Next stop, Portimão for the Superstars Series

The Superstars Series will be back on track this weekend at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal. The series is back after a one month break and a new balance of performance decided by the bureau.

Last time out in Zolder, Audi Sport Italia’s Gianni Morbidelli dominated in his Audi RS 5, bringing himself back into the title contention and up to second in the standings, chasing championship leader Romeo Ferraris’ Thomas Biagi, who has a 23-points lead over the Audi driver.

Team Dinamic’s Giovanni Berton makes it three different manufacturers in the top positions, with his BMW five points shy of Morbidelli and just one ahead of Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Mercedes. Luigi Ferrara and his Mercedes C63 AMG Coupè rounds up the top five on 71 points, 48 less than the works sedan version of the Mercedes C class.

The removal of the air restrictor on the Audi RS 5, with the subsequent double 1-2 in Zolder, led the Permanent Bureau to reinstate the restrictor for this weekend, though the cars will still be 20 kilos lighter than before the Belgian weekend. Mercedes were allowed to bring the minimum height back to 60 millimetres, 15 less than in Zolder, while the Porsche Panamera S will be 25 kilos lighter in Portugal.

“This weekend will be very important for us,” said Petri Corse’s Fabrizio Giovanardi to TouringCarTimes. “The Porsche needs a big rethink on some of its technical aspects, which is why we will bring engineer Marco Calovolo with us. The weight reduction is welcome, but we are aware that this will not be enough to solve our problems. We need to work hard.”