Duncan makes series standings progress in Spain • Duncan Tappy Racing

AutoGP, Navarra, Spain
Race 1: Qualified 4th, finished 4th
Race 2: Reverse grid start position 5th, finished 4th

Duncan in action at Navarra

Duncan took sole possession of third place in the AutoGP standings after scoring a pair of fourth places in the first major international races to be held at the new Navarra track in Spain.

Qualifying showed real promise for Duncan yesterday when he pulled out all the stops in a last minute ‘hot lap’ on slicks at the end of a wet session with a drying track. He finished fourth fastest and a whole second ahead of team-mate and championship rival Romain Grosjean.

Race one took place yesterday afternoon and after a good start Duncan had moved up to third. A tangle with Ricci dropped him to fifth but he managed to retake Jan Charouz almost immediately to regain fourth. Grosjean pitted early and jumped Duncan who in turn managed to jump Ricci when he pitted and Duncan emerged from the stops in fourth again.

Today’s race was a sprint with no stops. After losing a place at the start Duncan was in sixth. He then fell to seventh battling with Sims but then retaliated and passed Sims and Filippi. He then caught Natacha Gachnang and overtook to finish in fourth place again.

Duncan said: “The car had good pace this weekend and race one in particular was hard work given that I started and finished in fourth.

“It’s been productive in that I’m now four points ahead of others for third, when we came in level, but I’ve not made as much progress in challenging for the title as I’d hoped. It will be pretty hard to go for the title now but at least I haven’t gone backwards.

“The last round is at Monza, where I’ve raced before, so I’m looking forward to that next weekend.”