Auto GP: Pommer takes comfortable Monza win

Markus Pommer took his second victory of the Auto GP season at Monza, converting his pole position into a comfortable win on Saturday afternoon.

The Super Nova driver resisted initial pressure from Eurotech's Kevin Giovesi in the first three-quarters of the 17-lap sprint. That pressure dissipated after Giovesi was significantly delayed at his mandatory pit stop when a recalcitrant left-rear wheel caused the Italian to tumble down the order, eventually finishing in a lowly eighth position. There was some solace for Giovesi though as he will start Sunday's second race from pole position.

Pommer headed home Tamas Pal Kiss in the Zele entered Lola by just over a second and the German always looked in control during the final laps despite the Hungarian closing to within a second at one stage.

Pommer's only scare came immediately before the start of the race when a recurrence of his free practice paddle shift selection issues left Super Nova working furiously to ensure changes to the settings and a clean getaway.

Completing the podium at her home track was Pommer's teammate Michela Cerruti. An impressive first portion of the race where she held her third place starting position looked momentarily to have been spoiled after a slow pit stop. But after repelling Andrea Roda forcefully but fairly at the Rettifilo, Cerruti took a well-deserved podium despite losing a piece of her bodywork at the Parabolica on the final lap, a legacy of the Roda battle. It was Cerruti's best finish of her 2014 campaign so far.

Front row starter Christof von Grunigen (Zele) endured a tough Auto GP debut as he struggled to get away from the line cleanly and was swamped by the pack. A second-lap collision with Loris Spinelli's Eurotech car sent the Swiss racer skating off into the Parabolica gravel with a damaged left-rear wheel. The incident also accounted for Spinelli's subsequent retirement.

Series debutant Shinya Michimi looked set to finish in fourth place but a late mechanical failure parked his Euronova Racing Lola at the first Lesmo, completing a miserable race for the Vincenzo Sospiri-led team.

Michele La Rosa inherited fifth place after briefly leading during the pitstops, while Francesco Dracone came home sixth despite a lurid moment when he outbraked himself at the first chicane.