Audi Sport Italia Press Release
Gianni Morbidelli's 2013 Superstars Season At A Crossroads
DONINGTON PARK
RACE PREVIEW
Quite soon a host of Italy-registered trucks will head north to United Kingdom, as after a long summer break the 2013 Superstars series resumes on September 1st. At Donington Park AMG Mercedes’ Thomas Biagi will top the points table, but the upcoming weekend is rather likely to focus on Gianni Morbidelli’s fate: after four consecutive wins in twin-race meetings (an accomplishment which equalled his own 2009 record) can he keep his streak alive and grab the series’ lead or possibly the momentum that has sustained him and his Audi so far is on the brink of petering out?
The Leicestershire venue is renowned as a demanding
but low-grip track: both features suit well the Audi assets. However, the Audi
Sport Italia squad is heading into rougher waters at the British historic
circuit. After the Portoguese round the series’ body levied an array of
measures to undercut the rolling RS 5 and there is no question that these will
add up to leave Morbidelli in a bit of spot. As a matter of fact the latest
Balance Of Performance provisions will be pushing the envelope of RS 5's
resiliency to its limit. The series’ rulebook had scheduled BOP updates after
the Slovakian and British meetings: therefore the post-Zolder and post-Algarve
mandates can well be dubbed as kind of extraordinary. It’s quite likely that
the new mandatory measures will put a substantial strain on the Audi equipment,
something the Italian outfit had struggled with early on.
The hurdles Morbidelli will have to clear at
Donington Park can be split in two categories: reliability and performance
issues. Audis were already topping the Superstars’ scales when the first
technical bulletin was issued in mid-March: the RS 5 then was 30 or 40 kilos
heavier than the beefiest competition (respectively AMG Mercedes and
Cadillacs). The latest bulletin has increased Audi’s weight 40 kilos, therefore
the German car is now 60 kilos heavier than C63s and 80 kilos more than the
lone Cadillac—if the latter will show up. Including the sporting ballast
the Camozzi-liveried car will be gauged at 1530 kilos, stamping a
substantial reliability question mark on the Audi Sport Italia package. (By the
way, this huge bulk isn’t even going to set a glum record: back in 2008
Superstars, Morbidelli’s RS 4 was forced to take on Monza at 1610
kilos. He wound up second, though, but he’d rather forget the car driveability
throughout the weekend…)
As far as performance is concerned, the lone RS 5
is also headed to UK as the tallest car in the field, as it happened until the
Slovakian outing: its ride height has been increased to 90 mm, i.e. 15 mm more
than any competitor. This measure may not hurt excessively through
Donington Park hairpins, but Craner and other tricky spots will be another
story altogether. Last but not least, Audi’s V8 engine, whose 4.2 litre
capacity is among the leanest in the series, has now to fit a 79mm
air-restrictor which will replace the previous 85mm device. The choken down
powerplant is expected to affect massively the car performance, further
worsening the gap in horsepower with the BHP-happy competition, but at least it
seems unlikely to have significant consequences on reliability.
However, the points standings are still bunched up
enough to propel the title hopes of four drivers–besides Morbidelli and Biagi,
Tonio Liuzzi and Giovanni Berton. Therefore there is a fair chance that
Morbidelli’s staunch competition will feel compelled to rack up as many points
as possibile --and take the risks that come along with such a gameplan --
before the Audi Sport Italia package come to grips with the latest overhaul. At Donington Park
the Audi will be unloaded from the team truck without having undergone any
major tweak. This means that it’s going to be easy to overlap the latest BOP
provisions with the mid-Summer performance. Our hunch here is that, provided
that weight and ride height measures will not chip away excessively on the car
reliability, the upcoming meeting is not set to sap Morbidelli's confidence
that he's well positioned to make a deep championship run. We’d not urge any
fan to bet the farm on Morbidelli easily keeping the winning streak alive, but
write him off as a Top3 finisher at your peril.
INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTARS
SERIES
Drivers' Points Standings:
1. T. Biagi (AMG Mercedes) 143 points;
2. G. MORBIDELLI (AUDI RS 5) 140 pts;
3. V. Liuzzi (AMG Mercedes) 122 pts;
4. G. Berton (BMW) 109 pts;
5. G. Ferrara (AMG Mercedes) 90 pts.
Photo credit: Audi Sport Italia
