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| Superstars |
Photo(s): Superstars Media |
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Morbidelli makes it a double as Kristoffersson retires |
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Gianni Morbidelli won the second race at Spa Francorchamps, confirming Audi's strong form in Belgium. The Italian finished ahead of championship leader Vitantonio Liuzzi and Maserati's Mika Salo. Johan Kristoffersson retired due to a contact, which increases the Mercedes driver's lead in the championship. |
At the start Andrea Larini kept the lead while his team-mate Camilo Zurcher jumped up to second. A contact between Zurcher and Larini triggered more accidents, as Luigi Ferrara collected his fellow Mercedes driver and hit Johan Kristoffersson. Salo therefore took second ahead of Liuzzi and Thomas Schöffler, who had a difficult start. Morbidelli was in fifth ahead of Ferrara, Biagi and Kristoffersson.
Morbidelli overtook his team-mate, Liuzzi and Salo and jumped up to second during the first lap, while Ferrara's car seemed to have damage on his car, much like Schöffler. Liuzzi managed to pass Salo for third before Eau Rouge.
A thrilling battle started between Larini and Morbidelli, with the Mercedes resisting on the outside of Pouhon. The Audi was however able to pass at Stavelot and immediately opened a gap.
At the end of the second lap Kristoffersson elected to retire due to damage suffered in the contact at the start. During the same lap Liuzzi overtook Salo at La Source, much like Schöffler did the following lap. The Finn managed to take fourth back, however, starting a long battle with the German as Ferrara waited for the two to make a mistake to take advantage of it.
On lap five Liuzzi started to attack Larini for second, with the Romeo Ferraris driver pulling out a spectacular defense over the former Grand Prix driver. The thrilling battle continued until Larini made a mistake exiting Rivage and was passed by Liuzzi and Salo.
Soon after that Larini showed signs of an increasing understeer, with Schöffler, Ferrara and Biagi trying to take advantage of the Tuscanian's problems. As the slower Larini blocked the trio another spectacular battle started, during which contacts and overtakings thrilled the crowd. On lap eight, though, Larini had to give up and let Schöffler, Biagi, Ferrara and Stefano Gabellini through, in the same order.
On the last lap Gabellini tried to pass Ferrara at La Source, but the Mercedes was able to take his position back. At Pouhon Biagi pulled a great move on Schöffler, and so did Ferrara at Les Fagnes, passing the German on the outside of the chicane. Gabellini also passed the Audi in the last sector of the track.
Nothing else happened before the chequered flag, with Morbidelli taking another win for Audi ahead of Liuzzi and Salo. Biagi took fourth at the end of a cautious race, ahead of Ferrara and Gabellini, with Schöffler only seventh after looking able to finish the race as high as fourth. Jeff Smith finished in eighth after a good and consistent race, while Nico Caldarola and Max Pigoli rounded up the top ten.
Liuzzi leads the championship with 149 points, 19 more than Kristoffersson. Biagi lies third a further three points down on the lead, while Morbidelli jumps up to 110, 29 points behind the leader.
Due to the Portimao event being canceled, the next meeting of the Superstars Series will still be held on September, 16th. The venue has been changed to the legendary Pergusa track in Sicily, marking the Italian track's return to international motorsport. |
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| 01 |
Gianni Morbidelli |
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10 laps |
| 02 |
Vitantonio Liuzzi |
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+11.991 |
| 03 |
Mika Salo |
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+13.537 |
| 04 |
Thomas Biagi |
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+25.917 |
| 05 |
Stefano Gabellini |
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+29.255 |
| 06 |
Thomas Schöffler |
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+31.638 |
| 07 |
Jeff Smith |
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+42.490 |
| 08 |
Nico Caldarola |
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+46.787 |
| 09 |
Massimo Pigoli |
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+49.007 |
| 10 |
Domenico Ferlito |
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+51.412 |
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| Full Results |
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Pietro Casillo Sunday, 15 July 2012 at 22:42 CET |
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