Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Morbidelli caps off perfect Superstars weekend at Spa with victory in race two

Gianni Morbidelli capped off a perfect weekend with his second International Superstars Series race win at Spa-Francorchamps

As was the case in the first race, the wet track suited Morbidelli's four-wheel-drive Audi Sport Italia RS5. While he was forced to start eighth because of the partly reversed grid, Morbidelli was second by the end of the first lap, and had dispatched a stubborn early leader in the form of Andrea Larini mid-way through the second.

Once in front, it was simply a case of cruising to the finish, Morbidelli's final winning margin a comfortable 11.9 seconds.

CAAL Racing Mercedes driver Tonio Liuzzi finished second, having staged a thrilling battle for the position with the Romeo Ferraris Mercedes of Larini in the first few laps. On lap six, Liuzzi shoved Larini aside to settle the argument, before holding off a late race charge from Mika Salo (Swiss Team Maserati) to make it an all ex-Formula 1 driver podium.

The battle for fourth was thrilling. Larini, Thomas Schoffler (MTM Audi), the Dinamic BMW pair of Thomas Biagi and Stefano Gabellini, and Liugi Ferrara (CAAL Racing Mercedes) all got involved, with Larini's wild ride coming to an end a few laps from the finish after contact in the battle pack.

But the other four kept at it until the end, with Schoffler going from fourth to seventh on the last lap as Biagi nabbed the spot from Ferrara and Gabellini. However, the order was changed again post-race, when Ferrara was handed a 25s penalty for not respecting track limits, dropping him to 12th.

British Touring Car Championship driver Jeff Smith finished a fine seventh in just his second race aboard the Dinamic BMW, with Domenico Caldarola (Roma Racing Mercedes) finishing eighth, and the Ferlito Jaguar pair of Max Pigoli and Domenico Ferlito rounding out the top 10.

In terms of the championship, the race was a disaster for KMS Audi driver Johan Kristoffersson. While Liuzzi went on to take second, Kristoffersson retired at the end of the first lap after copping a whack from Ferrara on the exit of the first corner. Liuzzi now leads the Swede by 19 points.

Results - 10 laps:

Pos  Driver                Team/Car              Time/Gap
 1.  Gianni Morbidelli     Audi Italia         28m42.438s
 2.  Tonio Liuzzi          CAAL Mercedes        + 11.991s
 3.  Mika Salo             Swiss Maserati       + 13.537s
 4.  Thomas Biagi          Dinamic BMW          + 25.917s
 5.  Stefano Gabellini     Dinamic BMW          + 29.255s
 6.  Thomas Schoffler      MTM Audi             + 31.638s
 7.  Jeff Smith            Dinamic BMW          + 42.490s
 8.  Nico Caldarola        Roma Mercedes        + 46.787s
 9.  Max Pigoli            Ferlito Jaguar       + 49.007s
10.  Domenico Ferlito      Ferlito Jaguar       + 51.412s
11.  Luigi Ferrara         CAAL Mercedes        + 53.470s
12.  Alessandro Garofano   Romeo Mercedes     + 1m02.380s
13.  Walter Meloni         W&D BMW            + 1m54.190s

Retirements:

     Andrea Larini         Romeo Mercedes          8 laps
     Paolo Meloni          W&D BMW                 8 laps
     Mauro Cesari          Swiss Maserati          4 laps
     Johan Kristoffersson  KMS Audi                2 laps
     Francesco Sini        Solaris Chevrolet       0 laps
     Camilo Zurcher        Romeo Mercedes          0 laps

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Marinescu claims second F2 win of 2012 with lights-to-flag run at Brands Hatch
Next article Balzan wins sixth straight Ferrari Challenge race at Spa-Francorchamps

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe