Luca Filippi plays down Auto GP title chances despite strong first race at Mugello
Luca Filippi believes he has little chance of catching Kevin Ceccon for the Auto GP title in tomorrow's Mugello finale
Super Nova driver Filippi moved into second place in the standings after finishing just behind winner Adrien Tambay (Campos Racing) in Saturday's feature race.
The Italian veteran is nine points behind Ceccon with only Sunday's sprint event remaining, but the reversed-grid format means Filippi will have to start seventh at the Tuscan circuit tomorrow.
Ceccon will start fifth, so his points lead looks relatively secure in a race where Filippi would need at least a third-place finish to steal the crown.
"Tomorrow is not impossible," said Filippi after race one. "But I'll need a super start because the level is quite close between the top cars and it's difficult to overtake."
"Or you need a big mess ahead of you," added Tambay. Filippi could not bring himself to disagree.
Tambay himself has a mathematical chance of winning the title from fourth place in the points table, but is not really giving that a thought despite his race victory.
"I knew it wouldn't be possible to win the championship this weekend," said the Frenchman, who must start race two in eighth position. "But it's always important to win the last race of the season so I will be going for it tomorrow."
Sergei Afanasiev (DAMS), two points behind Filippi, can also threaten Ceccon in the final race, and may have a better chance of doing so from third position on the grid.
A win could put some pressure on Ceccon, probably forcing him to finish in the top four. If things get that close, the single point available for fastest lap could well come into play.
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