Norman Nato picked up his second win of the 2016 GP2 Series season on Sunday at Monza as Prema teammates and title rivals Pierre Gasly and Antonio Giovinazzi filled out the podium.
Nato started the sprint race fourth on grid, but a rocket start saw him move into the lead at the first corner ahead of Jordan King.
After seizing the lead, Nato never looked back, leading the remainder of the race to secure his second GP2 win, his first coming in the opening race of the year in Spain.
Drivers’ standings leader Gasly managed to fight his way up to second place, picking off King before setting his sights on Nato at the front of the pack, who had by then already escaped up the road.
Gasly’s points advantage only grew by two points as Prema teammate Giovinazzi fought his way to third place, chalking up more crucial points after his victory on Saturday.
Ahead of the next round in Malaysia next month, Gasly holds a 10-point advantage over Giovinazzi, with third-placed Raffaele Marciello a further 26 points behind with four rounds remaining.
King held on to fourth place at the checkered flag after losing out to Giovinazzi, finishing ahead of Artem Markelov and Alex Lynn. Honda youngster Nobuharu Matsushita was seventh ahead of Nicholas Latifi in P8.