Roda claims Auto GP win in Austria

Virtuosi UK driver Andrea Roda claimed his first Auto GP victory in the second race at the Red Bull Ring.

Roda led home Tamas Pal Kiss by just over six seconds to complete a 1-2 for the British team, as it took its first victory in the series since the end of 2012.

Italian driver Roda, who started sixth on the reverse grid for the second of the two Austrian races, jumped to fourth on lap one and was up to second behind Kevin Giovesi by the end of the second lap. He was then the first of the frontrunners to make his mandatory pit stop after six of the 20 laps and was followed by immediate pursuers Kiss and race one winner Kimiya Sato over the following two laps.

Roda emerged from the pit stop cycle just ahead of Kiss, who subsequently lost time as he battled to keep Sato behind. The Virtuosi duo then moved to the top of the leaderboard when Giovesi was delayed when the left-rear wheel failed to go on cleanly when he pitted after 15 laps.

Roda said: "I made a really good start and, after making an early pitstop, I pushed hard, which gave me a margin over Tamas."

Giovesi retired on the lap after his pitstop with what the FMS Racing team described as a suspension problem.

Championship leader Sato's challenge ended at the same time when a top-link on the left-rear suspension failed. The high rate of attrition allowed Michela Cerruti to come through to third from the back of the grid in her Super  Nova entry.She finished a second and a half clear of the chasing Shinya Michimi, who had stalled his Euronova car at the start and started from the pitlane.

The last classified finishers in fifth and sixth places were the respective Euronova and FMS entries driven by Michele La Rosa and Salvatore de Plano.

Super Nova driver Markus Pommer, who came into the weekend tied with Giovesi for second in the championship, retired on the second lap with a suspected engine problem.