Zurcher claims first Superstars win

Camilo Zurcher became the newest first-time winner in the International Superstars Series in the second race at the Hungaroring in Budapest.

With the top eight from race one reversed, the Colombian found himself starting on the front row in the Romeo Ferraris Mercedes. He wasted no time hitting the front, controversially nudging polesitter Dominico Ferlito’s Ferlito Jaguar out of the way on the first lap.

While the incident was investigated, no action was taken, leaving Zurcher clear to take a measured win.

Behind him there was more controversy. Having run nose-to-tail throughout the race, a heated battle for second between Tonio Liuzzi (CAAL Racing Mercedes) and Thomas Biagi (Dinamic BMW) came to a head on the final lap, with Biagi getting into the back of Liuzzi’s Mercedes and spinning it around.

That opened the door for Christian Klien to grab an unlikely second place in the Swiss Team Maserati, with Biagi and Liuzzi settling for third and fourth respectively across the line, before their positions were reversed by race control after the race.

That Liuzzi and Biagi both lost spots late in the race was good news for KMS Audi’s Johan Kristoffersson. Having started the race as the championship leader, the Swede failed to finish the formation laps due to an alternator failure. While he did drop to second in the standings, he is just five points behind new leader Liuzzi.

Gianni Morbidelli was another Audi driver to have a horrid race two. Having switched to a spare engine between races after his electronics failure in race one, another podium went begging when the spare started to seize mid-race, leaving Morbidelli stranded on the sidelines.

Another driver to suffer from some bad luck was Norbert Michelisz. The Scuderia Guidici BMW driver was spun by the Dinamic BMW of Franco Fumi at the first corner, and ultimately retired from the race.

Fumi, however, went on to finish fifth, ahead of his team-mate Stefano Gabellini, Paolo Meloni (W&D Racing BMW), and Francesco Sini (Solaris Chevrolet).

Results – 14 laps:
 
Pos  Driver                Team/Car             Time/Gap
  1.  Camilo Zurcher        Romeo Mercedes     27m16.068s
  2.  Christian Klien       Swiss Maserati       + 4.858s
  3.  Tonio Liuzzi          CAAL Mercedes       + 14.635s
  4.  Thomas Biagi          Dinamic BMW         + 16.956s
  5.  Franco Fumi           Dinamic BMW         + 19.405s
  6.  Stefano Gabellini     Dinamic BMW         + 21.432s
  7.  Paolo Meloni          W&D BMW             + 26.190s
  8.  Francesco Sini        Solaris Chevrolet   + 28.331s
  9.  Andrea Larini         Romeo Mercedes      + 46.254s
 
Retirements:
 
     Thomas Schoffler      MTM Audi              10 laps
      Domenico Ferlito      Ferlito Jaguar         8 laps
      Walter Meloni         W&D BMW                6 laps
      Norbert Michelisz     Giudici BMW            5 laps
      Gianni Giudici        Giudici BMW            5 laps
      Gianni Morbidelli     Audi Italia            4 laps
      Johan Kristoffersson  KMS Audi               0 laps
      Max Pigoli            Ferlito Jaguar            DNS
      Mauro Cesari          Swiss Maserati            DNS
      Max Mugelli           CAAL Mercedes             DNS
 

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/zurcher-claims-first-superstars-win

Peter Gethin Piercarlo Ghinzani Bruno Giacomelli Dick Gibson Gimax