2007 British Touring Car Championship season
| 2007 BTCC season | |||
| Previous: | 2006 | Next: | 2008 |
The 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 50th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It was won by Fabrizio Giovanardi with 10 race wins and 17 podiums. Going into the final race, Fabrizio Giovanardi was one point behind Jason Plato but a second place for Giovanardi and a fourth place for Plato resulted in Giovanardi taking the championship by 3 points. The BTCC Teams' Championship was won by Seat Sport UK, the Manufacturers' Championship was won by Vauxhall, the Independents' Trophy was won by Colin Turkington and the Independent Teams' Championship was won by Team RAC.
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Changes for 2007[edit]
Team changes[edit]
- VX Racing introduced their brand-new Vauxhall Vectra, replacing the old Astra Sport Hatch.
- Team Halfords replaced the older Integra Type-R with a brand-new Civic.
- Team RAC also entered a new car, with the old MG ZS being replaced by the car that had dominated the WTCC, the BMW 320si.
- Seat Cupra champion Mat Jackson entered his own family-run team under the name Jacksons M-Sport also using the BMW.
- J-Team entered the series with a slightly older BMW 320i.
- AFM Racing entered the shorter wheelbase BMW 1-Series, also being raced by diesel fuel.
- GR Asia Team Aircool entered the series with a SEAT Toledo.
- A-Tech joined the series with 2 Alfa Romeo 156s.
- Motorbase Performance switched from running the Honda Civic Type R to 2 SEAT Toledos.
- Kartworld Racing expanded to 2 MG ZSs.
- Sibsport entered the series with a Honda Integra.
- Robertshaw Racing ran a Honda Integra for the last two rounds of the season.
- Team Farecla, InFront Motorsport, Xero Competition, NJL Racing with Daniels Motorsport and Team Forward Racing left the series.
Driver changes[edit]
Changed teams
- Rob Collard: Team RAC → GR Asia
- Gareth Howell: Team Halfords → Motorbase Performance
- Adam Jones: Xero Competition → Team Air Cool
- Erkut Kizilirmak: VX Racing → Arkas Racing
- Nick Leason: NGL Racing with Daniels Motorsport → BTC Racing
- Richard Marsh: Team Farecla → A-Tech
- Paul O'Neill: Thurlby Motors Boston Bowl → Motorbase Performance
- David Pinkney: Motorbase Performance → A-Tech
- Gavin Smith: VX Racing → GR Asia
Entering/re-entering BTCC
- Matt Allison: British GT Championship → Motorbase Performance
- Simon Blanckley: Euro Saloons → Sibsport
- Tom Coronel: World Touring Car Championship (GR Asia) → Seat Sport UK
- Mat Jackson: Seat Cupra Cup (Jacksons Motorsport) → Jacksons M.Sport
- Rick Kerry: Classic Touring Car Racing Club → AFM Racing
- Alain Menu: World Touring Car Championship (Chevrolet) → VX Racing
- Tom Onslow-Cole: Renault Clio Cup (Total Control Racing) → Team RAC
- Jim Pocklington: Dutch Supercar Championship → J-Team Motorsport with Tech Tuning
- Alan Taylor: Renault Clio Cup → Robertshaw Racing
Leaving BTCC
- Darren Dowling: BTC Racing → unknown
- Mark Jones: Team Forward Racing → unknown
- James Kaye: Synchro Motorsport → unknown
- Mark Proctor: Fast-Tech Motorsport → unknown
- James Thompson: Seat Sport → World Touring Car Championship (N.Technology)
- Mark Smith: InFront Motorsport → unknown
Mid-season changes
- Nick Leason left the series after the third round at Thruxton.
- Gareth Howell was replaced by Tom Ferrier after round 5.
- Jim Pocklington left the series after round 5.
- Simon Blanckley left the series after round 7.
- Gavin Smith entered in a GR Asia Seat Leon for rounds 8 and 9.
- Tom Ferrier left the series after round 8.
- Richard Marsh left the series after round 8.
- Alan Taylor entered the series in a Robertshaw Racing Honda Integra for rounds 9 and 10.
- Rob Collard, Tom Coronel, Alain Menu and Paul O'Neill entered for the final round at Thruxton.
Other changes[edit]
- In October 2005 Alan Gow announced that the 2007 championship will be contested by cars complying with the FIA's Super 2000 specification regulations.
- Cars built and raced to BTC-specification were still permitted to compete, although were ineligible for outright championship honours.
- The series had live coverage on ITV's digital channels for the first half of the season, returning to ITV1 for the final five race weekends. Full day's coverage (including support races) moved from MotorsTV to Setanta Sports.[1]
Entry list[edit]
The official entry list was published on 13 March 2007 following Media Day at Rockingham[2][3]
- Team Halfords were neither a works or an independent entry.[4]
Race results[edit]
The 2007 season again had ten race weekends with three BTCC rounds at each.[5][6]
| Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning Driver | Winning Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R1 | 1 April | SEAT Sport UK | ||||
| R2 | SEAT Sport UK | ||||||
| R3 | Team Halfords | ||||||
| 2 | R4 | 22 April | VX Racing | ||||
| R5 | VX Racing | ||||||
| R6 | SEAT Sport UK | ||||||
| 3 | R7 | 6 May | VX Racing | ||||
| R8 | VX Racing | ||||||
| R9 | SEAT Sport UK | ||||||
| 4 | R10 | 3 June | Team RAC | ||||
| R11 | SEAT Sport UK | ||||||
| R12 | VX Racing | ||||||
| 5 | R13 | 24 June | Team Halfords | ||||
| R14 | Team RAC | ||||||
| R15 | Jacksons M.Sport | ||||||
| 6 | R16 | 15 July | Team Halfords | ||||
| R17 | SEAT Sport UK | ||||||
| R18 | SEAT Sport UK | ||||||
| 7 | R19 | 29 July | Team Halfords | ||||
| R20 | VX Racing | ||||||
| R21 | Team RAC | ||||||
| 8 | R22 | 19 August | VX Racing | ||||
| R23 | VX Racing | ||||||
| R24 | Team RAC | ||||||
| 9 | R25 | 2 September | SEAT Sport UK | ||||
| R26 | SEAT Sport UK | ||||||
| R27 | Team Halfords | ||||||
| 10 | R28 | 14 October | VX Racing | ||||
| R29 | VX Racing | ||||||
| R30 | Jacksons M.Sport | ||||||
Final championship standings[edit]
| Points system | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Fastest Lap | Lead a lap | |||||||
| 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
- No driver may collect more than one "Lead a Lap" point per race no matter how many laps they lead.
- Race 1 polesitter receives 1 point.
Drivers' Championship[edit]
Manufacturers Championship[edit]
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