Gianni Morbidelli loses shot at points lead after spin on oil

Audi Sport Italia’s Gianni Morbidelli missed out on an opportunity to take the lead of the Superstars standings in race one at Donington Park, after he spun on oil left on the track by Diego Romanini’s Lexus at the Melbourne Hairpin.

The Italian had moved up into third position and was closing in on the Romeo Ferraris Mercedes of Vitantonio Liuzzi, when the two drivers slid off at Melbourne on lap 12, with Morbidelli stalling the engine on the Audi RS 5 and dropped down to fifth position. The 45-year-old was able to recover one more spot back from Liuzzi before the race finished.

“At that moment I was faster than the others but I stalled the engine and lost time,” he said to TouringCarTimes.

“I tried to do my best and I pushed from the beginning to the end, I gave it everything that I had in my pocket so I cannot complain about my race or about myself, I did the maximum.”

Morbidelli was able to twice pass the Mercedes C63s of Biagi and Liuzzi, first passing Biagi’s Mercedes at Coppice on lap 11, before handing back the position after the oil spin, and then Liuzzi’s car at the Melbourne Hairpin on the penultimate lap, setting the fastest lap of the race despite a 13km/h deficit in top speed to the Mercedes pair.

“We were quite close, but the difference on the straight is a lot,” he said. “Every time I was on the straight I lost a lot, it was like elastic, I gained whilst turning in the corners and on the brakes, but I lose on the straights, and you don’t have any chance to attack them unless they make mistakes.”

Morbidelli’s fastest lap nets him one additional point in the championship, but finishing behind Biagi on the road sees him fall to four points behind the 2010 champion in the standings.

“During the race before the oil at the hairpin I was in front of (Biagi), so at that moment I was gaining points, but he was more lucky than me (on the oil), but we have another race now so we’ll see what happens with the reverse grid.”