Italian Superturismo Championship

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Italian Superturismo Championship
Category Touring cars
Country Italy Italy
Inaugural season 1987
Drivers' champion Italy Valentina Albanese
Makes' champion SEAT

The Italian Superturismo Championship (Campionato Italiano Superturismo) is the Italy's national motorsport series for touring cars. It was established in 1987 and its drivers' title has been held by such notable drivers as Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro and two-time Champ Car champion Alex Zanardi.

History

Established in 1987 the series saw champions like Johnny Cecotto, Roberto Ravaglia and Nicola Larini before switching to Supertouring regulations in 1993. That season was won by Ravaglia in a BMW 318i. The next years would be dominated by Audi and their 80 and A4 Quattro models as Emanuele Pirro won in 1994 and 1995 and Rinaldo Capello in 1996. Ex-F1 driver Emanuele Naspetti took BMW's second title in 1997.

Alfa Romeo and Nordauto Engineering (the team that became N.Technology) had run the Alfa Romeo 155 during the 1993–1997 years but wouldn't win the series until they introduced their 156 model in 1998. Fabrizio Giovanardi won in that car both in 1998 and 1999.

Revival

The cancellation of the FIA Super Production championship in 2002 would mean the resumption of the Superturismo championship, albeit now under Super Production rules and named the Superproduzione. The SP cars were in many ways less advanced than the Super 2000 relatives in the ETCC. Salvatore Tavano won the 2003 Superproduzione season in an Alfa Romeo 147. The championship became an all-147 series in 2004 won by Adriano De Micheli. The season saw a very low number of entries with between four and six participants each weekend.

The ETCC became the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in 2005. At the same time the Superturismo was truly revived with Super 2000 rules. Alessandro Zanardi would win the first season in a BMW 320i. In 2006 SEAT joined the championship as a full works team with two Leóns driven by Roberto Colciago and Davide Roda. Colciago won the title ahead of returning 1997 champion Emanuele Naspetti in a BMW 320i.

In 2007 the championship changed its promoter to Peroni Promotion and was renamed ITCC (Italian Touring Car Competition).[1] However, grids were small as several teams moved to the WTCC and the Superstars Series, and the series was merged with the Peroni-run Driver's Trophy midway through 2008.

Champions

Series Name Season Champion Team Champion
Italian Superturismo Championship 1987 Italy Michele Di Gioia (BMW M3) none
1988 Italy Gianfranco Brancatelli (Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo) none
1989 Venezuela Johnny Cecotto (BMW M3) none
1990 Italy Roberto Ravaglia (BMW M3) none
1991 Italy Roberto Ravaglia (BMW M3) none
1992 Italy Nicola Larini (Alfa Romeo 155 GTA) none
1993 Italy Roberto Ravaglia (BMW 318i) none
1994 Italy Emanuele Pirro (Audi 80 Quattro) none
1995 Italy Emanuele Pirro (Audi A4 Quattro) none
1996 Italy Rinaldo Capello (Audi A4 Quattro) none
1997 Italy Emanuele Naspetti (BMW 320i) none
1998 Italy Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo 156) none
1999 Italy Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo 156) none
Italian Super Production Championship 2002 Italy Massimo Pigoli (BMW 320i) none
2003 Italy Salvatore Tavano (Alfa Romeo 147) none
2004 Italy Adriano de Micheli (Alfa Romeo 147) none
Italian Superturismo Championship 2005 Italy Alessandro Zanardi (BMW 320i) Italy ROAL Motorsport
2006 Italy Roberto Colciago (SEAT León) Italy SEAT Sport Italia
Italian Touring Car Competition 2007 Italy Cesare Cremonesi (BMW 320i) Italy Arsenio Corse
2008 Italy Massimo Arduini (Honda Accord) Italy Team Mercury GPS
Campionato Italiano Turismo Endurance Italy Luca Cappellari (BMW M3 E92) none
2009 Italy Roberto Colciago (SEAT León Supercopa) none
2010 San Marino Paolo Meloni (BMW M3 E92) none
2011 Italy Piero Necchi (BMW M3 E92) none
2012 Italy Andrea Bacci (BMW M3 E92) none
2013 Italy Giancarlo Busnelli (SEAT León Cupra) none
2014 San Marino Paolo Meloni
Italy Massimiliano Tresoldi (BMW M3 E92)
none
2015 Italy Valentina Albanese (SEAT León Cup Racer) none

See also

References

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External links