Ghirelli secures title as Sato takes win five

Photo: Auto GP World Series

Super Nova International’s Vittorio Ghirelli became the 2013 Auto GP World Series champion by finishing fourth in race two at Brno, which was won by Euronova’s Kimiya Sato.

With a 15-point cushion over nearest rival Narain Karthikeyan, Ghirelli needed to finish sixth to put the title beyond doubt – a task which he completed with a collected, riskless drive.

Roberto La Rocca started the race from reverse-grid pole position, but got bogged down off the line, allowing fellow front row starter Andrea Roda to briefly take the lead. However, the Italian almost immediately surrendered first to Euronova’s Kimiya Sato, who made a lightning start from fifth on the grid.

Sato comfortably led the race after the opening lap, which presented a real threat for Ghirelli’s title hopes, as the Italian found himself in only eighth after the opening laps.

However, as it has been the norm in Auto GP, pit stop strategies ended up playing a huge part in how the field shaped up at the checkered flag. Both Karthikeyan and Ghirelli managed to make their ways up the field due to pitch perfect stops from their Super Nova squad, with the Indian slotting in behind Sato for the closing stages of the race.

Still, an expected challenge for the lead from the experienced Super Nova man failed to materialize, as he started to slow down significantly due to a loose front wing. As such, Sato comfortably cruised to a dominant fifth victory of the season, while Karthikeyan settled for second.

Sergio Campana, who opted for a late stop, rounded out the podium. Ghirelli, who was running fourth among those who stopped, found himself stuck behind Francesco Dracone in the late stages of the race, who held up the championship leader with some rather questionable defending before coming for his mandatory stop. From that point on, Ghirelli cruised to fourth and secured the title.

Roda recorded fifth place for Virtuosi, finishing close behind the newly-crowned champion. Tamas Pal Kiss and Kevin Giovesi finished sixth and seventh respectively, with poleman La Rocca taking eighth. Manor duo Daniel de Jong and Meindert van Buuren rounded? out the points.

UPDATE: Narain Karthikeyan has been excluded from the race results for failing to comply with an apparent black-and-orange flag. As such, the Indian racer will lose third in the final standings of the season to Sergio Campana.

Race results

Championship standings