Ferrara takes Superstars pole
Luigi Ferrara (CAAL Mercedes C63) completed the perfect build-up for Sunday's final round of the international Superstars Series for V8
production cars when the 28-year-old rookie from Italy claimed pole position for race one with a lap time of 1 min 47,62 sec.
It was a small psychological victory over championship leader Thomas Biagi (Italia BMW M3), who could do no better than sixth fastest and
a place on row three of the starting grid for Sunday's first race. Biagi's BMW was carrying additional weight as a result of recent good
results, whereas Ferrara was benefitting from no extra weight after two poor rounds preceding the Kyalami finale..
The advantage, however, still lies with the 34-year-old Biagi, a former FIA GT1 champion, who leads Ferrara, his only other rival for the
title, by 41 points with 43 on offer.
Ex-Formula One driver Johnny Herbert (Motorzone Chevrolet Lumina) was second quickest at the end of the 30-minute session, just 0,014 sec
behind Ferrara. The Englishman had battled in practice on Friday, but recovered well on Saturday on his first visit to Kyalami since
competing there in a Lotus in the South African Grand Prix in 1993.
Third on the grid for Sunday's first race is Italy's Max Pigoli (Romeo Mercedes C63), whose best lap time was 0,51 sec off pole position.
Pigoli is third in the championship standings, but too far behind to still be in contention.
South Africa's WesBank V8 Supercar champion Brandon Auby, the country's sole representative in this weekend's international races, did
well to record the fourth-fastest qualifying time in his debut appearance in a second Motorzone Chevrolet, eight tenths of a second behind
Ferrara.
Making up the top 10 of the 16-car field are Francesco Sini (Romeo BMW M3) fifth, Ermanno Dionisio (Italia Audi RS4) seventh, Ivan
Tramontozzi (Italia BMW M3), Alberto Cola (Italia Audi RS4) and Riccardo Romagnoli (Ferlito Jaguar XF).
Lone woman driver Michela Cerruti was 15th fastest in her Romeo Mercedes C63. The attractive blonde 23-year-old from Milan has been a
firm crowd favourite in her pink car and will be hoping to improve her pace in Sunday's races in her first visit to Kyalami.
Sunday's two races will be held over 25 minutes plus one lap and will start at 11h45 and 15h15 respectively. Both races will be broadcast
live by SuperSport on channel SS6, race one from 11h30 and race two from 15h00.