Behind the wheel of the Swiss Team-prepared Quattroporte, Andrea Bertolini also captured his own first win in this touring car championship after dominating the whole distance in Race 1 from pole position and following that up with a second place in Race 2.

The intensive development work carried out over the winter by Guido Bonfiglio and his team - with input from the experienced Maserati Corse test driver Bertolini and by the manufacturer's Technical Director Maurizio Leschiutta, as well as the team's engineer Giuseppe Angulli - has finally paid off. The Italian car has proved 100 percent competitive over the two rounds so far this year and capable of challenging for wins.

During round one of the 2011 International Superstars Series which took place at Monza last month the Swiss Team's two drivers, Andrea Chiesa (starting out on his third season in the Swiss Team's Quattroporte) and new signing Andrea Bertolini, were both immediately very competitive. Missing pole by fractions, Bertolini was on course to deliver the car's first podium in Race 1 before a technical problem dropped him away from a certain third place. However Chiesa was able to deliver the Quattroporte its first 2011 International Superstars Series podium in Race 2 by collecting a third place finish.

From an the fast Monza circuit, the International Superstars Series moved onto to a twistier confines of Valencia last weekend. The Modena-based sports car brand was also represented for the first time by two cars in Spain, with the addition of a second Quattroporte to the line-up of Swiss Team. The cars being driven again by Bertolini and Chiesa, who shared the ride at Monza where they took in one race each.

"For me it’s a new challenge after several years spent in the GT1 World Championship," said Bertolini before the Spanish races, "and on a racetrack like Valencia there should be more chances to win. I found a lot of motivated and willing guys in the team, they worked hard and even stayed up all night to complete the job. That’s who I want to thank. At Monza, we missed the pole by an inch because the brake balancer nut fell loose. I was fastest in the first three splits and I just lost it by 0.051s. I have not been really lucky on race day too."
 
Chiesa was also upbeat going into last weekend's second round at Valencia: "After two up-and-down years with a Maserati Quattroporte which struggled to take off, something finally got into the right direction," the former F1 driver noted. "A change of direction operated under the supervision of new Technical Director Giuseppe Angiulli and with a revised project that proved also convincing for Maserati, as they supported us since the early stages and testing. At Monza, I wanted to get to the end without hitting the same problems that stopped my team-mate Bertolini (a loss of pressure from the left rear tyre). I just administrated my advantage and I finally got back onto the podium. Ending up in third at our first race has been really important for everybody here. For me and all the team that worked tirelessly in the weeks before the event. Now we’re extremely motivated to do better, and enter the two race stint that will lead us to Valencia and Portimão. We’ll be there with two cars, one for me and one for Berto."

In Valencia the Quattroporte was immediately amongst the pace setters. During qualifying the lead kept swinging between several drivers throughout the 30-minute session, as the Audi RS4 of Ermanno Dionisio, the BMW of Stefano Gabellini, and the Chevrolet Lumina of Fabrizio Armetta battled to take the top spot. In the end however it was Bertolini who swept through to take pole position as the four-time FIA GT Champion confirmed the improved potential shown at Monza.

Bertolini was never headed in Race 1 as he took a lights-to-flag win and handed the Maserati Quattroporte its first victory in the series. The Mercedes C63 AMG fielded by CAAL Racing for Luigi Ferrara prevailed on Race 2 and thanks to a flying start, the Apulia-based racer managed to take the lead early on and was able to top the impressive Bertolini who brought the Maserati home in second place. Thanks to the points scored, Ferrara also clinched the lead in championship standings after two rounds and four races; Bertolini - who had scored no points in Monza - moved up to fourth place in the points classification, while Chiesa - who didn't score at all over the weekend is in tenth place. Max Pigoli also tried to move on the Maserati racer in the closing stages of Race 2 before settling for third on his Mercedes, while after having ended up in third on Race 1, Thomas Biagi secured fourth place in front of BMW team-mate Stefano Gabellini.

The weekend finished in the same exciting way it started at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit. The championship's Spanish outing was marked by some extremely balanced yet hard-fought races, as confirmed by the four different winners had in the first four races of 2011. "The difference between GT and Superstar? We talk about two completely different things - says Bertolini. "Honestly, I fell in love with Superstars immediately. I decided to make my debut only when I was sure that the car would fit me. This championship is a great challenge to me, and I want to win - no learning seasons please.

"I really like the Superstars environment," continues Bertolini. "The promotional work done on the championship is sensational, much better than in many other international-level categories. I'm think that Superstars has what it takes to become the reference touring car series around." The reigning FIA GT1 World Champion also pointed out the relation between his Quattroporte racecar and the corresponding street version. "Outside, the road Maserati is pretty similar to its racing version, but indeed they're pretty different cars. Nonetheless, I believe that the Quattroporte owners will be quite happy to see a car similar to theirs fighting for wins in such an high-level championship like Superstars." The next round of the International Superstars Series will take place at Portimão on May 21-22.

International Superstars Series Rd 2, Valencia

Race 1

1 Andrea Bertolini, Swiss Team, Maserati Quattroporte, 16 laps, 27:31.225
2 Luigi Ferrara, CAAL Racing, Mercedes AMG C63, +1.559
3 Thomas Biagi, Team BMW Italia, BMW M3 E92, +11.791
4 Max Pigoli, Romeo Ferraris SRL, Mercedes AMG C63, +14.396
5 Stefano Gabellini, Team BMW Italia, BMW M3 E92, +17.155
6 Johnny Herbert, Romeo Ferraris SRL, Mercedes AMG C63, +19.610
7 Fabrizio Armetta, Motorzone Race Car, Chevrolet Lumina CR-8, +35.885
8 Sergio Hernandez, Campos Racing, BMW M3 E92, +37.064
9 Ermanno Dionisio, Audi Sport Italia, Audi RS4, +48.509
10 Alex De Giacomi, Movisport, BMW M3 E90, +55.464
11 Andrea Dromerdari, Romeo Ferraris SRL, Mercedes AMG C63, +59.647
12 Alberto Cerqui, Team BMW Italia, BMW M3 E92, +1:07.263
13 Francesca Linossi, Movisport, BMW M3 E92, +1:31.703
14 Nico Caldarola, Roma Racing Team, Mercedes AMG C63, +1:39.090
15 Francesco Sini, Ferlito Motors, Jaguar XF, +1:41.031
16 Sandro Bettini, Movisport, BMW M3 E90, +1 lap
17 Luigi Cecchi, Ferlito Motors, Jaguar XF, +1 lap
18 Isaac Tutumlu, Campos Racing, BMW M3 E92, +2 laps
19 Mauro Cesari, MRT by Nocentini, Chrysler 300 C SRT-8, +8 laps
Riccardo Bossi, Audi Sport Italia, Audi RS4, 5 laps
Riccardo Romagnoli, CAAL Racing, Mercedes AMG C63, 4 laps
Michela Cerruti, Romeo Ferraris SRL, Mercedes AMG C63, 3 laps
Roberto Benedetti, RC Motorsport, Cadillac CTS-V, 1 lap

Race 2

1 Luigi Ferrara, CAAL Racing, Mercedes AMG C63, 16 laps, 27:34.945
2 Andrea Bertolini, Swiss Team, Maserati Quattroporte, +0.761
3 Max Pigoli, Romeo Ferraris SRL, Mercedes AMG C63, +1.479
4 Thomas Biagi, Team BMW Italia, BMW M3 E92, +5.038
5 Stefano Gabellini, Team BMW Italia, BMW M3 E92, +9.992
6 Ermanno Dionisio, Audi Sport Italia, Audi RS4, +27.336
7 Francesco Sini, Ferlito Motors, Jaguar XF, +29.079
8 Riccardo Romagnoli, CAAL Racing, Mercedes AMG C63, +32.426
9 Michela Cerruti, Romeo Ferraris SRL, Mercedes AMG C63, +34.246
10 Alberto Cerqui, Team BMW Italia, BMW M3 E92, +37.745
11 Andrea Dromerdari, Romeo Ferraris SRL, Mercedes AMG C63, +45.592
12 Alex De Giacomi, Movisport, BMW M3 E90, +49.031
13 Roberto Benedetti, RC Motorsport, Cadillac CTS-V, +1:10.99
14 Sandro Bettini, Movisport, BMW M3 E90, +1:12.933
15 Nico Caldarola, Roma Racing Team, Mercedes AMG C63, +1:31.034
16 Mauro Cesari, MRT by Nocentini, Chrysler 300 C SRT-8, +1:31.350
17 Luigi Cecchi, Ferlito Motors, Jaguar XF, +1 lap
18 Johnny Herbert, Romeo Ferraris SRL, Mercedes AMG C63, +3 laps
19 Francesca Linossi, Movisport, BMW M3 E92, +5 laps
20 Fabrizio Armetta, Motorzone Race Car, Chevrolet Lumina CR-8, +8 laps
Riccardo Bossi, Audi Sport Italia, Audi RS4, 4 laps
Sergio Hernandez, Campos Racing, BMW M3 E92, 3 laps
Isaac Tutumlu, Campos Racing, BMW M3 E92, 1 lap

Superstars International Series Championship Standings (after 2 rounds and 4 races):

1 Luigi Ferrara, 51pts
2 Max Pigoli, 43
3 Michela Cerruti, 37
= Andrea Bertolini, 37
5 Thomas Biagi, 35
6 Stefano Gabellini, 28
7 Francesco Sini, 19
8 Alberto Cerqui, 17
9 Riccardo Romagnoli, 16
10 Andrea Chiesa, 12