KEY POINTS:
Championship leaders Switzerland have the jump on everyone, including New Zealand driver Jonny Reid, with pole position for both sprint and feature races in today's ninth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Shanghai.
Switzerland's Neel Jani blitzed the field to gain a crucial advantage - especially as Reid could only persuade his Black Beauty car to fifth position on the grid and seventh (out of 22) for the feature race.
The Swiss, with 128 points, lead second-placed New Zealand by 15 points, with France another five points adrift. A maximum of 64 points is on offer in the remaining two rounds.
Earlier in the day, Reid had set the fourth fastest time in the one-hour official practice. Reid, whose four race wins are more than any other driver this season, won last season's feature despite his gear box being held together by a piece of wire.
"It was a stressful start to the race last year but I have fond memories of the place and really enjoy the circuit.
"It's a fantastic facility and the track is wide and flowing, with plenty of room to position the car.
"Being on pole won't guarantee you win because there's a lot of passing opportunities."
"We don't look on it as the Swiss having to fold for us to zip through," Reid said.
"We can still win the championship without anything untoward happening to them.
"We just have to concentrate on what we're doing so the wheels don't fall off our campaign."
Brave words but getting ahead of the Swiss from fifth and seventh on the grid will be a challenge indeed.
