OLIVER Jarvis punched the air with delight after securing Britain s first A1 Grand Prix victory. The rookie from Burwell held off late pressure from the USA s Jonathan Summerton to take the chequered flag in round nine of the World Cup of Motorsport in Me

OLIVER Jarvis punched the air with delight after securing Britain's first A1 Grand Prix victory.

The rookie from Burwell held off late pressure from the USA's Jonathan Summerton to take the chequered flag in round nine of the World Cup of Motorsport in Mexico, on Sunday.

Jarvis started second on the grid and rocketed off the line to leave the pole-sitter, Malaysia's Alex Yoong, trailing in his wake down the monstrous 1km main straight.

The 23-year-old, who is spending the year in Japan, established a 1.5-second gap over Summerton by lap nine of the 45-lap race.

After a quick tyre change, Jarvis managed to regain the lead on lap 18 and as Summerton pushed hard Jarvis held his nerve to secure his place in the history books. The USA sealed second place and Adrian Zaugg, for South Africa, came third. The win moved Great Britain up to third spot, behind Germany and New Zealand in the Nations Standings.

Jarvis, the 2005 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year, said: "This is just a fantastic result for the whole team and a great boost ahead of our return to home soil for the A1GP season finale at Brands Hatch next month.

"Everyone has worked so hard for this result and it's a great reward. Hopefully, it won't be so long now until the next British win"

Jarvis, who came second to ex-F1 racer Yoong in Sunday morning's sprint, has returned to Japan for this weekend's first All Japan Formula Three Championship race of the season, at the Fuji Circuit.

The next round is in Shanghai on April 15 with the final round at Brands a fortnight later.