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Giovanardi profile

Absolutely FABulous

After winning his eighth major title in this year’s BTCC, Fabrizio Giovanardi can now be hailed the world’s best tin-top driver

Fabrizio Giovanardi

By Jonathan Gill

07th November 2007

Fabrixio Giovanardi is not an official world champion, but he can rightly claim to be the most successful touring car driver on the planet. Since ending a promising single-seater career and switching to tin-tops nearly two decades ago, he has racked up eight premier league super touring car titles. This year, he added the Dunlop British Touring Car Cham­pion­ship crown to those already won in Europe (three), Italy (three) and Spain.
 
I like racing in Britain, as the fans here enjoy motorsport beyond Formula One

“I believe I now have more titles than any other driver,” said the 40-year-old after pipping arch rival Jason Plato to the most sought after trophy in UK motorsport. “It was an amazing fight all year. I have won touring car championships before, but this was the toughest. It’s very special, because it took a big effort to win.”

Although neither Giovanardi nor Plato deserved to go away empty- handed after their epic duel, the statistics suggest the ultimate accolade went to the right man. Giovanardi notched up 10 wins – four more than the Englishman – and led more laps in his victorious Vauxhall Vectra.

It was the bulletproof reliability of the SEAT plus Plato’s incredible guile and determination that kept the title race alive for so long, and set up such a thrilling finale. In the end, though, Giovanardi triumphed by three points after 30 races.

“It was a great battle, because we didn’t know who was going to win right up until the very end,” said Fabrizio. “Jason was leading all year; it was only in the final race of the last weekend that I got in front. But it was a clean and friendly battle, as we respect each other. At times we had some contact, but that’s normal in a championship like this.”

For the Italian to overcome such a fierce and experienced adversary on foreign soil further confirms his talent – more so, as it was only his second season of competition on the tricky BTCC tracks that are notoriously hard for an outsider to learn.

“It’s amazing for me to win the championship after only one year,” he admitted. “It was a big challenge for me to learn the style of the British circuits and drivers quickly. Racing on continental F1-type tracks is like gam­ing on a PlayStation. They are wide and smooth, but UK circuits are bumpy with high kerbs, and challenging.

“It was not easy for me,” he continued. “Yet I like racing in Britain, as the fans enjoy motorsport beyond Formula One. In Italy, they follow only Ferrari.” Such is Fabrizio’s new-found love for the BTCC and all things British that he has shunned offers to rejoin the FIA World Touring Car Championship to defend his British crown in 2008 instead.

“It would be good to have the WTCC title on my CV, but there’s plenty of time left to have another shot at it – perhaps with Vauxhall or Opel or in another GM car,” he revealed. “For now, though, it’s better for me to stay in the BTCC and face the challenge of keeping the number one on my door. Now I’m in a position with everything to lose!”

VX Racing is already gearing up for a serious title defence next season. As part of the outfit’s early prep­arations, Giovanardi and his new team-mate Matt Neal spent last week testing at Pembrey in Wales. Even so, the new champion isn’t ready to make any predictions.

“We will have to wait and see what the opposition is doing,” he said. “Maybe SEAT will switch to the diesel turbo which is winning in the WTCC. We just don’t know. It’s up to us to be focused on developing the Vectra as best we can.

“But the one thing I do expect is to be strong right from the beginning,” he added. “This year, we had some small troubles in the opening rounds, as the car was brand new. So we lost some points to Plato and SEAT, and had to catch up. But you never really know, as every season is different.”

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Fabrizio Giovanardi
Fabrizio Giovanardi
Plato vs Giovanardi
Matt Neal

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FAB on his new team-mate Matt Neal...

The freshly crowned BTCC champion has no fears of racing against new team-mate Matt Neal (below) in identical cars. Between them, Vauxhall’s 2008 pair have taken the last three BTCC titles, and the Italian title holder has welcomed Neal’s arrival at VX Racing.

“The aim is for us to work together for Vauxhall, and I’m happy to have him in the team, as we should be in a better position to score points.” Giovanardi said. “We are strong and experienced drivers, but our first target is to win the manufacturers’ title. I’ve had competitive team-mates before, so that’s not a big concern.”

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