Former Renault F1 driver Romain Grosjean claimed the lead in the Auto GP championship this weekend, taking third in race one before dominating the second race at the Navarra Circuit.
The Franco-Swiss racer missed the first two rounds of this year's championship, but now heads DAMS teammate Edoardo Piscopo by one point heading in to the final event at Monza. Elsewhere at Navarra Julian Leal (Trident) claimed his maiden series win, whilst erstwhile GP2 racer Giacomo Ricci made an impressive Auto GP debut, taking runner-up spot in race two.
Race One.
Starting from pole Leal faced little challenge at the start and immediately began to build an advantage over championship leader Piscopo. However the Italian did manage to keep Leal in his sights early on, and from lap nine began to chip away at the Colombian's lead.
Piscopo then made for the pits, hoping to leapfrog Leal during the mandatory round of stops. However the Trident crew was equal to the challenge, and got their driver out narrowly ahead of Piscopo.
The safety car was then dispatched, allowing marshals to remove the Charouz-Gravity Racing machine of Adrien Tambay following a collision between the Frenchman and teammate Jan Charouz. Racing resumed on lap 16, and Piscopo immediately set about Leal. However the Colombian was able to shut the door on the Italian every time, and held to take a deserved victory.
Grosjean took an impressive third, having climbed from eight on the grid. The DAMS driver elected to make his mandatory pitstop early on, and with a clear track in front of him he was able to lap around a second quicker than he had done in traffic. When the rest of the field had stopped this strategy had paid off, with Grosjean promoted to p.3.
Duncan Tappy (DAMS) took fourth, ahead of third-placed starter Jonny Reid (Super Nova). Behind them a number of penalties and disqualifications shuffled the order post-race, with the eventual results seeing series debutant Giacomo Ricci (RP Motorsport) sixth, Luca Filippi (Super Nova) seventh and Natasha Gachnang (Charouz-Gravity) eighth
Race Two.
Eighth place in race one gave Gachnang pole for race two, and the Swiss racer made a good job of her start. After being passed by Ricci on lap two she maintained a solid pace, and held second position until Grosjean got past her on lap eight.
Grosjean immediately began to hunt Ricci down, and on lap 14 was on the tail of the RP Motorsport car, passing him with ease on the straight. He then quickly pulled away from the pack, registering times nearly 1 second per lap quicker than second placed Ricci on his way to victory.
Ricci's tyres were now going off, leading to a great battle between the debutant and Jan Charouz (Charouz-Gravity). The Czech closed a sizeable gap, having climbed from ninth, and passed Ricci on lap 16. But the Italian was able to pass him again, and whilst Charouz piled on the pressure - leading to the pair running side-by-side around the final corner - Ricci held on to second place, just 0.017 clear of his rival.
Tappy was once again fourth, ahead of Adrien Tambay, who'd climbed from 13th on the grid, and Johnny Reid. Race one winner Leal meanwhile was hit by Piscopo on lap 2, ending the Colombian's race and sending the DAMS man in to the pits for a drivethrough penalty. He couldn't get close to the points but did record the fastest lap of the race, and so trails Grosjean by a single point ahead of the season finale.
Today’s result also saw DAMS claim the Auto GP teams' championship. The French outfit leads the standings by 54 points heading to Monza, a gap that rivals Charouz-Gravity Racing cannot overhaul.
The final round of the championship takes place on October 2-3.
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James Weeks.
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