2007 BTCC season
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Championship protagonists Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi collide at Snetterton.

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.

Changes for 2007

Drivers & Teams

• For 2007, the majority of teams from 2006 chose to stay in the championship. Vauxhall introduced their brand new Vauxhall Vectra, replacing the old Astra Sport Hatch. They also shortened their driver line up to 2 cars by dropping Gavin Smith because of the pressure of the development of the Vectra's. However they retained both Fabrizio Giovanardi & Tom Chilton. For the final round at Thruxton, former champion Alain Menu was run in the 3rd Vectra. The only manufacturer left to challenge Vauxhall were Seat, with Jason Plato returning for a 5th season &, after only racing half the 2006 races to accommodate James Thompson, Darren Turner received a full season in 07. Tom Coronel was entered for the final round. 2 more Leons were entered late on in the season for Gavin Smith & Rob Collard.Team Halfords were the biggest challenger to the two manufacturers, replacing the older Integra Type-R with a brand new Civic. The driver line-up remained the same, with 2 time champion Matt Neal & Gordon Shedden still at the wheel. Team RAC also entered a new car, with the old MG ZS being replaced by the car that had dominated the WTCC, the BMW 320i. Colin Turkington remained with the team & was joined by the 2006 Clio Cup Champion, Tom Onslow-Cole.There was many BMW's being entered in 2007. Seat Cupra champion Mat Jackson entered his own family-run team under the name Jacksons M-Sport. Rick Kerry entered the shorter wheelbase 1-Series, also being raced by diesel fuel. J-Team's Jim Pocklington also entered a 320i, as did Martyn Bell in the AllAboutPropety.com car.Motorbase Performance entered a duo of older spec Seat Toledos for British GT champion Matt Allison & Gareth Howell. Tom Ferrier also raced for 3 rounds & Paul O'Neill raced in the final round. However, these weren't the only Toledos on the grid as Team Air Cool entered a 3rd for Adam Jones.3 Alfa Romeo 156's were entered in 2007; 2 of them were run by A-Tech for David Pinkney & Richard Marsh & Quest Racing also entered 1 for Eoin Murray. BTC Racing entered a pair of Lexus IS200's for Chris Stockton & Nick Leason; however, Leason pulled out after Round 3.Jason Hughes returned in his Kartworld Racing MG ZS; as did Mike Jordan, John George & Simon Blanckley, all in Honda Integras.
• 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 for 2007

No.	Driver	Team	Car	Spec.	Cl.	Rounds
1	Matt Neal	Team Halfords	Honda Civic	S2000	2	1-10
3	Colin Turkington	Team RAC	BMW 320si	S2000	I	1-10
5	Fabrizio Giovanardi	VX Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	S2000	M	1-10
7	Tom Chilton	VX Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	S2000	M	1-10
8	Gavin Smith	GR Asia	SEAT León	S2000	I	8-9
11	Jason Plato	SEAT Sport UK	SEAT León	S2000	M	1-10
12	Darren Turner	SEAT Sport UK	SEAT León	S2000	M	1-10
14	Eoin Murray	Quest Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	S2000	I	1-4,6-8 & 10
15	Martyn Bell	Team allaboutproperty.com	BMW 320i	S2000	I	1-10
17	Rick Kerry	AFM Racing	BMW 120d	S2000	I	1-3,5,7-8 & 10
18	Rob Collard	GR Asia	SEAT León	S2000	I	10
19	Nick Leason	BTC Racing	Lexus IS200	S2000	I	1-3
21	Adam Jones	Team Air Cool	SEAT Toledo	S2000	I	1-2, 5-6, 8-10
22	Tom Coronel	SEAT Sport UK	SEAT León	S2000	M	10
23	Matt Allison	Motorbase Performance	SEAT Toledo	S2000	I	1-8 & 10
24	Tom Ferrier	Motorbase Performance	SEAT Toledo	S2000	I	6-8
25	Gareth Howell	Motorbase Performance	SEAT Toledo	S2000	I	1-5
28	Jason Hughes	Kartworld Racing	MG ZS	BTC-T	I	1-10
29	Paul O'Neill	Motorbase Performance	SEAT Toledo	S2000	I	10
32	Alan Taylor	Robertshaw Racing	Honda Integra	BTC-T	I	9-10
33	Tom Onslow-Cole	Team RAC	BMW 320si	S2000	I	1-10
43	Chris Stockton	BTC Racing	Lexus IS200	S2000	I	1-10
45	Jim Pocklington	J-Team Motorsport with Tech Tuning	BMW 320i	S2000	I	1-2,4-5
48	Mat Jackson	Jacksons M.Sport	BMW 320si	S2000	I	1-10
52	Gordon Shedden	Team Halfords	Honda Civic	S2000	2	1-10
55	John George	TH Motorsport with JAG Racing	Honda Integra	BTC-T	I	1-10
56	Dave Pinkney	A-Tech	Alfa Romeo 156	S2000	I	1-8 & 10
59	Richard Marsh	A-Tech	Alfa Romeo 156	S2000	I	1-8
69	Simon Blanckley	Sibsport	Honda Integra	BTC-T	I	1-7
77	Mike Jordan	Team Eurotech Racing with John Guest Speedfit	Honda Integra	BTC-T	I	1-10
82	Fiona Leggate	Kartworld Racing	MG ZS	BTC-T	I	1-10
88	Alain Menu	VX Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	S2000	M	10
90	Erkut Kizilirmak	Arkas Racing	Vauxhall Astra	BTC-T	I	1-8 & 10

Key:

I = Eligible for Independents' Cup

M = Eligible for Manufacturers' Championship

BTC-T = Car built to BTC-Touring specifications

S2000 = Car built to Super 2000 specifications

Calendar

The 2007 season again had ten race weekends with three BTCC rounds at each.

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole Drivers	Pole Teams	Winning Drivers	Winning Teams
1 2 3	Brands Hatch	31 March & 1 April	Colin Turkington Jason Plato Fabrizio Giovanardi	Team RAC SEAT Sport UK VX Racing	Jason Plato Jason Plato Matt Neal	SEAT Sport UK SEAT Sport UK Team Dynamics
4 5 6	Rockingham	21 & 22 April	Darren Turner Fabrizio Giovanardi John George	SEAT Sport UK VX Racing TH Motorsport	Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi Jason Plato	VX Racing VX Racing SEAT Sport UK
7 8 9	Thruxton	5 & 6 May	Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi David Pinkney	VX Racing VX Racing A-Tech	Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi Jason Plato	VX Racing VX Racing SEAT Sport UK
10 11 12	Croft	2 & 3 June	Gordon Shedden Colin Turkington John George	Team Halfords Team RAC TH Motorsport	Colin Turkington Darren Turner Fabrizio Giovanardi	Team RAC SEAT Sport UK VX Racing
13 14 15	Oulton Park	23 & 24 June	Gordon Shedden Gordon Shedden Adam Jones	Team Halfords Team Halfords Team Air Cool	Gordon Shedden Colin Turkington Mat Jackson	Team Halfords Team RAC Jacksons M.Sport
16 17 18	Donington Park	14 & 15 July	Gordon Shedden Gordon Shedden Colin Turkington	Team Halfords Team Halfords Team RAC	Gordon Shedden Jason Plato Jason Plato	Team Halfords SEAT Sport UK SEAT Sport UK
19 20 21	Snetterton	28 & 29 July	Colin Turkington Gordon Shedden Tom Onslow-Cole	Team RAC Team Halfords Team RAC	Gordon Shedden Fabrizio Giovanardi Tom Onslow-Cole	Team Halfords VX Racing Team RAC
22 23 24	Brands Hatch	18 & 19 August	Colin Turkington Fabrizio Giovanardi Adam Jones	Team RAC VX Racing Team Air Cool	Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi Colin Turkington	VX Racing VX Racing Team RAC
25 26 27	Knockhill	1 & 2 September	Darren Turner Darren Turner Mike Jordan	SEAT Sport UK SEAT Sport UK Team Eurotech	Darren Turner Darren Turner Gordon Shedden	SEAT Sport UK SEAT Sport UK Team Halfords
28 29 30	Thruxton	13 & 14 October	Tom Chilton Fabrizio Giovanardi Tom Coronel	VX Racing VX Racing SEAT Sport UK	Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi Mat Jackson	VX Racing VX Racing Jacksons M.sport

Final Championship Standings

Drivers' Championship

Points were awarded for the top 10 finishers, fastest lap, pole position and leading a race

Points for:- 1st - 15pts, 2nd - 12pts, 3rd - 10pts, 4th - 8pts, 5th - 6pts, 6th - 5pts, 7th - 4pts, 8th - 3pts, 9th - 2pts & 10th - 1pt

Pos Driver BH RCK THU CRO OUL DON SNE BH KNO THU Pts 1 Giovanardi 10 7 2* 1'^ 1 ^ 5 1*^ 1'^ 4 6 6 1'^ 2 2' Ret 8 3 11 5 1^ 3 1^ 1^ 4 6 3 5 1^ 1^ 2 300 2 Plato 1'^ 1^ 4 3 5 1'^ 2 6 1^ 7 2^ 9 7 5 2 5 1'^ 1^ 8 3 4 2 2 5 3 5 3 2 2 4 297 3 Shedden 8 Ret Ret 4 Ret 6 Ret 8 2' 2* Ret^ 4 1^ Ret 4' 1*^ 2^ 5 1^ Ret^ 5' Ret 3 2 Ret' 4' 1^' 3 Ret 9 200 4 Neal 3 5 1^ 5 Ret 7 5 2 5 3 13 6 4' 4 Ret 3' 4 2' 18 2' 2 Ret DNS DNS Ret 6 2^ 5 3' 5' 195 5 Turkington 2* 2 Ret 7 Ret Ret 4 5^ 17 1'^ Ret^ 8 3*^ 1^ Ret 7 9 6^ DSQ* 9 6 4^* 9' 1^ 2 2 6 6 4 11 184 6 Turner Ret 4' EX Ret* 6' 3 3 Ret 6 4 1'^ 5 Ret 7 3 12 6 9 6 4 9 3' Ret 15 1*^ 1^ 7 18 11 6 160 7 Jackson DSQ 8 3' 10 4 2 Ret Ret DNS 9 4 3 5 6 1^ 9 10 4 4 5 7 Ret 4 3 Ret 10 9 7 5 1^ 158 8 Jordan 4 Ret 8 6 Ret 8 10 4 3 5 3 10 8 3 9 4 7 3^ 7 Ret DNS 13 5 8^' 5 8 4^ Ret 8 Ret 131 9 Chilton 6 3 7 2 3 4 6' 3 8 8 Ret 7 6 9 6 15 12 7 3' 8 8 6 Ret 9 Ret 11 Ret Ret*^' 9 3 130 10 Onslow-Cole 5 15 6 8 2 Ret 8 7 10 Ret 7 2^ 8 13 7 10 11 8 2 6 1^ 5 Ret 6 DSQ 13 10 10 10 Ret 109 11 Jones 7 6 5 DNQ DNS DNS Ret 8 5 2 5 Ret 7 6 Ret 4 7 8 9 12 7 72 12 Allison 12 9 10 11 7 9 7 Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 8 6 8 10 12 10 Ret 9 Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret 29 13 Smith 8 7 7 7 9 11 17 14 Howell 9 11 9 Ret Ret DNS 11 Ret 7 10 5 Ret 10 Ret DNS 16 15 Menu 4 6 12 13 16 Hughes Ret Ret 12 12 9 Ret 12 9 9 Ret 8 11 11 Ret DNS Ret Ret 15 10 11 13 Ret 8 11 Ret 14 12 14 Ret 14 13 17 Coronel 8 7 8 10 18 Murray DNS DNS DNS 9 Ret Ret 9 Ret DNS Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret 7 10 Ret DNS Ret 12 Ret Ret 9 19 George 19 16 19 14 10 Ret Ret DNS 12 17 9 Ret 15 11 Ret Ret Ret 19 13 13 17 Ret NC 10 8 12 Ret 16 13 13 7 20 Pinkney 20 Ret 13 13 8 12 15 10 13^ Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret DNS 16 16 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret DNS DNS Ret Ret 15 5 21 Bell 13 13 11 15 12 DNS 13 Ret 15 14 12 Ret 13 14 10 Ret 20 20 15 12 16 Ret Ret 14 9 17 13 Ret 16 Ret 3 22 Ferrier Ret 14 12 9 Ret 12 Ret DNS DNS 2 23 Kizilirmak 14 11 15 16 DNS 11 17 13 14 13 Ret Ret 14 Ret 14 DNS 15 13 11 Ret 11 10 10 Ret 15 Ret Ret 2 24 Stockton 11 10 Ret 17 DNS DNS Ret DNS Ret 11 10 Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret 13 16 Ret Ret 14 11 Ret DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 2 25 Blanckley 16 14 16 Ret Ret 10 18 11 16 12 Ret DNS 12 Ret DNS Ret 17 Ret 16 14 15 1 26 Collard 11 Ret 10 1 27 Taylor 10 16 Ret 17 Ret 17 1 28 Marsh Ret 17 17 Ret DNS DNS 16 Ret Ret 18 Ret DNS Ret DNS Ret 13 18 17 14 Ret DNS 12 11 13 0 29 Kerry 17 19 18 Ret 11 14 Ret 14 Ret 17 16 12 DNS Ret DNS Ret DNS 16 Ret 15 19 0 30 Pocklington 18 18 Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 11 14 18 17 Ret 0 31 Leggate Ret DNS 14 Ret DNS Ret 14 12 Ret 15 Ret 13 16 15 Ret Ret 19 18 17 Ret DNS Ret DNS Ret Ret 15 14 19 DNS 18 0 32 O'Neill 13 14 16 0 33 Leason 15 DNS DNS 18 Ret 13 Ret DNS DNS 0 Pos Driver BH RCK THU CRO OUL DON SNE BH KNO THU Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Purple Did not finish (Ret) Not classified (NC) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate Injured (INJ) Excluded (EX) * means 1 point for pole ' means 1 point for fastest lap ^ means 1 point for leading a full lap

References