Morbidelli calls for more mileage for new Audi RS5

Gianni Morbidelli has made his comeback in the Superstars International Series after one year of absence. The former Ferrari driver had last competed in a full Superstars season with BMW in 2010 and returns with the all-new Audi RS5 prepared by Audi Sport Italia.

TouringCarTimes met up with the Italian, a former Superstars champion, to discuss the new challenge.

“I’m really happy with the new car. It showed great potential, although the few miles we were able to do with the car were not enough to solve the typical problems of a young machine. We need to develop it, which we couldn’t do due to the limited time we had before the first race, and we paid the price for it in Monza. We feel like a season full of success is coming up, and we really hope so!” said Morbidelli to TouringCarTimes.

One of the main problems of the new Audi was the top speed, which of course plays a big role at Monza. Morbidelli feels that the handicap in terms of straight-line speed is balanced by other strong points of the new car.

“Yes, the top speed is a big issue, but on the other hand our car stand out in other areas such as cornering and traction. It’s like an elastic, our opponents are faster on straights but we seem to be more efficient under braking, for instance. We knew Monza would be tough and a fuel pump problem I had towards the end of the second race practically got me off a possible podium which could have been important.”

When asked about the tracks in which he felt the RS5 would be competitive, Morbidelli didn’t seem to want to think about it.

“I don’t know, I hope all of them! We want to be competitive everywhere, we shouldn’t focus on one or two tracks. The competitiveness is judged throughout an entire championship, not just a couple of tracks.”

The Italian feels the Superstars championship will continue to grow, also thanks to the interest among the fans.

“The future of the championship is bright, the Superstars is growing more and more, manufacturers, teams and drivers are raising the level of competition and this makes the championship even more interesting. We really have to thank the [FG Group] organization and the supporters who come every weekend to watch the races, because the interest is raising and this generates an upwards spiral which helps the growth of the championship,” said Morbidelli.

Morbidelli is currently sixth in the championship, 25 points behind leader Max Pigoli.