Zele Racing with double podium in AutoGP season closer

Sa_Silva79The Austrian outfit has ended the season on a high with Luis Sa Silva and Antonio Pizzonia finishing second and third in Estoril

Rookie Sa Silva, who used the GP3 Series break after the inaugural Russian Grand Prix, made a great debut in the AutoGP World Series coming runner-up in only his second race.

Starting from the front row, the 24-year-old Angolan and led the pack for half the race. After his pitstop he re-entered the track in 3rd place, but battled his way through to leader Shinya Michimi.

Sa Silva was catching up and would have been in a position to fight for the race win, when his front wing suddenly started to get loose. Hence, he had to reduce speed and settle for second.

“It’s a pity, I couldn’t go for top spot in the final laps, but finishing on the podium is a good result after all”, he said.

Pizzonia, who drove for Jaguar Racing and BMW Williams in Formula One in the 2000’s, also made a good comeback to the series after two years, crossing the line in third.

Although the Brazilian was battling with understeer all race long, he was content making it onto he podium. “I have really enjoyed this weekend and it was great to work with Zele Racing. I am happy that I could deliver.”

Teamboss Michael Zele was content saying: “It was a satisfying last race, although a pity we did not win. A brilliant drive from Luis, which made up for the early out in qualifying, and also a very good performance – I had expected – from Antonio.”

“It’s a shame about the pitstop in race 1, as it cost us another certain podium. We have shown once more that our pace was good throughout the season on all the tracks”, he added.