By Johan Laubscher
The debut of the Audi RS5 in the Italian Superstars championship has been one that the fans have been waiting to see for a very long time. Two of the new RS5 race cars debuted at the first round of the 2012 Superstars season at Monza and the cars did not disappoint.
The first long awaited photos of the car landed on the internet on the Friday of the race weekend and there was immediately a buzz surrounding the look of the new RS5. Some love it, some hate it, but you have to admit it has an extremely aggressive appearance. Two of the new cars were ready and were driven by Italian Gianni Morbidelli (Audi Sport Italia) and Swede Johan Kristoffersson (Kristoffersson Motorsport). The third RS5 was not ready in time for the Monza event and the third driver Thomas Schöffler (MTM Motorsport) drove one of the older RS4 cars.
The weekend got off to a rocky start in practice with the new cars having quite a few problems. Johan Kristoffersson did show the potential of the car in free practice 2 by setting the third fastest time. Thomas Schöffler had strong showings in the old car an even qualified 11th. Qualifying was a disaster for the RS5s with no Audis in the top 10, both RS5 cars had difficulties.
Johan Kristoffersson #46 RS5 leads Gianni Morbidelli #45 RS5 during race 1
As race day dawned Audi fans feared for a bad day, but these fears were unnecessary. All three Audis stormed into the top 10 in race 1. The Audi front being led by Johan Kristoffersson and a charging Gianni Morbidelli who had started at the back of the grid. Johan held his own in his debut race to finish fifth and Morbidelli finished in seventh. Schöffler was in the top 10 for most of the race but dropped to twelfth in the closing laps.
Race two saw Gianni Morbidelli charging at the front in a battle for the lead. He held second position for the closing phases of the race, but right at the end of the race Gianni Morbidelli lost second place and eventually finished in fifth. However he was clearly one of the fastest cars on the track, backed up by his lap time figures. Both his teammates unfortunately retired from race 2.
The new RS5 has silenced the critics, the car clearly has potential and its 4.2 V8 engine can more than hold its own with the big V8 monsters in the Italian Superstars series. A very strong race debut and Audi fans are looking forward to the next round of the series set for Imola on the 22nd of April.
Cover photo by Stefano Ciabattoni
All other photos are hosted at Superstars.it
All other photos are hosted at Superstars.it
More Information:
Video highlights of race 1
Video highlights of race 2
Gianni Morbidelli #45 RS5 (Audi Sport Italia)
Johan Kristoffersson #46 RS5 (Kristoffersson Motorsport)
