1998 Italian Superturismo Championship

The 1998 Italian Superturismo Championship was the twelfth edition of the Italian Superturismo Championship. The season began in Binetto on 17 May and finished in Vallelunga on 4 October, after ten rounds.

Actually the season 1998 started months before into the court between the 2 promoters Salerno Corse (the historical promoter of the serie since 1987) and Sponsor Service who was supported by the 3 manufactures (Alfa, Audi, BMW). After a long discussion after the championship were already started, it was declared that Sponsor Service were the new promoter for the next 3 years.

The first change of Sponsor Service was to pass from the smaller TMC channel to Italian state channel RAI TV. The idea of the new promoter (and manufactures too) was that if the races were on RAI Channel before the start of f1, there would have been better results in term of audience.

So after the first two rounds (Binetto and Imola) without any tv coverage, RAI transmitted live race 1 of Round 3 and 4 in Monza and Varano before that the promoter was stopped again by court. Round 5, 6 and 7 in Vallelunga, Magione and Pergusa were again without any tv coverage before that the final decision from court that assigned definitively the Sponsor Service as new promotors of Italian Superturismo. Due to Rai needs for the last 3 rounds of the season it was also decided to move race 1 on Saturday going live before the f1 qualifying while there would have been a summery on Sunday night about race 2.

Although in terms of audience there was a promising result, the tv coverage in 1998 was a complete disaster compared to the previous years. The most penalised were the private drivers that never as in this year made a big effort to buy competitive cars.

In 1998 it was also decided to copy from STW, adopting a new qualifying system and a new race format. The Super Pole used until 1997 with one single lap for top ten driver was replaced by 30 minutes of qualifying session. The race format changed from 2 races of 75km into 1 sprint race of 50km and 1 mini endurance race of 100km.

Fabrizio Giovanardi after 5 years where he came always close to the title, finally won the championship, driving the new and immediately competitive Alfa Romeo 156; the Italian manufacturer won also the constructors' championship, while the rookie Fabian Peroni took the privateers' trophy driving an ex official Audi A4 Quattro.

The fight for the Championship was balanced between Giovanardi and Naspetti until round 6 in Magione where the 2 contenders were divided by just 1 point, but in the final part of the Giovanardi scored 6 victories in a row (Pergusa, Misano, Monza) that allowed him to become the new champion before of last round in Vallelunga.

Nicola Larini made his debut in Italian Supertouring after leaving the series at the of 1992 but due to his limited knowledge of the FWD he was not able to fight for the title although he helped his team mate against BMW and he won the challenge against De Simone for the third place in the final Standing.

Rinaldo Capello remained as the only driver for Audi. He drove for the first time the Audi A4 fwd but the car was not at all competitive due to high tyre degradation specially in the endurance race, with a worse aerodynamic package compared to Alfa and a worse engine power compared to BMW. On the fast tracks Audi A4 never had the same performance of Alfa 156, in the slow tracks Audi was always slower the BMW, Alfa and sometimes also of the ex official Audi A4 Quattro. Only in the last 2 round of the season with the new engine Capello was able to show a promising performance. Unfortunately Audi left officially the Supertouring (in BTCC, STW and Italy) at the end of the season to focus on Le Mans Program.

Teams and drivers edit

Team Car No. Drivers Rounds Class
  BMW Italia BMW 320i 1   Emanuele Naspetti All
2   Fabrizio de Simone All
  Nordauto Engineering Alfa Romeo 156 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi All
4   Nicola Larini All
  Audi Sport Italia Audi A4 5   Rinaldo Capello All
  BMW Italia BMW 320i 6   Roberto Colciago 8-10
  Nordauto Engineering Alfa Romeo 156 7   Antonio Tamburini 9-10
8   Stefano Modena 9
  Christy's Team Honda Accord 51   Massimo Pigoli 1-4, 8-10 P
  Soli Racing Team Audi A4 Quattro 52   Moreno Soli All P
  Greyhound Motorsport Alfa Romeo 155 TS 53   Gianluca Roda 1-5, 7-9 P
  AGS Motorsport Audi A4 Quattro 54   Fabian Peroni All P
  Varese Corse Audi A4 Quattro 55   Davide Bernasconi 1-9 P
  Italian Promotorsport BMW 320i 56   Sandro Sardelli All P
58   Miguel Ramos All P
  BMS Scuderia Italia Alfa Romeo 155 TS 59   Christian Pescatori All P
60   Emanuele Moncini All P
  Lucchetti Racing Opel Vectra 62   Guido Lucchetti Cigarini 3-6, 9-10 P
Icon Class
P Private Drivers

Drivers changes edit

Changed Cars


Entering Superturismo 1998


Leaving Superturismo 1998

Race calendar and results edit

Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team
1 R1   Binetto 17 May   Fabrizio de Simone   Emanuele Naspetti   Fabrizio de Simone   CiBiEmme Engineering
R2   Emanuele Naspetti   Emanuele Naspetti   CiBiEmme Engineering
2 R1   Imola 31 May   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nordauto Engineering
R2   Emanuele Naspetti   Fabrizio de Simone   CiBiEmme Engineering
3 R1   Monza 28 June   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nicola Larini   Nordauto Engineering
R2   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nordauto Engineering
4 R1   Varano De Melegari 12 July   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Emanuele Naspetti   Emanuele Naspetti   CiBiEmme Engineering
R2   Emanuele Naspetti   Emanuele Naspetti   CiBiEmme Engineering
5 R1   Vallelunga 26 July   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Emanuele Naspetti   Emanuele Naspetti   CiBiEmme Engineering
R2   Emanuele Naspetti   Emanuele Naspetti   CiBiEmme Engineering
6 R1   Magione 2 August   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Emanuele Naspetti   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nordauto Engineering
R2   Fabrizio de Simone   Fabrizio de Simone   CiBiEmme Engineering
7 R1   Pergusa 30 August   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nicola Larini   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nordauto Engineering
R2   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nordauto Engineering
8 R1   Misano Adriatico 12 September   Emanuele Naspetti   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nordauto Engineering
R2 13 September   Fabrizio de Simone   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nordauto Engineering
9 R1   Monza 26 September   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Stefano Modena   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nordauto Engineering
R2 27 September   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Fabrizio Giovanardi   Nordauto Engineering
10 R1   Vallelunga 3 October   Emanuele Naspetti   Roberto Colciago   Nicola Larini   Nordauto Engineering
R2 4 October   Nicola Larini   Nicola Larini   Nordauto Engineering

Round 1 Italy Binetto edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 2   Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i 50.537 2
2 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 50.711
3 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 50.736
4 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 50.887
5 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 51.525
6 52   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 52.120
7 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 52.325
8 55   Davide Bernasconi Audi A4 Quattro 54.361
9 51   Massimo Pigoli Honda Accord 54.677
10 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 55.080
11 53   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 155 55.157
12 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 55.520
13 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 56.966
14 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 no time

Championship standings after Round 1 edit

Round 2 Italy Imola edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 1.55.908 2
2 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.56.097
3 2   Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i 1.56.627
4 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 1.58.444
5 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 1.58.833
6 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 1.59.142
7 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 1.59.192
8 53   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 155 1.59.550
9 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 2.00.136
10 55   Davide Bernasconi Audi A4 Quattro 2.00.358
11 52   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 2.01.268
12 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 2.01.401
13 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 2.08.333
14 51   Massimo Pigoli Honda Accord no time

Championship standings after Round 2 edit

Round 3 Italy Monza edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 1.51.708 2
2 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 1.52.122
3 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 1.52.488
4 2   Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i 1.52.531
5 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.54.013
6 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 1.54.776
7 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 1.55.671
8 51   Massimo Pigoli Honda Accord 1.55.855
9 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 1.56.466
10 53   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 155 1.56.621
11 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 1.56.795
12 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 1.56.799
13 52   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 1.57.981
14 55   Davide Bernasconi Audi A4 Quattro 1.59.098
15 62   Guido Lucchetti Cigarini Opel Vectra no time

Championship standings after Round 3 edit

Round 4 Italy Varano De Melegari edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 47.952 2
2 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 48.066
3 2   Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i 48.256
4 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 48.266
5 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 48.306
6 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 48.652
7 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 48.944
8 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 48.954
9 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 49.025
10 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 49.193
11 55   Davide Bernasconi Audi A4 Quattro 49.302
12 54   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 49.303
13 51   Massimo Pigoli Honda Accord 50.002
14 53   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 155 50.502
15 62   Guido Lucchetti Cigarini Opel Vectra 52.687

Championship standings after Round 4 edit

Round 5 Italy Vallelunga edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 1.14.527 2
2 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 1.14.870
3 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.14.993
4 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 1.15.203
5 2   Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i 1.15.222
6 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 1.16.212
7 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 1.16.545
8 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 1.16.613
9 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 1.16.633
10 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 1.17.154
11 53   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 155 1.17.717
12 52   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 1.17.970
13 55   Davide Bernasconi Audi A4 Quattro 1.18.114
14 62   Guido Lucchetti Cigarini Opel Vectra 1.20.279

Championship standings after Round 5 edit

Round 6 Italy Magione edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 1.13.108 2
2 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 1.13.123
3 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.13.164
4 2   Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i 1.13.324
5 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 1.13.805
6 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 1.14.464
7 52   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 1.14.630
8 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 1.14.691
9 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 1.15.133
10 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 1.15.167
11 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 1.15.223
12 55   Davide Bernasconi Audi A4 Quattro 1.16.280
13 62   Guido Lucchetti Cigarini Opel Vectra 1.18.473

Championship standings after Round 6 edit

Round 7 Italy Pergusa edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 1.42.274 2
2 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.43.226
3 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 1.43.367
4 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 1.44.314
5 2   Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i 1.44.509
6 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 1.46.192
7 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 1.46.425
8 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 1.47.044
9 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 1.47.262
10 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 1.47.574
11 52   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 1.48.046
12 53   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 155 1.48.647
13 55   Davide Bernasconi Audi A4 Quattro 1.51.757

Championship standings after Round 7 edit

Round 8 Italy Misano Adriatico edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.42.350 2
2 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 1.42.674
3 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 1.43.383
4 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 1.44.274
5 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 1.44.935
6 51   Massimo Pigoli Honda Accord 1.45.445
7 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 1.45.947
8 2   Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i 1.46.734
9 6   Roberto Colciago BMW 320i 1.47.268
10 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 1.47.675
11 52   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 1.47.810
12 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 1.47.910
13 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 1.48.293
14 55   Davide Bernasconi Audi A4 Quattro 1.48.598
15 53   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 155 1.53.263

Championship standings after Round 8 edit

Round 9 Italy Monza edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 1.50.085 2
2 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 1.50.704
3 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 1.50.729
4 8   Stefano Modena Alfa Romeo 156 1.51.667
5 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.51.691
6 7   Antonio Tamburini Alfa Romeo 156 1.51.706
7 2   Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i 1.52.045
8 6   Roberto Colciago BMW 320i 1.52.308
9 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 1.54.160
10 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 1.54.324
11 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 1.54.552
12 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 1.54.573
13 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 1.54.740
14 51   Massimo Pigoli Honda Accord 1.55.161
15 52   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 1.56.726
16 55   Davide Bernasconi Audi A4 Quattro 1.57.030
17 53   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 155 1.57.387
18 62   Guido Lucchetti Cigarini Opel Vectra 2.03.562

Championship standings after Round 9 edit

Round 10 Italy Vallelunga edit

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Car Lap Time Points
1 1   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 320i 1.14.742 2
2 4   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 1.14.902
3 3   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 1.14.930
4 5   Rinaldo Capello Audi A4 1.15.102
5 7   Antonio Tamburini Alfa Romeo 156 1.15.622
6 6   Roberto Colciago BMW 320i 1.15.889
7 59   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 155 1.16.103
8 58   Miguel Ramos BMW 320i 1.16.256
9 56   Sandro Sardelli BMW 320i 1.16.324
10 60   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 155 1.16.543
11 54   Fabian Peroni Audi A4 Quattro 1.16.572
12 51   Massimo Pigoli Honda Accord 1.16.956
13 52   Moreno Soli Audi A4 Quattro 1.17.699
14 62   Guido Lucchetti Cigarini Opel Vectra 1.28.919

Championship standings after (Final) Round 10 edit

Championship standings edit

Points system
 Race 1   1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th  Pole Position
20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 2
 Race 2   1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
40 30 24 20 16 12 8 6 4 2

Drivers' Championship edit

Pos Driver Car BIN
 
IMO
 
MON
 
VAR
 
VAL
 
MAG
 
PER
 
MIS
 
MON
 
VAL
 
 Pts 
1   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 3 2 1 3 3 1 5 2 2 DSQ 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 471
2   Emanuele Naspetti BMW 2 1 3 2 8 4 1 1 1 1 3 Ret 2 3 Ret Ret 4 2 Ret 14 335
3   Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 5 3 4 4 1 2 3 3 4 Ret 2 10 3 2 2 DSQ 2 3 1 1 331
4   Fabrizio de Simone BMW 1 Ret 2 1 4 10 2 Ret 3 10 4 1 4 5 3 6 7 5 DNS DNS 238
5   Rinaldo Capello Audi 6 4 6 5 2 3 6 5 5 2 11 4 5 4 7 Ret 6 Ret 4 12 215
6   Fabian Peroni Audi 4 10 8 7 5 5 4 4 7 8 Ret 3 7 7 4 3 Ret 10 11 6 171
7   Sandro Sardelli BMW 11 Ret 5 6 10 DNS 7 7 6 3 7 9 Ret 9 10 8 13 9 7 4 110
8   Roberto Colciago BMW 5 2 8 7 2 2 94
9   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 10 8 9 13 9 7 9 Ret 10 5 6 7 11 8 Ret 9 9 8 8 7 81
10   Moreno Soli Audi 7 6 13 9 12 9 10 8 11 6 5 5 9 10 9 DNS 11 12 12 8 79
11   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 8 5 7 8 7 Ret 12 9 9 Ret Ret DNS 6 6 6 7 10 11 6 13 78
12   Miguel Ramos BMW Ret 9 12 12 12 6 8 6 8 4 8 8 8 11 11 Ret Ret DNS 9 10 70
13   Davide Bernasconi Audi 9 7 10 10 13 8 11 10 12 7 9 6 10 12 8 4 Ret Ret 67
14   Antonio Tamburini Alfa Romeo 5 6 5 5 44
15   Stefano Modena Alfa Romeo 3 4 32
16   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 13 Ret 14 11 11 13 Ret 13 13 9 DNS DNS 12 5 DNS DNS 20
17   Massimo Pigoli Honda 12 Ret 11 DNS 6 Ret 14 Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 10 9 11
18   Guido Lucchetti Cigarini Opel DNS Ret 15 Ret 14 Ret 10 Ret 14 13 13 11 1
Pos Driver Car BIN
 
IMO
 
MON
 
VAR
 
VAL
 
MAG
 
PER
 
MIS
 
MON
 
VAL
 
 Pts 
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

Manufacturers' Trophy edit

Pos Manufacturer Points
1   Alfa Romeo 975
2   BMW 826
3   Audi 499
4   Honda 11
5   Opel 1
  • only the best 3 cars for every manufacture scored points in each race.

Privateers' Championship edit

Pos Driver Car BIN
 
IMO
 
MON
 
VAR
 
VAL
 
MAG
 
PER
 
MIS
 
MON
 
VAL
 
 Pts 
1   Fabian Peroni Audi 1 6 3 2 1 1 1 1 2 6 Ret 1 2 2 1 1 Ret 3 6 2 426
2   Sandro Sardelli BMW 6 Ret 1 1 8 DNS 2 3 1 1 3 6 Ret 4 5 5 5 2 2 1 334
3   Emanuele Moncini Alfa Romeo 8 4 4 3 4 3 4 Ret 5 3 2 4 6 3 Ret 6 1 1 3 3 293
4   Christian Pescatori Alfa Romeo 3 1 2 3 3 7 7 5 4 Ret Ret DNS 1 1 2 4 2 4 1 6 289
5   Moreno Soli Audi 2 2 8 4 8 5 5 4 6 4 1 2 4 5 4 DNS 3 5 7 4 279
6   Miguel Ramos BMW 9 5 7 7 7 2 3 2 3 2 4 5 6 3 6 Ret Ret DNS 4 6 226
7   Davide Bernasconi Audi 4 3 5 5 9 4 6 6 7 5 5 3 5 7 3 2 Ret Ret 208
8   Gianluca Roda Alfa Romeo 8 Ret 9 6 6 Ret 8 Ret 8 7 DNS DNS 7 3 DNS DNS 73
9   Massimo Pigoli Honda 7 Ret 6 DNS 2 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret 5 5 61
10   Guido Lucchetti Cigarini Opel DNS 6 10 Ret 9 Ret 6 Ret 6 6 8 7 39
Pos Driver Car BIN
 
IMO
 
MON
 
VAR
 
VAL
 
MAG
 
PER
 
MIS
 
MON
 
VAL
 
 Pts 
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

External links edit