The opening rounds of the 2010 Superstars V8 series kicked off this weekend and were dominated by the Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 cars as their horsepower advantage gave them an edge round the fast Italian circuit of Monza.
Behind double race winner Luigi Ferrara (Caal Racing) was the similar Mercedes AMG C63 of AeffeM’s Max Pilogi. Behind the victorious Mercedes, the variety and competitiveness of cars in the Superstars series was illustrated. The opening race of the season saw the BMW of reigning Champion Gianni Morbidelli (BMW Team Italia) finish in third, while race 2 saw the Cadillac of Roberto Del Castello (Santucci) finish on the podium.
Backing up the diversity of the championship – Race 2 saw 5 different manufacturers inside the top six. Two of these cars were Mercedes (1st and 2nd), the Cadillac CTS-V (3rd), the BMW M3 E92 of Thomas Biagi (4th), and the Audi RS4 of Roberto Papini (5th) with the Chevrolet Lumina CR8 of former Formula One driver Johnny Herbert (6th).
In total, 7 out of the 9 registered manufacturers made an appearance at Monza; the Maserati Quattroporte of Swiss Team will hit the track at Imola, the second event of the Championship. The ninth registered manufacturer, Porsche, with the Panamera S model, being run by leading outfit N.Technology will make its Superstars debut at Portimao in Portugal, round 4 of 9 in the 2010 season.
The new for 2010 Superstars GTSprint made its debut alongside the Superstars series at Monza, featuring a grid of 23 cars for the maiden race.
The honours of race 1 went to the Ferrari F430 of Niki Cadei; Cadei led home a 6 car train of 430's. The first non Ferrari was classified in seventh, the Porsche 977 of Omar Galbiati. The GT Cup class win also went the way of Ferrari, with Thomas Kemenater taking class honours, and fifth overall, while the GT4 honours went the way of Fabio Venier, in the Maserati GT.
Race 2 saw Ferrari domination, with the top 6 cars across the line at the end of the 14 lap race being Ferrari's. The victory went to the Vittoria Competizioni F430 of Alessandro Bonetti, with the GT Cup honours going to the Scuderia La.Na car of Davide Amaduzzi, while Maserati claimed another GT4 win with Venier taking the honours.
The next round of the 2010 Superstars series and Superstars GTSprint series will take place at Imola on the 18th April.
