Buttarelli takes first Auto GP win

A poor getaway from the front row of the grid for race two meant the TP Formula driver lost ground to a fast-starting Rio Haryanto on the run down to the first corner.

Haryanto made an ambitious move around the outside of Turn 1 before setting off in pursuit of polesitter - and fellow DAMS driver - Sergei Afanasiev. A mistake by Afanasiev into turn three momentarily distracted his Indonesian team-mate, allowing Buttarelli to squeeze back past both of them on the inside. Afanasiev rejoined well down the field after bouncing through the gravel.

Following his shaky start, Buttarelli soon got the hammer down, opening up a two and half second lead and taking the chequered flag with ease.

"I'm really, really happy because it's my first win," he said. "Thirteen laps without a [pit stop] is really difficult at the end, but the car was perfect. Everything is really good!"

After radio problems cost him a near-certain debut victory in race one, Haryanto was still pleased to secure his first Auto GP podium in second at only his third event.

Luca Filippi (Super Nova) followed up his victory in race one by taking the final step of the podium, an electric start for the Italian launching him from eighth to third on the first lap. The result has strengthened Filippi's position at the top of the standings.

A terrific scrap for fourth place - which at one stage had five cars nose-to-tail - was led for the majority of race distance by Pasquale di Sabatino, who produced his strongest performance of the season at Brno. After defending hard from the squabbling pack behind, mechanical issues befell the TP Formula driver at half-distance when his radio became dislodged in the cockpit. Di Sabatino toured in to retire on the penultimate lap.

Fabrizio Crestani cemented his best Auto GP weekend to date by taking fourth, with Lazarus team-mate Fabio Onidi finishing close behind in fifth. After bogging down badly at the start, Jon Lancaster produced another fighting drive through the field to secure sixth for Super Nova, ahead of Kevin Ceccon.

Adrien Tambay (DAMS) pulled a late-braking move on the penultimate lap to deny team-mate Afanasiev eighth place, while Marco Barba bounced back from his race one startline accident to round out the top 10.

Results - 13 laps:

Pos  Driver                Team                    Time/Gap
 1.  Samuele Buttarelli    TP                    22m57.865s
 2.  Rio Haryanto          DAMS                    + 2.318s
 3.  Luca Filippi          Super Nova              + 2.692s
 4.  Fabrizio Crestani     Lazarus                + 11.421s
 5.  Fabio Onidi           Lazarus                + 12.676s
 6.  Jon Lancaster         Super Nova             + 12.996s
 7.  Kevin Ceccon          Ombra                  + 15.404s
 8.  Adrien Tambay         Gravity-Charouz/DAMS   + 19.274s
 9.  Sergei Afanasiev      DAMS                   + 21.368s
10.  Marco Barba           Campos                 + 23.718s
11.  Giovanni Venturini    Durango                + 24.905s
12.  Giuseppe Cipriani     Durango                + 44.451s

Retirements:

     Pasquale di Sabatino  TP                       11 laps
     Francesco Dracone     Emmebi                    6 laps