Gianni Morbidelli wins Italian crown in Franciacorta
Gianni Morbidelli won the second race and the Italian title today at Franciacorta, with the Audi Sport Italia driver leading an Audi 1-2 ahead of team-mate Ermanno Dionisio. Vitantonio Liuzzi completed the podium for Mercedes.
At the start, Romeo Ferraris Mercedes driver Liuzzi took the lead ahead of Morbidelli, who kept in touch with the Mercedes and overtook him after an entertaining battle. The show was however continued by Dionisio, who was fifth – and last – for a while.
After overtaking the BMW driven by Francesca Linossi, the Audi driver was able to take the final podium spot away from BMW Team Dinamic’s Nicola Baldan’s M3, before going on to overtake Liuzzi and finish the year on a high for Audi with a 1-2.
Liuzzi finished in third, while Baldan and Linossi failed to improve on their Race 1 positions and took the chequered flag in that order.
The race was close despite the low number of entrants, and was a fitting end to an all-conquering season for Gianni Morbidelli. Liuzzi was however able to keep the fight alive until the flag, and only lost out by 12 points on the Audi driver on the Italian title, seperate from the International title which was won by Morbidelli at Vallelunga earlier this month.
Thomas Biagi could have finished third in the standings, but the Mercedes driver did not start any of the races. This left him in fourth in the Italian championship.
Morbidelli wins the Italian series title with 170 points, with Liuzzi demoted to second on 158. Giovanni Berton finishes third, despite missing the season finale on 83.
