Youngsters Jules Bianchi and Felipe Nasr upstaged star names in Felipe Massa’s annual charity karting event in Brazil, each winning one of the two heats and finishing up first and second in the final standings.
Bianchi – who is reportedly on the verge of a Formula 1 race seat with Force India for this season – started from pole for the opening race, and despite falling back to fifth on the opening lap he fought his way back to win.
GP2 racer Nasr was sixth in the opening race before winning the second, enough for him to finish the event in second overall behind Bianchi, for whom a fourth place was sufficient to claim the title.
As well as Massa and his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso, the competitors list included recent F1 drivers Bruno Senna, Sebastien Buemi, Tonio Liuzzi, Kamui Kobayashi and former event winners Jaime Alguersuari and Lucas Di Grassi, as well as a number of other leading Brazilian drivers.
“I am very happy with this victory,” said Bianchi, who knows Massa through their manager Nicolas Todt. “I had already won last year, but that time there was a slight mistake with the weight of the kart, but this time everything went well. It’s nice to race against some of the best drivers and in front of such a big and enthusiastic crowd. I want to the thank the Massa family for everything and I hope I can come back next year to take part again.”