The 1997 Italian Superturismo Championship was the eleventh edition of the Italian Superturismo Championship. The season began in Monza on 20 April and finished in Vallelunga on 12 October, after ten rounds.
Emanuele Naspetti and his BMW 320i dominated since the begin of the season achieving an impressive score of 18 podiums (10 victories, 7 seconds and 1 third place) on a total of 20 races.
Naspetti lead the standing since the first round and he won the championship after the first race of 8th round in Varano de Melegari with still 5 races to do; the BMW won the constructors' championship, while Massimo Pigoli took the privateers' trophy in his BMW 320i.
Fabrizio Giovanardi on the wheel of old Alfa Romeo 155 was the main contender with 5 victories but due to a bad start with 4 DNF in the first 8 races, he was not able to fight for the title until the end of the season.
The 1996 Italian Champion Rinaldo Capello and his Audi A4 Quattro were not competitive after FIA decided that Audi had to carry 30kg extra and had to move to FWD from the season 1998.
For these reasons Audi stopped the development of the 4WD and only in wet conditions was Capello able to get a double victory in Varano and one more victory at the slowest track in Binetto.
Beside the top three drivers the championship was animated by the 2 rookies Fabrizio De Simone, Karl Wendlinger, by the return of Antonio Tamburini and by the independent driver Roberto Colciago. Unlike from the previous year, in 1997 it was removed the rules that counted only the 16 best results so all points were valid for the final standing.
Gianni Morbidelli is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 11 March 1990. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 8.5 championship points. He currently competes in the TCR International Series.
Emanuele Naspetti is a racing driver and entrepreneur from Italy.
Yvan Muller is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 with Chevrolet and in 2013 with RML. He was British Touring Car Champion in 2003 with Vauxhall.
Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993. Sauber operated under their own name from 1993 until 2005 and from 2011 until 2018. They were known as BMW Sauber from 2006 to 2010 and as Alfa Romeo F1 Team from 2019 to 2023 in a partnership deal with BMW and Alfa Romeo respectively. Sauber will race as Stake F1 Team for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and is set to be the Audi factory team from 2026 onwards.
Fabrizio Giovanardi is an Italian racing driver. During his career he has won ten touring car titles, including European and British crowns making him the most successful touring car driver worldwide. He has spent the majority of his career racing for Alfa Romeo and Vauxhall.
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World Touring Car Championship, and replaced by the European Touring Car Cup between 2005 and 2017 when became also defunct.
The Italian Superturismo Championship is 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 winners Emanuele Pirro and Rinaldo Capello, and two-time Champ Car champion Alex Zanardi.
The 2006 World Touring Car Championship season was the third season of FIA World Touring Car Championship motor racing. It featured a ten event, twenty race series which commenced on 2 April 2006 and ended on 19 November. The series was open to Super 2000, Diesel 2000 and Super Production Cars, with two titles awarded, the FIA World Touring Car Champion for Drivers and the FIA World Touring Car Champion for Manufacturers. Andy Priaulx won the Drivers title and BMW won the Manufacturers award.
The 1997 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was won by Alain Menu of the Williams Renault Dealer Racing team, driving a Renault Laguna. Menu dominated the year, setting a record of 12 wins during the season. The runner up was Frank Biela of Audi Sport UK in an Audi A4 Quattro. Third place was Menu's teammate, Jason Plato. In the independent class the championship was won by Robb Gravett in a Honda Accord.
The 1998 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship featured 26 races across 13 rounds, it commenced at Thruxton on 13 April and ended at Silverstone on 20 September.
The 2000 European Super Touring Cup was the 27th season of European touring car racing and the first since 1988. The championship started at Mugello on 2 April and ended after ten events at Cerklje ob Krki on 8 October.
The 2005 FIA WTCC Race Of Mexico was the fifth round of the 2005 World Touring Car Championship season. It was held at the Autódromo Miguel E. Abed. Fabrizio Giovanardi won the first race from pole position for Alfa Romeo, and Peter Terting took his first and only WTCC win in the second race, which also turned out to be SEAT's second win.
Rinaldo "Dindo" Capello is an Italian professional racing driver. He is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Bentley in 2003 and Audi in 2004 and 2008. Capello is a two-time American Le Mans Series champion, a five-time 12 Hours of Sebring winner, and the record holder for most wins at Petit Le Mans, having won five times. Capello has also raced in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the FIA World Endurance Championship, DTM and the Italian GT Championship.
Team Ferlito is a team founded in 1984 in Verona. It is also known with the name Ferlito Motors, a moniker used until 2010 on the team's racing cars.
The 1994 Italian Superturismo Championship was the eighth edition of the Italian Superturismo Championship. The season began in Monza on 10 April and finished in Mugello on 2 October, after ten rounds. Emanuele Pirro won the championship, driving an Audi 80 Quattro; the German manufacturer won the constructors' championship with 9 victories on 20 races. The strongest title contender was Antonio Tamburini, who drove an Alfa Romeo 155 TS and also got 6 victories but also 3 DNF and one time out of points. Third was Fabrizio Giovanardi, who was able to finish on podium 7 times and to score points in almost all races without a single victory. The three time Italian Champion Roberto Ravaglia had lot of bad luck and finished fourth after a single victory in the season. The privateers' trophy was won by Moreno Soli in his own the Alfa Romeo 155 TS.
The 1996 Italian Superturismo Championship was the tenth edition of the Italian Superturismo Championship. The season began in Mugello on 14 April and finished in Vallelunga on 6 October, after ten rounds.
The 1995 Italian Superturismo Championship was the ninth edition of the Italian Superturismo Championship. The season began in Misano on 23 April and finished in Vallelunga on 8 October, after ten rounds. Emanuele Pirro won the championship, driving an Audi A4 Quattro; the German manufacturer won the constructors' championship, while Mauro Trione won the privateers' trophy.
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.
The 1999 Italian Superturismo Championship season was the thirteenth and last edition of the Italian Superturismo Championship. With the withdrawal of Audi the fight for the victory was between only 2 Manufactures. The season began in Misano on 17 April and finished in Vallelunga on 10 October, after ten rounds. Once again the driver's championship was between Fabrizio Giovanardi and Emanuele Naspetti.
Moreno Soli was a former Italian racing driver.
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