Giacomo Barri sealed a double Superstars GT Sprint podium at Portimao, the Italian finishing second in race 1 and taking a comfortable win in race 2, to move up from seventh to third in the championship.
Current joint championship leaders Massimiliano Mugelli and Andrea Palma secured two top six finishes to remain at the top of the standings.
In race one, the early stages were led by Nicola Cadei in the AF Course F458 until a drive through penalty, forced the Italian to drop to seventh overall. He managed to work his way back up to fifth at the finish, also taking the GTS3 class win from Roberto De Castello driving a Corvette Z06 R GT3.
Cadei’s penalty handed the lead to Giuseppe Ciro, who eventually won in his AF Course F430 taking the overall victory by 11 seconds from second placed Barri in the GTS2 class. Rounding out the podium was Michael Dalle Stelle also in a GT3 F430.
Cup class honours were taken by Antonio De La Reina (F430).
Race 2 started with Gaetano Ardnagna Perez taking the lead in the no.20 AF Corse Ferrari after a driver swap for race 2 with Ciro. It didn’t take long for Barri to take the lead and he never looked back to take the win. Perez eventually finished in fifth place after struggling with tyres during the race due to an extremely high track temperature of 51 degrees.
The AF course, F458 of Fabio Mancini (again after a driver change for race 2) managed to work his way from fifth on the first lap to finish third overall beating cars from the class above (GTS2), while sealing a double class win for the weekend.
The pace was set early on by Del Castello’s Corvette Z06 R GT3 with blistering times, showing the power of the V8 under bonnet, as the race progressed, that pace faded and the Italian had to settle for fourth overall, still a good showing.
Davide Amaduzzi took honours in the cup class, making it look easy with an impressive five second advantage at the finish.
Superstars GT Sprint results – Round 3, Portimao
Race 1
1 Giuseppe Ciro, AF Corse, Ferrari F430, 14 laps, 25:03.222
2 Giacomo Barri, Vittoria Competizioni, Ferrari F430, +11.389
3 Michael Dalle Stelle, Racing Team Edil Cris, Ferrari F430, +17.714
4 Andrea Palma, Vittoria Competizioni, Ferrari F430, +20.676
5 Nicola Cadei, AF Corse, Ferrari 458 Italia, +27.164
6 Roberto Del Castello, RC Motorsport, Corvette Z06 R GT3, +31.506
7 Glauco Solieri, Racing Team Edil Cris, Ferrari F430, +45.744
8 Antonio de la Reina, Kessel Racing, Ferrari F430, +1:18.138
9 Mauro Trentin, Scuderia La Na, Ferrari F430, +1:35.542
10 Marco Galassi, Team Malucelli, Ferrari F430, +1:37.581
11 Alessandra Neri, Vittoria Competizioni, Ferrari F430, +1:41.908
12 Roberto Sorti, Kessel Racing, Ferrari F430, +1 lap
13 Carlo Graziani, MIK Corse, Lamborghini Gallardo, +3 laps
Race 2
1 Giacomo Barri, Vittoria Competizioni, Ferrari F430, 15 laps, 27:13.352
2 Michael Dalle Stelle, Racing Team Edil Cris, Ferrari F430, +3.627
3 Fabio Mancini, AF Corse, Ferrari 458 Italia, +12.750
4 Roberto Del Castello, RC Motorsport, Corvette Z06 R GT3, +14.350
5 Gaetano Ardagna Perez, AF Corse, Ferrari F430, +17.879
6 Massimiliano Mugelli, Vittoria Competizioni, Ferrari F430, +22.461
7 Glauco Solieri, Racing Team Edil Cris, Ferrari F430, +32.223
8 Davide Amaduzzi, Scuderia La.Na, Ferrari F430, +1:34.463
9 Steven Goldstein, Kessel Racing, Ferrari F430, +1:39.969
10 Marco Galassi, Team Malucelli, Ferrari F430, +1:45.181
11 Roberto Sorti, Kessel Racing, Ferrari F430, +1 lap
12 Cesare Brusa, Vittoria Competizioni, Ferrari F430, +2 laps
Championship Standings (after 3 rounds)
1 Andrea Palma, 88pts
= Max Mugelli, 88
3 Giacomo Barri, 72
4 Niki Cadei, 69
= Fabio Mancini, 69
5 Giuseppe Ciro, 62
= Gaetano Perez, 62
6 Michael Dalle Stelle, 61
7 Glauco Solieri, 43
8 Matteo Cressoni, 35
9 Roberto Del Castello, 34
10 Steven Goldstein, 20
= Antonio De La Reina, 20
Next round: 8-10 July, Misano
Watch the Superstars GT Sprint LIVE on Motors TV in 2011.
James Foster
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