Feature race: Czech Republic wins, Jos 17th

Published on 03 April 2006 by Thorsten Hendriks

The feature race started without problems while the weather was fine. Instantly there were fights for places. Alex Yoong kept his first place for a while. Jos had a good start but had a little push from Ananda Mikola. Not long after this the Indonesian driver was involved in a spectacular crash with the car of Team Ireland. Michael Devany managed to crawl out of the car, which was upside down. Who was to blame for this incident was not clear.

Jos Verstappen: "It is a pity that we had to retire in the first race due to problems with the gearbox. We were fast enough, maybe not fast enough to win but I had hoped for a better result than this. I didn't think our mechanics would succeed in repairing the car in time for the feature race, they've done an excellent job. I was enjoying the second race, I was going well, especially right after the start. At the end of the straight I nearly was cut in half by another car, I should not have gone into the corner at that moment. So I had to join at the back of the pack which is difficult enough, even without a safety car. Halfway the race the problems with the gearbox reared its head again. When braking and shifting up it would do it one moment, but not the next. Let's forget this race."

The safety car made it possible for all the teams to make their pitstop. Almost faultless for everyone but only Team France seemed to have some problems with a wheelnut. Looking in hindsight it was Team Netherlands who lost the most places during the pitstop.

At the restart Jos was 16th. A fight for first position between Malaysia and Czechia was won by Thomas Enge. Jos was driving well and overtook China only due to the great difference in experience. Switzerland retired with technical problems and 3 teams received drive through penaltes, this meant Jos moved forward to place 10.

In lap 10 Jos asked to much of his brakes and Team France easily overtook Jos. Team South-Africa received a drive through penalty and Jos was tenth again. Team Mexico was right behind Jos and the Dutch driver was not able to keep the Mexican behind him.

In lap 15 Team Netherlands had an unpleasant surprise: a drive through penalty for a pitstop infringement. Jos came back on track on 17th place. No chance left for a good position.
Jos had to settle for this place as he was not able to improve and so he finished on a disappointing 17th place. Czechia kept the lead and wins the A!GP in Shanghai.

 1 CZECH REPUBLIC    59:23.250   - 
 2 MALAYSIA          59:29.971   +6.721 
 3 AUSTRALIA         59:33.103   +9.853 
 4 NEW ZEALAND       59:49.716   +26.466 
 5 PAKISTAN          59:51.433   +28.183 
 6 FRANCE            59:54.682   +31.432 
 7 CANADA            59:56.707   +33.457 
 8 MEXICO            59:57.665   +34.415 
 9 ITALY           1:00:11.625   +48.375 
10 USA             1:00:14.581   +51.331 
11 LEBANON         1:00:24.903   +1'01.653 
12 PORTUGAL        1:00:30.175   +1'06.925 
13 AUSTRIA         1:00:30.670   +1'07.420 
14 SOUTH AFRICA    1:00:31.090   +1'07.840 
15 GREAT BRITAIN   1:00:33.172   +1'09.922 
16 CHINA           1:00:40.604   +1'17.354 
17 NETHERLANDS     1:01:07.725   +1'44.475 
18 GERMANY         1:01:13.244   +1'49.994 
19 BRAZIL            59:24.703   2 Laps 
20 SWITZERLAND       16:15.898   23 Laps 
21 INDONESIA          1:59.739   29 Laps 
22 IRELAND            2:00.027   29 Laps 

Thorsten Hendriks