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After his two wins at Brands Hatch, Fabrizio Giovanardi has sent out an
ominous warning to his chief rivals ahead of Rockingham’s HiQ MSA
British Touring Car Championship rounds this coming Sunday, saying he
feels “very confident” of more success at the Northamptonshire circuit.
Vauxhall ace Giovanardi began the defence of his 2007 title in
perfect fashion at Brands – winning the opening two rounds before
adding a sixth place in the third race to sweep into an early
championship lead. That’s a much better start than in 2007, but his
lead is slender – just two points over privateer BMW driver Mat Jackson.
But the Italian, normally reserved in his predictions, is upbeat about his chances at Rockingham where he won twice last season.
He
said: “I think it is possible we can win again at Rockingham after the
great start we had to the season. The Vectra VXR has great potential
and is one of the best cars on the grid. I’m very confident about
racing at Rockingham.”
The veteran, with eight
major touring car titles to his name, did urge some caution, though,
adding: “I don’t want to think about the championship just yet… I’m not
superstitious, but Jason Plato led the championship from the first race
last year and lost it to me in the very last race.
“At the moment I just think about scoring points; if I can win I will, if not I just take the points I can get.”
Team-mate
Matt Neal, BTCC champion in 2005 and 2006, says he’s backing Giovanardi
to win at Rockingham while hoping to improve on the third place he
achieved at Brands Hatch on his first outing in Vauxhall’s Vectra VXR.
Neal
said: “It was great to be on the podium, but I want to be fighting for
wins. It’s tough this year, though, and it seems the field has moved a
lot closer.
“Fabrizio just seems to be able to
bring this extra little bit out of the car at the moment and I would
put my money on him for winning at Rockingham. For me it’s just a case
of putting my head down and scoring as many points for the team as
possible; this is my priority at the moment.”
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