The Italian Superturismo Championship (Campionato Italiano Superturismo) is

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

's national motorsport series for

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...

. It was established in 1987 and its drivers' title has been held by such notable drivers as

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

winner

Emanuele Pirro Emanuele Pirro (born 12 January 1962) is an Italian racing driver who has raced in Formula One, touring cars and in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans which he has won a total of five times. Two times Italian Karting Champion ( ...

and two-time

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Team ...

champion

Alex Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and again ...

History

Established in 1987 under

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

rules the series saw champions like

Johnny Cecotto Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the youn ...

Roberto Ravaglia Roberto Ravaglia (born 26 May 1957 in Venice, Italy) is a former auto racing driver, who currently runs ROAL Motorsport, who operate a Chevrolet operation in the World Touring Car Championship. Before retiring in 1997, he was one of the most ...

and

Nicola Larini Nicola Larini (born 19 March 1964) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 6 September 1987. He finished second in the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix on a substitute outing for Ferrari, but only ...

winning the title before switching to

Supertouring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...

regulations in 1993. That season was won by Ravaglia in a BMW 318i. The next years would be dominated by

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The o ...

and their 80 and A4 Quattro models as

won in 1994 and 1995 and

Rinaldo Capello Rinaldo "Dindo" Capello (born 17 June 1964) 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, ...

in 1996. Ex-F1 driver

Emanuele Naspetti Emanuele Naspetti (born 24 February 1968) is a racing driver and entrepreneur from Italy. Career Karting He made his racing debut at the age of 12 and spent seven years in karting (1980-1986), participating in more than 200 races and achievi ...

took BMW's second title in 1997. Alfa Romeo and Nordauto Engineering (the team that became N.Technology) had run the

Alfa Romeo 155 The Alfa Romeo 155 (Type 167) is a compact executive car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo between 1992 and 1998. It was unveiled in January 1992 at Barcelona, with the first public launch in March 1992, at the Geneva Moto ...

during the 1993–1997 years but wouldn't win the series until they introduced their

156 Year 156 ( CLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silvanus and Augurinus (or, less frequently, year 909 '' Ab urbe co ...

model in 1998.

Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi (born 14 December 1966 in Sassuolo) 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 s ...

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 Super 2000 is an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA powertrain specification used in the World Rally Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, and other touring car racing, touring car ...

relatives in the ETCC.

Salvatore Tavano Salvatore Tavano (born 13 March 1980 in Siracusa) is an Italian racing driver, winner of the TCR Italy Touring Car Championship 2018, 2019 and 2020 and who has had several seasons in the WTCC, ETCC and TCR Italy championships. Career After start ...

won the 2003 Superproduzione season in an

Alfa Romeo 147 The Alfa Romeo 147 (Type 937) is a small family car produced by the Italian automaker Alfa Romeo from 2000 to 2010. The 147 was voted European Car of the Year in 2001. The 147 was launched at the Turin Motor Show in June 2000 as a replacement fo ...

. The championship became an all-147 series in 2004 won by

Adriano De Micheli Adriano or Adrião is the form of the Latin given name ''Hadrianus'' commonly used in the Italian language; the form Adrian is used in the English language. Notable people with the name include: * Adriano Banchieri, Italian composer, music theor ...

. 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 The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a s ...

(WTCC) in 2005. At the same time the Superturismo was truly revived with Super 2000 rules.

Alessandro Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and again ...

would win the first season in a BMW 320i. In 2006

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

joined the championship as a full works team with two Leóns driven by

Roberto Colciago Roberto Colciago (born 4 April 1968) is a racing driver from Saronno, Italy. He has spent most of his career in touring car racing – first in Super Touring and then in Super 2000 – followed by the World Touring Car Championship and ...

and

Davide Roda Davide Roda (born 21 January 1972 in Como) is an Italian auto racing driver. His first serious drive came in 2002 when he drove the Italian Alfa 147 Cup. From 2003, he spent the next three years competing in the European Alfa 147 Challenge. In 20 ...

. Colciago won the title ahead of returning 1997 champion

in a BMW 320i. In 2007 the championship changed its promoter to

Peroni Promotion Peroni may refer to: * (1874–1964), Italian musician and composer * (born 1959), Italian journalist * Geraldine Peroni (1953–2004), American film editor * Giuseppe Peroni (1700–1776), Italian painter of the Baroque period * (1930–2010), ...

and was renamed ITCC (Italian Touring Car Competition). However, grids were small as several teams moved to the WTCC and the

Superstars Series The Superstars International Series was a production-based touring car racing championship held between 2004 and 2013. It was managed by the "Superstars World of Racing SpA", SWR, a company of FG GROUP with headquarters in Rome and sanctioned by t ...

, and the series was merged with the Peroni-run Driver's Trophy midway through 2008. For the 2016 season, the championship adopted

TCR TCR may stand for: Arts and entertainment * ''TCR'', the musical project of Robin Moulder and TC Smith * "TCR", a single by Prolapse * The Comic Reader, a comics news-fanzine 1961–1984 Businesses and organizations * TCR (record label), or Thur ...

regulations for the main class.

Champions

Race winners

Driver Statistics

Manufactures Statistics

*Statistics from 1993 to 1999 with D2 Cars

References

External links

News and results
{{Italian Superturismo Championship circuits Touring car racing series TCR Series Recurring sporting events established in 1987 1987 establishments in Italy