Vauxhall dominates at Rockingham

VX Racing put on a show of force at Rockingham with two emphatic victories reminiscent of the form which earned the team triple Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championships four years in a row.

The crew was ecstatic as months of hard work developing a prototype car came to fruition with two victories and two podiums, putting the Vauxhall works team ahead in both the BTCC Manufacturers and Teams Championships after six rounds.

Fabrizio Giovanardi led the two Vauxhall Vectras home in the first race for a stunning one-two victory, the first since Knockhill’s round last September.

The Luton-based manufacturer’s domination continued in round five of the championship, as Tom Chilton enjoying an epic battle with RAC’s Tom Onslow-Cole for second place behind Giovanardi. After trading places for the final few laps, Chilton ran out of track and had to settle for third.

With a reversed grid for race three, Giovanardi and Chilton started in tenth and eighth respectively. Both drivers negotiated the rough and tumble expertly to finish in fifth and fourth place, putting VX Racing in a very strong position as it heads to Thruxton in two weeks time.

Fabrizio Giovanardi
"I was proud to drive for Vauxhall last year but I struggled with everything. I can’t say again the same things this year because it’s a clean sheet.

“But even after today, I don’t think this is a good result; we could be better. We are looking for developing the car and I don’t think it is at the top yet. There’s more to come.”

Tom Chilton
“I love this place; it’s exciting and I had a real adrenalin rush racing here today. It reminded me of why I love this sport.

“The team is leaving really happy, leading the Team and Manufacturers Championships and second and third in the Drivers. When a car’s quick on one circuit it’s generally quick everywhere but we do run different tyres at Thruxton and we’ll have no opportunity to test them. We’ll have to work really hard to set it up at Thruxton.”

Ian Harrison, VX Racing's Team Principal
"We've got a winning ethic at VX Racing and we don't come here to finish second. Everybody's hard work has paid off; from the drawing office, design staff, the guys in the factory, the race crew and the drivers obviously, everybody has done a great job. This is what we do it for; it's why we put the hours in."

Mike Nicholson, VX Racing Operations Manager
“I think we learned a lot at Brands Hatch. You can test all winter but a race meeting shows you a lot of new things. The car here, even with maximum success ballast on, was still able to keep the others behind. It shows the chassis is very good and it’s relatively kind to its tyres.

BTCC Drivers Championship 2007
1. Jason Plato (72); 2. Fabrizio Giovanardi (56); 3. Tom Chilton (48)

BTCC Manufacturers Championship
1. Vauxhall (139); 2. SEAT (107)

BTCC Teams Championship
1. VX Racing (102); 2. SEAT Sport UK (92); 3. Team Halfords (57)

BTCC Provisional Round 4 Race Result
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra); 2. Tom Chilton (Vauxhall Vectra); 3. Jason Plato (SEAT Leon); 4. Gordon Shedden (Honda Civic); 5. Matt Neal (Honda Civic); 6. Mike Jordan (Honda Integra)

BTCC Provisional Round 5 Race Result
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra); 2. Tom Onslow-Cole (BMW 320si E90); 3. Tom Chilton (Vauxhall Vectra); 4. Mat Jackson (BMW 320si E90); 5. Jason Plato (SEAT Leon); 6. Darren Turner (SEAT Leon)

BTCC Provisional Round 6 Race Result
1. Jason Plato (SEAT Leon); 2. Mat Jackson (BMW 320si E90); 3. Darren Turner (SEAT Leon); 4. Tom Chilton (Vauxhall Vectra); 5. Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra); 6. Gordon Shedden (Honda Civic)