clements, Team Principal: “We were very happy with the podium this morning and scored some strong points. We were in  a  good  position  for  this  afternoon  and  having  our  Feature  race  podium  hopes  taken  away  through  no  fault  of  our  own  is obviously not what we wanted. With South Africa our closest competitor in the championship, we had a good chance to move up to  fifth  after  the  Feature  race  and,  because  of  the  accident,  we  have  not  been  able  to  do  that.  Nevertheless,  we  have  had another strong weekend in terms of pace and performance, and we will carry that momentum to the next race in Mexico.”

Channel Five will broadcast all the highlights from Durban, South Africa at 01.00am on Monday 25 February 2008. Round 8 of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport takes place in Mexico City from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 March 2008.