Sato bags third win of the season at Silverstone

Photo: autogp.net

Japanese racer Kimiya Sato emerged victorious in the sprint race of the Silverstone Auto GP round, converting his third place on the grid into a top spot on the podium.

While not starting on the front row of the grid, Sato was first into turn one and kept the lead until the checkered flag. He left his stop very late, but still rejoined in front of Sergio Campana, as the Italian continued his title hunt with a strong second-place finish.

Kevin Giovesi, again, made all the headlines after he was denied his first AutoGP victory yesterday by going from 13th on the grid to the podium. Narain Karthikeyan finished fourth on the road, but was penalised for overtaking under yellows, hanging the spot to Meindert van Buuren, the polesitter of the race.

Daniel de Jong took fifth, ahead of Max Snegirev and Tamas Pal Kiss. Luciano Bacheta, Riccardo Agostini and Fabrizio Crestani rounded out the top ten.

Vittorio Ghirelli was an early retirement after being wrecked by Robert Visoiu on lap one. The Romanian, himself not having made the checkered flag, will receive a five-place grid penalty for the next race of the series.

In the standings, Sato leads Campana with 126 points to 113, as Ghirelli occupies third with 102.

Race results

* Narain Karthikeyan finished 4th on-track, but was docked 25 seconds for overtaking under yellows