Vauxhall has BTCC title in its sights

Treacherous conditions at Brands Hatch did nothing to dampen the ambitions of Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi, as he took two victories and put himself just four points off the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship lead.

The VX Racing driver overcame soaking conditions, incident-strewn races and a massive skid to slash Jason Plato’s lead by ten points with six races to go.

The Vauxhall charge got underway after a massive race one incident involving ten cars. Giovanardi and team-mate Tom Chilton kept their cool during the 40-minute recovery period and made light work of Plato off the restart. After that, Giovanardi simply had to bide his time before first Darren Turner and then Colin Turkington slipped up in the tricky conditions giving him the race lead.

Chilton, meanwhile, fell down the order after some robust defence work against Plato and eventually finished sixth. In the day’s second race, Chilton was again embroiled with Plato in a bitter on-track encounter that saw the SEAT driver appear to turn in on the 22-year-old as he was being passed around Surtees corner.

Giovanardi, however, had an incident-free race to lead from start to finish for his eighth win of the season and looked to make it three-in-a-row in the day’s third and final race before drama hit on lap 12.

After a great start that saw him leap from fifth on the grid to second by turn one, Giovanardi made his bid for the lead into Graham Hill Bend. The multiple touring car champion raced up the inside of Mike Jordan but the move sent the Vauxhall Vectra into a pendulum skid coming out of Paddock Hill Bend.

Giovanardi had to draw on all his expertise to pull off an incredible save that had the team drawing a communal gasp in the pit lane. In an incredible recovery, Giovanardi only lost two places and finished the race in fourth.

Chilton’s bad luck continued as his power steering failed making it a struggle just to finish. He managed to bring the Vauxhall Vectra back in ninth place, however, for some valuable manufacturer and team points.

Fabrizio Giovanardi #5

“I have to be really happy because the situation is coming good. I have respect for Jason Plato and he has won a lot in England but I’m not scared to fight with him. I don’t care who I will beat, but at the moment he is my main challenger and I will be pleased in the end to beat him.”

Tom Chilton #7
“In the last race I was chasing Plato down when my power steering went. I was very cross from the earlier race, after he took me off, and I was not going to let him disappear from me. I just wish the power steering hadn’t gone because I couldn’t out-drive him by the end; I was just hanging on for dear life!

“I was absolutely exhausted by the time I saw the chequered flag. It would have been so easy to think ‘I can’t drive this anymore, I’m coming into the pits,’ but you can’t. I scored points for the team and at the end of the day, points mean prizes. They all add up at the end of the year.”