Emanuele Smurra claimed victory at Nürburgring today in the third stage of the Trofeo Vodafone Maserati. 

The Roman, in adding to his success at Magny-Cours, raced intelligently and profited from the fact that Diego Alessi did not make the points. Despite a violent thunderstorm during the night and under a broody sky, the race was run on a dry surface. The Trofeo Vodafone Maserati drivers left the starting grid in orderly fashion but were soon involved in gripping head to heads. 

Alessi started aggressively and immediately set about trying to overtake; La Vecchia suffered at the start and conceded his position to Cerrai and then Smurra. Shortly after the race was halted following a spectacular crash involving Andrea De Megni. Fortunately the man from Verona was unhurt following the contact with Bozzetto’s car. His car, though, ended up off the track on its left side. Inevitably the safety car was summoned, packing the group together in tight formation: Alessi, Smurra, Cerrai, Tirella, and Coldani. 

The safety car remained on the track for quite a long period. While De Megni’s Trofeo was taken away many drivers took the chance to make the obligatory pit stop. 

After the first round of driver changes and stops, Alessi still led, Smurra was second followed by Thurn Und Taxis, Coldani, Orts, Vescovi, the VIP car driven by journalists from Auto Motor Und Sport, Barisone, Biaggi and Vetter. 

Alessi tried to up the pace and build up a good lead: he gained two seconds over Smurra who, on lap eight, had made a pit stop. Coldani slipped in behind the Roman with Orts a further four seconds back. Alessi eventually made his pit stop on lap 12. 

The watching public were entertained by the goings on in the pack. The VIP car of Mackie and Peters had to retire after overshooting curve one. Barisone too seemed in difficulty, particularly in the Veedol chicane that he sometimes misjudged. On lap 14 the race positions seemed more set: Alessi was still leading from Smurra. 

After them came Cattori, Rota, Cerrai, Orts, Gedol, Vescovi, Luglio and Romeo. Barisone bowed out of the race after spinning and ending up at the guardrail. Alessi, in the meantime, marched on – putting his foot down to increase his lead. 

Thought the Roman had built up a gap of 9"4 over Smurra, 14"4 over Cattori, 16"9 over Rota and 25"6 over Cerrai, he failed to make a penalty drive through and was thus disqualified from the race. Thanks to the black flag, Smurra moved into first, a lead he held over Max Cattori until the chequered flag. Behind the Swiss driver (4"8 off first) came Cerrai (18"2), and Rota, 25"4 back. Rota was hindered by a gearbox problem on the last lap while in third. Orts came in next, 28"2 off the winner, then Gedol (28"5) and Vescovi (30"6). 

At the end of the race the commissioners decided to penalise Michael Orts 30 seconds for having made his stop outside the temporary window laid out in the regulations. The French driver, nevertheless, appealed against this decision. Thanks to this win, Emanuele Smurra now leads the championship. 

Vincenzo Tirella, the pre-race leader, was only eleventh. The next race will be at Lausitzring on 7-8 June will again see the trio of Smurra, Cerrai, Tirella battle it out for championship points. 

The Gay/Alessi pairing clinched pole position for tomorrow’s Nuerburgring GP. The race will be run on the short version of the track. 

On a circuit where it is relatively easy to reach the speed limit, many drivers tried to go flat out during qualifying, resulting in some spinning or going off the track. Despite this, the session witnessed a fine duel between Gay/Alessi and the La Vecchia/Cattori team. 

Gay/Alessi set a time of 1:39.845, 394 one thousandths of a second ahead of the Swiss pair. Cerrai, second at Magny-Cours in the last race, was eight-tenths back in third. The battle for fourth place was a fraught one between Smurra, Mountain /Wilson, Tirella (the championship leader) and Rota. 

The equilibrium between the competitors can be gauged by the fact the only 1"917 separates the man in tenth, Panacci, from the pair in pole. The expectation generated around the young German Thurn Und Taxis was not matched by his performance: he could do no better than ninth. 

Gedol/Caldani are in eighth. Pfannschmidt crashed out spectacularly but escaped unhurt. Even the VIP car of Ermenegildo Zegna, entrusted to two German journalists from Auto Motor Und Sport was involved in incident, ending up against the guardrail. 

Andrea De Megni performed well in claiming eleventh, as did Alberto Vescovi, right behind him. Mauro Barisone was unable to repeat the brilliant sixth fastest time he set in the morning session: he finished only sixteenth in qualifying. Faring better was the Mountain /Wilson team: After the pole at Barcelona, they will be fifth here after setting a good time. Today’s session promises an interesting race and the championship could have a new look by the end of tomorrow. 

Vincenzo Tirella, starting from sixth, will have no option but to attack. This said, thanks to the formula of the Trofeo Vodafone Maserati, the drivers are free to adopt a variety of strategies thanks to the compulsory pit stops. 

Alberto Cerrai and Emanuele Smurra, only two points off the lead in the championship, will start ahead of Tirella on the grid and will be going all out to take advantage of the Swiss driver. 

The weather could still prove decisive as the forecast is uncertain. What is for sure is that over 150 000 spectators will be on hand to enjoy the show.