Sport

Superstar V8s to howl at Kyalami again

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7 September 2010

For petrolheads, there are few sounds as beautiful and thrilling as the throaty growl of a V8 engine. That's why Kyalami will be the place to be in November when the International Superstars Series returns to South Africa 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, 26 November (free practice) and followed by qualifying and races on Saturday and the feature races on Sunday.

It's the second time the 500 bhp V8 saloon car championship will make an appearance at Kyalami, South Africa's premier circuit, and it will again feature some extremely desirable marques, all in racing trim.

Manufacturers

Superstars is in its seventh year and remains a fast-growing international saloon car series with strong backing coming from 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 Superstars' 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.

Identical tyres

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-minutes qualifying session and two 25-minutes plus one lap races with a rolling start.

Venues

The Italian-based series started at Monza in Italy on 28 March. Rounds have since been held at Imola (San Marino), Portimao (Portugal) and Hockenheim (Germany).

The next round is at Paul Ricard in France on 19 September and after that the series travels to Vallelunga in Italy on 10 October before heading for South Africa.

One of the current stars of the international Superstars championship is former Formula One driver Gianni Morbidelli, who drives a Team BMW Italia M3 and is the reigning champion. Johnny Herbert, is also a former Formula One campaigner and a newcomer to the series. He races a Motorzone Chevrolet Lumina CR8.

Andrea Chiesa, who races in the Swiss Team Maserati Quattroporte, is another driver with Formula One experience, and competed at the 'old' Kyalami circuit in the 1992 South African Grand Prix.

Pace-setters

Thomas Biagi, in a Team BMW Italia M3, is the current points' leader. Luigi Ferrara, in a CAAL Racing Mercedes C63 AMG, is in second place, and Max Pigoli, in a Romeo Ferraris Mercedes C63 AMG, is third in the points table.

Biagi's lead in the standings is a very fragile one point over second-placed Ferrari. Pigoli is 17 points further back in third place on 88 points, followed by defending champion Morbadelli on 59.

Tickets go on sale on later this month at Computicket outlets countrywide or online at Computicket.

Last year

In last year's round at Kyalami, Fabrizio Armetta, driving for the Motorzone Race Car Team, scored his first win in a Chevrolet Lumina CR8 in the first race of the day.

Lucan Rangoni, in an Audi Sport Italia Audi RS4, took victory in race two, which was unfortunately cut short by a big thunderstorm. Race one winner Armetta excelled again by finishing second after starting in eighth place on the reverse grid.

The Superstars Series began in 2004. Initially based in Italy, it branched out into Europe in 2007. In the same year a parallel international series, the International Superstars Series, was added.

In 2009 a video game called Superstars V8 Racing was released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows. Most of the circuits are Italian, but Kyalami is also included. A follow up, "Superstars V8 Next Challenge", based on the 2009 season, was released earlier this year.

SAinfo reporter