Liuzzi moved from sixth to first on the opening lap - Photo Credit: Superstars Media
Tonio Liuzzi's debut weekend in the International Superstars Series ended with victory in Race 2 at Monza.
The former F1 racer began the race from sixth on the reverse grid following his heroic Race 1 drive from the back to third place. He had the lead by the end of the opening lap though, getting by fellow Mercedes driver Nico Caldarola.
Fellow ex F1 star Mika Salo took up second position and took the fight to Liuzzi, but the Maserati driver's race ended on the ninth lap when a mechanical failure caused him to spin. Audi driver Gianni Morbidelli inherited second place as the safety car came out, but between the restart and the finish he fell down to fifth place.
Race 1 winner Max Pigoli crossed the line in second place in his Jaguar, 1.15 seconds behind Liuzzi and half a second ahead of the Chevrolet of Francesco Sini. Thomas Biagi took fourth in his BMW, with Morbidelli making it five brands in the top five positions.
Caldarola finished sixth having spun out of second early on after contact from Andrea Larini, who finished one place behind in seventh despite serving a drive-through penalty for the incident. Stefano Gabellini took eighth in the sister BMW to that of Biagi's, with Formula Renault champion Andrea Boffo taking his Mercedes to ninth and Mauro Cesari tenth in his Maserati.
