Race 1: Narain Karthikeyan (Super Nova International) gets back into the game.

Narain Karthikeyan (Super Nova International) took a good win in the first race of the Auto GP weekend at Brno. The Czech track, hosting the final round of the 2013 season, delivered once again the crowds with a nice environment for racing. After making a quick getaway at the start, the Indian was able to jump in front of both the front row starters. He then managed his advantage during the pit-stop phases and eventually crossed the line in first place. With 195 points to his toll, Karthikeyan is currently trailing his team-mate for the championship lead, with Ghirelli still on top with 210 points. The Italian suffered from an issue at the start and lost ground also to the Ghinzani Motorsport pair of Robert Visoiu and Kevin Giovesi.

Unfortunately for him, Giovesi was stopped by a clutch problem during the first lap, while the Romanian faced Ghirelli throughout the day before settling for third and scoring his second podium finish of the season. Kimiya Sato, driving for Euronova Racing, ended up with a fourth place. The Japanese man, who is celebrating his 24th birthday, recovered several positions by going for an early pit-stop and is still has some chances for the title. Sergio Campana (Ibiza Racing Team) could not accomplish the same feature as he had to content with 6th place, which didn't allow him to mathematically stay into the hunt. The top-5 was rounded out by Zele Racing's Tamas Pal Kiss, who also logged the fastest lap of the day en-route to edging Campana and Andrea Roda (Virtuosi UK).

Roberto La Rocca, driving for Comtec by Virtuosi, took 8th place and the pole spot for Race 2 while the points zone was rounded out by Dutchman Daniel De Jong (MP Motorsport) and Russian Max Snegirev (Virtuosi UK).

Narain Karthikeyan:

“I scored my fifth win this season and it helped me to fight back to second place in standings, plus I also have more hopes to fight for the title tomorrow. Today I drove a good race, with a nice start, and I held a quick pace despite the rear tire wear”.

Vittorio Ghirelli:

“At the start I suffered from a technical glitch that cost me some valuable positions.I passed Giovesi during the first lap and also moved on Visoiu after the pit-stop. Today's second place helped me to keep the advantage intact in standings. Now I'm looking forward to fight for the title tomorrow”.

Robert Visoiu:

“I'm very happy to be back onto the podium. We always had a good potential during the season, but for several reasons we didn't put all the strings together. I will try to do it all again tomorrow although it won’t be easy with the reverse grid”.

Race 2: Kimiya Sato (Euronova Racing) takes the win. Vittorio Ghirelli (Super Nova Internatinal) is the 2013 Auto GP Champion!

Kimiya Sato (Euronova Racing) cruised to victory in the last 2013 round of the Auto GP championship at Brno. The Japanese racer succeeded in a classic comeback after starting from the front row. Unfortunately for him, winning and scoring the fastest lap of the race was not enough to try and seal the championship.

So at the end of an exciting race Vittorio Ghirelli, who entered Brno as the leader, became the 2013 Auto GP Champion. The Roman, who had already won the Under 21 honours, completed a stellar year with the overall title which came at the last round of a sensational season.

Crossing the line in the lead was Narain Karthikeyan, but the Super Nova International man was disqualified. The Indian received a black and orange flag, meaning he had to go back to the pits because his front wing had lost one support and that creating a dangerous situation. So behind Sato, Sergio Campana, driving for Ibiza Racing Team, took second place and also nailed the third place in standings edging Ghirelli.

Kimiya Sato:

“I'm very happy to have scored this victory although the disappointment for the lost title is quite big. I still fought until the end, winning and even logging the fastest lap of the race. I think I showed the team's and my potential”.

Sergio Campana:

“We showed a good pace in today's race. I started quicker than the drivers I had in front and I started recovering right from the start. It's been a pity for the fact that we exited the title fight early. That said, we stayed among the frontrunners all the time and third place in standings is a good result for us”.

Vittorio Ghirelli:

“I want to thank the team for having enabled me to win the title. We made a clean sweep, taking the overall, the Under 21 and the teams' titles. Today's race has been hard because I wanted everything to be perfect. I avoided to take risks and we managed to accomplish our goal”.

All Photos Auto GP.