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Brno Auto GP: Karthikeyan wins to keep title hopes alive

Narain Karthikeyan vaulted into second position in the Auto GP drivers' standings after clinching his fifth victory of the season at Brno

The Indian, who started the weekend as a title outsider in fourth place in the standings, made a flier from third on the grid to lead the field into Turn 1.

An anticipated challenge from Kevin Giovesi failed to materialise when the Italian hit technical trouble halfway around the opening tour, and it fell to the second Ghinzani entry of Robert Visoiu to provide Karthikeyan's chief opposition.

The GP3 race winner chipped away at a large early advantage established by Karthikeyan to close within 1.5 seconds of the lead. But, despite a wild trip down the grass exiting the final corner on lap 12, ex-Formula 1 driver Karthikeyan was able to summon a response to Visoiu's pace.

Slow-starting polesitter Vittorio Ghirelli completed a Super Nova one-two after opportunistically passing Visoiu for second when the Romanian emerged from the pits on cold tyres three laps from home.

The pair ran wheel-to-wheel for several corners, and championship leader Ghirelli admitted to taking a chance in order to complete the manoeuvre.

The Formula Renault 3.5 graduate has a 15-point lead over Karthikeyan, and remains favourite to earn his maiden crown in car racing on Sunday as there is a maximum score of 21 points available in the final race of the season.

Behind Visoiu, who secured his second podium of the season, Kimiya Sato held off Tamas Pal Kiss by 0.2s to take fourth place.

Sato maintains a mathematical possibility of winning the Auto GP drivers' title, but, barring any shock scrutineering dramas for the Super Nova duo, sixth-place finisher Sergio Campana appears to have dropped out of contention.

A yellow flag at Turn 12 in the closing stages, owing to Michela Cerruti's stranded car, denied the leaders any opportunity of wrestling the bonus point for fastest lap away from Tamas Pal Kiss.

Results - 16 laps:

Pos Driver                Team            Time/Gap
 1. Narain Karthikeyan    Super Nova      28m44.800s
 2. Vittorio Ghirelli     Super Nova      +3.331s
 3. Robert Visoiu         Ghinzani        +7.804s
 4. Kimiya Sato           Euronova        +12.210s
 5. Tamas Pal Kiss        Zele            +12.440s
 6. Sergio Campana        Ibiza           +29.106s
 7. Andrea Roda           Virtuosi UK     +29.316s
 8. Roberto La Rocca      Comtec          +31.389s
 9. Daniel de Jong        Manor           +33.723s
10. Maxim Snegirev        Virtuosi UK     +38.834s
11. Yoshitaka Kuroda      Euronova        +41.939s
12. Meindert van Buuren   Manor           +59.710s
13. Francesco Dracone     Ibiza           +1m04.743s
14. Michele La Rosa       MLR 71          +1m15.204s
15. Josef Kral            Zele            +1m24.410s
16. Michela Cerruti       MLR 71          +4 laps

Retirements:

    Kevin Giovesi         Ghinzani         0 laps


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