Monza Superstars: Biagi completes Mercedes clean-sweep
Thomas Biagi completed a Romeo Ferraris Mercedes clean-sweep at Monza with a stunning win in the second Superstars International Series race of the season
Having followed team-mate Tonio Liuzzi home in the morning's first encounter, Biagi made the most of the top eight reverse grid to charge from the fourth row to second position almost immediately.
Several laps later he found a way past polesitter and early leader Andrea Bacci (CAAL Racing Mercedes), taking the lead after an aborted passing attempt saw him skip the first chicane a lap earlier.
Once in front, a sequence of fast laps gave Biagi a handy lead, which proved to be enough to see the former BMW driver win his first race in Mercedes colours.
Liuzzi finished second, a sluggish start and a long stint in traffic leaving him unable to challenge for the win. Luigi Ferrara replicated his race one result with a lonely third.
Gianni Morbidelli finished fourth, but it was hardly a walk in the park for the Audi Sport Italia driver. Having spent the first part of the race bottled up behind Francesco Sini's Chevrolet, Morbidelli then found himself in a tense scrap with Bacci in the closing laps.
In the end it took a small nudge from Morbidelli to help create a gap big enough for the Audi to sneak through.
Bacci and Sini finished fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of the cartoon-themed 'Diabolik' entry from Ferlito Jaguar, and Giovanni Berton in the Dinamic BMW.
Results - 14 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Thomas Biagi Ferraris Mercedes 27m13.157s 2. Tonio Liuzzi Ferraris Mercedes + 2.277s 3. Luigi Ferrara Roma Mercedes + 5.930s 4. Gianni Morbidelli Audi Italia + 17.287s 5. Andrea Bacci CAAL Mercedes + 20.791s 6. Francesco Sini Solaris Chevrolet + 27.821s 7. 'Diabolik' Ferlito Jaguar + 51.817s 8. Giovanni Berton Dinamic BMW + 1m03.182s 9. Francesco Ascani Todi BMW + 1m03.945s 10. Roberto Benedetti RC Cadillac + 1m15.334s 11. Leonardo Baccarelli CAAL Mercedes + 1 lap 12. Mauro Trentin Dinamic BMW + 1 lap Retirements: Ferdinando Geri Audi Italia 12 laps Andrea Larini Ferlito Jaguar 5 laps Max Fantini Petri Porsche 1 lap Gianni Giudici Giudici BMW 0 laps Max Mugelli Dinamic BMW 0 laps
Monza Superstars: Liuzzi takes dominant victory in opener
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