Antonio Pizzonia needed virtually no time to find the right pace in Auto GP
The home hero closed the first free practice session in second place, just 0”6 shy of Championship leader Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. The Briton confirmed his great pace topping the sheets with a 1’12”767 but the highlight of this first 30’ was undoubtedly Pizzonia’s great comeback on a single-seater: the former F1 driver surely made the most of his deep knowledge of the Curitiba track, something that allowed him to focus just on finding the feeling with Ombra Racing and the Zytek-powered Lola.
Euronova’s Sergey Sirotkin posted the third quickest time two tenths adrift from Pizzonia, confirming his status of regular contender for podium and wins.
Behind the Russian talent Pål Varhaug and Chris Van der Drift ended the session with exactly the same laptime (1’13”667) ahead of Sergio Campana who closed his first session at Euronova Racing in P6. Daniel de Jong was 7th with 1’13”798 ahead of Max Snegirev, while newcomer Rafael Suzuki was ninth with a 1’15”562. A 24 years-old from Saõ Paulo, Suzuki has raced in Japanese and German F3 in the last seasons, and is at his debut on an hi-power powerful car as Auto GP.
source: Auto GP, autogp.org