Italian Superturismo Championship

Italian Superturismo Championship

Category	Touring cars
Country	Italy
Inaugural season	1987
Drivers	20 (2006)
Teams	10 (2006)
Constructors	4 (2006)
Drivers' champion	Roberto Colciago
Makes' champion	BMW
Teams' champion	N/A

The Italian Superturismo Championship (Campionato Italiano Superturismo) is 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 Roberto 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 (Now N.Technology in WTCC) had run Alfa Romeo 155's during the 1993-1997 years but wouldn't win the series until they introduced their 156 model in 1998. Fabrizio Giovanardi won the series in that car both in 1998 and 1999.

Euro STC

In 2000 the championship was promoted by FIA to act as the European Supertouring Cup. Despite the international name a vast majority of the events were still held on Italian tracks and many of the drivers were of Italian origin. Fabrizio Giovanardi and Alfa Romeo would win in 2000 ahead of Peter Kox and Gianni Morbidelli. 2001 saw Giovanardi and Alfa come out on top yet again, this time with team-mate Nicola Larini on second place. Gabriele Tarquini finished third in a Honda Accord despite winning a high number of races and Frenchman Fabrice Walfish also in a Honda Accord was third. The final event saw the addition of James Thompson drive for Honda and Yvan Müller for Alfa Romeo after finishing second and third in the BTCC.
2001 was the last year with the Supertouring regulations. FIA and EuroSport worked togeather with manufacterors Alfa Romeo, BMW and Volvo to create the European Touring Car Championship and Italian presence in the series (while still substansual) decreased.

Revivial

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 ther Super 2000 relatives in 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 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 piloted by Roberto Colciago and Davide Roda. Colciago won the title ahead of returning 1997 champion Emanuele Naspetti in a BMW 320i.

List of Italian Superturismo champions

Year	Driver	Car
2006	Roberto Colciago	SEAT León
2005	Alessandro Zanardi	BMW 320i
2004	Adriano De Micheli	Alfa Romeo 147
2003	Salvatore Tavano	Alfa Romeo 147
1999	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Alfa Romeo 156
1998	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Alfa Romeo 156
1997	Emanuele Naspetti	BMW 320i
1996	Rinaldo Capello	Audi A4 Quattro
1995	Emanuele Pirro	Audi A4 Quattro
1994	Emanuele Pirro	Audi 80 Quattro
1993	Roberto Ravaglia	BMW 318i
1992	Nicola Larini	Alfa Romeo 155 GTA
1991	Roberto Ravaglia	BMW M3
1990	Roberto Ravaglia	BMW M3
1989	Johnny Cecotto	BMW M3
1988	Gianfranco Brancatelli	Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo
1987	Michele Di Gioia	BMW M3

Previous Seasons

• 2005 Superturismo Championship
• 2006 Superturismo Championship

External links

• News and results
• List of champions 1987-1999