Team
Fabrizio Giovanardi
Driver bio
Date of Birth: 14 Dec 1966
Lives: Sassuolo, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Fabrizio is one of the most successful touring car drivers of all time, with eight titles to his name including the Italian and European Touring Car Championships. He brought home victory for Vauxhall in the most recent 2007 British Touring Car Championship with two wins and second place in the final round - fending off stiff competition from SEAT's Jason Plato. In 2006 he made history by scoring Vauxhall's 100th BTCC victory, with a stunning drive at Knockhill. And back in 2005 Fabrizio was just four points behind Andy Priaulx going into the final World Touring Car Championship round but a suspension failure robbed him of the chance to become the inaugural champion.
Racing history
| 2007 | British Touring Car Champion (BTCC), 10 wins |
| 2006 | BTCC, 5th overall, 2 race wins, 5 podiums |
| 2005 | WTCC, Alfa Romeo Racing Team, Alfa Romeo 156, 3rd overall, 4 wins |
| 2004 | ETCC, Alfa Romeo Racing Team, Alfa Romeo 156, 5th overall, 1 win |
| 2003 | ETCC, BMW 320i, 9th overall |
| 2002 | ETCC, Alfa Romeo 156, Champion, 9 wins |
| 2001 | ETCC, Alfa Romeo 156, Champion, 3 wins |
| 2000 | ETCC, Alfa Romeo 156, Champion, 5 wins |
| 1999 | Italian Super Touring Championship, Alfa Romeo 156, Champion, 7 wins German Super Touring, Alfa Romeo 156, 1 win, selected races |
| 1998 | Italian Super Touring Championship, Alfa Romeo 156, Champion, 9 wins |
| 1997 | Spanish Super Touring Championship, Alfa Romeo 155 Ts, Champion, 3 wins Italian Super Touring Championship, Alfa Romeo 155 Ts, 2nd overall, 5 wins |
Matt Neal
Driver bio
Date of Birth: 20 December, 1966
Lives: Droitwich, Worcestershire, England
Nationality: British
Matt Neal's touring car career spans more than 16 years, with highlights including two British Touring Car Championship titles as well as numerous wins in endurance racing.
In 1999 he became the first-ever independent racer to win a touring car race outright, collecting a one-off £250,000 prize for the landmark. Matt's place in racing history was further secured when the Englishman became the first driver to claim back-to-back BTCC titles in 2005 and 2006.
Racing history
| 2007 | British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) 4th overall, 1 win, 8 podiums (before round 10 at Thruxton) |
| 2006 | BTCC Champion with 8 wins, 17 podiums and 1 pole position |
| 2005 | BTCC Champion with 6 wins, 20 podiums and 1 pole position |
| 2004 | BTCC 5th overall, 3 wins |
| 2003 | BTCC 3rd overall, 6 wins |
| 2002 | BTCC 3rd overall, 3 wins Bathurst 1000km 12th overall |
| 2001 | European Touring Car Championship 1 win Australian V8 Supercar Series, (Oran Park, Queensland Raceway) BTCC (two rounds) |
| 2000 | BTCC 8th overall, 1 win Bathurst 1000km 12th overall |
| 1999 | BTCC 9th overall, 1 win, Independents Champion First-ever win for an Independent in the Super Touring era Nürburgring 24 Hours 3rd in GT Class |
| 1998 | BTCC 13th overall, 2nd in Independents Cup Bathurst 1000km 2nd overall |
| 1997 | BTCC 4th in Independents Cup |
| 1996 | BTCC 22nd overall, 3rd in Independents Cup |
| 1995 | BTCC 21st overall, Independents Cup Champion FIA World Touring Car Cup 11th overall, Independents Champion |
| 1994 | BTCC 23rd overall FIA World Touring Car Cup |
| 1993 | BTCC 20th overall, Independents Cup Champion |
| 1992 | BTCC 16th overall, 2nd in Independents Cup South African 6 hours Endurance Race 3rd overall |
| 1991 | BTCC 26th overall British Group N Champion, Class A Silverstone 500km winner BRDC Crompton Driver of the Year |
| 1990 | British Group N Champion, Class B Silverstone 500km winner Willhire 24 Hours winner |
| 1989 | Ford Fiesta XR2i Championship 4th overall |
| 1988 | Ford Fiesta Winter Series 2nd overall |
| 1985-1987 | Motocross and karting |
Pit Crew
Technical director
Chief designer
Race engineer and designer
Special project manager
Chief mechanic
Chief truckie and tyres
Technical director
The technical director is responsible for overseeing the design of all components and liaising with designers and engineers to ensure the car is developed to achieve its maximum potential. As an experienced and knowledgeable engineer, the technical director also acts as a consultant on many issues surrounding the design, development and performance of the car.
During tests and races the technical director oversees the entire technical operation as well as liaising with drivers and advising on race strategy.
Chief designer
The chief designer concentrates on the overall design of the car and he or she will look at everything learnt in testing and racing and transpose potential improvements to the design. The designer will constantly look at enhancing the performance of the car to ensure speed and reliability.
Race engineer and designer
The main area of responsibility for the race engineer is the performance of the car. It is his or her job to give the driver the best car possible. At the factory, the majority of the race engineer's time is spent designing components for the car. Another element of the job is responsibility for planning tests. For this, the engineer liaises with the chief mechanic and the mechanics assigned to his car in order to devise the test schedule and ensure the relevant parts are available.
The engineer is also responsible for obtaining feedback from the driver, analysing data, and ultimately improving the car's performance. At the race, the engineer will maintain radio contact with the driver and oversee race strategy. After each test and race, a debrief meeting is held at the factory and, if appropriate, the engineer will subsequently act on the findings from the test or race.
Special project manager
The main project and area of responsibility is the BTCC engine project. This involves everything from the initial proposal to the implementation, and then the day-to-day management of the project. A large part of this job is liaising with Sodemo, the company who modifies the engines. This is an ongoing relationship that aims to develop the engines, attain maximum reliability, and rectify any problems that may arise. This role of special project manager is principally the conduit between the team and Sodemo.
Chief mechanic
The chief mechanic's role is to ensure everything gets to tests and races on time. This involves liaising with the truckies to ensure the trucks are loaded correctly, and everything that may be needed is packed. The chief mechanic ensures that the cars are built to the correct specification by co-ordinating the mechanics, engineers and the production manager. The chief mechanic also works very closely with sub-assembly at the factory, to oversee the build process.
The chief mechanic is responsible for briefing the other mechanics and giving regular updates on what is happening. The main difference between the chief mechanic and the other mechanics is that the majority of the mechanics' time is spent working on the cars, where as the chief mechanic's main job is to oversee operations.
Chief truckie and tyres
While at the factory, the main responsibility of the chief truckie is to look after the trucks. This involves everything from servicing and general maintenance to ensuring they are packed correctly and have the right equipment for each test and race. Another element of the chief truckie's job is responsibility for planning the route to each race and test, and also for driving one of the trucks.
Once at a circuit for either a race or test, the truckie will turn his attention to taking care of the tyres. This entails liaising with Dunlop, the BTCC tyre supplier, cleaning the wheels and tyres before and after use, and ensuring the pressure is correct in each tyre.
