ROAL Motorsport
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
auto racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
team, which operated the BMW Team Italy-Spain team in the World Touring Car Championship
World Touring Car Championship
For the video game, known as World Touring Car Championship in Japan, see TOCA World Touring CarsThe FIA World Touring Car Championship is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA.-History:...
. It was founded in 2001 by 1987 World Touring Car champion
1987 World Touring Car Championship season
The 1987 World Touring Car Championship season was the inaugural World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on March 22, 1987 and ended on November 15 after eleven races. The championship was open to Touring Cars complying with FIA Group A regulations.-Drivers and teams:Fifteen registered...
Roberto Ravaglia
Roberto Ravaglia
Roberto Ravaglia is a former auto racing driver, who currently runs ROAL Motorsport, who operate the BMW Team Italy-Spain operation in the World Touring Car Championship...
and Aldo Preo (Roberto + Aldo = ROAL).
Ravaglia Motorsport began competing in the Superproduction class of the European Super Touring Championship
European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...
in 2001 as BMW Team Germany with Peter Kox
Peter Kox
Peter Kox is a racecar driver from the NetherlandsKox began racing in karts in 1978, winning five titles until 1982. In 1983 he moved to automobiles, winning the Marlboro Formula Ford Challenge and was second and third in the Benelux and Dutch Formula Ford 2000 Championships, respectively, the...
and Norman Simon as drivers, with Kox winning the class.
In 2002 they competed in the European Touring Car Championship
European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...
(ETCC) as BMW Team Spain with Jordi Gené
Jordi Gené
Jordi Gené Guerrero is a racing driver, who competed in the WTCC driving for SR-Sport in the 2010 WTCC season...
and Fabrizio de Simone as drivers. In 2003 they became BMW Team Italy-Spain and had Antonio García and Fabrizio Giovanardi
Fabrizio Giovanardi
Fabrizio Giovanardi is an Italian racing driver. During his career he has won eight touring car titles, including European and British crowns...
as drivers, with Alex Zanardi
Alex Zanardi
Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi is an Italian racing driver and paracyclist.He won two CART championship titles in North America during the late 1990s. He also had a less successful career as a Formula One driver...
driving a third car at the season finale in Monza
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a race track located near the town of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. The circuit's biggest event is the Formula One Italian Grand Prix, which has been hosted there since the sport's inception....
, using special controls following his serious accident in 2001 in which he lost both his legs. Zanardi replaced Giovanardi full-time in 2004.
In 2005 the ETCC became the World Touring Car Championship
World Touring Car Championship
For the video game, known as World Touring Car Championship in Japan, see TOCA World Touring CarsThe FIA World Touring Car Championship is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA.-History:...
(WTCC) and Ravaglia Motorsport changed their name to ROAL Motorsport. Zanardi also won the Italian Superturismo Championship
Italian Superturismo Championship
The Italian Superturismo Championship was Italy's national motorsport series for touring cars. It was established in 1987 and its drivers' title has been held by such notable drivers as Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro and two-time Champ Car champion Alex Zanardi.-History:Established in 1987 the...
in 2005 for the team, and finished third in the first edition of the European Touring Car Cup
European Touring Car Cup
The FIA European Touring Car Cup is an annual touring car racing event, which has been held at various locations across Europe since 2005. Unlike in previous years where it was a one-off event, for 2010 the series is a three round event.-History:...
.
Garcia left the team at the end of 2005 to pursue a career in sports car racing
Sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
, and was replaced by fellow Spaniard Marcel Costa
Marcel Costa
Marcel Costa is a Spanish auto racing driver.-Career:Costa was the 2002 Spanish Formula Three Champion, yet after a season in the Spanish GT Series, where he was a class champion, Costa spent 2004 and 2005 in the motor racing wilderness, with just a win in the Barcelona 24 Hours to his credit...
. Costa was disappointing though and was replaced by Duncan Huisman
Duncan Huisman
Duncan Huisman is a Dutch auto racing driver. He won the Guia Race four times. As well as touring cars he has competed in the FIA GT Championship and the Porsche Supercup...
during the season. The team gave GP2 Series
GP2 Series
The GP2 Series, GP2 for short, is a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1...
racer Félix Porteiro
Felix Porteiro
Félix Porteiro is a Spanish racing driver.-Single-seaters:In 2001 Porteiro drove in the Spanish Formula Three Championship, finishing fourth in the standings, with one win. In 2002 he began racing in the World Series by Nissan. He finished 18th in the standings in 2002, 14th in 2003 and seventh in...
a drive in the ETC Cup and he impressed enough to get a drive in the WTCC for 2007.
In 2008, ROAL Motorsport began development of a competition M3 E90
BMW M3
The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M. M3 models have been derived from the E30, E36, E46 and E90/E92/E93 3-series, and sold with coupé, sedan and convertible body styles...
for the Superstars Series, with Luca Rangoni
Luca Rangoni
Luca Rangoni is an Italian auto racing driver. He is a married man with one son.-Early career:Like many racing drivers, Rangoni's first taste of racing was in karts, where he spent four years. He made his debut in circuit racing in the 1989 Italian Formula Alfa Boxer Championship, where he...
as driver. For 2009, Porteiro was replaced by 2008 Independent's champion Sergio Hernández
Sergio Hernandez
Sergio Hernández von Reckowski is a Spanish racing driver, currently competing in the World Touring Car Championship.-Career:...
in the team, while in the Superstars Series, Rangoni was replaced by reigning Champion Gianni Morbidelli
Gianni Morbidelli
Gianni Morbidelli is a racing driver from Italy. He is the son of Giancarlo Morbidelli, the founder of Morbidelli motorcycle company which had success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Morbidelli participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 11, 1990. He achieved one podium, and...
.
After leaving the WTCC
World Touring Car Championship
For the video game, known as World Touring Car Championship in Japan, see TOCA World Touring CarsThe FIA World Touring Car Championship is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA.-History:...
in 2010
2010 World Touring Car Championship season
The 2010 World Touring Car Championship season was the seventh season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the sixth since its 2005 return. It began with the Race of Brazil at Curitiba on March 7 and ended with the Guia Race of Macau at the Guia Circuit on November 21, after twenty-two...
, ROAL returned to WTCC in 2011 with Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
driver Tom Coronel
Tom Coronel
Tom Romeo Coronel is a Dutch auto racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr...
who last drove for BMW in the European Touring Car Championship
European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...
.