Giovanardi takes debut Porsche win at Mugello
Fabrizio Giovanardi and N-Technology won their debut race with the Porsche Panamera in the Superstars series race weekend at Mugello.
After a poor start from the Porsche-driver, Mercedes drivers Ferrara and Pigoli, as well as Chrysler-driver Cressoni, overtook the pole man, leaving him in fourth place.
Cressoni was passed after some resistance by Giovanardi and the Italian immediately started to pressurize the Mercedes duo.
After the first lap the first five cars were packed up, with Ferrara leading followed by Pigoli, Giovanardi, Cressoni and BMW Italia’s Morbidelli. On lap two Cressoni spun and ended up in the gravel after light contact with Morbidelli.
Meanwhile, Giovanardi passed Pigoli and started pushing hard to pass Ferrara to take back the top spot back. Mordibelli took third place after a clean move on Pigoli and started following the leading duo closely.
After passing Ferrara at the Bucine, the last corner, Giovanardi was overtaken back by the Caal Racing driver on the main straight, exploiting the power of the Mercedes engine. Giovanardi managed to get back a few corners later with a great maneuvere, touching the grass on the inside of the Scarperia and passing Ferrara with controlled oversteer.
Race One Results – Top Five
1 Fabrizio Giovanardi Porsche Panamera 14 laps
2 Gianni Morbidelli BMW M3 +2.083
3 Luigi Ferrara Mercedes C-Class +8.499
4 Thomas Biagi BMW M3 +12.104
5 Max Pigoli Mercedes C-Class +13.126
Race two saw Max Pigoli claim his second win of the season. Luigi Ferrara had a strong race, coming home second ahead of Gianni Morbidelli.
At the start, Ferrara had the best getaway, coming out of the first corner in the lead, ahead of Pigoli and former skiing champion Kristian Ghedina. Poleman Cappellari was fourth ahead of Gabellini and Morbidelli.
On lap two Pigoli overtook Ferrara and immediately started building a strong gap, as Gabellini overtook his team-mate Cappellari. Ferrara had to face the attacks of Ghedina and the four works BMWs right behind him, and in the end had to leave his place to Gabellini, who started chasing the leader.
Meanwhile, Giovanardi was recovering after a poor start and went on to seventh place, just ahead of Biagi; towards the end of the race, though, the Panamera slipped down to 9th after a mistake at the San Donato.
More spectacular events were about to come, as Gabellini managed to get in the slipstream of Pigoli right at the beginning of the last lap. The Mercedes driver defended while Gabellini tried to force his way past at the last corner of the last lap.
In a desperate maneuvere from Gabellini, chasing his maiden win of the season, the BMW driver put all four wheels in the grass, on the inside of the Bucine corner, as Pigoli had left no room for him to overtake.
The BMW-driver was unable to brake for the corner and went out on the gravel on the outside of the corner. Gabellini managed to get back on the road, but meanwhile Mercedes-driver Ferrara and team mate Gianni Morbidelli squeezed past, producing a very spectacular and close finish.
Pigoli won as Ferrara took a last-minute second place, ahead of Morbidelli and Gabellini, who lost the podium with just three hundredths of a second. Ghedina ended up a good fifth, ahead of fellow BMW drivers Cappellari and Biagi. Malucelli and Giovanardi came home eighth and ninth respectively, as Bettini’s Maserati Quattroporte rounded up the top ten.
Next stop for the Superstars Series is Varano on August, 29th.
Race Two Results – Top Five
1 Max Pigoli Mercedes C-Class 14 laps
2 Luigi Ferrara Mercedes C-Class +5.487
3 Gianni Morbidelli BMW M3 +6.040
4 Stefano Gabellini BMW M3 +6.071
5 Kristian Ghedina BMW M3 +6.146
