The International Superstars Series makes no secret of it: it was created to be a show. Launched in Italy, it is one of the rare championships where the world's most powerful production-based saloon cars compete, necessarily fitted with a V8 engine: Maserati Quatropportes, Audi RS5s, BMW M3s, Mercedes C63 AMGs, Jaguar XFs, Lexus ISFs, etc. therefore battle it out. To make it even more of a show, the Superstars Series opens its doors wide to former champions from Formula 1 or other disciplines. Motul supports technically three teams: Romeo Ferraris, Swiss Team and Lexus MRT.
At the fifth round of the championship, on 29 June – 1 July at Hungaroring, a Swiss Team driver at the wheel of a Maserati quattroporte climbed the highest step of the podium. And not just any driver, since it was Christian Klien, former Formula 1 driver for Red Bull Racing. Other big names also race regularly for the team, such as Johnny Herbert, the courageous F1 driver whose career seemed compromised after a very serious accident in 1988, or Mika Salo, the Finnish driver who participated in several Formula 1 seasons in the 1990s.
As can be expected, Romeo Ferraris manages the team bearing his name. This talented and versatile tuner started out by working in 1959 on Giancarlo Baghetti's Lancia! Since then, he has made a name for himself in several motorsport and offshore fields. In Hungary, he entered Andrea Larini and Camilo Zurcher, in a Mercedes AMG, and was to be cruelly disappointed: just when Camilo Zurcher had bagged a superb win in race one, he was given a 30 second penalty for having come into contact with Domenico Ferlito's Jaguar, which relegated him to 6th position and left the win to Christian Klien. 'It's an incomprehensible decision', deplored Romeo Ferraris. 'The collision between the two cars was a mere race incident. How could the judges give us that penalty after the arrival?'
This championship's big saloon cars will fight it out again on 14 and 15 July at the Spa circuit.
Standings
01// Vitantonio Liuzzi, Mercedes, 120 pts
02// Thomas Biaggi, BMW, 114 pts
03// Johan Khristoffersson, Audi, 112 pts
04// Andrea Larini, Mercedes, Romeos Ferrari, 78 pts - Motul
09// Johnny Herbert, Maserati, Swiss Team, 36 pts - Motul
10// Christian Klien, Maserati, Swiss Team, 32 pts - Motul
Photo credit: V8 Superstars
