Race 1: Kimiya Sato (Euronova Racing) consolidates points lead with win.

Kimiya Sato (Euronova Racing) captured a spectacular Race 1 win at Budapest. The Japanese racer, who was taking-off from the rear due to his tough luck in qualifying, recovered to fourth place at the end of the opening lap. At the front, Zele Racing’s Tamas Pal Kiss had passed Markus Pommer (Super Nova) for the lead, while Giorgio Roda (Virtuosi UK) moved on Super Nova’s female racer Michela Cerruti on lap 2 and Kevin Giovesi, driving for Eurotech, cruised to 7th in front of MLR71’s Michele La Rosa.

On lap 4, Giovesi and Ghirelli made their way to the pits: the reigning champion had bent a suspension arm at the start. On lap 5, La Rosa did the same, getting back on-track in front the Super Nova racer while not too much later, Sam Dejonghe (Vituosi UK) lost the third place he had at the start to Sato before going back to the pits followed by Cipriani. On lap 11, Sato passed one more car, jumping in front of Pommer. The German faced even tougher luck at the pits: due to a miscommunication, he made his way in one lap later than planned and following to the confusion, a wheel came away from his car and team-mate Cerruti also got stuck by the incident, compromising her race too. When it rains, it pours and Pommer was also penalized 35 seconds.

Back on-track, Sato clocked several fastest laps, and after his pit-stop he was able to pass Pal Kiss, who had to settle for second. In third, Roda captured his maiden podium finish in the series to top Giovesi and Dejonghe. On lap 15, Ghirelli also lost two spots to Zele Racing’s Yoshitaka Kuroda and La Rosa.

Race 2: Kimiya Sato (Euronova) ends up a perfect week-end.

It’s been a perfect weekend at Budapest for Kimiya Sato (Euronova Racing). The Japanese racer won both races at the Hungaroring and increased his lead in the series’ standings. He’s the third driver in Auto GP history to sweep an entire weekend after Antonio Pizzonia and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs did the same in Brazil and Portugal in 2012.

Sato, who dedicated his wins to the memory of Ayrton Senna 20 years after the sad Imola crash, edged returning Vittorio Ghirelli (Super Nova). The reigning Auto GP champion started from the pole but, having lined-up on an intermediate set-up, he couldn’t match the pace of his rival and settled for second.

Sam Dejonghe scored his maiden podium finish for Virtuosi UK: after the third place of Andrea Roda in Race 1, the British squad continued in their positive run. Dejonghe took full advantage from the absence of Michele La Rosa (MLR71 by Euronova) on the grid to get a great start and continue from that. Kevin Giovesi (Eurotech) took fourth place. He was one of the first drivers to enter the pits for the mandatory tire change and won a good battle with Roda. German Markus Pommer (Super Nova) rounded out the top-5 after a long battle with local favorite Tamas Pal Kiss (Zele Racing).

The points zone was completed by Loris Spinelli (Eurotech) and female racer Michela Cerruti (Super Nova). The next round for the Auto GP championship will be in Italy at Monza, on the 1st of June.

All Photos Auto GP.