Race 1: Narain Karthikeyan (Super Nova) scores maiden Auto GP win.

Indian racer Narain Karthikeyan, running for Super Nova International, scored his maiden Auto GP win today at Silverstone. The former F.1 racer took the honours in Race 1 after crossing the line behind Kevin Giovesi. The Italian was later penalized though, as he stopped for the mandatory pit-stop at Ghinzani Motorsport during the last lap, a procedure which is forbidden by the rules.After an incredibly consistent race in which he trailed Karthikeyan for the whole time, Giovesi was thus penalized and moved back from first to 13th place. On the other hand, Karthikeyan also held a stunning pace for the whole time, showing great consistency as he administrated his advantage on Giovesi before being set back by pit-stops. In addition to his win, the second straight for Super Nova International, the British squad also scored their maiden 1-2 finish with Vittorio Ghirelli taking 2nd. The Roman didn't have the best of starts but promptly recovered by passing Andrea Roda (Virtuosi UK) and Tamas Pal Kiss (Zele Racing).

Unfortunately for him, Roda was forced to retire by a clutch issue while his Hungarian colleague, at his second Auto GP run, managed to score a very valuable podium finish. Daniel De Jong, the first MP Motorsport driver to cross the line, took 4th place from Ibiza Racing Team's Fabrizio Crestani, who rounded out the top-5 in an awesome recovery drive from 14th. Championship leader Kimiya Sato (Euronova Racing) and Crestani's team-mate Sergio Campana took 6th and 7th, with the latter losing second place in standings in favour of Ghirelli. He will be set for a comeback by starting Race 2 from the front row thanks to today's position. With the reverse top-8 format, the pole will belong to Meindert van Buuren (MP Motorsport). The rest of the top-10 today was Visoiu (Ghinzani Motorsport) and Brit Luciano Bacheta (Zele Racing), who had suffered from suspension issues in yesterday's qualifying.The second race of the Auto GP weekend at Silverstone is set to take-off tomorrow, Sunday June 2nd, at 13:20 local time (GMT+1) with live streaming coverage on the Auto GP website.

Narain Karthikeyan:

“I'm happy to have scored my maiden Auto GP win. I found a great feeling with the car and track combination and on such a tough circuit like Silverstone I feel I managed to take the best out of our package.”

Vittorio Ghirelli:

“I didn't had a good start and that compromised my chances for the victory. The car ran great though as confirmed by the fastest lap we set. In addition to that, I was able to pull a couple of outside passes at Copse because we also had great stability.”

Tamas Pal Kiss:

“This is just my second Auto GP start, the first with this team, and I'm already on the podium. I'm very happy with how this race turned out and I hope to continue to score big points in tomorrow's Race 2.”

Silverstone, Race 2: Kimiya Sato (Euronova Racing) back to win.

Championship leader Kimiya Sato made his way back to win in today's Auto GP Race 2 at Silverstone. The Japanese racer, who was taking-off from the second row, managed to pass both front-row starters Meindert van Buuren (MP Motorsport) e Sergio Campana (Ibiza Racing Team). The Modena based man managed to held onto second place while fellow Italian Kevin Giovesi, running in the series for the first time, rounded out the podium for Ghinzani Motorsport. After yesterday's penalty, Giovesi gave former Formula 1 Piercarlo Ghinzani and his team a rewarding second podium finish of the season after their run at Monza.

Yesterday's winner Narain Karthikeyan experienced a good run for Super Nova Racing while he crossed the line in 4th. The Indian racer was though penalized due to a yellow-flag pass on Russian Max Snegirev (Virtuosi UK). As he lost several spots, both MP Motorsport men, van Buuren and De Jong managed to sit into the top-5 while their team-mate Riccardo Agostini also made it to the points. The Italian recovered from the back of the pack all the way to 9th. Snegirev then proceeded to end up in 7th while points were also scored by the Zele Racing cars with Hungarian Tamas Pal Kiss and local man Luciano Bacheta.

Two more Italians faced tough runs as both Andrea Roda (Virtuosi UK) and Fabrizio Crestani (Ibiza Racing Team), started from the pit-lane. The latter got stuck on the grid forcing the stewards to start a second formation lap with the total number of laps going from 14 to 13. Nonetheless, Crestani scored the last available point profiting from Karthikeyan's penalty. On the record also goes a contact between Robert Visoiu (Ghinzani Motorsport) and Vittorio Ghirelli (Super Nova International). The Romanian will be penalized 5 position in Race 1 at Mugello.

Kimiya Sato:

“I'm happy to be back to victory on a tough racetrack like Silverstone. The team got the right strategy for the pit-stop and that enabled us to keep a good pace throughout the whole race. We also scored some very valuable points for the overall standings.”

Sergio Campana:

“The podium is definitely a good reward for the team's work. Having missed the second session of practice for an engine change slowed down our work, but I've been really happy with the set-up we managed to work out eventually.”

Kevin Giovesi:

“I immediately found myself well-suited with the Auto GP car and with Team Ghinzani as I went onto the podium for the second time this weekend. After yesterday's penalty, we had a very good pace on Race 2 and we definitely proved that with a comeback from 13th place. I hope to return to this championship soon.”

All Photos Auto GP.