But having started on pole, Jani was beaten off the line by USA’s Jonathan Summerton before a gearbox problem saw the 24-year-old slip down the field and eventually finish fifth.

After leading into the first corner, Summerton never relinquished his grip at the front to claim USA’s first-A1GP victory.

Switzerland proved difficult to shake off in the early stages but a fantastic out lap saw Summerton establish a gap over Jani after the first round of pit stops, which he extended to more than seven seconds by lap 20 due to his rival’s mechanical woes.

Jani was then caught by Portugal, Ireland and New Zealand and a problem with a rear wheel during Switzerland’s second stop saw the trio leapfrog the championship leader.

But Summerton, driving with a bruised hand after a collision with Kiwi Johnny Reid in the sprint race, cruised to the chequered flag 9.729 seconds ahead of Filipe Albuquerque, who recorded a second podium of the day for Portugal after finishing third in the sprint.

Adam Carroll took third for Ireland while Reid finished fourth but it was a day to forget for Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr, who finished a disappointing ninth in both races, well off the pace.

“It’s a win and I’m really happy,” said Summerton.

“It’s been a long time coming. It wasn’t that hard a race physically.”

Albuquerque was also delighted with his day’s work.

“Being twice on the podium is awesome,” said the Portuguese.

“We could never fight for the wins, the starts weren’t so good. I needed to push more in the race and I had Ireland on my back.”

Ireland’s Adam Carroll added: “We fought hard but didn’t get a great start.

“I had to chase down India and then pushed really hard but couldn’t catch the guys in front.”

Switzerland still head to Brands Hatch with a commanding 29-point lead over New Zealand and are heavy favourites to clinch the third edition of the A1GP series.

France sit third on 111 points, 10 back from New Zealand, while Great Britain are fourth on 99 points.

The only positive to come out of the round for Britain was France had an even worse time, which keeps GB firmly in the race for a top-three finish.

“It’s been a challenging weekend, but we’ve come away with some points and still have a fighting chance of getting third in the championship with a strong performance at Brands Hatch,” said Kerr.

Earlier, Jani had put the Swiss on the verge of title glory by taking the sprint race after closest rival Reid crashed out, finishing 4.643secs ahead of Canada’s Robert Wickens with Albuquerque third.