KEY POINTS:
New Zealand teenager Earl Bamber put in an outstanding effort to come away with two podium finishes in the season opening round of the A1GP at Zandvoort in the Netherlands today (NZT).
A1 Team France claimed the first feature race victory of the season in extremely wet conditions when Loic Duval came from third on the grid to take the lead before the first round of pit stops, holding on for the win despite two safety car periods curtailing his advantage.
Fairuz Fauzy finished second for Malaysia with Bamber third.
Bamber, 18, said the weekend was always going to be tough.
"There is a lot more horse power from the Ferrari car and I think it's just been a challenge for all the drivers to get around and finish the feature race.
"It's been a fantastic weekend for me though, the team did a great job all weekend with the car."
Bamber said it was particularly pleasing to hold third position after a mishap with a wheel nut in the pit stop.
"It was a little bit slow to come off in the pit stop but the guys handled it well and we got back out and still finished on the podium.
"We had a lot of power boosts left in the bag just in case the safety car came out later on and we could challenge for second place but we ran out of time on the clock unfortunately.
"That's just the way it goes, we will live to fight another day."
Earlier, in a rain-soaked sprint race won by Fauzy, Bamber put in a great drive in his race debut for Team New Zealand to take second ahead of third-placed Loric.
Bamber, who qualified New Zealand in second place for the sprint race behind Jeroen Bleekmolen of the Netherlands, said conditions for the event had been atrocious.
"We got a good start and then managed to get past the Netherlands. He (Bleekemolen) got on some oil which made him have a slow exit so I got down the outside into the chicane and then as he out-braked himself he ran wide and I managed to get in front.
"It was a good pass, but pretty close. We held the lead for quite a while but then Fairuz was just a little bit quicker and got past me on the infield."
- NZPA