Photo: Auto GP World Series
Auto GP championship leader Vittorio Ghirelli has kicked off the final round of the season at Brno by taking his second pole in the series.
The Italian, who led the majority of the session, was challenged for first by both teammate Narain Karthikeyan and Ghinzani’s Kevin Giovesi. However, just as both of his rivals were looking set to improve on his most recent benchmark, the session was red-flagged.
With series guest Josef Kral‘s car in the gravel and two minutes remaining on the clock, there were no subsequent improvements. As such, Ghirelli remained in first, with Giovesi securing a front row spot.
Karthikeyan will share row two with Giovesi’s teammate Robert Visoiu, who recorded his best qualifying performance of the year.
A late effort from Sergio Campana allowed the Ibiza Racing driver to significantly improve his grid position, with the Italian securing fifth, ahead of Tamas Pal Kiss. Meindert van Buuren took seventh, with title challenger Kimiya Sato continuing Euronova’s trend of weak performances in eighth. Daniel de Jong and Andrea Roda rounded out the top ten.
In the standings, Ghirelli now leads Sato by 12 points, with Campana and Karthikeyan 18 and 22 points adrift of first respectively.
Session results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Vittorio Ghirelli | Supernova International | 1:42.833 | 14 | |
| 2 | Kevin Giovesi | Ghinzani Motorsport | 1:43.082 | +0.249 | 14 |
| 3 | Narain Karthikeyan | Supernova International | 1:43.337 | +0.504 | 13 |
| 4 | Robert Visoiu | Ghinzani Motorsport | 1:43.809 | +0.976 | 14 |
| 5 | Sergio Campana | Ibiza Racing Team | 1:43.991 | +1.158 | 14 |
| 6 | Tamas Pal Kiss | Zele Racing | 1:44.134 | +1.301 | 15 |
| 7 | Meindert van Buuren | Manor MP Motorsport | 1:44.362 | +1.529 | 13 |
| 8 | Kimiya Sato | Euronova Racing | 1:44.404 | +1.571 | 13 |
| 9 | Daniel de Jong | Manor MP Motorsport | 1:44.440 | +1.607 | 13 |
| 10 | Andrea Roda | Virtuosi UK | 1:44.611 | +1.778 | 15 |
| 11 | Roberto La Rocca | Comtec by Virtuosi | 1:44.933 | +2.100 | 16 |
| 12 | Maxim Snegirev | Virtuosi UK | 1:45.363 | +2.530 | 15 |
| 13 | Yoshitaka Kuroda | Euronova Racing | 1:45.828 | +2.995 | 14 |
| 14 | Josef Kral | Zele Racing | 1:46.150 | +3.317 | 10 |
| 15 | Francesco Dracone | Ibiza Racing Team | 1:46.300 | +3.467 | 15 |
| 16 | Michela Cerruti | MLR 71 | 1:47.381 | +4.548 | 15 |
| 17 | Michele La Rosa | MLR 71 | 1:48.622 | +5.789 | 14 |