Photo: Superstars Series

Berton dominates at Vallelunga as Morbidelli wins the title

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BMW dominated the scene at Vallelunga, claiming a 1-2 finish with a commanding win by Giovanni Berton ahead of team-mate Max Mugelli, whilst Gianni Morbidelli took third position and in doing so claimed the International Superstars Series drivers’ title.

At the start, the two Team Dinamic BMWs made the most out of the fight behind them and emerged in first and second positions ahead of Thomas Biagi’s Romero Ferraris Mercedes. Biagi’s team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi managed to overtake Morbidelli, but the Audi driver was quick to repass the former Formula One star and begin to close on title rival Biagi.

The Audi driver followed the Mercedes C63 AMG very closely for most of the race, seemingly avoiding making an attack to just bag the points for fourth, but more drama was to come, as Biagi suddenly slowed and stopped on the track with a technical problem, handing Morbidelli the podium and the title.

Morbidelli’s Audi Sport Italia team-mate Andrea Larini had a good race. The driver from Versilia managed to overtake Liuzzi and was five seconds behind Morbidelli at the end of the race, managing to finish in fourth on his return in the Superstars Series.

Liuzzi went on to finish fifth, while behind him were the two sister Solaris Motorsport Chevrolets, with Mimmo Schiattarella’s Lumina ahead of Francesco Sini’s Camaro.

Mauro Trentin in the third of the BMW Team Dinamic M3s finished in eighth and will start from pole in race 2. Francesco Ascani took ninth in his BMW, with Thomas Biagi classified in tenth despite not finishing the race.

The last race of the season is scheduled for 16.10 CET, and will see Biagi trying to finish ahead of team-mate Liuzzi for the runner-up spot in the championship.