Kerr stars - but Swiss seal title

Team Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr came first and second in today’s final round of the A1GP season at Brands Hatch – but Switzerland claimed the glory as they eased to the title.

Kerr won the opening 20-minute sprint race at the Kent circuit in a race which saw Neel Jani clinch the crown for the Swiss with a fourth-placed finish.

In this afternoon’s feature, India’s ex-Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan took the win, beating the Briton by 1.078 seconds.

Kerr’s performance helped GB leapfrog France into third in the final standings, a point behind second-placed New Zealand who finished with 127 points.

But the Swiss were in a class of their own as they took the title with a 41-point margin.

In the sprint, Kerr, starting from pole after a fine qualifying session yesterday, came home 1.126 seconds ahead of USA’s Jonathan Summerton, with Ireland’s Adam Carroll third.

Jani sealed the title for the Swiss by claiming fourth – comfortably exceeding the seventh-place finish required to take the crown.

New Zealand needed to come second to have any chance of overhauling Switzerland but they could manage no better than eighth.

As in the sprint, it was the pole-sitters who triumphed in the feature as Karthikeyan staved off Kerr to claim his country’s second win of the season.

Jani cruised home third for the Swiss, 8.725secs behind India, with China fourth.

Jonny Reid’s second eighth-placed finish of the day for New Zealand was just enough to keep GB in third in the final championship standings as France slipped to fourth.