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VX Racing continued to rule at Thruxton for rounds ten, 11 and 12 of the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). The reigning BTCC Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Champions took home two race victories with birthday boy Tom Onslow-Cole behind the wheel of the Vectra VXR and three third podium places, two for Fabrizio Giovanardi and one for Matt Neal.



Giovanardi continues to lead the BTCC Drivers’ Championship by 18 points, with the team leading both the manufacturers’ and team’s standings.

Race one

Tom Onslow-Cole turned his fantastic pole position from Saturday qualifying into his first-ever victory for VX Racing in race one at the Hampshire circuit.

The 21-year-old had a great fight with Gordon Shedden (Honda Civic) early on until Shedden was forced to pit with a puncture. Onslow-Cole proved the Vectra VXR’s speed by pulling away from the rest of the field, and also recorded the fastest lap of the race on lap two with a time of 1:18.883.

The reigning BTCC Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi and team-mate Matt Neal rounded-up the team result, coming home in third and fourth place for the Luton-based manufacturer.

Race two

Onslow-Cole took race win glory again in the second race, following a superb drive through the field.

The Vauxhall works driver recovered well from a slow start due to his 45kg on-board success ballast following his win earlier in the day, taking advantage of on-track battles between team-mate Neal and SEAT’s Darren Turner on lap 11; Onslow-Cole out-drove both to take third place.

Onslow-Cole closed in on Colin Turkington (BMW) and in a fantastic overtaking manoeuvre on lap 16 moved into second place behind Giovanardi.

Giovanardi, who was leading for most of the race and recorded the fastest race lap, picked up a puncture on the last lap, handing the glory over to his younger team-mate.

Neal was involved in great on-track battles and following the incident with Turner, the VX Racing driver was nose-to-tail with Turkington until the end of the race. Neal eventually finished in a strong third place, making it a one-three for Vauxhall.

Race three

VX Racing rounded-up a successful race day with a podium finish in the last race with Fabrizio Giovanardi taking home third.

Starting from tenth on the grid, the Italian had a great start and picked his way through to fight amongst the top-four. Following an off from Adam Jones, Giovanardi charged past and was attacking Mat Jackson (BMW) for third place.

The 41-year-old, defending his drivers’ title, finished in the points with an important third place.

Neal secured fourth place with the winner from the earlier two races, Onslow-Cole, finishing in seventh to score valid points for the championship standings.

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