Fabrizio Giovanardi

BTCC driver
Name = Fabrizio Giovanardi
Nationality = flagicon|ITA


Nickname = Fabio, Piedone, Gio
Car number = 1
Team = VX Racing
Car = Vauxhall Vectra
Championships = 1
Races = 84
Wins = 17
Podiums = 38
Poles = 1
Fastest laps = 12
First year = 2006
Best position = 1st in 2007 and 2008
Last season = 2008
Last position = 1st (262 points)

Fabrizio Giovanardi (born December 14, 1966 in Sassuolo) is an Italian racecar driver.

Fabrizio began his career karting before switching to Italian Formula 3. In season 1989 he switched to Formula 3000 to compete with First Racing and won the race in Vallelunga.

A move to touring cars brought better results, as he claimed the 1992 Italian championship. He then went on to claim numerous wins in European Touring Car Series including the 1997 Spanish Super Touring Championship. He also took the Italian championship in 1998 and 1999, before moving to the relaunched European Touring Car Championship.

In 2000, 2001 and 2002 he was European Touring Car Champion, driving for Alfa Romeo. He switched to a BMW for 2003, but struggled with the rear-wheel-drive car, and returned to Alfa for 2004.

Giovanardi finished third in the 2005 World Touring Car Championship, behind Andy Priaulx and Dirk Müller.

In 2006 he switched to the British Touring Car Championship, driving a Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch for VX Racing. He came close to a first win at Donington Park before a controversial final-corner collision with Colin Turkington. His first win (and Vauxhall's 100th in the BTCC) came at Knockhill. Fittingly, he was congratulated on live TV by John Cleland, the man who took Vauxhall's first win.

He then went on to take his 2nd win in the series at Brands Hatch, having passed Gordon Shedden under the safety car, and a strong second half of the season took him to 5th overall, passing James Thompson at the final meeting of the season.

In 2007 Giovanardi won the British Touring Car Championship driving the team's new WTCC-spec Vectra designed and run by Triple Eight Race Engineering, teamed with Tom Chilton. At the end of the season he claimed the title at the last race after battling for the whole season with Jason Plato.

In 2008 Giovanardi defended his title, winning the 2008 title, driving VX Racing's Vectra once again along with team-mates Matt Neal and Tom Onslow-Cole. This time he clinched the title at Brands Hatch with two races to go, again beating Plato's SEAT. Until that first race at Brands, Giovanardi had been on a run of 39 consecutive points finishes which had began at round 19 of the 2007 season, at Snetterton in late July.

Giovanardi will also drive with Marc Hynes in the two main endurance races of the 2008 V8 Supercar series, the L&H 500 at Phillip Island and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama. In the first of them, Giovanardi and Hynes finished 17th, a lap down on winners Garth Tander and Mark Skaife.

External links

* [http://www.fabriziogiovanardi.com/ Fabrizio Giovanardi official website]
* [http://www.btccinfo.co.uk/drivers/giovanardi.html Profile from btccinfo.co.uk]
* [http://www.btccaction.co.uk/drivers/giovanardi.php Profile from btcc:action]