Steve Soper

Steve Soper
Soper driving a McLaren F1 GTR at Donington Park, England in 1997.
Nationality	ENG
Born	(1951-09-27) 27 September 1951
BTCC record
Teams	Mini, Rover, TWR, Ford, BMW, Peugeot Sport UK
Drivers championships	0
Wins	14
Podium finishes	–
Poles	–
Fastest laps	–
Debut season	1982
First win	1983 (Overall)
Best championship position	2nd
Final season (2001) position	6th (93 points)

Steve Soper is a racing driver from Surrey, England, born in 1951.

He raced in major sports car and touring car categories in the 1980s and 1990s. He won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1987, the 24 Hours of Spa in 1995 and the Guia Race in 1997 — many of which through his longest association, with BMW.

Achievements

Across just over two decades Soper won three major races: the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1987, the 24 Hours of Spa in 1995 and the Guia Race in 1997.

In 1983 he almost won the British Touring Car Championship before his Rover was deemed illegal. He finished as runner-up in the series in 1988 in a Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, and in 1993 behind teammate Joachim Winkelhock for BMW. In 1997 he came second in the FIA GT Championship. fifth driving a Ford Sierra for Eggenberger Motorsport in the one-off World Touring Car Championship in 1987 run under Group A regulations.

He competed in the night European, Japanese and German Touring Car Championships. During the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, he expressed dislike of the 24-hour classic race, established in the early 20th century.

By 2000, Soper fell out of favour with Gerhard Berger, who was in charge of BMW's motorsport operations and retired from racing as he was solely interested in racing BMWs and acquired a BMW dealership in Lincoln.^[1] For 2001, he reluctantly, made a surprise return to the British Championship for Peugeot. The car's build rendered it less successful than the Vauxhall Astra. He finished 6th in a thin field and was advised to retire on medical grounds after a heavy crash in the final round.

In 2013, Soper, who had earned the nickname "Soperman" (with final syllable stress to sound like "superman") from his fans during his career, announced plans, on medical clearance, to race.^[2]

Racing record

Complete British Saloon/Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1973–1990 in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded ?–1989 in class)

1. ^ – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded.

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

‡ Endurance driver.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1983	Mazdaspeed	Jeff Allam James Weaver	Mazda 717C	C Jr.	267	18th	2nd
1996	Team Bigazzi Team BMW Motorsport	Jacques Laffite Marc Duez	McLaren F1 GTR	GT1	318	11th	9th
1997	Team BMW Motorsport BMW Team Schnitzer	JJ Lehto Nelson Piquet	McLaren F1 GTR	GT1	236	DNF	DNF
1998	Team BMW Motorsport	Hans-Joachim Stuck Tom Kristensen	BMW V12 LM	LMP1	60	DNF	DNF
1999	Price+Bscher	Thomas Bscher Bill Auberlen	BMW V12 LM	LMP	345	5th	4th

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

• Driver DB Profile
• Official Steve Soper Website