TAUPO (New Zealand), Jan 21: A1 Team Pakistan celebrated their first World Cup of Motorsport point here on Sunday as driver Adam Khan finished a season-high 10th place in the Feature race and 11th in the Sprint contest.

In the opening lap a three car clash in the middle of the pack quickly brought out the safety car, and gave Adam a welcome boost up the order, in addition to the young Pakistan driver making up places at the start. Lying in 15th place he held position while touring under the safety car, and then at the restart was able to pass the Indonesian car for 14th spot. He then climbed up the order, to lie just outside the points in 11th place at the chequered flag.

The Feature race produced plenty of drama and excitement. In the opening lap India spun and Adam was quick to take avoiding action and benefit from this incident. As the race progressed Pakistan continued to move up the order, reaching a high of 11th place before the first round of pitstops.

After a tussle for position with the Swiss car, with Adam defending well, a small trip through the grass pushed the Pakistan car down to 15th. Undeterred he continued to push on, moving up to 13th place before the second round of tyre change pitstops. Up to 12th and with new tyres, Adam continued on towards the end of the race. In the final few laps he moved up to 11th, and with a penalty for USA, inherited 10th place, to capture the team’s first point of the season.

On the whole, Germany was joined on the podium by Canada’s Robert Wickens in second, the team’s best result of the season, and pole-sitter France’s Loic Duval in third.—Agencies