Johan Kristoffersson takes maiden Superstars victory after tussle with Gianni Morbidelli

The young Swede led every lap of the 25-minute timed race, but he did not have things his own way. His Audi Sport team-mate Gianni Morbidelli ensured the pair had a spirited intra-team battle for the lead throughout the race.

It took until the last lap for the dispute to be settled. Having constantly niggled at the back of Kristoffersson's car - to the point where the leading Audi's rear bumper was hanging off - Morbidelli went for one last tap on the final lap. The contact seemingly knocked a fuel line out of place in Morbidelli's car, sparking an impressive fireball and ending the veteran's race on the spot.

With the Audi pair having left the rest of the field miles behind, Kristoffersson could limp to the line, taking his first Superstars win, and the first win for the new-for-2012 Audi RS5.

Andrea Larini (Romeo Ferraris Mercedes) finished a distant second, while Morbidelli's retirement was also good news for hometown hero Thomas Biagi, who snared the final place on the podium in his underpowered Dinamic BMW.

Francesco Sini (Solaris Chevrolet), Christian Fittipaldi (Swiss Team Maserati) and Tonio Liuzzi (CAAL Racing Mercedes) finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, following an exciting battle for the minor places. Stefano Gabellini (Dinamic BMW) was less than a second behind the three-way battle at the end of the race, but had to settle for seventh.

Andrea Boffo (Roma Mercedes) finished a very distant, yet very significant, eighth place. With the top eight to be reversed for the start of Sunday's second race, the 17-year-old will start from pole position, alongside Gabellini.

Pos  Driver                Team/Car              Time/Gap
 1.  Johan Kristoffersson  Audi Italia         27m39.500s
 2.  Andrea Larini         Romeo Mercedes        + 8.039s
 3.  Thomas Biagi          Dinamic BMW          + 13.888s
 4.  Francesco Sini        Solaris Chevrolet    + 20.293s
 5.  Christian Fittipaldi  Swiss Maserati       + 26.685s
 6.  Tonio Liuzzi          CAAL Mercedes        + 27.750s
 7.  Stefano Gabellini     Dinamic BMW          + 28.478s
 8.  Andrea Boffo          Roma Mercedes        + 35.225s
 9.  Thomas Schoffler      Audi Italia          + 35.706s
10.  Max Pigoli            Ferlito Jaguar       + 46.936s
11.  Max Mugelli           CAAL Mercedes        + 49.622s
12.  Mauro Cesari          Swiss Maserati       + 49.889s
13.  Paolo Meloni          W&D BMW              + 51.226s
14.  Sandro Bettini        Dinamic BMW          + 51.346s
15.  Andrea Perlini        Todi BMW           + 1m38.992s
16.  Walter Meloni         W&D BMW            + 1m39.799s
17.  Gianni Morbidelli     Audi Italia            + 1 lap
18.  Francesco Ascani      Todi BMW               + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Nico Caldarola        Roma Mercedes          10 laps
     Gianni Giudici        Giudici BMW            10 laps
     Ananda Mikola         Ferlito Jaguar          6 laps