Gianni Morbidelli dominates wet Spa race

On a rain-flooded track Gianni Morbidelli dominated the first race at Spa-Francorchamps, taking a 1-2 finish for Audi with Johan Kristoffersson right behind him. Vitantonio Liuzzi completed the podium for CAAL Racing.

The track conditions were particularly tricky, as confirmed by Nico Caldarola’s spin during the formation lap at Pouhon. An extra formation lap was needed due to the wrong positioning of the cars on the grid for the rolling start.

At the start the Audis kept the lead as most of the field remained with positions pretty much unchanged. Jeff Smith had a great start, jumping up to tenth, but slipped down the order during the same lap and found himself in the back of the field, his BMW M3 showing signs of a left front contact.

On the third lap Biagi spun at Les Combes while he was in seventh and slipped down to tenth, where he finished in the end. Thomas Schöffler was one of the protagonists of the race as he passed Gabellini on the third lap and then battled it out with Camilo Zurcher for most of the race, although the Colombian managed to keep the quick Audi RS5 behind.

On lap four former championship leader Max Pigoli had to retire due to technical problems after navigating in the back of the field for most of the weekend. Four laps later Andrea Larini overtook Stefano Gabellini for eighth.

The remainder of the race was pretty much uneventful, with all drivers seeming particularly careful and trying to finish the race without a scratch. Mika Salo challenged Luigi Ferrara for fourth for most of the race but wasn’t even able to complete an attack, as the Italian “protected” Liuzzi’s third place.

The championship is still led by Liuzzi, but the margin is now down to four points on Kristoffersson. Biagi lost his second place to the Swede and is now 17 points down on Liuzzi, while Morbidelli now is in fourth after passing Larini and laments a 45 points gap from the lead. The second race starts at 16.15 CET.