Superstars

Biagi Wins Race 1 In BMW 1-2-3 At Portimao

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Thomas Biagi won the first International Superstars Series race at Portimao, with Team BMW Italia scoring a 1-2-3 finish as Alberto Cerqui and Stefano Gabellini completed the podium.

Youngster Cerqui led away from pole position, with reigning series champion Biagi taking second place from the Maserati Quattroporte of Swiss Team driver Andrea Bertolini at the start. Meanwhile Johnny Herbert took fourth place away from Gabellini in his Romeo Ferraris Mercedes, though the BMW driver would not take long to retake the position.

Up front Biagi took the lead from Cerqui in the middle of the race, and went onto win with a 2.5 second gap over Cerqui. Bertolini was set for third until a tyre failure on the final lap which handed the final podium position to Gabellini.

Bertolini was still able to finish fourth, with Herbert having suffered a puncture himself in the closing stages that forced him to pit. Luigi Ferrara finished fifth in his Caal Racing Mercedes, ahead of what had been an intense battle for seventh, which became sixth when Herbert pitted.

Ferrara's teammate Riccardo Romagnoli made a good start to move up into seventh at the start, but came under pressure from those behind. Michela Cerruti first tried to find a way through in her Romeo Ferraris Mercedes, but was passed in the meantime by Motorzone Chevrolet driver Fabrizio Armetta. Armetta then got past Romagnoli and went onto finish sixth.

Contact between Cerruti and the Ferlito Motors Jaguar of Francesco Sini saw Sini spin off. Max Pigoli moved up into seventh ahead of Cerruti, while Romagnoli dropped back into the clutches of the second Maserati driver Andrea Chiesa. Chiesa overcame a spin caused by contact with Alex De Giacomi to finish ninth ahead of Romagnoli.

Race results after 15 laps:

Pos Driver Team Car Time/Gap
1 Thomas Biagi Team BMW Italia BMW M3 E92 28’15.249
2 Alberto Cerqui Team BMW Italia BMW M3 E92 2.529
3 Stefano Gabellini Team BMW Italia BMW M3 E92 8.844
4 Andrea Bertolini Swiss Team Maserati Quattroporte 23.643
5 Luigi Ferrara CAAL Racing Mercedes AMG C63 29.253
6 Fabrizio Armetta Motorzone Chevrolet Lumina CR-8 34.435
7 Max Pigoli Romeo Ferraris Mercedes AMG C63 35.805
8 Michela Cerruti Romeo Ferraris Mercedes AMG C63 39.596
9 Andrea Chiesa Swiss Team Maserati Quattroporte 47.632
10 Riccardo Romagnoli CAAL Racing Mercedes AMG C63 51.449
11 Isaac Tutumlu Campos Racing BMW M3 E92 1’03.870
12 Sandro Bettini Movisport BMW M3 E90 1’04.009
13 Andrea Dromedari Romeo Ferraris Mercedes AMG C63 1’04.045
14 Mauro Cesari MRT by Nocentini Chrysler 300 C SRT-8 1’29.077
15 Johnny Herbert Romeo Ferraris Mercedes AMG C63 +1 Lap
16 Alessandro Tambussi Movisport BMW 550i E60 +1 Lap
17 Alex De Giacomi Movisport BMW M3 E90 +4 Laps
18 Francesca Linossi Movisport BMW M3 E92 +5 Laps
19 Sergio Hernandez Campos Racing BMW M3 E92 +5 Laps
Ret Francesco Sini Ferlito Motors Jaguar XF 4 laps
Ret Luigi Cecchi Ferlito Motors Jaguar XF 1 lap
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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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