After earning Team Indonesia its first points of the A1GP season, Zahir Ali will climb back behind the wheel for the sixth series in Algarve, Portugal, on Sunday.

Zahir was promoted to the No.1 spot after Indonesia went scoreless in the first four series with Satrio Hermanto in the lead spot. In his debut race in Gauteng, South Africa, Zahir finished ninth to earn the team two points.

Team principal Bagoes Hermanto announced on Monday that Zahir would stay in the lead position, but the 21-year-old played down his chances to build on his South Africa success.

“I must admit that the points I got in South Africa were partly due to good fortune. There were lots of accidents there and my car, miraculously, was still running despite all the problems,” Zahir said in phone interview on Tuesday. “All I can promise is to work hard in Portugal because it will pay off. I’m still learning here.”

The ninth-place finish came despite intermittent fuel pump problems throughout the race, and he added, “I just hope we won’t be hit by technical problems such as last time so I can race smoothly.”

The Algarve circuit, which was completed in October 2008, will host an A1GP race for the first time.

None of the racers have experienced the 4.1-kilometer circuit, and Zahir said that would throw the race wide open.

“I think those who can adapt quickly to the circuit will win the race,” he said.

“That’s why I must make the Friday practice session as good as possible to get into the circuit’s rhythm,” Zahir added. As part of his preparation, he spent two days last week testing at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China. Zahir drove a Formula Renault V6 race car with specially modified carbon brakes in order to learn more about the characteristics of the brakes used on his A1GP car.

“This season is my first time with carbon brakes, so I have to make myself familiar with it and I think I’m starting to get the feel of it,” said Zahir, who completed 200 laps in China.

As part of Monday’s announcement, Team Indonesia said it would continue its driver rotation strategy for the remainder of the season. The strategy is intended to foster a healthy rivalry between the two drivers and will lead to more points, it said.

“We have to always show our best in each opportunity,” Zahir said. “This is a good rivalry, though I don’t see [Satrio] as my rival. We’re in this together and to support each other.”

Indonesia is 19th out of 21 teams in A1GP with two points. Switzerland leads with 73 points, followed by Ireland (70) and Portugal (64).