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ECCON: "I CAN STRETCH MY LEAD IN VALENCIA"AMPOS JR. AIMS FOR STRONG SHOWING IN HIS HOME RACE

MAGAZINE05/2011

AFANASIEV AND VENTURINI

BOTH CLINCH SECOND SEASON

WIN IN OSCHERSLEBEN

BACK TOSUCCESS

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RACE REPORT - BRNO

Round 09

Sergei Afanasiev shines again in AutoGP: the Russian driver, who recently hadto miss the Donington round due toproblems in obtaining the visa, passedfrom bad to good clinching a dominatingwin (the second of his season) in the firstrace of the Oschersleben weekend.The most delicate phase of the race wasthe start, as the two sides of the gridshowed very different grip, with wetspots off the racing line. Crestani wasstarting from pole on the dry side of thetrack, and this allowed him a perfect start:behind, anyway, the others were

immediately fighting for position. Buttarelliemerged from P6 to P2, but then hebraked too late and slipped on the wet,collecting the Lazarus driver.With the two rivals already out, SergeiAfanasiev took the lead ahead of AdrienTambay, who boasted an incredible startpassing from 7th place on the grid tosecond. The Russian driver of DAMS,anyway, quickly built a gap racing on apace that was steadily half a secondquicker than anybody else. Thing

changed right after the pit-stop, when achange in the balance of the cars forced

Sergei to slow down a bit allowingTambay, who was pushing really hard, tocatch him: Adrien tried a move at thebraking zone for the first corner and thetwo were really close for a couple of laps,but then Afanasiev started pushing again,posting the fastest lap of the race on lap22 and winning the race.Behind them, the fight for 3rd positionwas as exciting: at the beginning of therace the duel was between Fabio Onidiand Kevin Ceccon, with the Lazarusdriver pushing really hard despite hisfractured hand: he passed the 17 year-oldrival at the last corner on lap 1, and then

kept 3rd place until it was time for themandatory pit-stop: Ceccon pitted on lap14 and his tyre change wasnt really quickbut Onidis one, on lap 16, was slowerdue to some issues with the rear righttyre: Kevin Korjus made the most of thesituation and with a very quick pit-stop byDAMS he took third place. Anyway histyres were still cold, and Onidi felt that hewas quicker than him: Fabio tried anoutside move but Korjus closed the door,and Ceccon made the most of the open

gap to dive on the inside, securing P4.The trio had a close fight for some laps,

until Korjus car stopped at the exit ofTurn 7, probably due to an electricalglitch.Ceccon defended himself from Onidi inthe last laps to clinch third place, whileFabio can be very happy of his P4 finish:he was coming to this weekend with noexpectations because of the injury, sothis is definitely a great result.I knew that at the start there could havebeen issues with the damp side of thetrack - said winner Afanasiev - so I wasvery careful. After that my rivals helpedme going out the race wasnt easyanyway, especially after the pit-stop.

Anyway I managed to control Tambayand Im really happy of this win, clinchingit after missing Donington makes it evenbetter!.

AFANASIEV AND VENTURINI

SHARE GERMAN HONOURS

Afanasiev takes

Race 1 win

RACE REPORT - OSCHERSLEBEN

Venturini celebratesRace 2 success

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WHOS THE LEADERROUND 091 Sergei AFANASIEV Dams 24 laps in 3258137, avg 161.43 km/h2 Adrien TAMBAY Campos Racing +0.644

3 Kevin CECCON Ombra Racing +16.1354 Fabio ONIDI Lazarus +19.3295 Adrian CAMPOS-JR Campos Racing +24.4156 Daniel De JONG MP Motorsport +28.2497 Pasquale DI SABATINO TP Formula +31.6908 Giovanni VENTURINI Griffitz Durango +34.1839 Bruno MENDEZ Campos Racing +1 lap10 Kevin KORJUS Dams +2 laps

ROUND 101 Giovanni VENTURINI Griffitz Durango 17 laps in 30252682 Sergei AFANASIEV Dams +1.1833 Adrien TAMBAY Campos Racing +3.3764 Pasquale DI SABATINO TP Formula +3.8175 Kevin KORJUS Dams +5.913

6 Kevin CECCON Ombra Racing +6.0997 Daniel De JONG MP Motorsport +11.1658 Samuele BUTTARELLI TP Formula +30.3889 Fabrizio CRESTANI Lazarus +1 lap10 Fabio ONIDI Lazarus +1 lap

CLASSIFICATIONDrivers Standings: 1. Ceccon 100; 2. Filippi 98; 3. Afanasiev 83; 4.Venturini 75; 5. Tambay 68; 6. Buttarelli 63; 7. Crestani 58; 8. Onidi 56;9. Lancaster 51; 10. Di Sabatino 36.

Under 21 Standings: 1. Ceccon 161; 2. Venturini 115; 3. Buttarelli 103;4. Tambay 95; 5. Haryanto 72; 6. Mendez 71; 7. de Jong 47; 8. Korjus18; 9. Bizzarri 10.

Round 10

In Race 2 Giovanni Venturini clinched hissecond Auto GP win: the italian driver,who was dominating in the seasonsmaiden weekend in Monza, got on thehigher step of the podium again after anhard fought race.The weather made everything it could tomake things difficult for teams and driverswith heavy rain and wind hitting the track.

Venturini and Griffitz Durango coped wellwith such difficult conditions, despitebeing under pressure for the whole race.The only calm moment was the start,because the Safety Car was called in forthree laps. Then, from the restart tonearly the end, Venturini had to keep aneye on the mirrors to keep at bay acharging Daniel de Jong: the Dutchmanof MP Motorsport, who was P3 on thegrid, passed Di Sabatino on the first lapand then started putting pressure on

Venturini. The gap between the two neverreached the 1 mark, and Daniel nearly

managed an outside pass on lap 11.Anyway Venturini was very clever andfocused, leaving no room for a real attackand leading Daniel to a mistake that withjust two laps to go dropped him toseventh, ruining a very good race.This handed Sergei Afanasiev 2nd place,after that the Russian boasted a verycareful and clever drive: he was startingfrom 8th place but thanks to the fightsbetween his rivals he was able to recoverup to second.The race that led Adrien Tambay to thirdplace was much more eventful: theFrenchman from Campos Racing wasstarting from P7 but in the first laps hispace on the wet was much quicker thanthe guys in front. This allowed him toquickly overtake Ceccon and start a fightfor P4 with Onidi: it was a close one, andin the end Adrian touched Fabio,puncturing the rivals rear tyre and

damaging his own front wing. Despite thishe managed to continue his charge,

passing Di Sabatino and closing quicklythe gap to the front duo.After a couple of laps behind de Jong,Tambay tried to pass him on the outsideof Turn 1 on lap 12, but Daniel closed thedoor and the two made contact, withTambay spinning as a consequence andhanding third place to Afanasiev. Anyway,Adrien could continue, and de Jongs finalmistake brought him back on podium,crowning his first weekend with CamposRacing.I was looking forward to another win -Venturini said - the Safety-Car helped meat the start, thats sure, but at the restart Iimmediately realized that the car was verygood for this damp conditions, and that Ihad a good chance. It wasnt easyanyway, because I had a really fierce fightwith de Jong for the whole race and hehad better traction and stability in thequick corners. I want to say thanks to

Durango, we worked a lot together toachieve this.

Race 1 podium

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RACE REPORT - OSCHERSLEBEN

MONEY GRABBERS

AFANASIEV THE RICHEST,FILIPPI FOLLOWSS

ergei Afanasiev won't forget the Oscherslebenweekend easily. The Russian driver, who hadmissed the Donington round due to some

Visa issues, made a stunning return to the Series: hestarted in the best possible way on Friday, posting anamazing performance in Qualifying that was worth 1strow, and then he kept pushing on Saturday, clinchinga dominating win and the fastest lap of the race. OnSunday his drive was more clever than aggressive,but the result was another podium finish, a secondplace.A perfect weekend for Sergei, who thanks to suchresults grabbed an amazing 39 points, a record figurefor a single Auto GP weekend. This tally not onlybrought him back in contention for the title, in thirdplace and just 17 points adrift from leader Ceccon, butalso means that Afanasiev is the new Auto GP prize

money leader.This is because topping the Oschersleben round he

won 60.000 euros, money that bring his total to120.000, as he already did the same in Budapest.In the weekend classification the DAMS driverpreceeded Adrien Tambay, second with 28 pointsthanks to two podium finishes and winner of 25.000euros. 15.000 euros went to Giovanni Venturini, whoreached 22 points thanks to his Race 2 wins, enoughto secure third place.With two events to go and 200.000 euros still up forgrabs, here is the Prize Money Classification of AutoGP:

1. Afanasiev 120.000 euros

2. Filippi 92.500 euros

3. Venturini 75.000 euros

4. Lancaster 60.000 euros

5. Crestani e Tambay 50.000 euros

7. Buttarelli, Ceccon e Onidi 15.000 euros10. Carroll 7.500 euros

Luca Filippi

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The Spa GP2 weekend was agreat showcase for the past andpresent talents of Auto GP.First of all, the belgian weekendsaw Romain Grosjean's triumph:the 2010 Auto GP champion wonthe drivers title with still threeraces to the end of the seasondriving for DAMS, that thanks tohis performances is also incontention for the teams title.Great result for Luca Filippi also:at his third race with ScuderiaColoni he clinched the second winof his season. The Italian driverblew the competition off in theSunday Sprint Race, recoveringfrom P5 to P1 with a sequence of

great overtaking moves.

Enzo Coloni: "First of all I want tocongratulate Grosjean and DAMSfor winning the GP2 title. Lookingat Romain last year, when he wasracing in Auto GP, it was clear thathe is an outstanding talent, andI'm not surprised that a very goodteam like DAMS managed to makethe most of that. Everybody sawthe great feeling between the teamand the driver in ourchampionship last year, and theyconfirmed it in GP2.Congratulations also to Filippi,who was stunning throughout theweekend. He is in great shape,and his rivals in the chase for theAuto GP title will have to give their

best if they want to beat him".

VALENCIA HANDICAP

FOR BUTTARELLI

Samuele Buttarelli arrived in Oschersleben boosted by theDonington win, but the German Auto GP weekend soonturned into a nightmare for him. Missing the braking point

at the start of Race 1 he collected poleman Crestani, amisfortune that ruined the weekend of both. Anyway things goteven worse for Samuele: as Race Direction considered himresponsible for causing an avoidable contact" he was punishedwith a 5 places penalty on the grid of the first race of theValencia event. This means that achieving a good qualifying willbe particularly important for him in Spain.

GROSJEAN:FROM AUTO GP TOTHE GP2 TITLE

Crestani pulls away at the start... ...but gets collected by Buttarelli

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Greetings

fromOschersleben

Aggressivedrive byDe Jong

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Trip in the gravelbed for Cipriani

Di Sabatinowas 4thin Race 2

Onidi, quick despitehis hand injury

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CHASE FOR THE TITLE

CECCON: IN VALENCIA

TO STRETCH MY LEADThe Auto GP drivers used the summer break toenjoy a bit of relax but soon, with the Valencia eventapproaching, it's time to get back to work in orderto tackle the Grand Finale of the 2011 season in thebest possible shape.It's the same for everybody, and the Championshipleader makes no exception: Kevin Ceccon emergedfrom the Oschersleben round as the new Auto GPleader, two points ahead of Luca Filippi, and he's

now getting ready for the final battles.At 17 Ceccon is also the youngest driver in theSeries, and in this first part of the season Auto GPwasn't his only commitment: he also raced in GP2with Scuderia Coloni, contesting 4 events as areplacement for the injured Davide Rigon. With sucha busy first half of the season, Kevin was eager toenjoy the August break.

I definitely needed some rest. The first part of my2011 was amazing, I had many things to be happyabout, from my good shape in Auto GP to mysurprise debut in GP2, but it was also tiring, bothfrom a physical and psychological standpoint. I'mnot just speaking about managing the pressure, buteven changing my objectives weekend afterweekend was a challenge. In Auto GP I went on thegrid aiming to win races and the Championship,while in GP2 my only target was making nomistakes and covering as many miles as possible,getting acquainted with the working standards ofF1's best feeder series. Those were some greatmonths for me, but obviously there was a bit of

stress involved, and the summer break was what Ineeded to shave it off.

How was the restart of your training after

this deserved break?

I'm a very lucky guy because Formula Medicine,who manages my training, is located in Viareggio,one of Italy's most renowned holiday spots. So Ihad some sea and a lot of fun with friends, but Inever gave up my training. I just stopped a bit withthe gym, preferring some outdoor training instead,but from next week on I will go back to the normal

training, in order to arrive in Valencia in top shape. Ialso need to get some focus back, and to do that I

will work as a mechanic in a kart team for aweekend.

Let's go back to the Championship. You

are leading with a 2 points gap on Filippi

and you clinched one win and three

podium finishes. Going a bit more in depth

with the numbers, you missed the points

just once, Race 2 in Budapest. Not bad...

Not bad, but not enough either. With the Auto GPpoints system a two points gap is nothing,especially if behind there's a driver like Luca, who isa benchmark for us all in terms of both speed andexperience. Being behind would be worse, that'ssure, but I can't count on that advantage, he justneeds to get a pole and a fastest lap to cancel it.So, I'm aware of the fact that if I want this titlethere's still a lot to do, and that I need to up mygame in the last two race weekends. If I look back

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to my season until now I can be satisfied with it, butI have to recognize that I'm leading mainly becauseI've been consistent.I made no mistakes, and this allowed me to takethe edge when my rivals did some, but I have tobear in mind that I'm leading also because Filippilost an entire event, and the same did Afanasiev,who's not far in the standings.The pace I had in the latest events won't be enough

to win the title, the only way to keep the lead willbe winning again, and I'm very determined to dothat.

The Series will now visit two challenging

venues as Valencia and Mugello, what do

you expect?

I'm happy that the most important moment of myseason will be staged in Valencia. I raced twice onthe Ricardo Tormo circuit when I was in F3 and I

also had various test sessions there, so I have avery good knowledge of the circuit and I love it. Iknow that Auto GP is a very different beast fromthe F3 car, so I will have to scrap all my referencepoints, but I'm very confident: if there's a trackwhere I can up my game as I said before, it'sValencia. It's the best chance I will have to stretchmy lead, even if I know that the Championship willbe decided in Mugello.

Things will be trickier for me there, because I neverraced on that track and I saw it for the first time justsome weeks ago, as I went to watch a friend whowas racing. I look forward to it because with its fastcorners, the uphill and downill section it has alwaysbeen one of the drivers' favourites, but I also knowthat debuting on such a technical layout won't beeasy. Anyway this won't prevent me from doing mybest. I worked hard to get on top and knowing thatmy objective is so close gives me a further boost.

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CHASE FOR THE TITLE

He's the only driver of the leadingtrio who already won two racesthis season, and with the 39

points he gathered in Oschersleben, thehighest tally ever grabbed by an Auto GPdriver, he got back in contention for the

title. Sergei Afanasiev knows that inValencia, in one week time, many eyes inthe paddock will be looking at him. Withjust a 17 points gap from Series leaderCeccon, the top spot is in his reach, andhe know that well.

You're just 17 points adrift from

the top and 92 points are still up

for grabs, so the title is definitely

a possibility...

I know that, and obviously the title is in

my thoughts, but this won't change theway I race. Being behind there's no

strategy to use apart from making themost of every single chance, and to dothat there's no need to think about thetitle. The only thing to do is to workharder, taking as many points as possiblein each race. That will make a difference

when we'll be doing the maths at the endof the Championship. Furthermore, withso many points up for grabs even thedrivers behind me will have their shot atthe title. From my side I see a very opensituation, and I'm sure that nothing will bedecided in Valencia. Only after Race 2 inMugello we will know who the 2012Champion will be.

Surely the points system keeps

the title doors open for many

drivers, but nobody will arrive inValencia with your momentum.

With the first and second place

you clinched in Germany you

showed everybody that your

feeling with the car is now

perfect.

I must admit that the whole season until

now has been a progression towards anideal shape. At the start of the year I wasa bit 'rusty' because I had no testing at allin the winter. That meant that it took mesome time to get the right pace back, andeven from a physical point of view Iwasn't really ok and making the most ofthe car wasn't easy. Race after race,anyway, things got better and better and Ihave to say that now I feel really at easewith the car.

In which part of the driving didyou improved the most?

AFANASIEV:IT WILL BE OPENUNTIL THE END

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I couldn't say that, there isn't a specificalarea of improvement. It's more a feelingthing, what has improved is the way I feel thecar, how I can believe in what it's doingextracting all the grip from it, even the lastbit, the most difficult to feel. As a

consequence I am pretty relaxed andconfident when I drive it, the performancecomes easy and I also have a lot of fun. Ilove the car, really, so much that I'd like tohave one at home, to go around Moscow(he laughs).

Looking at your championship it's

impossible to overlook the fact that

you missed a full round in Donington

due to the visa issues. Do you ever

think how different the classification

could be without that double zero?Obviously I do, and it's one of the reasonswhy I can't be content with this 3rd place inthe standings. With that two more races Icould be closer to Ceccon or even leading,so that has to be my aim. I could have doneit, I know I have the potential to do it in thislast two events, so I can't give up justbecause bureaucracy is making thingscomplicated. Sometimes I just have someenvy for my rivals who don't have to gothrough such big issues to travel to theraces.

The summer break arrived maybe in

the wrong moment for you. Would

you have preferred to have other

back to back races given your

momentum?

Obviously when a driver gets to such agood feeling with the car and such amomentum, he would never stop racing.Anyway, I don't think that the break couldtake anything away from me in thatperspective and I'm sure that in Valencia Iwill have the same great feeling I had inOschersleben. Furthermore, I also needed abreak to recharge my batteries, and I usedAugust to get some holidays. First of all,after returning from Oschersleben I had a bigparty with my friends, such results deservedto be honoured in the right way. Then I wentto Dubai, where I had some commitmentsbut I also managed to relax. Obviously Inever stopped my gym training, so in

Valencia I will be in top shape and ready tofight.

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THE ROAD TO VALENCIA

While with just two events tothe end of the championshipsome drivers are looking to

the Valencia weekend as a key step inthe chase for the title, there's anotherdriver for whom the Spanish weekendwill be a very special one.Adrian Campos Jr was born inValencia and lives in Alzira, just a fewmiles away from the Ricardo Tormocircuit, so the penultimate round of

the Auto GP season will be a realhome race for him.As a consequence, he obviously hashigh aims:

Well, it really wasn't a lucky yearfor me, mainly because of the backinjury I suffered in Monza, but ifthere is a track were I know thingscan come together in the right way,well it's Valencia. You know, it's atrack that means a lot to me as I'veseen its birth from its very firstdays. I was a child at that time, but Iremember how it was looking whenthey started building it and I've seen

it become a track appreciated by thehighest levels of motorsport. So Ihave a special feeling with it, that'ssure.

Furthermore, this was the track

where you were initially

supposed to come back from

your injury. You did an

amazing job recovering in time

for Donington, but surely you

weren't in your best shape in

the previous races. Now

everything should be ok also

from a physical point of view.

Well I really wanted to recover as

soon as possible so surely I pushedthe envelope a bit, but I wouldn't sayit was a bad idea. I already had a lackof mileage compared to my rivals, so I

CAMPOS JR. AIMS FOR

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didn't want it to become worse, thatwas the main reason behind thatchoice. At the start I wasn't in mybest shape so things where a bitdifficult, but there's no better trainingthan real racing: now my back feels

ok and in the last two meetings I hadthe time to get acquainted with thecar again, so I'm in the idealconditions to tackle this event.Obviously I must remember that myopponents have completed two raceweekends more than me in the car,but I feel confident anyway.

You did a test very early in the

year in Valencia, do you think

it will help?

Yes, it was my only test with theAuto GP car before the start of theseason. It was January, so tracktemperatures were very different fromwhat we'll find this weekend, but thedata we gathered will be usefulanyway, and at least I already knowwhat to expect from the car. I

remember it was really fun to drivearound Valencia with the Auto GPcar, especially in the last corner itwas fun to manage the exit with a bitof oversteer.

Being your home track, wesuppose you already raced on

the Ricardo Tormo circuit

many times.

Well I did in F.Bmw and in F3, and Igot podium finishes and wins, sothat's also why I'm eager to be racinghere. I know that if the weekend runssmoothly, with no problems, I canreally be good and fight at least for apodium finish, maybe more. Apartfrom that, when I race in Valencia I

always have the support of my familyand friends. I love racing but doing itin front of the people that areimportant for you makes it evenbetter. That's why Valencia is sospecial for me, and that's why I willreally do my best to clinch somegreat results.

PODIUM IN HOME RACE

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The Ricardo Tormo circuit in

Valencia is the youngest among

the tracks of the 2011 Auto GP

season, as it was opened in 1999.

Anyway, in less than 10 years it has

become one of the most

appreciated tracks in the world, and

already hosted the most important

series in motorsport: Moto GP,

WTCC, DTM, GP2 and World

Superbikes.

Very talented drivers know that theycan really make a difference here,

because the track layout is very

technical, with a lot of mid-slow

corners that can be approached

with different driving styles. Now

that Motorsport is very popular in

Spain, thanks to Fernando Alonso

and Jorge Lorenzo, race events in

Valencia often see full grandstands,

something that represents a show

on his own. This is because the

circuit lies in a natural hollow, with

grandstands dominating all thetrack, like in a Stadium.

The Valencia track will be quite tricky with the Auto

GP car. While its layout is perfect for a F3 car, it

becomes really challenging with an heavier and more

powerful car as the Auto GP Lola-Zytek. I think that

three spots will be vital for the laptime: the first corner

is the first one: I don't know if we will be allowed to cut

through the pit exit line, but if this will be the case thatcorner will become a matter of bravery, as with 550 bhp

we will carry great speed there. Then there is the fast

chicane before the last corner, where you can lose a lot

of time if you overdrive it, and the last corner itself. As

it brings you on the only real straight of the track, a

good exit speed will be the key to a good laptime.

RICARDO TORMOCIRCUITLenght: 4005 mt

Right turns: 4

Left turns: 8

Official website:http://www.circuitvalencia.com/

CALENDAR 2011

01&02 13-15 May Monza, Italy

03&04 3-5 June Budapest, Hungary

05&06 17-19 June Brno, Czech Republic

07&08 15-17 July Donington, Great Britain

09&10 29-31 July Oschersleben, Germany

11&12 2-4 September Valencia, Spain

13&14 1-2 October Mugello, Italy

NEXT STOP:VALENCIA

FOLLOW US ON THE WEB

Join the AutoGP community on the web. To keep you posted with all the news from thechampionship we daily update our website www.autogp.org, but we also give you the

chance to take a sneak peek in the backstage of the championship thanks to out facebookpage www.facebook.com/AutoGP and our Twitter account www.twitter.com/Auto_GP.Our facebook page has already more than 2.400 fans! Want to discuss with them aboutthe championship? You just have to join!

CAMPOS JR.GUIDE TO

VALENCIA