During round 4 of the A1 Grand Prix Series, Salvador Duran's car had a punctured tyre, when the Mexican driver was racing at 244 Km/h. Fortunately, the Mexican walked away unscathed from the accident, which happened during the last of the two races held this Sunday at the 5.542-Km. (3.44-mile) Sepang International Circuit, in Malaysia.
After not having a good set-up for his car, Duran qualified 12th for the Sprint race and he finished 11th. Due to this finish he lost the lead in the point standings, since his main rival (Germany) finished second and got the lead in the championship standings.
The Feature race started under rainy conditions, with pace car and under full-course yellow flag. Until lap four the green flag was waved and the action started. An incident followed and the Mexican A1 car was damaged.
"In the Feature race when the pace car left the track and we started racing, the Australian car hit me at Curve 1. With this situation I've lost two positions, but I was able to rejoin the race. Nevertheless, my car commenced to loose grip and with this situation I even dropped more positions," Duran said.
"Later, when they called me to pit I was running at 244 Km/h in the backstretch and a tyre was damaged because of the early incident at the beginning of the race. The tyre exploded and went off in the gravel. Happily I am fine, but I am very sad. I came to Malaysia leading the point standings and I thought that I could maintain the lead again. At the end, we are still in the Top-3 in the championship standings and this will only make us to work more every day to improve our performance," he said.
"We will rebound, we are going to a circuit that I have already known in Indonesia and we will work hard in our quest for victory. I want to thank our sponsors: Telmex, Mexico (Council of Tourist Promotion), Voit and Sport City, who support us in the good times and in the bad times. I am also grateful to the Seat Holders for A1 Team Mexico who are allowing me to represent Mexico in the A1GP Series."
A1 Grand PrixMalaysiaSprint race(10 laps)(Top-5)Pos. A1 Team Time1. Switzerland 19'06.2892. Germany 19'07.4923. New Zealand 19'09.8904. Malaysia 19'18.1155. Great Britain 19'19.14711 Mexico 19'28.861
A1 Grand PrixMalaysiaFeature race(28 laps)(Top-5)Pos. A1 Team Time1. Germany 1:10'54.9432. Great Britain 1:11'37.7923. France 1:11'41.5644. Switzerland 1:11'57.2645. Canada 1:12'02.55221 Mexico 11 laps
Series Points(Top-5)Pos. A1 Team Points1. Germany 372. Great Britain 313. Malaysia 24 Mexico 24 France 24
Next A1GP World Cup of Motorsport race will be held on December 10 at Sentul, Indonesia.
