On the first lap John Martin had a slight ‘off ‘ and returned to the track with his car in tact, all well to continue. The team continued to discuss the track position from a starting place of 12th back down to last. The first mandatory pit stop window was going to be the place where the team felt they may be able to move forward, provided the car was fast and Martin could keep up the pace right up to the last possible lap to pit.

Without a first pitstop A1 Team Australia was sitting comfortably in 5th place with 31 laps remaining. On lap 30 Martin was in 3rd though losing time with worn tyres until a shunt with A1 Teams NZ and Sth Africa brought out the safety car. At that stage Rob Arnott the team chief engineer called John Martin to pit returning to the track in 11th place.

Nine laps later A1 Teams USA, Italy and Monaco shunted from the Luizzi mistake in Team Italy resulting in another safety car. Martin was happy with his car at that time and felt like he wanted to “light up the tyres and get back some places”.

On the restart there was a lapse of power in the car and Martin was passed by A1 team Ireland and A1 Team Germany, that later resulted in Germany’s drive through penalty and the ongoing Ireland protest.

At this stage Martin was in 8th place and gaining on the others cars in front. Germany stopped for their penalty and Team Australia remained on track to gain an advantage before their second pit stop. Martin passed A1 Team Mexico and was closing in on Malaysia before the second stop. All went to plan and Martin was released into 5th place with an incredible pit stop by the Aussie crew.

With 8 laps to go Martin was the fastest car on track in sector two in 5th place. Moments later Martin called to Arnott on the radio with “smoke or fire”, something critical was wrong. The car was still running and 30 seconds later Martin’s car lost power. He was adamant to get the car back to the pits and the race was run.

A guaranteed 5th was lost to a small electrical relay the size of a small matchbox.

That’s life in the world of international motorsport, the team performed to perfection, their communication was inspiring and John Martin today raced like the best in his business.

Congratulations to the team for a solid effort where the setup was a difficult task all weekend.

Alan Jones A1 Team Australia Seatholder: “John drove a great race, he challenged every possible option to pass a car, and his radio communication was extremely cool today. I really enjoyed the racing and our crew were the regular ‘pitstop kings’. Small electrical faults happen as these cars are extremely technical and complex in that specific area. We wish Ash Edwards all the best as we lose him today”

John Martin A1 Team Australia: “Yeah I had it sorted today, the car was fast and all of the work we did from Friday paid off. I couldn’t believe the electrical fault with five laps to go. The guys were awesome and Rob was a legend on the radio. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Ash Edwards my Data Engineer who is leaving us. He’s a top guy, a mate and I will miss him not being in the garage and out with us when we get time to chill. Good luck Ash and thanks mate”

Rob Arnott: “John and the lads were perfect in every way today. We had a moment on the first lap where we could have realistically won the race. John’s pace was the best we have had all weekend. Electrical problems come to you from time to time, and with these new cars, they are still learning to get them built to ideal perfection with maximum reliability. The crew were fast in both stops and we had everyone involved today, the perfect team. I will miss Ash but hope to see him back sooner than later.”