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| October 9, 2011 | |
| ALBERTO CERQUI AWARDS BMW TEAM ITALY WITH THE ITALIAN TITLE IN THE SUPERSTARS SERIES 2011 | |
| 09/10/2011 - BMW Team Italy for the third year in a row obtained today in Vallelunga the Italian Superstars title. After the victory of Gianni Morbidelli in 2009 and that of Thomas Biagi in 2010, the young Alberto Cerqui, at only nineteen years of age, was crowned today in front of a lot of fans with the most prestigious title of the Series organized by Roma Formula Futuro.
The young driver from Brescia set the basis of his success in qualifying held yesterday, where he has been great in setting the second time (1'39.287) despite the 60kg sportive ballast on board his BMW M3, the highest possible by rule, due to the double victory obtained two weeks back in Mugello. Cerqui did not run any risk today in race one: third coming out from the first corner, behind the two Maserati Quattroporte driven by Andrea Bertolini and Alessandro Pier Guidi, the BMW Team Italy's driver run on a safe race pace that allowed him to end the race in third position, proceeding at the finish line his closest rivals for the title, Luigi Ferrara (Mercedes C63 AMG) and Max Pigoli (Mercedes C63 AMG). In this way he also mortgaged the final success thanks also to the loyalty of his team mates that did not put too much pressure at his back. The young Italian talent completed the weekend with a tactic masterpiece in race two where, without losing the control over his rivals he always held the sixth place that awarded him with the title of Italian 2011 Champion at the finish line. The final classification of the Italian Superstars 2011 crowns Alberto Cerqui with the title of champion at 126 points, ahead of Max Pigoli (Mercedes C63 AMG, 114) and Luigi Ferrara (Mercedes C63 AMG, 111). In the International Series the classification takes into account only some rounds of the season but it does not assign a CSAI or FIA title and Cerqui ended second. Alberto Cerqui: "Being the new Italian Champion is an joy beyond description. I started the season on tiptoe knowing that I'd have had to learn a lot. Thanks to all the teaching from Roberto Ravaglia, Umberto Grano and to the help of my team mates Thomas Biagi and Stefano Gabellini my performance improved as races went by and I reached the final rounds of Mugello and Vallelunga fighting for the title. In the last two rounds of Vallelunga and Mugello everything fell into place and I obtained a success that ended an unforgettable season to me. Everyone in the team gave their best from day one making this victory possible. I'd like to dedicate this title to the whole team and particularly to Roberto Ravaglia and Umberto Grano that believed in me since the first test". Roberto Ravaglia (ROAL Motorsport, Team Principal): "The main objective of BMW Team Italy has always been the victory of the Italian title for the third year in a row: we managed to do this with a very young driver on whom we gambled at the beginning of the season; during this weekend and throughout the season he proved to have all what is needed to get the final victory. Running in qualifying and race one with 60kg ballast on board was not easy but Cerqui managed to set an amazing time in qualifying and then he built the races on it. Race two was run as an experienced driver would have done ending it without mistakes in the right position to get mathematically the titles. The credit for today's success goes also the whole team that showed professionalism once more and to the essential support given by Biagi and Gabellini". | |