Italian Superturismo Championship

Italian Superturismo Championship
Category	Touring cars
Country	Italy
Inaugural season	1987
Drivers' champion	Valentina Albanese
Makes' champion	SEAT

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

Revival

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

In 2007 the championship changed its promoter to Peroni Promotion and was renamed ITCC (Italian Touring Car Competition).^[1] However, grids were small as several teams moved to the WTCC and the Superstars Series, and the series was merged with the Peroni-run Driver's Trophy midway through 2008.

Champions

Series Name	Season	Champion	Team Champion
Italian Superturismo Championship	1987	Michele Di Gioia (BMW M3)	none
	1988	Gianfranco Brancatelli (Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo)	none
	1989	Johnny Cecotto (BMW M3)	none
	1990	Roberto Ravaglia (BMW M3)	none
	1991	Roberto Ravaglia (BMW M3)	none
	1992	Nicola Larini (Alfa Romeo 155 GTA)	none
	1993	Roberto Ravaglia (BMW 318i)	none
	1994	Emanuele Pirro (Audi 80 Quattro)	none
	1995	Emanuele Pirro (Audi A4 Quattro)	none
	1996	Rinaldo Capello (Audi A4 Quattro)	none
	1997	Emanuele Naspetti (BMW 320i)	none
	1998	Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo 156)	none
	1999	Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo 156)	none
Italian Super Production Championship	2002	Massimo Pigoli (BMW 320i)	none
	2003	Salvatore Tavano (Alfa Romeo 147)	none
	2004	Adriano de Micheli (Alfa Romeo 147)	none
Italian Superturismo Championship	2005	Alessandro Zanardi (BMW 320i)	ROAL Motorsport
Italian Superturismo Championship	2006	Roberto Colciago (SEAT León)	SEAT Sport Italia
Italian Touring Car Competition	2007	Cesare Cremonesi (BMW 320i)	Arsenio Corse
Italian Touring Car Competition	2008	Massimo Arduini (Honda Accord)	Team Mercury GPS
Campionato Italiano Turismo Endurance	2008	Luca Cappellari (BMW M3 E92)	none
	2009	Roberto Colciago (SEAT León Supercopa)	none
	2010	Paolo Meloni (BMW M3 E92)	none
	2011	Piero Necchi (BMW M3 E92)	none
	2012	Andrea Bacci (BMW M3 E92)	none
	2013	Giancarlo Busnelli (SEAT León Cupra)	none
	2014	Paolo Meloni Massimiliano Tresoldi (BMW M3 E92)	none
	2015	Valentina Albanese (SEAT León Cup Racer)	none

References

↑ "Nuvolari3000.com NEWS, ITCC 2007". Retrieved 3 September 2012.

External links

Super Touring championships

British Touring Car Championship	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

French Supertouring Championship	1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Italian Superturismo Championship	1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Touring Car World Cup	1993 1994 1995

South American Super Touring Car Championship	1997 1998 1999 2000

Japanese Touring Car Championship	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Super Tourenwagen Cup	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Belgian Procar Championship	1994 1995 1996 1997

Swedish Touring Car Championship	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Campeonato de España de Turismos	1994 1995 1996 1997

Portuguese Touring Car Championship	1993 1994

Central European Supertouring Car Championship	1994 1995 1996

South African Touring Car Championship	1994 1995 1996

Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship	1994 1996 1997 1998 1999

Australian Super Touring Championship	1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000–01 2002

North American Touring Car Championship	1996 1997

European Touring Car Championship	2000 2001

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