Team Switzeland wins sprintrace; Team Netherlands 11th

Published on 11 December 2005 by Thorsten Hendriks

Jos Verstappen had an excellent start and gained quite a few places but wasn't able to finish in a point scoring position, he finished 11th. Switzerland won, in front of Italy, Czechia, Ireland and Canada. France spoiled their chances for third by spinning in one of the corners.

Team France lost three places at the start to Ireland, Brazil and Great Britain. Although these three didn't have a lot of luck: Nelson Piquet Jr retired from the race, Robbie Kerr spun halfway and dropped down to eighth and Irland's Ralph Firman lost his second place in the last lap when he was overtaken by Italy and Czechia.

Alex Yoong managed to keep his 10th position, right in front of Team Netherlands. Jos went from place 18 to 11 during the race. Jos got stuck behind the Malaysian, who had one powerboost left and Jos none, who defended his place with a lot of effort. When Alex Yoong used his last powerboost there was not enough time left for Jos to go over to attack and try to overtake. One advantage though; Jos will be starting from 11th instead of further down the grid.

"I did have a good start. I was able to overtake a few drivers but Alex Yoong defended his position very well and I wasn't able to overtake him. I could see he had less wing than me, resulting in a higher speed for him as I went for more downforce. The race was very close, but I just couldn't get past him. I didn't want to take unnecessary risks. If it goes wrong retirement is a possibility and you will have to start at the back of the grid." Jos told us after the race.

Official result sprintrace

1  SWITZERLAND       15 26:56.613 
2  ITALY             15 27:04.860 +8.247 
3  CZECH REPUBLIC    15 27:05.637 +9.024 
4  IRELAND           15 27:06.574 +9.961 
5  CANADA            15 27:07.805 +11.192 
6  INDONESIA         15 27:10.009 +13.396 
7  FRANCE            15 27:10.539 +13.926 
8  PORTUGAL          15 27:11.497 +14.884 
9  GREAT BRITAIN     15 27:12.050 +15.437 
10 MAL MALAYSIA      15 27:13.234 +16.621 
11 NED NETHERLANDS   15 27:14.223 +17.610 
12 RSA SOUTH AFRICA  15 27:14.919 +18.306 
13 USA USA           15 27:18.655 +22.042 
14 JPN JAPAN         15 27:19.980 +23.367 
15 NZL NEW ZEALAND   15 27:25.478 +28.865 
16 PAK PAKISTAN      15 27:26.010 +29.397 
17 AUT AUSTRIA       15 27:27.301 +30.688 
18 MEX MEXICO        15 27:28.282 +31.669 
19 CHN CHINA         15 27:31.732 +35.119 
20 IND INDIA         15 27:41.498 +44.885 
21 AUS AUSTRALIA     14 27:21.955  1 lap 
22 GER GERMANY        2  5:27.286 13 laps 
23 BRA BRAZIL         1  1:52.204 14 laps 
24 LIB LEBANON        0           15 laps