KEY POINTS:
New Zealand came off the mat with a fourth place finish in last night's Feature Race at Shanghai to take the title fight for the A1 World Cup of Motorsport grand prix series into the final round in England next month.
A collision with the United States at the start of the Sprint Race had all but ended New Zealand's hopes of winning the A1 World Cup of Motorsport series.
But by finishing fourth in the Feature Race one place ahead of Switzerland, New Zealand driver Jonny Reid kept New Zealand's slim hopes of winning the title alive.
Championship leaders Switzerland lead New Zealand by 29 points at the end of today's round and there are a maximum of 32 points available from the final two races of the season.
New Zealand will need to win both races at Brands Hatch on May 4 and hope for a dramatic reversal in Swiss fortunes if Black Beuty is not to end up as bridesmaid for the second consecutive year.
The United States won the Feature Race with Portugal second, Ireland third, New Zealand fourth and Switzerland fifth.
In the Sprint race earlier, Reid and US driver Jonathan Summerton, who started alongside each other on the third row, clashed during the rolling start, forcing Black Beauty into a spin and out of the action.
Summerton, who hurt his hand when the steering wheel kicked back, limped the USA car back to the pits and retired from the race.
Swiss driver Neel Jani dominated the Sprint Race, winning from pole position for his fourth win of the season.
He also set the fastest lap of the race to pick up maximum points and increase his nation's lead over second-placed New Zealand to 31 after they failed to score.
All the Swiss then needed to sew up the series title today was to score two points more than New Zealand in the Feature Race.
But a botched pit stop with 11 laps to go proved costly.
Switzerland, Ireland and New Zealand came into the pits in that order for their second compulsory stop with eight laps to go.
But the Swiss were held up by a sticking rear wheel allowing Ireland to nose out just ahead of New Zealand who scraped out just in front of Switzerland.
Reid made no mistakes to hold Jani at bay and take the title fight into the final round.
- NZPA
