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Will Zaugg do us proud once more?

CELEBRATING VICTORY: Adrian Zaugg cutting acake with Tokyo Sexwale after the good showing at the biginning of the AIGP series in Zandvoort, Netherlands. Zaugg will also be driving in the Beijing street race. Pic. Musa Zondi. © Sowetan.
CELEBRATING VICTORY: Adrian Zaugg cutting acake with Tokyo Sexwale after the good showing at the biginning of the AIGP series in Zandvoort, Netherlands. Zaugg will also be driving in the Beijing street race. Pic. Musa Zondi. © Sowetan.

Sowetan Reporter

Sowetan Reporter

The South African connection to the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport is set to continue at the upcoming race in Beijing, China, on November 12.

This will be ensured by the participation of A1 Team South Africa and Vulindlela, South Africa's car, driven by 19-year-old Adrian Zaugg and distinctively liveried in the six colours of the national flag.

Beijing will become the second city in China to host a round of the World Cup after the final race of the first season in Shanghai in April. The Beijing event will also be the second ever A1GP street race, after the Beijing organisers' visit to Durban before South Africa's round of the debut season in January.

The Chinese delegation was so impressed with what they saw then and later with the overwhelming success of the A1GP World Cup street race in Durban, that they resolved to go ahead with their plans for a street race in Beijing.

Zaugg, who turns 20 the day before the race, will be looking for a special birthday present by securing another pole position-winning performance in the qualifying session on Saturday.

In his first appearance in the new season of A1GP, at the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands on October 1, Zaugg emerged victorious after the exciting A1GP qualifying format - four 15-minute sessions in which only a single flying lap is timed and the final grid position time is determined by the aggregate of the two best qualifying times.

The young South African then shocked the A1GP establishment and delighted his countrymen with a win in the sprint race, giving South Africa its first A1GP victory.

Zaugg's momentum was then broken when he crashed out of the feature race in the Netherlands, which was won by 19-year-old Niko Hulkenberg of Germany, when Vulindlela lost its nose in a first-lap collision.

The current championship scores after two 12 point rounds are: Germany 20, Mexico 19, Malaysia 17, Canada 11, Czech Republic 11, Great Britain 11, the US 10, Netherlands 9, France 8, Australia 8, China 8, South Africa 7, New Zealand 5, Italy 5, Switzerland 4, and Indonesia 1.

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