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Michela Cerruti Claims Race 2 Win At Monza

2 Mins read

Michela Cerruti won a dramatic second race of the opening International Superstars Series round at Monza.

The female racer had been the revelation of the weekend, setting the pace in both practice sessions on Friday in her Romeo Ferraris Mercedes C63 AMG. After finishing second to teammate Max Pigoli in Race 1, Cerruti capitalised upon punctures for both Pigoli and Luigi Ferrara to win the race.

Starting on pole position, Pigoli made a good start to the race, with Cerruti moving into second past the Swiss Team Maserati that had now been transferred into the hands of Andrea Chiesa, who had shared the car with Andrea Bertolini during the weekend. Meanwhile Ferrara, forced to start both races from the eighth row after engine problems in qualifying, made another lightning start just like he did in Race 1 to move up into fifth through the first chicane.

Ferrara soon got past both Francesco Sini's Jaguar and Chiesa's Maserati into third place. The CAAL Racing driver, who won both races at Monza on his series debut last season, then took second from Cerruti.

He soon closed down on Pigoli, and made a move into the Parabolica. The pair ran side-by-side down the pit straight but Ferrara had the legs to take the lead. Pigoli then dropped back into the clutches of teammate Cerruti. The Race 1 winner was forced to concede second place, before suffering a puncture. Almost immediately, Ferrara suffered a puncture himself at the end of the pit straight, heading straight on at the first chicane.

Cerruti got past Ferrara and took the lead, but then lost control under breaking for Ascari, spinning the car. With a large lead over the pursuing Sini, she was able to get the car pointing in the right direction whilst remaining in the lead.

However, she came under intense pressure from Sini, but the Jaguar driver suffered an electrical failure for the second time in the day, which brought his car to a halt in the middle of the first chicane. He got it going again, but lost position to Chiesa, only to take it back before the end of the race.

Cerruti meanwhile held on to take the checkered flag, with Sini second and Chiesa third. Riccardo Romagnoli came through to finish fourth in the second CAAL Mercedes, ahead of the two BMW Team Italia cars of Alberto Cerqui and Stefano Gabellini, which were fighting each other throughout the race. Sandro Bettini stayed out of trouble to finish seventh, with Thomas Biagi eighth after dropping back at the start. Roberto Benedetti was ninth, with Ferrara recovering from his puncture to finish tenth, one place ahead of Pigoli.

Cerruti's win puts her at the top of the drivers' standings. The next round takes place at Valencia on 8th May.

Pos. No. Driver Team Car Time/Gap
1 88 Michela Cerruti Romeo Ferraris Mercedes AMG C63 27:49.021
2 41 Francesco Sini Ferlito Motors Jaguar XF 6.902
3 46 Andrea Chiesa Swiss Team Maserati Quattroporte 7.132
4 58 Riccardo Romagnoli CAAL Racing Mercedes AMG C63 8.053
5 3 Alberto Cerqui Team BMW Italia BMW M3 E92 12.625
6 2 Stefano Gabellini Team BMW Italia BMW M3 E92 13.156
7 73 Sandro Bettini Movisport BMW M3 E90 35.406
8 1 Thomas Biagi Team BMW Italia BMW M3 E92 38.359
9 24 Roberto Benedetti RC Motorsport Cadillac CTS V 1:18.033
10 54 Luigi Ferrara CAAL Racing Mercedes AMG C63 1:21.099
11 18 Max Pigoli Romeo Ferraris Mercedes AMG C63 1:53.580
12 5 Fabrizio Armetta Motorzone Race Car Chevrolet Lumina CR-8 +6 Laps
13 11 Andrea Dromedari Romeo Ferraris Mercedes AMG C63 +6 Laps
14 27 Nico Caldarola Roma Racing Team Mercedes AMG C63 +7 Laps
Ret 10 Alessandro Kouzkin Motorzone Race Car Chevrolet Lumina CR-8 +9 Laps
Ret 35 Roberto Papini Audi Sport Italia Audi RS4 +11 Laps
Ret 32 Isaac Tutumlu Campos Racing BMW M3 E92 +11 Laps
Ret 12 Francesca Linossi Movisport BMW M3 E92 +11 Laps
Ret 99 Alex De Giacomi Movisport BMW M3 E90 +12 Laps
Ret 37 Riccardo Bossi Audi Sport Italia Audi RS4 +13 Laps
Ret 34 Ermanno Dionisio Audi Sport Italia Audi RS4  
Ret 23 Sergio Hernandez Campos Racing BMW M3 E92  
Ret 48 Johnny Herbert Romeo Ferraris Mercedes AMG C63  
Ret 40 Luigi Cecchi Ferlito Motors Jaguar XF  
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About author
Peter joined the TCF team in September 2010 and covers GP2 and GP3 along with WTCC and Formula Two. You can find him on twitter at @PeteAllen_
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