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Superstars World: Biagi, Berton share wins at Brno

Mercedes and BMW shared wins in the SUPERSTARS INTERNATIONAL SERIES today at Brno in front of 26.000 fans. In Race 1, pole-sitter Thomas Biagi sailed to victory by leading from start to finish and took the lead in standings in front of his Mercedes-AMG Romeo Ferraris team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi. In Race 2, it was Giovanni Berton to prevail with the Team BMW Dinamic M3 E92 model after having ended up in third place in the morning run. Roma Racing Team's Luigi Ferrara and Audi Sport Italia's Gianni Morbidelli also enjoyed podium finishes respectively with a Mercedes C63 AMG Coupé and an Audi RS5. On the other hand, returning Fabrizio Giovanardi had a tougher weekend as he scored a top-5 finish as his best result with the Petri Corse Porsche Panamera S.

The first SUPERSTARS race started with a multi-car contact between Roberto Benedetti, Massimiliano Fantini and Edoardo Piscopo which caused a full-course caution. At the following re-start, Biagi held onto the lead followed by Liuzzi, Ferrara and Berton, who had taken-off from the front row. Former F1 star Christian Klien, entered by Scuderia Giudici on a BMW, was also forced to retire due to the first-lap crash. In the meantime, Morbidelli hit fourth place while Giovanardi passed the Jaguar of "Diabolik" (who also surrendered his position to Mugelli) and the Camaro of Sini. In the closing laps, Liuzzi fell back to 5th due to an electric problem, while Morbidelli retired due to transmission woes. So no one could stop Biagi, who crossed the line in front of Ferrara and Berton.

In Race 2, Berton had an outstanding getaway as he climbed back to 2nd behind "Diabolik". The Jaguar racer retired together with Mugelli not too much later due to a contact, and Berton took full advantage from the situation - while Giovanardi's withdrew with a left front problem, a safety-car period ensued. At re-start, Liuzzi fought back on Sini and regained second place but a crash put both out of contention. Morbidelli, who inherited second place, successfully held off a charging Biagi while Berton was too quick for everybody else to deal with.

In the GTSPRINT INTERNATIONAL SERIES, Team Ferrari Ukraine cruised to their maiden win in Race 1 with Andii Kruglyk and Raffaele Giammaria. The Italian was back to the top of the SUPERSTARSWORLD podium after winning both SUPERSTARS races last year at Pergusa.

The first of the two runs had its first stint dominated by pole-sitter Talkanitsa Junior while Giammaria had a positive start that saw him climb several spots back straight away. Michael Vorba managed to improve to third after passing the same-powered Andrj Studenic at half distance and some excitement also came from the battle for 8th place between the Ferrari 458 of Ramindra Tanakorn and the Audi R8 LMS of Johan Kristoffersson. As soon as pit-stops unfolded, Jakubik took the lead after getting the wheel from Vorba. The Slovakian had to surrender with 20 minutes to go to Giammaria's team-mate Kruglyk before settling for 5th. Talkanitsa Senior eventually managed to rebound to the runner-up spot after suffering from Monza's time handicap and moved on Waszek late in the race. He and David Palmi ended up in third in front the Corvette of Roberto Del Castello.

Del Castello was then off to a quick start in Race 2 while pole-sitter Talkanitsa Sr. also lost second spot to Ukrainian Kruglyk, who then went on to take the lead. Giammaria continued in the job but had to serve a drive-through as well as Del Castello. In the closing laps, Solieri inherited the lead and then held off a charging Talkanitsa Jr, winning by 0.02 seconds.

The next round for the SUPERSTARS WORLD OF RACING is scheduled for the 8th and 9th of June at Slovakiaring.

SUPERSTARS INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Race 1 (top-5): 1. Biagi (Mercedes C63 AMG) 12 laps, 28'49"817; 2. Ferrara (Mercedes C63 AMG Coupè) 2"652; 3. Berton (BMW M3 E92) 4"336; 4. Liuzzi (Mercedes C63 AMG) 5"518; 5. Giovanardi (Porsche Panamera S) 7"945.

Race 2 (top-5): 1. Berton (BMW M3 E92) 12 laps, 27'55"360; 2. Morbidelli (Audi RS5) a 2"323; 3. Biagi (Mercedes C63 AMG) a 3"089; 4. Bacci (Mercedes C63 AMG) a 16"864; 5. Piscopo (BMW M3 E92) a 17"202.

Drivers Standings (top-5): 1. Biagi 73; 2. Liuzzi 52; 3. Berton 46; 4. Ferrara 44; 5. Morbidelli 39.

GTSPRINT INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Race 1 (top-5): 1. Kruglyk-Giammaria (Ferrari 458 GTS3) 29 laps, 1h02'07"984; 2. Talkanitsa-Talkanitsa (Ferrari 458 GTS2) 3"397; 3. Waszek-Palmi (Ferrari 458 GTS3) 6"592; 4. Del Castello (Corvette Z06 GTS3) 27"961; 5. Jakubik-Vorba (Ferrari 458 GTS3) 34"361.

Race 2 (top-5): 1. Solieri (Porsche 911 GTS3) 28 laps, 1h00'10"142; 2. Talkanitsa-Talkanitsa (Ferrari 458 GTS2) 0"026; 3. Kruglyk-Giammaria (Ferrari 458 GTS3) 3"257; 4. Jakubik-Vorba (Ferrari 458 GTS3) 19"045; 5. Waszek-Palmi (Ferrari 458 GTS3) 32"856.

Drivers Standings (top-5): 1. Talkanitsa-Talkanitsa 67; 2. Kruglyk 66; 3. Solieri 51; 4. Del Castello 50; 5. Tanakorn 45.