British Touring Car Championship

Gabrielle Tarquini who won the championship in 1994

This was the reason I bought my 155 after seeing them in action in the British Touring Car Championship in 1994 at the hands of Gabrielle Tarquini and Giampero Simoni. They arrived in the championship with considerable backing and brought a new level of professionalism to the championship, whiche arned Alfa Corse the title of champions that year. Unfortunately the opposition caught up in 1995 and Alfa withdrew after that season.

Alfa Romeo hold the prize for the shortest entry span within the BTCC, at only two years. During that time, however, the team certainly stamped it's authority on the championship. From the very first race of the 1994 season the 155 under the guidance of both Tarquini and Simoni stayed firmly in front. That first season wasn't all plain sailing for Alfa, however. Over £6m had been spent in the close season on developing the 155 for the BTCC. The car was a special edition of the 155 model named the 'Silverstone' and sported front air dam and rear boot spoiler, not regular features on cars in the BTCC at the time. Alfa ran the race cars with the rear spoiler in the extended position. Several complaints, and protests, were lodged during the '94 season and finally upheld . Just prior to the Oulton Park meeting Alfa were told to run the cars without the aerodynamic setups fitted. Alfa refused and left the circuit in protest. Eventually matters were resolved and Alfa re-instated after agreeing to run with the spoilers lowered, but having lost out on any points at Oulton Park. Tarquini was also involved in a horrific crash at Knockhill a few months later, fortunately not suffering any injury. Despite these setbacks the Alfa team took 9 outright race wins (Tarquini 8, Simoni 1) and numerous podium finishes as they won the championship at the first time of asking. The 155 won the first five races of the season and was the dominant car throughout the 1994 championship. It was all change for the 1995 season, Alfa Romeo handed over the running of the cars to Prodrive and Tarquini departed, to be replaced by F1 driver Derek Warwick. It wasn't a happy season with some poor results for the team. In an effort to revive the fortunes of the previous year Gabriele Tarquini was invited back as the third driver but things did not improve. Un-reliability and a series of racing incidents saw the cars usually retiring early. Alfa failed to score a single win all season, the team didn't even figure in the top five of the manufacturers championship final placings. It was all a rather ignominious end compared to the glory of the previous season.

Henry Yorke