Triple Eight Race Engineering was formed in 1996, to design, race and run the Super Touring Vectra for Vauxhall. They ran the Vectra for five years scoring ten wins across this period. Whilst the results where not always forthcoming the team was always in the hunt and popular with the crowd, in particular when the good old boys John Cleland and Derek Warick raced for them.
For 2001 a new set of low cost rules and regulations where introduced. Vauxhall where one of only a few manufacturer teams that committed early to the championship, and Triple 8 did a very good job building the Astra Coupe. This stood them in great sted for years to come, they won the, Drivers, Teams, and Manufacturers championships in style for every year until 2005.
In 2005 a new car was built, the Astra Sport Hatch. Whilst the car was quick there was still a lot of development to be done. In 2006 they got more out of the car, Yvan Muller narrowly missed out on winning the championship, but they still struggled for consistent race winning performance.
From 2007 onwards to win the championship outright you must
run an s2000 spec car. Triple Eight evaluated various options and decided upon the the Vectra. The car was immediately on the pace, taking race wins in only its 2nd race meeting. Giovanardi built on his experience from 2006 and was a force to be reckoned with, winning the championship and taking an unrivalled 10 wins.
For 2008 Triple Eight will field three cars and with the drivers they have a strong mix of youth and experience. Double BTCC champion Matt Neal joins the team, looking to challenge himself against the best in the same machinery, Giovanardi stays on to defend his title, and the impressive youngster Tom Onslow-Cole joins the team, having taken a race win in his debut year.
2008 - VX Racing - Vauxhall Vectra (s2000)
Fabrizio Giovanardi / Matt Neal / Tom Onslow-Cole
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