Narain Karthikeyan wins AutoGP round at Silverstone

Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan claimed his maiden win in the fourth round of the AutoGP series at the Silverstone circuit after race leader Kevin Giovesi was given a one-minute post-race penalty for an illegal pitstop. Narain who had several technical and operational issues in his first three rounds, which compromised his performance, made a change of teams before the round. 

Having driven with reigning F2 Champion Luciano Bacheta as his teammate at Zele Racing team, Narain has now shifted to Super Nova Racing team and is driving alongside the reigning F3 Champion Vittorio Ghirelli. Narain’s connection with Super Nova goes back to his days when he raced in the A1GP championship with the team. 

The switch in teams seems to have made him more confident and played to his advantage as he topped the time sheets in the practice sessions and also qualified at pole position. Starting from pole, Narain took lead but lost it later in a tight battle with Kevin Giovesi who had also started the race from front-row.

However, Giovasi’s team Ghinzai Motorsport made an illegal pitstop due to which the driver was penalised and handed a one-minute post race penalty that resulted in Narain being catapulted to the top of the podium. Due to the penalty Giovasi eventually finished the race third. 

Nevertheless, the team switch proved to be ideal for Narain as his teammate Ghirelli finished behind him in second and currently the team leads the points table with 150 points. Super Nova team have been champions last year and it will definitely benefit Narain to be with a winning team. The next round of the series will be held from July 13-14, 2013, at Mugello in Italy.