BMW domination at Varano

BMW won both Superstars races at the twisty Varano track with Biagi and Cappellari sharing the glory. But Mercedes-driver Pigoli took the championship lead after two consistent races with podium finishes.

Race one saw Biagi take the lead at the start ahead of pole man Gabellini, as Pigoli retained third. The main fight in the race was for fourth, as the leading trio pulled away from the rest of the field.

Ghedina, Russo, “Linos”, Cappellari and Morbidelli fought hard for fourth until Russo’s BMW spun and got collected by “Linos”. CAAL Racing’s Baldi had to head for the gravel trap in order to avoid the pair and hit Cesari’s Chrysler as he got back on track.

After the crash, Ghedina was left in fourth, defending from the attacks of Morbidelli. The Italian touring car legend finally managed to overtake Ghedina, who was passed by Cappellari and Ferrara in the process and ended up seventh.

Morbidelli tried to close the gap from Pigoli in third, but did not have enough laps. BMW Italia took a 1-2 with Biagi and Gabellini ahead of Pigoli, Morbidelli and Cappellari.

Race one results – Top Five

1 Thomas Biagi BMW M3 22 laps
2 Stefano Gabellini BMW M3 +4.902
3 Max Pigoli Mercedes C-Class +8.950
4 Gianni Morbidelli BMW M3 +9.474
5 Luca Cappellari BMW M3 +22.242

Dionisio started from pole in the second race thanks to the reverse grid. Cappellari took the lead on the first lap ahead of Pigoli and Dionisio, who was overtaken by Ferrara after two laps.

Morbidelli, who was fifth, got passed by team-mate Tomas Biagi and “Linos”. Later on, Biagi had to retire after contact with another driver.

In the closing stages of the race, Dionisio passed “Linos” for fifth, as the leading trio maintained their positions.

Cappellari won the race ahead of Pigoli and Ferrara. Morbidelli came home fourth ahead of Dionisio.

In a weekend in which BMW were expected to dominate, Pigoli took a rather unexpected lead of the championship, one point ahead of Biagi. Ferrara lies in third in the championship, five points shy of Pigoli, while Morbidelli is fourth, 27 points behind the leader.

The Superstars’ Series will be back on track at Paul Ricard, in three weeks time.

Race two results – Top Five

1 Luca Cappellari BMW M3 22 laps
2 Max Pigoli Mercedes C-Class +4.441
3 Luigi Ferrara Mercedes C-Class +9.964
4 Gianni Morbidelli BMW M3 +14.916
5 Ermanno Dionisio Audi RS4 +22.724