Team Ireland nineth on grid for New Zealand A1 GP

A1 Team Ireland have scored their one of their best qualifying results of their disastrous season at the brand-new Taupo circuit in New Zealand today.

Richard Lyons is ninth on the grid for the sprint race in tomorrow's SuperPoints A1 Grand Prix Taupo in New Zealand.

Team Germany powered to their first pole position in A1GP after championship leader Nico Hulkenberg turned in an inspired performance.

The 19-year-old German lapped the technical 2.17-mile track in an aggregate time of two minutes 28.21 seconds to edge out Team France debutant Loic Duval by a little over three-tenths of a second after a thrilling grandstand finish to the qualifying hour.

Home favourite Jonny Reid put on a fine display in the New Zealand entry to claim third on the grid for tomorrow’s sprint race, while Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr struggled to get to grips with the new track but still managed to bag sixth after a late charge.

The result puts Hulkenberg in a great position to increase Germany’s 12-point championship lead over second-placed Great Britain come race day, but he admits to being wary of the poor grip levels at Taupo.

“It was very slippery and the first two qualifying segments were like driving on ice,” Hulkenberg said.

“Obviously from pole position we have the best chance for the race, but there is always a lot of action on the first lap. It has been very slippery and dirty out there today, and I reckon when we go into the first corner there will be a big cloud of dirt.”

Twenty-four-year-old Duval will be hoping his lofty grid slot steers him clear of any first-corner contretemps, and will want to put on a good show after taking over the Team France driving duties from Nicolas Lapierre.

He said: “It was a good fight for the pole position. I made a mistake in the final corner of the last session but despite that I shall start at the front.

“We were always at the top in the times and so I was not worried about it. During the sessions we didn’t work on the car, I just worked on my driving.”

Third-placed Reid admitted that he had to overcome a few technical issues on his way to achieving the best-ever qualifying position for a home team at an A1GP event.

He said: “Although I know as a team we are disappointed not to be in pole or on the front row, I am pretty pleased to be third as it was a pressure-filled qualifying with a lot of problems.

“In the third qualifying segment I touched the kerb and had some oversteer, and also in the final run the starter motor wouldn’t work. All in all it didn’t run as smoothly as I would have liked.

“I have a bit of work to do to win the race.”

Holland’s Jeroen Bleekemolen will start behind Reid in fourth while Sebastien Buemi snatched fifth for Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Team GBR ace Kerr admitted to some dissatisfaction after failing to match the pace of his championship rivals.

“I’m a little bit disappointed we’re not higher up,” he said.

“I could barely get the car to turn in during my first run of the day so we opted for a more radical setting when I went back out on fresh rubber for my third and fourth runs.

“I made a slight error at the chicane on my final run but we still moved up to sixth on the grid which will hopefully translate into a points-paying sprint finish.”

Team Canada’s James Hinchcliffe lines up alongside Kerr in seventh, with Malaysia’s Alex Yoong eighth and Team Ireland’s Lyons in ninth.

Narain Karthikeyan starts tenth for India on his series debut.