Superstars Slovakia: Liuzzi cruises to victory in race one
Tonio Liuzzi cruised to victory in the opening Superstars International Series race at the Slovakiaring
The only pressure the Romeo Ferraris Mercedes driver was forced to endure was on the first lap, Luigi Ferrara making a play for the lead as the field snaked its way through the first two corners.
But by the end of that first lap Liuzzi had gapped Ferrara by more than a second, setting up an easy win.
Ferrara looked to be on for an equally comfortable second place, but with just five minutes of the race remaining the Roma Racing Mercedes driver found himself stranded in the gravel and out of the race.
That was good news for Liuzzi's team-mate Thomas Biagi, who had made the most of his C63's horsepower to charge his way from sixth on the grid to third by the first corner of the race.
With Ferrara's demise he ended up second, Romeo Ferraris' third 1-2 of the season.
Giovanni Berton took the final podium spot for Dinamic BMW, thanks to a late-race pass on Fabrizio Giovanardi.
Max Mugelli and Mauro Trentin made it three Dinamic BMWs in the top six, while Andrea Bacci and Roberto Benedetti were the last drivers to finish on the lead lap.
Meanwhile, Gianni Morbidelli failed to make the finish, this time due to his Audi Sport Italia RS5 suffering a transmission failure just a handful of laps into the race.
Results - 13 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Tonio Liuzzi Ferraris Mercedes 29m05.990s 2. Thomas Biagi Ferraris Mercedes + 1.609s 3. Giovanni Berton Dinamic BMW + 4.374s 4. Fabrizio Giovanardi Petri Porsche + 9.230s 5. Max Mugelli Dinamic BMW + 12.000s 6. Mauro Trentin Dinamic BMW + 43.289s 7. Andrea Bacci CAAL Mercedes + 48.467s 8. Roberto Benedetti RC Cadillac + 1m03.922s 9. Andrea Larini Ferlito Jaguar + 1 lap 10. Francesco Sini Solaris Chevrolet + 2 laps Retirements: Luigi Ferrara Roma Mercedes 8 laps Francesco Ascani Todi BMW 4 laps Leonardo Baccarelli CAAL Mercedes 4 laps Gianni Morbidelli Audi Italia 3 laps Diabolik Ferlito Jaguar 2 laps Ferdinando Geri Audi Italia 2 laps
Slovakia Superstars: Tonio Liuzzi earns pole in thrilling session
Superstars Slovakia: Berton takes commanding race two win
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