Vladimir Arabadzhiev couldn't choose a better way to debut on the Lola B05/52 Auto GP car. The Bulgarian driver took the win in the second race on the Brno circuit, keeping Adrian Zaugg at bay, even if only half of a second adrift. Starting from the front row, besides Zaugg who was the poleman, Arabadzhiev did a perfect start and immediately took the lead, even ahead of the first braking zone. From then on, Arabadzhiev stayed in the lead, managing to resist to Zaugg's impressive pace and pressure. Behind them was Edoardo Piscopo, closing its Czech weekend with two podium finishes and with the lead of the championship, shared with Luca Filippi. Piscopo, starting from 7th, was involved in a close fight after the green light with Fabio Onidi and Duncan Tappy, but he was helped by his opponent's mistakes and bad luck. The first to go out of contention was Tappy, who had to serve a drive-through penalty for jump start, then it was the time of Onidi, stopped on track on lap 7 with an electrical issue. At that point of the race Piscopo was 4th and started pushing to catch Adrien Tambay in front of him. The frenchman was doing a perfect race and was ready to get a podium finish, but with just two laps to go he locked the front wheels and went in the barriers, luckily with no damages for him and just a broken wing for the car. Tambay's off meaned 4th place for a really fast Julian Leal: the driver from Bogota, starting from tenth, managed a great comeback, also clinching the third fastest time of the race. The overall fastest time was from Luca Filippi. The winner of the first race had a bad start in Race 2, and soon he was blocked in a duel for 11th place with Pantano and Iaconelli, so he decided to go back in the pits to mount new tires. Back on track, Filppi stopped the clocks on 1'43"260, which is the new official track record for the Brno track. Auto GP managed to beat the old record, 1'47"296 held by A1 GP with Alex Yoong at the wheel, by 4 seconds. With the fastest lap point, Filippi climbed on top of the standings with Piscopo. This means that the two will share 130.000 euros, which is the sum of the first and second place prize.
Vladimir Arabadzhiev: "Frankly, I was not sure about my chances to win because I was racing on old tires, with already 11 laps on them. Anyway, I did a great start, and from then on things were easy. The car was slippery and Adrian was gaining time in the fast section, but I was able to build up the gap in the other sectors, so it was good".
Adrian Zaugg: "I'm not happy about the start, but the race was good. I have to thank the team, because they guessed the right set-up for the race 2 track conditions, and this made my job easier. I tried attacking Vladimir, but when I got close I was losing grip, so passing was not possible".
Edoardo Piscopo: "Two podium finishes are great, you have to be consistent if you want to win races and this is a great start. I'm happy for the guys at DAMS, working so hard for me, and for myself. I needed some good results after being so unlucky in the last months".
Brno, Gara 2
1. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Dams) 13 giri in 22'58"445
2. Adrian Zaugg (Trident Racing) +0"486
3. Edoardo Piscopo (Dams) + 2"304
4. Julian Leal (Trident Racing) +4"365
5. Walter Grubmüller (Charouz-Gravity Racing) +5"859
6. Jan Charouz (Charouz-Gravity Racing) +8"101
7. Jonny Reid (SuperNova) +9"025
8. Carlos Iaconelli (Durango) +12"227
9. Giorgio Pantano (SuperNova) +15"689
10. Celso Miguez (RP Motorsport) +20"204
11. Duncan Tappy (Dams) +22"869
12. Stefano Bizzarri (RP Motorsport) +26"179
13. Luca Filippi (Euronova Racing) +1'02"946
14. Adrien Tambay (Charouz-Gravity Racing) +2 giri
15. Fabio Onidi (Lazarus) + 6 giri
16. Tomas Kostka (Charouz-Gravity Racing) DNS