A1 Grand Prix: Piquet Jr. wins both races

Longfield:

Brazil's Nelson Piquet Jr. won both races in the opening round of the new A1 Grand Prix at Brands Hatch on Sunday. Piquet Jr. led the 18-lap sprint event from start to finish and he then came from behind in the 38-lap feature race, which featured a mandatory pit stop. Piquet Jr. finished 2.4 seconds ahead of France's Alexandre Premat in the sprint. That gave him pole position for the main race. The Brazilian, who is racing in the GP2 Grand Prix support series this season, dropped to third during his pit stop for a new set of tires. "I was very frustrated because I led the race going into the pits and came out in third place; we had a problem getting one of the wheels off," Piquet Jr. said. Two safety car periods allowed him to close the gap on race leader Will Power of Australia, and he took the lead on lap 29 with a bold move around the outside on a left-handed bend. "When the safety car pulled in, I pushed very hard,'' the Brazilian said of his overtaking maneuver. "Will made a little mistake out at the previous corner. I braked as late as I dared and ended up ahead of him." Power dropped back quickly and was more than 11 seconds behind at the finish. Mexico's Salvador Duran was 22 seconds behind in third place. New Zealander Matt Halliday was fourth after coming from the back of the field after stalling on the grid. The inaugural A1 GP series, which is billing itself as the World Cup of motorsport, resumes at the Eurospeedway Lausitz in Germany on October 8-9. (AP)