A1GP (BRNO) - TEAM USA's Rice runs into early trouble twice, but finishes 15th in feature...

A1 TEAM USA's Rice runs into early trouble twice, but finishes 15th in Feature, 16th in Sprint

BRNO, Czech Republic--A1 TEAM USA's Buddy Rice encountered big-time trouble on the opening laps of the Sprint and Feature races Sunday in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at Brno.

Rice, starting from 14th, got stuck behind a multi-car melee in the first turn in the Sprint that dropped him to 19th. Rice, of Phoenix, Ariz., moved up three positions in the 10-lap race on the 3.36-mile course to finish 16th.

The 2004 Indianapolis 500 champion had to drive masterfully to avoid contact in the Feature.

Lebanon's Khalil Beschir spun across the track directly in front of Rice at the end of the first lap.

"I had to turn the wheel hard to miss him and caught the edge of the track," Rice said. "I went through a cloud of dust from the Lebanese car and when I came out, I was headed for the inside wall at tremendous speed. I managed to turn the 'We The People' car away from the wall. I feel fortunate to have not hit the wall. It would have been a big impact.

"The dust covered our windscreen and I could hardly see the entire race. We were coming from the back after that. We had a pretty good car and had two good pit stops, but we were too far to go to get into the points and that was disappointing."

A1 TEAM USA finished 15th in the 38-lap Feature.

"We certainly ran into bad luck at the start of both races and it could have been worse," A1 TEAM USA owner Rick Weidinger said. "Buddy's quick reactions and superb car control saved him from a major crash and that was the silver lining to our weekend.

"The bottom line is we didn't get the results we wanted and after two rounds, we don't have any points this season. Our goal is to be in the top five in the championship and we have a lot of ground to make up."

The third round of A1GP World Cup of Motorsport is Nov. 23-25 at Sepang in Malaysia.