2008 British Touring Car Championship Season
The 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 51st British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It was also the first that the championship was sponsored by HiQ. Fabrizio Giovanardi won his second consecutive title. Changes for 2008 Teams and drivers After capturing the Drivers and Manufacturers titles in their first season with the Vectra, the Triple 8-run works Vauxhall squad expanded to three cars for 2008. Reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi remained on board, being joined by Matt Neal, returning to Vauxhall for the first time since 2002 after leaving his family-run Team Dynamics squad, with whom he won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006. The third car was piloted by Tom Onslow-Cole, who impressed at the wheel of a WSR BMW in his debut BTCC campaign in 2007. SEAT were once again the only other full-works operation, and fitted their Leons with the rapid yet often unreliable turbo diesel engines being used by the marque's World Touring Car Champions ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Season
The 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship season in association with Motorsport News was the fourth Ginetta Junior Championship season, the championship designed for racing drivers between the ages of fourteen and seventeen years of age. The season began at Brands Hatch on 29 March 2008 and finished at the same venue on 21 September 2008 , after twenty-four rounds. The championship was won by Muzz Racing's 15-year-old driver Dino Zamparelli, who did enough to hold off the challenge from 16-year-old Thomas Carnaby. Teams and drivers *All teams and drivers were British-registered. All drivers drove a Ginetta Jnr. car, which is cosmetically based on the Ginetta G20 Ginetta Cars Limited is a British specialist builder of racing and sports cars based in Garforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire. History 20th century Ginetta was founded in 1958 by four Walklett brothers (Bob, Ivor, Trevers and Douglas) in Woodbridge, ... car, but with different engine and mechanics. Calendar * All rounds , u ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Matt Neal
Matthew Neal (born 20 December 1966) is a British motor racing driver. Neal is a triple BTCC Champion having won the British Touring Car Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2011. Neal is also a record 6 time BTCC Independents Champion having won the title in 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2006. He is also a race winner in the European Touring Car Championship. He is 6' 6" (2 m) tall, making him almost entirely unable to race single-seaters. He is also the Group Marketing Director at Rimstock, the alloy wheel manufacturer founded by his father Steve. Career Early years Born in Stourbridge, Neal started out in Motocross but moved into cars in 1988, driving in the Ford Fiesta XR2i category. He was the British Group N Champion in 1990 and 1991. He also co-drove a BMW M3 to victory at the 1990 Willhire 24 Hour race at Snetterton. British Touring Car Championship (1991–2001) Neal made his BTCC debut with Pyramid Motorsport at the Silverstone round of the 1991 BTCC season drivin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stephen Jelley
Stephen Jelley (born 12 May 1982) is a British auto racing driver. Career Single-seaters Born in Leicester, Jelley moved up from Formula Ford to the National Class of the British Formula 3 Championship for 2004, taking three class wins. In 2006 and 2007 he drove for Räikkönen Robertson Racing in British F3. After a second place in the 2007 opening round, he took two wins and finished 3rd overall. He contested the 2008 GP2 Asia Series season for the ART Grand Prix team. Touring cars Jelley switched to touring cars after his GP2 Asia campaign contesting the 2008 British Touring Car Championship with Team RAC as Colin Turkington's team-mate. His last GP2 Asia weekend clashed with the second BTCC meeting of the year at Rockingham meaning a GP2 race in Dubai on the Friday and BTCC qualifying at Rockingham on the Sa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colin Turkington
Colin Henry Turkington (born 21 March 1982) is a British racing driver from Northern Ireland who competes in the British Touring Car Championship for Team BMW. He is a 4 time BTCC champion, winning the title in 2009, 2014, 2018 and 2019, having made his debut in the series in 2002. Career Early career Turkington, who was born in Portadown, began his racing career in the Ulster Karting series in 1993. He competed in autograss in 1996 and 1997, before moving on to the Northern Irish Metro Championship in 1998, where he won his first title. He moved on to the Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec Championship in Britain in 1999, winning the title in 2001. British Touring Car Championship Team Atomic Kitten (2002) Turkington moved to the BTCC in 2002. His first BTCC drive was in a year-old MG ZS, sponsored by the pop group Atomic Kitten, partnering fellow Fiesta graduate Gareth Howell. He finished 14th in the Drivers' Championship. West Surrey Racing (2003–04) For 2003, Turkington moved ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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BMW E90
The fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive cars is designated under the model codes E90 (saloon), E91 (estate, marketed as 'Touring'), E92 (coupé) and E93 (convertible). The model was introduced in December 2004, and produced by BMW until October 2013 and is often collectively referred to as the E90 or E9x. The E9x saw the introduction of run-flat tyres to the 3 Series range. Models with run-flat tires are not equipped with a spare tyre. The E92 335i was the first 3 Series model produced with a turbocharged petrol engine. It was also the first 3 Series to include the iDrive operating system, which consists of navigation, infotainment and essential vehicle functions. The E90/E92/E93 M3 is the only generation of M3 to be powered by a V8 engine. Introduced in 2007, it uses the BMW S65 naturally aspirated V8 engine and was produced in saloon, coupé and convertible body styles. Following the introduction of the F30/F31 3 Series in February 2012, the E ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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West Surrey Racing
West Surrey Racing is a UK-based motorsport team run by New Zealander Dick Bennetts. He is responsible for masterminding the careers of such names as Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen, Jonathan Palmer, Rubens Barrichello, Maurício Gugelmin and Eddie Irvine with his involvement in F3 and a racing academy in the 80s and 90s. Founded in 1981, WSR has won more than 70 races in Formula 3 and more than 100 class and outright wins in the BTCC. British Touring Car Championship Ford WSR moved to the BTCC in 1996 having been chosen to run the works Ford team, with Andy Rouse having left running the team to attempt to establish his own Nissan team. WSR worked in cooperation with Reynard Motorsport, who built the chassis while WSR ran the race team itself. The 1996 season was one of limited success, with Ford stalwart Paul Radisich partnered by Steve Robertson, (The man who is now the manager of Kimi Räikkönen). The Mondeo had never really lived up to its hype since its inception in 1993, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gordon Shedden
Gordon Shedden (born 15 February 1979) is a Scottish auto racing driver, currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in ... for the Halfords Racing with Cataclean team. He has previously won the series on three occasions; in 2012 British Touring Car Championship season, 2012, 2015 British Touring Car Championship season, 2015 and 2016 British Touring Car Championship season, 2016, driving for Honda/Team Dynamics each time. He also spent two seasons in the World Touring Car Cup, FIA WTCR, from 2018 World Touring Car Cup, 2018 to 2019 World Touring Car Cup, 2019, driving for the W Racing Team, Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team. Racing career Early years Born in Edinburgh, Shedden began racing in the Ford Fiesta Championship ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Chilton
Thomas James Chilton (born 15 March 1985) is a British racing driver. He has spent most of his career competing in touring car racing; he was a former factory Vauxhall and Honda driver in the British Touring Car Championship, and currently drives for Ciceley Motorsport in the British Touring Car Championship. His younger brother, Max Chilton, is also a racing driver. Career Early life Chilton was born in Reigate. His father, Grahame Chilton, is a businessman who co-owned the insurance company Benfield Group up until 2008, when it was taken over by Aon plc for £738m. Chilton became vice-chairman of Aon after the deal and also collected around £77m for his stake. Chilton was educated at Reigate St Mary's School and Shiplake College. A keen racer from an early age, he competed in the BRSCC T Cars Championship in 1999 and 2000, going on to take the BRSCC Saloon Car winter championship in 2001. His brother, Max Chilton, is also a racing driver. British Touring Car Championship ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Honda Civic
The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. Since 2000, the Civic has been categorized as a compact car, while previously it occupied the subcompact class. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Honda Accord in Honda's global car line-up. The first-generation Civic was introduced in July 1972 as a two-door coupe model, followed by a three-door hatchback that September. With a 1,169 cc transverse engine and front-wheel drive like the British Mini, the car provided good interior space despite overall small dimensions. Initially gaining a reputation for being fuel-efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly, later iterations have become known for performance and sportiness, especially the Civic Type R, Civic VTi, Civic GTi and Civic SiR/Si. The Civic has been repeatedly rebadged for international markets, and served as the basis for the Honda CR-X, the Honda CR-X del Sol, the Concerto, the first generation Prelude, the Civic Sh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Team Dynamics
Team Dynamics Motorsport is a UK-based motor-racing team based in Droitwich, Worcestershire; best known for their successes in the British Touring Car Championship, including winning the Overall Drivers title in 2005, 2006 and 2011 with Matt Neal and 2012, 2015 and 2016 with Gordon 'Flash' Shedden. The team was founded by Steve Neal and former driver of Vic Lee Motorsport, Ray Bellm when they acquired its assets in 1993 following its owner's conviction for drug trafficking and subsequent liquidation. For the following season, Bellm, having bought a majority stake in the Silverstone-based motorsport equipment retailer, Grand Prix Racewear, also acquired a McLaren F1 GTR and went his own way. As well as racing cars the Team also designs and builds their race cars ensuring a high level of execution and attention to detail. Currently the team operates as a Honda 'Factory' entry in the British Touring Car Championship operating under the 'Halfords Racing with Cataclean' name racing t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Darren Turner
Darren Turner (born 13 April 1974) is a British professional racing driver and owner of Base Performance Simulators. He races for Aston Martin Racing as a Factory-backed, factory driver and also works as a high performance test driver for Aston Martin. He was McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year in 1996. He is a former test driver for the McLaren (racing), McLaren Formula One team, but has raced primarily in Touring car racing, touring cars and Sports car racing, sportscars since 2000. He spent 2 years in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, DTM for Keke Rosberg's Mercedes-Benz-powered team, also winning several Stock Car Speed Association, ASCAR races. In 2006 he raced sportscars for Aston Martin, but also competed five rounds of the British Touring Car Championship for SEAT, sharing their 2nd car with James Thompson (racing driver), James Thompson. In his first drive for the team he finished 3rd. He remained with the team for 2007 British ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jason Plato
Timothy Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a British racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BTC Racing. He has twice been BTCC Champion, in 2001 for Vauxhall and 2010 for Silverline Chevrolet. He has finished in the top 3 in the Championship 12 times and holds the record for the most overall race wins in the BTCC. He is also a presenter on the motoring television series ''Fifth Gear'' from 2004 to present. Career history After success in karting including a 1989 British Championship win in the Junior TKM Class, Oxford-born Plato raced in Formula Three and Formula Renault. In 1996, he entered the Renault Spider championship, taking a dominant title win. BTCC (1997–2001) Williams Renault (1997–1999) In 1997, he gained the second drive in the WilliamsF1, Williams-Renault British Touring Car Championship, BTCC team, after Frank Williams (Formula One), Frank Williams organised a test between him, Gianni Morbidelli and Jean-Christop ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |