The International Superstars Series returns to Khayalami on November 28 courtesy of Blue IQ and the Gauteng Provincial Government. Following last year’s successful debut round outside of Europe, the 500 bhp V8 saloon car championship makes its second appearance at South Africa’s premier circuit for the seventh and final round of the 2010 series.
South African race fans are in for a bumper treat as Superstars will share a feast of top class motor racing over three days with the final round of the WesBank Super Series, starting on Friday, November 26 (free practice) and followed by qualifying and races on Saturday and the feature races on Sunday. The Italian based series, which features several former Formula One drivers (Gianni Morbidelli, Johnny Herbert and Andrea Chiesa) and seven different manufacturers of four-door, luxury, high-performance cars, is in its seventh year and started at Monza in Italy on March 28. Rounds have already been held at Imola (San Marino), Portimao (Portugal) and Hockenheim (Germany). The next round is at Paul Ricard in France on September 19 and after that the series travels to Vallelunga in Italy on October 10 before heading off the European continent for the first time to South Africa.
Superstars is in its seventh year and remains a fast growing international saloon car series with strong backing by a number of manufacturers of luxury, high-performance saloon cars. These include BMW (550i, M5 and M3), Audi (RS4), Jaguar (S-type R), Chrysler (300C SRT8), Chevrolet (Lumina CR8), Cadillac (CTS-V) and Mercedes (C63 AMG). The regulations allow for four-door V8-engined production cars with a capacity between 3.0 and 7.0 litres.
Technical regulations are managed, in conjunction with the Italian national sporting authority (CSAI), by ORAL Engineering, an internationally recognised company created by former Ferrari F1 technical director Mauro Forghieri. The cars race on identical Pirelli tyres (limited to six for the race weekend) and feature special brake kits, limited technical modifications and rear wings. A weight handicap system is employed to equalise performance and penalises top three race finishes and championship positions.
A typical three-day race programme includes two free practice sessions, a 30-min qualifying session and two 25-min plus one lap races with a rolling start.
Current stars of the international Superstars championship include former F1 drivers Gianni Morbidelli (reigning champion in a Team BMW Italia M3) and Johnny Herbert (new to the series in a Motorzone Chevrolet Lumina CR8, Thomas Biagi (current points leader in a Team BMW Italia M3), Luigi Ferrara (currently second in a CAAL Racing Mercedes C 63 AMG) and Max Pigoli (third in the points table in a Romeo Ferraris Mercedes C 63 AMG).
STORY BY PETER BURROUGHES COMMUNICATIONS
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