Audi Sport Italia Press Release
Gianni Morbidelli lands first Audi pole position
since September 2012. Homeboy Laurens Vanthoor experiences mixed fortunes
in Superstars debut
ZOLDER QUALIFYING REPORT
Gianni Morbidelli has taken today
pole position at Zolder under grey skies for round 7 of the International
Superstars Series in his Camozzi-liveried RS 5, after a daring late charge
that left former F.1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi 4-tenths of a second
behind.Morbidelli, who was on a pole position drought since
the summer of 2012, hopes to kick start his championship hopes in
Belgium--a country where he scored a double Superstars victory at Spa last
year. Moreover, Zolder is famously a 4WD-friendly venue and the Sunday
look full of promise for the Audi camp.
Audi Sport Italia's newcomer Laurens Vanthoor --
sitting on car No 46 replacing Ferdinando Geri who has stood down from the
series after three meetings -- had an outstanding morning, claiming P1 in
his first ever run in the RS 5, then claiming P2 in the second
practice session behind Liuzzi. Unfortunately he could only put
in one lap before pulling over between turn 3 and 4 as his RS 5 was felled
by the input shaft. In spite of having to start from row 8 his impressive poise
is a guarantee that on Sunday the home crowd will be sure to get something
to cheer for.
The morning had not been as happy and smooth for
Morbidelli as it had been for his one-off team mate. The Pesaro-born driver had
claimed P2 in FP1 but fell down the order in FP2 as his rear diff gave good
reason to the team crew to have it tweaked before qualifying. The 30-minute
session saw Morbidelli on top on a regular basis, early on briefly heading
Raffaele Giammaria's AMG Mercedes by 0.015s. Then it was Gigi Ferrara's Swabian
coupe turn to lead the tables, 0.161s ahead of the Audi man. But it was then
the sedan AMG Mercedes of Liuzzi that made it again to the top, the former Red
Bull driver hardly hindered by the outcome of the new Balance Of
Performance that had been put in place before the fourth 2013 meeting. Liuzzi's
1:36.462s was a good lap fair and square, but today Morbidelli was on top form
and he managed to post an outstanding 1:36.055 that left Liuzzi 0.407 adrift,
also securing Audi's 20th pole position since entering the series in
2005.
INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTARS SERIES
Zolder, Top5 :
1. GIANNI MORBIDELLI (AUDI RS 5) 1:36.055s
2. Vitantonio Liuzzi (AMG Mercedes) 1:36.462s
3. Renaud Kuppens (BMW) + 1:36.934s;
4. Gigi Ferrara (AMG Mercedes) 1:36.940s;
5. Max Mugelli (BMW) + 1:37.113s;
5. Max Mugelli (BMW) + 1:37.113s;
../..
18. LAURENS VANTHOOR (AUDI RS 5) no time.
INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTARS SERIES 2013
Top5 drivers points standings after 6 rounds:
1. Biagi 105 points;
2. Berton 80 pts;
3. Liuzzi 76 pts;
2. Berton 80 pts;
3. Liuzzi 76 pts;
4. Ferrara 56 pts.;
5.
MORBIDELLI 53 pts.
Photo credit: Audi Sport Italia
