Triple Eight Racing: From Vauxhall Champions to MG Manufacturers' Title Winners

Triple Eight Racing, known also as 888 Racing, began life in 1996 under the Triple Eight Race Engineering name. Its results in the British Touring Car Championship and British GT made it one of the notable British squads of its era, and for much of that time it was Vauxhall's technical partner in motorsport. The team folded in November 2018.

Derek Warwick, Roland Dane and Ian Harrison set the operation up at the close of 1996. The original aim was to build and race Vauxhalls for General Motors in the BTCC, and that work produced a long run of drivers' and manufacturers' honours. Before the 2015 season the team dropped the Race Engineering part of its name for a single brand across all its programmes.

How did Triple Eight start out in the BTCC?

The team arrived in the BTCC in 1997 with Vectras for John Cleland and Derek Warwick. The cars struggled, because their aerodynamics had been set up for fast French, German and Italian circuits. Cleland and Warwick finished 12th and 14th, and the squad was eighth in the teams' table.

The 1998 season was far better. The FIA Touring Car Bureau allowed Vauxhall to homologate an aero package different from Opel's, and the team reworked its set-up. Cleland won at Donington Park in round five, the squad's first victory, and repeated the feat there at round 12 in a race many regard as one of the finest the series has produced. Warwick took his first win at Knockhill, and the team finished fifth among the manufacturers.

A team that began as a works-backed Vauxhall operation, won the BTCC with three different cars and left a record of six drivers' titles.

What happened when Yvan Muller arrived in 1999?

In 1999 Warwick stepped back from full-time driving to focus on management, and Yvan Muller came across from Audi. Muller won once that year, at Brands Hatch, and finished sixth overall. Ludo Lacroix also joined the squad that season, and the Vectra was altered in several areas.

Cleland had a tougher year and finished 13th before retiring after eleven seasons with Vauxhall. His two marque championships came in 1989 and 1995. The year 2000 marked the close of the Supertouring era, when several manufacturers left the series. Triple Eight ran three cars that year with Muller, Jason Plato and Vincent Radermecker. Ford dominated the season, with Alain Menu, Anthony Reid and Rickard Rydell filling the top three places in the drivers' standings, while Muller and Plato finished fourth and fifth. Triple Eight finished second and third in the team and manufacturer awards.

How did the Astra Coupe bring titles in 2001 to 2004?

The 2001 regulations were designed to cut costs. Vauxhall switched from the Vectra to the Astra Coupe, and Muller and Plato stayed on. Plato won the 2001 title after Muller's car suffered an oil leak and fire at Clearways, and the team took the teams' and manufacturers' awards.

James Thompson replaced Plato in 2002, moving up from the egg:sport team, and he won the championship ahead of Muller and Matt Neal. Muller took the 2003 title, and Thompson beat him by a single point in 2004, the Astra Coupe's final season. The car was consistent enough to be remembered as one of the most successful ever to race in the BTCC.

What was egg:sport, and how did it fit in?

From 2001 the team also ran a second outfit, egg:sport, in Astra Coupes alongside Vauxhall Motorsport. James Thompson won four races that year and Phil Bennett three, and the pair finished third and fourth in the championship. In 2002 Matt Neal and Paul O'Neill took over the seats, and Neal won three races to finish third.

What did the Astra Sport Hatch and Vectra years look like?

The Astra Sport Hatch replaced the Coupe in 2005 and faced tougher rivals, notably the Honda Integra Type R of Team Halfords. Matt Neal and Dan Eaves took the title in the Honda, while Muller finished second with six race wins. Neal completed all 30 races without a retirement.

Thompson left for the WTCC, and Colin Turkington came in from West Surrey Racing. In 2006 Holiday Inn backed VX Racing, Muller left for Seat and Fabrizio Giovanardi arrived from the WTCC, while Tom Chilton replaced Turkington. Giovanardi scored Vauxhall's 100th BTCC race win, but the season was disappointing overall.

The 2007 move to S2000 specification brought the Vectra back. Giovanardi won 10 races and the title ahead of Jason Plato, while Chilton finished ninth without a win. Alain Menu, a former champion, was brought in as a third driver for Vauxhall. In 2008 Giovanardi retained the crown, and the team topped the manufacturers' and teams' awards. In 2009 Vauxhall was the only manufacturer still backing a team, but it pulled out of the sport amid the economic crisis.

How did the team survive the Vauxhall exit?

Without factory support from Vauxhall, the team entered 2010 as an independent with two Vectras, appearing on the official entry list on 23 March. Phil Glew and Fabrizio Giovanardi were signed, and Giovanardi won twice at Thruxton. Sponsor trouble then changed the plans.

Uniq withdrew before Rockingham, and both drivers left. James Nash was hired for the rest of the season, and his third at Oulton Park was the best result after Giovanardi's Thruxton wins.

For 2011 Nash became the full-time driver of a Vectra fitted with the new NGTC turbo engine, with Collins Contractors as main sponsor. He won at Rockingham in round eight and went on to take the Independents Trophy, and the team finished third in the outright teams' championship.

Why did the MG years matter?

In 2012 the team returned to the manufacturer ranks with MG, using MG6 GT cars built to the Next Generation Touring Car specification. Jason Plato came from Chevrolet, and Andy Neate joined from Team Aon. The move ruled the team out of defending its Independent honours.

In 2013 Plato stayed on, Neate made way for Sam Tordoff, a Porsche Carrera Cup winner, and the pair scored more top-spot finishes. The team was runner-up to Honda Yuasa Racing in both the teams' and manufacturers' championships.

The MG KX Momentum Racing car debuted at Brands Hatch with a third in race two and Plato's maiden win in race three. Plato added a second win at Croft before the break and four more later in the year, finishing third in the drivers' standings, while MG finished second among the manufacturers.

In 2014 the team fielded MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save and a third car, Quantel BiFold Racing, run for Marc Hynes. Plato won five more races and finished runner-up. The Plato and Sam Tordoff pairing helped MG win its first Manufacturers Championship, ninety-five points clear of Honda, the first title the team had won since leaving Vauxhall.

What ended the BTCC chapter in 2016 and 2017?

The 2016 season was meant to start a three-year deal with MG. Warren Scott, however, took control of the squad between seasons, alongside his Team BMR operation. Josh Cook and Ashley Sutton finished 12th and 13th, and Sutton won race three at Croft.

Andrew Jordan, the 2013 BTCC champion, had joined from Eurotech Racing for 2015. Sutton's Croft win proved to be the last BTCC race victory the squad would take. The team left the series after 2017, folded on 13 November 2018, and Scott's second outfit, Team BMR, lasted one more year before financial problems ended it.

What did the team achieve in British GT?

The team made its sports car debut in the 2013 British GT season with two BMW Z4 GT3s, run in partnership with Optimum Motorsport as 888Optimum. The cars won several podiums and two poles, at Brands Hatch and Donington Park.

In 2014 the team finished seventh in the teams' championship, and Derek Johnston was its best driver in 14th. Blancpain outings followed: Jody Firth and Warren Hughes, joined by Alexander Sims, finished ninth in the 1000 km race at the Nurburgring, two laps behind the winner. A single Formula Renault BARC car also ran in 2010, with Sazlan Sirajudin finishing 16th.

Did Triple Eight race at Bathurst?

Yes, twice in the late nineties. In 1997 the team entered two Vectras, one for John Cleland and James Thompson and one for Derek Warwick and Peter Brock. The following year Cleland and Warwick shared a car, while Russell Ingall and Greg Murphy drove the second entry.

Those appearances were a sideline to the BTCC programme, which was where the team's reputation was built. The Bathurst entries gave the squad experience of the Mount Panorama circuit, and they sat alongside the team's work in Britain at a time when its Vauxhall partnership was at its strongest.

What is the team's legacy today?

The team's record is strong. It is credited with six BTCC drivers' champions and eight manufacturers' titles across its Vauxhall and MG years. Its Supercars arm, Triple Eight Race Engineering, bought Briggs Motor Sport in September 2003 and is now under separate ownership, although Ian Harrison remains a minority shareholder.

The Vauxhall Astra Coupe 888 road car also carried the name, a limited edition built to turn race-winning experience into road car performance. It became one of Vauxhall's fastest-selling road vehicles.

What are the team's key milestones?