PETALING JAYA, Malaysia: Fairuz Fauzy gave A1 Team Malaysia a perfect start to the new season, winning the sprint race in Zandvoort, Holland, Sunday.

However, Fairuz’s hopes of a glorious double were dashed after a less than perfect pit stop in the feature race. He started from pole and managed to keep his lead despite the bad weather conditions but slipped to fourth after the first pit stop.

The crew members faced problem on the left rear wheel but it was to Fairuz’s credit that he fought his way back to take second place behind France’s Loic Duval in a safety car finish. Wet rider: Fairuz Fauzy driving in the rain to win the sprint race of the first round in Zandvoort yesterday. The new era of A1GP, which saw Ferrari-powered cars making their debut, had earlier kicked off with the sprint race held under torrential rain.

The 25-year-old Fairuz, who started fourth on the grid, coped well with the wet conditions, which saw several cars skidding onto the gravel at the start. That brought the safety car out for two laps.

On the eighth lap, Fairuz made a sweeping move on pole-sitter Jeroen Bleekemolen of Holland, who had slipped to third after a poor start. He went on to pass the Swiss and Kiwi cars en route to finishing the 12-lap race in 19:44.533.

Fairuz’s win was Malaysia’s first in 27 races and the fifth since the inaugural series in 2005. Alex Yoong chalked up the first win for Malaysia, winning the final round of the first season in Shanghai. Alex went on to secure three more victories in the 2006-2007 season. Malaysia finished 15th overall, without a single podium finish in the 2007-2008 edition.

Fairuz said that he could not have asked for a better start to the team’s fortunes than to win his first A1GP race in the opening round. “I am so happy to take this win,” said Fairuz in a telephone interview from Holland. “It was very difficult on the track today and made even more challenging with the lack of experience we have with this new car. We have worked really hard as a team and now we have a fantastic win,” he added. For the sprint race, the top eight drivers earned championship points. It is top 10 for the longer feature race, which lasted 70 minutes.