Gio pulled a couple of desperate moves during that race. That one on Jackson was stupid, but the one on Herbert and Turks was just insane. He came from miles back and just clobbered Herbert who in turn got pushed into Turkington. That move caused the suspension damage that dropped him out of the points. If you look at his front nearside wheel, it is pointing inwards far too much.
Crash.net wrote:Giovanardi hits out after points loss
Fabrizio Giovanardi has hit out at former F1 racer Johnny Herbert after contact between the two in the final race of the weekend at Rockingham saw the defending champion lose ground in the battle for the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship title.
The VX Racing driver had finished ahead of points leader Colin Turkington in both race one and race two in Northamptonshire to close to within five points of the lead going into the final race of the weekend.
However, that final race saw Giovanardi suffer damage to his Vectra while battling for position with Herbert's Team Dynamics Honda and saw him drop down the order to finish outside the points in eleventh – losing the final points scoring position to Martin Johnson on the run to the line.
With Turkington surviving a coming together with Jason Plato to finish fourth, the Team RAC driver will now take a 13 point lead into the final three races of the season at Brands Hatch and Giovanardi was far from happy to have seen his weekend 'ruined' by the contact.
“I was clawing back the points in the first two races, and in the third it was looking good, but then Herbert ruined it all,” he said. “He's a guest driver, he's not involved in the championship, so I don't know why he had to smash into me, many times. After that, my car was completely destroyed.
“It is frustrating when it happens like that, but when you lose out like that, to unprofessional driving, it makes it all the more difficult.”
Giovanardi wasn't the innocent party in the shenanigans that hit the final race having earlier run into the rear of Mat Jackson's Racing Silverline Chevrolet. Giovanardi picked up a reprimand and two penalty points on his licence for the incident.
Facepalm at Gio's comments. I assume this interview was conducted before he watched the TV replays?
I saw just a few minutes of the third race and in that time I gawped two or three times how 'The Imp' was visibly on TV carrying more corner speed than any of the National Level Normal Normans around him!
Even with his shattered, limping legs he is still as great a natural talent as Britain's has ever seen.
Herbert looked amazingly at home behind the wheel, especially considering the majority of his background is single seaters and the tin top racing has been speedcar and sportscar - all rear wheel drive cars.
I'm really hoping Johnny has a long term future in the BTCC. He is a fans favourite and would be highly attractive to sponsors and the series as a whole.
I really don't see what Gio has got to be unhappy about. Herbert's move at Dean Hairpin was very clean, then he simply tried moving Gio wide and they made slight contact. Gio's ovetake attempt at the very next corner was brash at the very least. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Gio comes from miles back and seeing the footage again I've noticed he even locks up a little and takes to the grass partially to make the corner. That said, it was awesome action.
I've seen Gio dish out a fair share of heavy-handed driving over the years, funny he don't like a taste of his own medicine.
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Crash.net wrote:Champion apologises for 'over-reaction'
Defending HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship title winner Fabrizio Giovanardi has apologised to Johnny Herbert for the criticism he leveled at the former F1 driver following the penultimate rounds of the season.
Giovanardi hit out at Herbert for 'unprofessional driving' following the Rockingham weekend, after contact between the pair in the final race damaged Giovanardi's Vectra and left him outside the points.
Coming at a crucial point in the season, the failure to score saw Giovanardi drop to 13 points behind Colin Turkington in the championship chase, but the Italian admitted that his criticism of Herbert had come in the heat of the moment.
“I wish I had not said this and I apologise for my over-reaction,” he told the official series website btcc.net. “It was straight after three races and it was hard a day because I'd lost points to Turkington. This made me really upset.
“At that moment I was fired up because he wasn't involved in the fight at the front, but I'm sure he is a good guy.”
It is the championship finale at Brands Hatch this weekend. I am looking forward to this.
Matt wrote:The 1981 Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix had a surprising winner, merely due to the fact that they're the only races in history to have been won by a World War 2 tank disguised as a Formula One car.
STCC was decided last weekend at Mantorp Park. Into the final heat of the year, Thed Björk led with 4 points over Tommy Rustad. But at the start of the final heat, Björk was involved in a start crash that took out all four of the works BMW cars. So Rustad just had to finish in 5th to take the championship. But it turned out not to be that easy. He was in 6th for a long time before passing Roger Eriksson's Seat with just a few laps to go. So Robert Dahlgren won the race, Tommy Rustad the drivers championship and Polestar Racing/Volvo the manufacturers championship. The first time since 1997 that Volvo wins, first time since 2002 a foreign driver wins. Rustad won his first STCC championship in 2000 with Nissan.
***Some say you should live each day like it was your last... but who wants to live each day in wild panic and extreme death anxiety?
The universe, look at the hugeness of it... it is a dizzying thought that little ol' me is the centre of it all!***