Quaife-Hobbs completes perfect Auto GP weekend at Algarve with victory in race two

From eighth on the reversed grid, the Super Nova racer gained added satisfaction from achieving all his passing manoeuvres on-track. The GP3 graduate's title chances were boosted further after Pal Varhaug, Quaife-Hobbs' closest rival in the drivers' standings, retired following an opening lap collision.

The Virtuosi UK driver was tagged into a spin by Formula Abarth champion Sergey Sirotkin and was unable to restart from the incident.

Euronova Racing's Sirotkin recovered from the early delay to briefly hound pole-sitter Chris van der Drift for second place. Sirotkin dropped back in the closing laps as he struggled on used soft compound Kumhos, and was 1.4s adrift of the Kiwi at the chequered flag.

Van der Drift's chances of adding to his Marrakech victory were dented by two early appearances of the safety car - the first to deal with Varhaug's stricken machine, and the second on lap four following a collision between debutant Juan Carlos Sistos (Zele Racing) and Quaife-Hobbs' Super Nova team-mate Victor Guerin.

Manor MP Motorsport driver van der Drift was the only driver to start on new soft tyres, but had little option other than to pit earlier than planned during the safety-car period to make his mandatory tyre change onto used soft fronts.

Italian Formula 3 champion Sergio Campana produced a more competitive showing than during Saturday's opening race, where he was affected by ride-height dramas. He overtook the second Manor MP Motorsport entry of early leader Daniel de Jong on lap 12 to secure fourth place.

Campos Racing's Facu Regalia, engineered by ex-Formula 1 engineer Gabriele Tredozi for the first time this season, completed the top six.

Quaife-Hobbs leads the drivers' standings on 196 points, 73 ahead of Varhaug. There are 98 points still on offer over the final two meetings of the season in Brazil and the United States.

Results - 18 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team           Time/Gap
 1.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs  Super Nova   31m19.348s
 2.  Chris van der Drift  Manor MP       + 5.451s
 3.  Sergey Sirotkin      Euronova       + 6.921s
 4.  Sergio Campana       MLR 71        + 12.555s
 5.  Facu Regalia         Campos        + 16.861s
 6.  Giancarlo Serenelli  Ombra         + 20.147s
 7.  Daniel de Jong       Manor MP      + 22.012s
 8.  Maxim Snegirev       Campos        + 23.482s
 9.  Antonio Spavone      Euronova      + 23.910s
10.  Francesco Dracone    Virtuosi UK   + 24.750s
11.  Michele la Rosa      MLR 71        + 39.844s

Retirements:

     Sten Pentus          Zele             8 laps
     Juan Carlos Sistos   Zele             4 laps
     Victor Guerin        Super Nova       3 laps
     Pal Varhaug          Virtuosi UK      0 laps
     Giuseppe Cipriani    Campos           0 laps