Giovanardi confident of title challenge

VX Racing’s Fabrizio Giovanardi has predicted he will be able to fight for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship title from the outset at Brands Hatch on 1 April.

Having topped official pre-season testing last week at Rockingham in Vauxhall’s radical-looking new Vectra, Italian Giovanardi and team-mate Tom Chilton have this week put more than 600 miles on the car at Albacete, Spain.

Giovanardi said: “Testing has been going very well, but this is still a new car and every time we go out we know how to explore it further and better and understand the handling.

“I am still as confident in the car as I was at the start and I am positive especially after the good test at Rockingham last week. I think we will be fighting for wins and the championship title straight from the beginning.”

Good weather in Spain enabled VXR to collate important information about the Vectra’s handling and also focus on race set-ups and long-distance runs.

Chilton, aged 22, added: “The car is a really strong package and has proved very reliable; I managed more than 600 miles in Spain without any major problems.

“We’re heading to Valencia now to make a few more tweaks and changes to get every last ounce of speed out of the car before returning to the UK. I’m confident and feel really positive about the season, but it’s going to be very close judging by the first official test at Rockingham last week.”

Vauxhall enters the 2007 as something of a wounded animal – it dominated the BTCC from 2001-04, with clean sweeps of drivers’, manufacturers’ and teams’ titles. In the last two seasons, though, its stranglehold on the championship has been broken and last year won only two races, but team bosses appear sense a return to the glory days.

VXR’s brand manager Stuart Harris commented: “This latest session has been to test new parts within the new S2000 rules and regulations, focusing on suspension and engine reliability.

“It’s all progressing nicely and we are very pleased, but the real test will be once we are all sitting on the grid at Brands Hatch.”