Luigi Ferrara wins first race at Donington as Biagi extends lead

Roma Racing’s Luigi Ferrara won the first race of the day at Donington Park from pole position, as the race was shaken up by an oil slick at the Melbourne Hairpin which allowed Thomas Biagi up to third to extend his points lead.

Ferrara bolted away from pole position in his Mercedes C63 AMG Coupé whilst the Romeo Ferraris Mercedes of Thomas Biagi was able to get ahead of Gianni Morbidelli’s Audi RS 5 at the rolling start for fourth.

Ferrara started building a lead over Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Romeo Ferraris Mercedes, whilst both Biagi and Morbidelli were able to pass Team Dinamic driver Giovanni’s Berton coming out of the final corner on lap three to move up into third and fourth positions.

On lap six, the Chevrolet Camaro of Francesco Sini cut across the nose of Andrea Bacci’s Caal Racing Mercedes whilst passing him for seventh down the start/finish straight, which saw Sini spin off into the barriers and into retirement, bringing out the only safety car of the race.

When the race resumed, Morbidelli pushed forward, passing Biagi’s Mercedes at Coppice for third on lap 11 and began to close on Liuzzi’s second placed Mercedes.

There was chaos on the next lap however, with Diego Romanini’s MRT Lexus dropping oil at the Melbourne Hairpin, which caught out the leading pack with Ferrara sliding wide at the corner, but both Liuzzi and Morbidelli found themselves even further off line and into the gravel, but able to rejoin down in fourth and fifth, with Berton and Biagi able to move past.

Colin Turkington’s race also came to an end on lap 12, out in the gravel at McLeans in the Scuderia Giudici BMW and was the final retirement in the race, which saw just nine cars cross the finish line.

On lap 14, the Romeo Ferraris Mercedes pair of Biagi and Liuzzi nearly made contact fighting for third at the Schwantz Curve, with Morbidelli in hot pursuit, passing Liuzzi on the following lap at the Melbourne hairpin.

Ferrara held on to take his first win of the season with Berton second ahead of Biagi’s Mercedes.

A number of incidents are under investigation, including Andrea Bacci for a violation at the start, Bacci and Sini for the incident on lap six as well as both championship contenders Biagi and Morbidelli.

The second race of the day takes place at 15:10 BST with Mauro Trentin starting from pole position on the reverse grid ahead of Andrea Bacci’s Mercedes.