Triple 8 Race Engineering

:"This article concerns Triple Eight Race Engineering's BTCC operation. For the V8 Supercar team, see Triple Eight Race Engineering (V8 Supercars)"Triple Eight Race Engineering was formed in 1996, primarily to design, build and race Vauxhalls on behalf of the General Motors (GM) brand in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). A close working alliance has developed during a decade of success and Triple Eight is now Vauxhall's technical partner for motorsport.

In 2001, Triple Eight undertook a development programme for the new Vauxhall Astra Coupé, building it to the latest British Touring Car regulations. The introduction resulted in unprecedented success that saw the team take the coveted Manufacturer, Driver and Team titles in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The newly established VX Racing brand and Triple Eight became the first BTCC team in history to win the 'treble' four times running.

The introduction of the Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch for the 2005 season saw the addition of a fifth consecutive Manufacturer title whilst Yvan Muller finished runner up in the driver championship. Triple Eight narrowly missed out on the Manufacturer crown for Vauxhall in 2006 with new drivers Fabrizio Giovanardi and Tom Chilton. The highlight of the 2006 season was Fabrizio recording Vauxhall's 100th BTCC victory at the Knockhill circuit in Scotland.

2007 saw the start of a new era for the BTCC as the series adopted the S2000 regulations as used in the World Touring Car Championship. The changes in regulations meant that the Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch was replaced by the Vauxhall Vectra. Despite limited development time, the new car provided almost instant success, winning twice at only its second race meeting. In a tense final day at Thruxton, Fabrizio secured the BTCC driver title whilst Triple Eight won Vauxhall their sixth Manufacturer championship in seven years.

2008 promises to be another exciting year, the team shall be continuing with the already hugely successful Vauxhall Vectra in a three car team assault on the 2008 championship. Fabrizio is entering his third season with the team and he will be joined by two new team mates; 2005 and 2006 BTCC champion Matt Neal and 2007 rookie sensation, twenty-year old Tom Onslow-Cole.

During 2003, Triple Eight expanded into the Australian V8 Supercar series forming Triple Eight Australia Pty. Already in their short history the team has secured the driver and team runner up spot in 2006 and 2007 championships. The greatest success in the teams short history is undoubtedly winning the coveted Bathurst 1000 kilometre race in both 2006 and 2007.

Triple Eight are also involved in several other forms of motorsport, ranging from the British Rally Championship to the Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup.

The customer division of Triple Eight is also growing. Triple Eight Performance Vehicles launched a limited edition Astra Sport Hatch turbo diesel, which followed on from the 2001 manufacture of 100 Special Edition road cars, in the form of the Astra Coupé 888 which was engineered to translate race-winning experience into phenomenal road car response. The T8 proved to be one of Vauxhall's fastest ever selling road vehicles.

External links

* [http://www.tripleeight.co.uk Triple 8 Race Engineering]
* [http://www.tripleeight.com.au TeamVodafone (Triple 8 RE Australia)]