The Angolan National Anthem was heard at Silverstone as Luis Sa Silva took his maiden Auto GP victory, holding off the charging Facu Regalia by just 0.048s in a side-by-side finish.
The start was aborted twice, with first Zele Racing’s Antonio Pizzonia and then Virtuosi UK’s Nikita Zlobin stalling on the grid, meaning the already reduced distance of ten laps was shortened even more to eight.
Zele Racing’s Sa Silva took the lead on the first lap, passing Giuseppe Cipriani, who had jumped pole sitter Andres Mendez at the start, and then pulled away as Regalia and Pizzonia were forced to make their way through the field.
Cipriani held up Regalia for a couple of laps before the FMS Racing driver forced his way past, with Pizzonia following the Argentine driver through into third.
Regalia then set about the gap to Sa Silva, and over the last couple of laps was glued to the rear of the Zele Racing machine, but despite his best efforts and with some at times extreme defensive driving from the Angolan, the Argentine driver missed out on victory by the tiniest of margins as the two drivers crossed the line side-by-side.
Pizzonia was 2.383s back from the win in third, while Ibiza Racing Team’s Cipriani held off the challenge of Paolo Coloni Racing’s Christof von Grünigen for fourth.
Mendez, having started the race from the front of the grid, quickly dropped down the order, and was classified sixth, ahead of Zlobin who after repeatedly being warned by the stewards about exceeding track limits was handed a drive through penalty.
Silverstone Race 2 Result
[table id=303 /]