Despite starting from the front, the first of two races in Marrakech, Morocco, has not worked out as well as expected for Austrian team Zele Racing: Narain Karthikeyan finished sixth, while teammate Luciano Bacheta came eighth.
Narain was dominant in free practice and qualifying, earning himself a spot in the front row. However, problems changing the left front wheel cost him dearly and the Indian could only secure sixth place and vital points for the championship thanks to top lap times in the dying stages of the race. “I had a lot of wheelspin at the start and quickly dropped back. I could catch up, but lost a lot of time in the pits. It’s pretty unfortunate, as I have now missed out on two podium finishes due to technical problems. But I will attack again tomorrow and hope all goes well.”
Luciano Bacheta’s race was entirely different, as the 22-year-old Brit was further down the grid after qualifying. But Bacheta was battling hard, showing some outstanding wheel-to-wheel duels, to finish eighth. “I was far down at the start, so we pitted really early. However, that meant, I had to do the race with really worn-out tires. We managed to get up to 8th, so I will start from Pole tomorrow and am still super motivated, as we are in for a win.”
Team boss Michael Zele was not impressed with his outfit’s display saying: „We cannot be content, since Narain could have won the race single-handedly. Instead, he finished sixth, 14 seconds adrift the winner, despite setting a new lap record. His pitstop was a disaster, but these things happen. Luciano started from far down the grid, so P8, and thus Pole Position for tomorrow, is acceptable.”
Result Race 1 Auto GP Round Two Marrakesh
1. Campana (ITA) – Ibiza Racing
2. De Jong (NED) – Manor MP Motorsport
3. Sato (JPN) – Euronova Racing
4. Agostini (ITA) – Manor MP Motorsport5. Spavone (ITA) – Super Nova International
6. KARTHIKEYAN (IND) – ZELE RACING
7. Ghirelli (ITA) – Super Nova International
8. BACHETA (GBR) – ZELE RACING
Fastest Lap: KARTHIKEYAN 1:28.450
