Gabellini fastest in first Superstars practice at Mugello
Stefano Gabellini went fastest in the first International Superstars Series practice session at Mugello
Having sat on top of the timesheets for most of the session, the Dinamic BMW driver was dropped to second with two minutes remaining by a flyer from Nicola Larini.
With just seconds left however Gabellini fired back to the top of the order with a 1m57.437s effort, some seven-tenths faster than Larini's best.
Larini (Romeo Ferraris Mercedes) held on for second place, ahead of Gabellini's team-mate Thomas Biagi, who, surprisingly, ended the session more than a second adrift of his fellow Dinamic driver.
Johnny Herbert was fourth in the Swiss Team Maserati, having jumped from the fringe of the top 10 to a front-running spot with just a few minutes left in the session. He was ahead of Max Pigoli (Ferlito Motors Jaguar), while two more BMWs, Paolo Meloni (W&D Racing) and Sandro Bettini (Dinamic) were sixth and seventh respectively.
Tonio Liuzzi (CAAL Racing Mercedes) waited until there was just five minutes left in the session to record a flying lap, and when he did it was good enough for eighth fastest.
Championship leader Johan Kristoffersson was ninth, with the Audi Italia RS5s clearly struggling under the new parity adjustments.
Having whitewashed the last two rounds, Kristoffersson, Thomas Schoffler, and Gianni Morbidelli were hit with a 100 kilogram weight penalty and a new air restrictor. They finished the session ninth, 13th and 14th respectively.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Stefano Gabellini Dinamic BMW 1m57.473s 2. Andrea Larini Romeo Mercedes 1m58.194s + 0.721s 3. Thomas Biagi Dinamic BMW 1m58.581s + 1.108s 4. Johnny Herbert Swiss Maserati 1m58.665s + 1.192s 5. Max Pigoli Ferlito Jaguar 1m58.732s + 1.259s 6. Paolo Meloni W&D BMW 1m58.999s + 1.526s 7. Sandro Bettini Dinamic BMW 1m59.316s + 1.843s 8. Tonio Liuzzi CAAL Mercedes 1m59.414s + 1.941s 9. Johan Kristoffersson Audi Italia 1m59.434s + 1.961s 10. Nico Caldarola Roma Mercedes 1m59.784s + 2.311s 11. Max Mugelli CAAL Mercedes 1m59.866s + 2.393s 12. Andrea Boffo Roma Mercedes 1m59.916s + 2.443s 13. Thomas Schoffler MTM Audi 2m00.488s + 3.015s 14. Gianni Morbidelli Audi Italia 2m00.534s + 3.061s 15. Camilo Zurcher Romeo Mercedes 2m00.537s + 3.064s 16. Francesco Sini Solaris Chevrolet 2m00.608s + 3.135s 17. Ananda Mikola Roma Mercedes 2m00.833s + 3.360s 18. Mauro Cesari Swiss Maserati 2m01.041s + 3.568s 19. Walter Meloni W&D BMW 2m01.359s + 3.886s 20. Francesco Ascani Todi Corse BMW 2m01.638s + 4.165s 21. Gianni Giudici Giudici BMW 2m01.646s + 4.173s 22. Marco Fumagalli Giudici BMW 2m03.103s + 5.630s 23. Leonardo Baccarelli Todi Corse BMW 2m13.826s + 16.353s
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