Zolder Superstars: Laurens Vanthoor hands win to Gianni Morbidelli

Making a one-off appearance for the team, Vanthoor was in a class of his own. From seventh on the grid, he was in the lead after two and a half laps, before building a healthy gap to the rest of the field.

But when Morbidelli finally made his way into second place a little over 10 minutes from the end of the race, Vanthoor's pace significantly dropped.

In the end, Morbidelli breezed past on the run to the finish line, the veteran later admitting that Vanthoor gifted him the win for the good of his championship campaign.

Raffaele Giammaria (CAAL Racing Mercedes) finished third, having led the opening couple of laps thanks to a dynamite start from third on the grid.

Fourth place came down to a scrap between Romeo Ferraris Mercedes driver Thomas Biagi, and series debutant Renaud Kuppens (Scuderia Giudici BMW). In the end Biagi was too strong, the championship leader bagging the valuable points.

Giovanni Berton finished sixth, ahead of Tonio Liuzzi, who had to come from the very back of the field thanks to a trip through the gravel trap at the start of the race.

He was actually ahead of Berton late in the race, but a second trip through the gravel meant the pair swapped positions.

Once again, luck was not on the side of Luigi Ferrara. The Roma Racing Mercedes driver was in the running for third place, before retiring mid-race with a suspension problem after bouncing over a kerb while doing battle with Morbidelli.

Results - 17 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car             Time/Gap
 1.  Gianni Morbidelli    Audi Italia        28m02.948s
 2.  Laurens Vanthoor     Audi Italia           +0.466s
 3.  Raffaele Giammaria   CAAL Mercedes         +6.495s
 4.  Thomas Biagi         Ferraris Mercedes    +26.394s
 5.  Renaud Kuppens       Giudici BMW          +28.995s
 6.  Giovanni Berton      Dinamic BMW          +32.307s
 7.  Tonio Liuzzi         Ferraris Mercedes    +33.488s
 8.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Petri Porsche        +35.803s
 9.  Mauro Trentin        Dinamic BMW          +36.670s
10.  Mimmo Schiattarella  Solaris Chevrolet    +55.198s
11.  Andrea Bacci         CAAL Mercedes        +56.270s
12.  Max Mugelli          Dinamic BMW        +1m00.793s

Retirements:

     Luigi Ferrara        Roma Mercedes          7 laps
     Roberto Benedetti    RC Cadillac            3 laps
     Nicola Larini        Petri Porsche           1 lap
     Francesco Sini       Solaris Chevrolet      0 laps