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Campana overcomes engine troubles to take victory at Marrakech

by Valentin Khorounzhiy

Italian Sergio Campana?took his second win of the Auto GP season at Marrakech, controlling the race from start to finish despite a faltering engine that nearly cost him victory.

Campana started the race from pole and began to build up a gap very quickly as second-placed Narain Karthikeyan seemed to hold up the opposition behind. Keeping consistent pace and with a very good stop from his team, Campana managed to keep his lead until the last lap when smoke began to erupt from his engine. Despite that and with a charging Daniel de Jong, the Italian still crossed the line in first.

Robert Visoiu looked set for a podium finish after the stops but ended up stranded near the pit entrance, allowing Kimiya Sato into third. Manor MP’s Riccardo Agostini recovered from an early spin to finish fourth, ahead of Antonio Spavone and Karthikeyan, whose race was undone by a bad stop.

Vittorio Ghirelli also had to recover from pit stop mishaps to finish seventh, ahead of Andrea Roda – the two Italians set to make up the front row for the reverse-grid race tomorrow. F2 champion Luciano Bacheta and Giuseppe Cipriani rounded out the top ten.

Race results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1 Sergio Campana Ibiza Racing Team 19 laps in 29:06.179
2 Daniel de Jong Manor MP Motorsport +1.033
3 Kimiya Sato Euronova Racing +1.778
4 Riccardo Agostini Manor MP Motorsport +3.752
5 Antonio Spavone Super Nova International +10.906
6 Narain Karthikeyan Zele Racing +14.810
7 Vittorio Ghirelli Super Nova International +35.947
8 Andrea Roda Virtuosi UK +36.767
9 Luciano Bacheta Zele Racing +37.054
10 Giuseppe Cipriani Ibiza Racing Team +38.034
11 Yoshitaka Kuroda Euronova Racing +42.954
12 Michele La Rosa MLR 71 +44.336
13 Max Snegirev Virtuosi UK +50.696
14 Robert Visoiu Ghinzani Motorsport +2 laps
Not classified
Meindert van Buuren Manor MP Motorsport +19 laps