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Tonio Liuzzi fends off Thomas Biagi for race one win

Tonio Liuzzi stormed to a lights-to-flag victory in the first International Superstars Series round at the Hungaroring in Budapest

The CAAL Racing Mercedes driver made a perfect start from pole position, leading Thomas Biagi (Dinamic BMW) into the first turn. While Liuzzi could not shake Biagi throughout the race, he was able to respond every time Biagi made a play for the lead, eventually taking a measured 0.539-second win to keep his title hopes alive.

Biagi had a strong start to thank for his second position, the Imola-born driver vaulting from his fifth grid spot to second place in the first several hundred metres of the race. That left local hero and series debutant Norbert Michelisz (Scuderia Guidici BMW) scrapping for third place with Gianni Morbidelli, the Hungarian ultimately taking the final podium spot when Morbidelli's Audi Sport Italia RS5 retired with an electrical problem with just three minutes left in the race.

Morbidelli's retirement was also good news for another debutant, ex-Formula 1 driver Christian Klien. The Swiss Team Maserati driver was able to shadow the lead group for the entire race, inheriting fourth after Morbidelli dropped out.

Points leader Johan Kristoffersson was the best of the rest, finishing a distant fifth in the KMS Audi. Early in the race the Swede found himself locked in an intense battle with Romeo Ferraris Mercedes pair Camilo Zurcher and Andrea Larini, as well as his own Audi team-mate Thomas Schoffler. Kristoffersson and Zurcher eventually broke free of the group, with the former securing fifth when Zurcher spun late in the race.

The Colombian did manage to get going again to finish sixth, ahead of Larini and a very consistent Domenico Ferlito (Ferlito Jaguar), who came all the way from 15th on the grid to finish eighth, ahead of Franco Fumi (Dinamic BMW) and Schoffler, who faded late in the race.

While it was a good day out for Ferlito, the same could not be said for his team-mate Max Pigoli. The Superstars veteran made a rookie mistake on the fourth lap of the race, locking a brake into Turn 1 and collecting the Dinamic BMW of Stefano Gabellini. Both drivers were immediately out of the race, while Francesco Sini soon joined them, his Solaris Chevrolet succumbing to an oil leak and stopping on the main straight.

Results - 14 laps:

Pos  Driver                Team/Car              Time/Gap
 1.  Tonio Liuzzi          CAAL Mercedes       27m05.669s
 2.  Thomas Biagi          Dinamic BMW           + 0.539s
 3.  Norbert Michelisz     Giudici BMW           + 3.544s
 4.  Christian Klien       Swiss Maserati        + 5.935s
 5.  Johan Kristoffersson  KMS Audi             + 10.664s
 6.  Camilo Zurcher        Romeo Mercedes       + 24.533s
 7.  Andrea Larini         Romeo Mercedes       + 48.891s
 8.  Domenico Ferlito      Ferlito Jaguar       + 49.144s
 9.  Franco Fumi           Dinamic BMW          + 49.173s
10.  Thomas Schoffler      MTM Audi             + 57.591s
11.  Gianni Giudici        Giudici BMW        + 1m14.776s
12.  Walter Meloni         W&D BMW            + 1m52.213s

Retirements:

    Gianni Morbidelli     Audi Italia            11 laps
    Francesco Sini        Solaris Chevrolet      10 laps
    Paolo Meloni          W&D BMW                 8 laps
    Stefano Gabellini     Dinamic BMW             3 laps
    Max Pigoli            Ferlito Jaguar          3 laps
    Max Mugelli           CAAL Mercedes           0 laps
    Mauro Cesari          Swiss Maserati          0 laps

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