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Superstars Donington: Morbidelli defeats title rival Biagi

Gianni Morbidelli and Thomas Biagi are now tied on points in the Superstars International Series, after the pair finished first and second respectively in race two at Donington Park

Biagi (Romeo Ferraris Mercedes) and Morbidelli (Audi Sport Italia RS5) started the race on the third row, both making flying starts to be first and second, Biagi leading Morbidelli, by halfway through the first lap.

While Biagi was able to hold off Morbidelli in the early stages of the race, the ex-Formula 1 driver upped the ante with 15 minutes to go.

A couple of minutes later Biagi finally caved under the pressure, running wide at the Melbourne hairpin, and giving Morbidelli a chance to get alongside down the front straight.

Despite the Audi carrying more weight than the Mercedes, Morbidelli was able to make his move stick into Redgate, and immediately set about opening a gap. Within a lap it was 0.8 seconds, and by the end of the race it was a whopping 8.5s between first and second.

While Biagi was not able to win, he was able to set the fastest lap, earning a crucial point that leaves he and Morbidelli tied on 173 points apiece with four races left.

Behind the front two, Max Mugelli led home a Dinamic BMW 3-4-5 from Giovanni Berton and Mauro Trentin.

Briton Colin Turkington made it four BMWs in a row, finishing a fine sixth in the Scuderia Giudici entry.

Tonio Liuzzi did not even make the start of the race, the ex-Red Bull Racing driver peeling into the pitlane at the end of the formation lap, his Romeo Ferraris Mercedes suffering from what the team believes to be a gearbox problem.

And he was not the only Mercedes driver to have troubles. Race one winner Luigi Ferrara looked on for another top four result, only to retire just after half-race distance with his second water pump failure of the weekend.

Results - 17 laps:

Pos  Driver                  Team/Car             Time/Gap
 1.  Gianni Morbidelli       Audi Italia        27m13.077s
 2.  Thomas Biagi            Ferraris Mercedes     +8.544s
 3.  Max Mugelli             Dinamic BMW           +9.322s
 4.  Giovanni Berton         Dinamic BMW          +10.916s
 5.  Mauro Trentin           Dinamic BMW          +39.145s
 6.  Colin Turkington        Giudici BMW          +49.167s
 7.  Roberto Papini          CAAL Mercedes        +49.993s
 8.  Domenico Schiattarella  Solaris Chevrolet  +1m03.231s
 9.  Francesco Ascani        Todi BMW           +1m13.322s
10.  Gianni Giudici          Giudici BMW        +1m42.490s

Retirements:

     Andrea Bacci            CAAL Mercedes          9 laps
     Luigi Ferrara           Roma Mercedes          7 laps
     Tonio Liuzzi            Ferraris Mercedes      0 laps
     Francesco Sini          Solaris Chevrolet         DNS
     Diego Romanini          MRT Lexus                 DNS

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