Bortolotti wins second race at Spa

Date published : 26 Jun 2011 - 14:10:00

GPUpdateBortolotti wins second race at Spa26 June 2011Mirko Bortolotti took his second victory of the 2011 season at Spa-Francorchamps this afternoon, dominating Race 2 at the iconic venue. The Italian had to fend off a challenge from Tobias Hegewald in the early stages, but the latter spun out and allowed Bortolotti to grab a comfortable win ahead of Christopher Zanella and Will Bratt. "I got a good start and I knew it was going to be very tight going into La Source," Bortolotti explained. "I tried to go for the inside but Will (Bratt) closed the door so I had to go around the outside and managed to go through Eau Rouge leading the race. After that I was pushing quite a lot but still had to defend my position on the first couple of laps. Then I tried to get my rhythm and push as much as I can and open up a gap." Bratt endured a poor start from pole as the lights went out, dropping all the way down to fifth place. Bortolotti jumped into the lead ahead of Hegewald and Jordan King as a result, taking full advantage of the situation. Unfortunately for young debutant King, he made a small mistake one lap later and fell down the order from the final podium spot. Hegewald quickly began to pressurize Bortolotti, but on Lap 7 the German spun and slid into the tyre wall. Zanella inherited second place after the accident, but he failed to find the pace required to close in on his title rival. Bortolotti's win moves him ahead of Zanella in the championship standings, with the latter losing his advantage after winning twice at Magny Cours. The exciting battle for third was ultimately won by Bratt, with the Briton holding off Monrás at the finish. Despite closing in significantly, Monrás was unable to launch an attack after Benjamin Lariche and Alex Brundle collided to bring out the yellow flags. Bratt made no mistakes on the run up to the finish, ensuring his place on the rostrum. Mihai Marinescu and Jack Clarke enjoyed a close battle en route to fifth and sixth respectively, just ahead of Brundle and King. Dutchman Kelvin Snoeks was next up in ninth place, while Thiemo Storz completed the top ten. Round 4 of the championship will be staged at the Nürburgring next weekend