Thomas Biagi leads BMW 1-2-3 at Portimao

Thomas Biagi won the first race in Portimao ahead of his team-mates Alberto Cerqui and Stefano Gabellini, making it a 1-2-3 for BMW Team Italia.

The trio took the chequered flag ahead of Andrea Bertolini, who had been third until the last lap when he suffered a puncture in the Maserati Quattroporte.

Johnny Herbert was the leading Mercedes for most of the race, but had to pit in towards the end of the first heat with tyre problems as well.

At the start Cerqui retained the lead while Biagi overtook Bertolini into the first corner.

Herbert also had a good getaway and climbed up to fourth, but was soon re-passed by Gabellini.

In the first few laps the most thrilling fight was for seventh, between Fabrizio Armetta, Riccardo Romagnoli and Michela Cerruti, with Max Pigoli right behind them with no intention to let its opponents get away.

Armetta was soon to build a gap from his opponents, while with about 14 minutes to go Cerruti made a mistake and was attacked by Francesco Sini. The two made contact and the Jaguar driver spun and retired with damaged suspension, while Cerruti was put under investigation for the incident.

The following lap Biagi overtook his team-mate with a clean pass for the lead. Meanwhile Chiesa, who was making up positions after a tough qualifying, made contact with BMW’s De Giacomi and spun.

With nine minutes to go Pigoli claimed eighth position and built a gap as team-mate Michela Cerruti exploited a mistake by Romagnoli to pass her fellow Mercedes driver for ninth.

In the final stages, Sergio Hernàndez drove into the pits to retire with mechanical problems with his BMW M3. Just a few minutes later Johnny Herbert had to pit in as well with a problem with his left front tyre, leaving his fifth place to championship leader Luigi Ferrara.

On the very last lap of the race Bertolini lost his third place, suffering a puncture on his left front tyre, leaving BMW Team Italia with a 1-2-3 with Biagi winning ahead of Cerqui and Gabellini.

Bertolini still finished the race in fourth ahead of Ferrara, Armetta, Pigoli and Cerruti, as Chiesa and Romagnoli rounded out the top ten.

Ferrara still leads with 59 points, but Biagi closed in on the leader by climbing up to 56 points. The second race will start at 15:40 (CET).