Ferrari's Andrea Palma scores first GTSPRINT pole of 2012‏

The BMW M3 E92 proved the car to beat  in qualifying for the SUPERSTARS INTERNATIONAL SERIES round at Mugello, as Bologna-based Thomas Biagi cruised to his first pole position of the season. Biagi led an all-Team BMW Dinamic front row as home favourite Sandro Bettini took the outside pole. It's also been a session to remember for newcomer Camilo Zurcher. The Colombian, at his first race in SUPERSTARS, brought his Team Romeo Ferraris Mercedes C63 AMG to an outstanding third place on the grid. The battle between car manufacturers proved extremely tight again: fourth place went to Johnny Herbert, who finished didn't end up far away aboard the Swiss Team Maserati Quattroporte. The first Audi RS5 rounded out the top-5 with Gianni Morbidelli, who was followed by the Mercedes of Andrea Larini and by championship leader and fellow Audi man Johan Kristoffersson. The BMWs of Stefano Gabellini and Paolo Meloni and the Mercedes of Vitantonio Liuzzi rounded out the top-10.In the GTSPRINT INTERNATIONAL SERIES, Andrea Palma cruised to a late pole, his first of the season, aboard the Ferrari 458 Italia GTS2 fielded by Black Team. The Rome-based racer topped series newcomer and former Formula 1 driver Ivan Capelli, making his debut GTSPRINT run for Kessel Racing. The two were separated by just 2 thousands of a second as Capelli also topped the GTS3 field on a Kessel Racing-prepared Ferrari 458. In the GTS Cup Trophy  it was a Porsche to prevail, as Steven Goldstein and Christian Passuti put the Antonelli Motorsport Porsche 997 in front of the rest of the field. Second place went to Alessandro Bernasconi and Lorenzo Casè, who drove the Scuderia Baldini 27 Network Ferrari 430 to eight overall.The two SUPERSTARS and GTSPRINT races will be benefitting from a wide live TV coverage in 66 countries including the UK (Motors TV UK), Germany (MotorVisionTv). The weekend's action will also be also be broadcasted in tape-delayed form in 175 countries and on 190 TV Channels.

The first race of the day will be featuring the GTSPRINT cars at 9:00. Race 1 for SUPERSTARS will follow at 11:15, while Race 2 for GTSPRINT is scheduled at 14:05. SUPERSTARS Race 2 will be the day's highlight and grand finale at 16:15 (all times local).