Luciano Bacheta won his first AutoGP World Series race Sunday in Marrakech, Morocco, also the season’s first triumph for Zele Racing. Narain Karthikeyan was hit by De Jong early in the race.
Luciano started from Pole Position, but saw his lead vanish, when the Safety Car came out. After the re-start the 22-year-old Brit was on third, but fought his way back to the top. He avoided any incidents in a crash-stricken event to celebrate his maiden victory in the series. „It’s a great feeling. I actually don’t like overtaking, but looking back on it, it was quite enjoyable. (laughing). It was a tough race with many incidents, but we did a great job, stayed out of trouble. You always value this kind of races, once they are finished. There are still things, I have to work on, but today I am happy for the team and for myself.”
Narain lost a spot, when the lights went out, but quickly found his speed and heavily attacked the frontrunners. Trying to overtake De Jong, he was pushed off the track by the Dutchman and lost too much time due to a puncture, so the team decided to retire the car. “The driving standards in this championship are appalling at times. I passed this guy and he just hit my side, although I gave him enough room. That’s really disappointing, because we had the fastest car out there.”
Team boss Michael Zele was delighted with the team’s first victory, but sorry for Narain’s DNF: „It’s a great relief to final win a race. We were pretty close several times, but previously silly mishaps had always stopped us. That Narain was hit by De Jong is particularly sad, because he was the fastest car in Marrakech all weekend. Narain and the car were absolutely top.”
In the drivers’ standings Bacheta is now fourth (41 points), while Karthikeyan hails from eighth (19). Zele Racing are fourth in the team standings (60).
Result Race 2 Auto GP Round Two Marrakesh
1. BACHETA (GBR) – ZELE RACING
2. Ghirelli (ITA) – Super Nova International
3. Sato (JPN) – Euronova Racing
4. Visiou (ROM) – Ghinazi Motorsport
5. Snegirev (RUS) – Virtuosi Racing
6. Spavone (ITA) – Super Nova International
6. Van Buuren (NED) – Manor MP Motorsport
7. Roda (ITA) – Virtuosi Racing
8. Kuroda (JPN) – Euronova Racing
out: KARTHIKEYAN (IND) – ZELE RACING
Fastest Lap: Ghirelli
