Fabrizio Giovanardi is the 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion after beating Jason Plato in the final race of the season. Round 30 brought a second win of the year for Independent driver Mat Jackson, but Giovanardi’s second position handed the Italian the title, as Plato could only manage to finish fourth.

The reverse grid for the final race of the day put SEAT’s Tom Coronel on pole position, with Alain Menu alongside him for Vauxhall. Mat Jackson lined up third, joined on the second row by fellow BMW driver Colin Turkington. Matt Neal and Jason Plato shared the third row, with Giovanardi starting seventh. Ahead of the final race, Plato still held the championship lead, albeit by just a single point.

As the lights went out, it was the BMW pairing of Jackson and Turkington that got off the line quickest, leading into the first corner. Matt Neal was third, but not for long as Giovanardi capitalised on a strong getaway to pass the Honda going into the Complex for the first time. That gave Giovanardi a two-car cushion back to Plato, with teammate Tom Chilton finding himself in the all too rare position of being able to assist his fellow Vectra driver by keeping Plato at bay.

Just as he had done all weekend, Giovanardi had put himself where he needed to be in order to win the championship. The question would be whether Plato had enough left in him to take the fight to the Vauxhall driver one last time.

At the front, Jackson led under pressure from Turkington – the latter already having done enough to clinch the Independents’ crown. As the two leaders battle amongst themselves, Giovanardi was content to sit behind them, maybe in the hope of being handed a hat-trick should they take each other out of the race. Giovanardi has not been one to back off throughout the season, and this was not the moment for him to start relaxing – not far from his rear bumper was the Honda Civic of Matt Neal. Although, with a Vauxhall contract in his pocket for 2008, Neal was unlikely to get too involved with his future teammate.

Giovanardi, Neal and Chilton all appeared to have strengths at different points around the fast Thruxton circuit. Chilton tended to close on Neal at Goodwood, only for the Civic to push onto the back of Giovanardi later in the lap. At the halfway point, the trio were covered by less than a second.

Lap 13 saw Mat Jackson still defending from Colin Turkington. Clearly Jackson had rediscovered the pace he showed all the way back at the opening meeting of the season at Brands Hatch, and of course when he clinched victory at Oulton Park. In his efforts to take the lead, Colin Turkington ended up spinning at the chicane and dropping down the order.

With Giovanardi now up to second, Plato stepped up his fight, eventually finding a way past Matt Neal at Segrave, before setting about the rear of Tom Chilton’s Vectra. But it was not enough for the burned SEAT star.

Any faint glimmer of hope Plato may still have had were dashed on the penultimate lap of the scheduled 16. For the second time in as many seasons, Team Eurotech’s Mike Jordan found himself involved in a heavy shunt at the final meeting of the season. Fortunately, Jordan was able to walk away from his collision with the barrier on the outside of the Thruxton chicane, although the race officials deemed it serious enough to put out the red flags.

And so Giovanardi was crowned, a lap earlier than expected. An eighth title to add to an impressive collection, and an ecstatic Giovanardi made sure the bumper Thruxton crowd knew just how ‘appy he was, snaking his Vectra around the 2.36 mile track.

A dejected Plato was heard to tell his SEAT team, “It just wasn’t meant to be” over the pit-to-car radio as his disappointment sunk in. Bridesmaid for the second year in a row.

Giovanardi said, “For me it was very stressful before the start and then again in the end. I thought I was in trouble with my tyres so when I saw Jason try to make everything to try and catch me it was very stressful. One lap more might have been a different result.

“Roberto Ravaglia has seven titles so I think now I have more than any other driver! It’s very special because it was very big effort to win this one. Working hard for something makes it more special.”

Fabrizio Giovanardi will carry the number one on the side of his car as he lines up with Vauxhall to defend his title in 2008.