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Steve Soper

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Steve Soper
Soper driving a McLaren F1 GTR at Donington Park, England in 1997.
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1951-09-27) 27 September 1951 (age 73)
BTCC record
TeamsAustin Rover, TWR, Ford, BMW,
Peugeot Sport UK
Drivers'
championships		0
Wins14
Podium finishes–
Poles–
Fastest laps–
Debut season1982
First win1983 (Overall)
Best championship position2nd
Final season (2001) position6th (93 points)

Steven Soper (born 27 September 1951) is a British racing driver.

He raced in major sports car and touring car categories in the 1980s and 1990s. He was Japanese Touring Car Champion in 1995, and also won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1987, the 24 Hours of Spa in 1992 and 1995 and the Guia Race in 1997. He achieved many of his successes through his longest association, with BMW.

Career

[edit]

Across just over two decades Soper won three major races: the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1987, the 24 Hours of Spa in 1995 and the Guia Race in 1997.

Soper driving for BMW at Donington Park during the 1993 TOCA Shootout.

Soper had been successful in one make series, before making his British Saloon Car Championship debut in 1982 in an Austin Metro.[1] His talent was spotted by Tom Walkinshaw and he joined TWR in 1983. He won the championship in his first season with the works Austin Rover team but rival Frank Sytner protested the TWR team and his Rover Vitesse was later deemed illegal due to an issue with the engine installation. TWR was disqualified and the title was awarded to Andy Rouse.[2] He later joined Eggenberger Motorsport and finished as runner-up in the series in 1988 in a Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, enjoying many on-track battles with Andy Rouse in the process.[3]

Soper driving for Peugeot during the 2001 British Touring Car Championship season.

Soper challenged for the title in 1991, finishing 4th and in 1993, finishing as runner up behind teammate Joachim Winkelhock for BMW. Soper had led the championship for most of the season but a run of bad luck towards the end of the year damaged his title challenge. During the season finale of the 1992 championship, Soper was involved in the infamous collision with John Cleland, which cost Cleland the title and famously led him to label Soper 'an animal'.[4] 1995 saw Soper race in the Japanese Super Touring championship for Schnitzer BMW, winning the championship outright that year.

Soper raced in the German Super Tourenwagen Cup in 1996, challenging for the title until an incident late in the season with his team mate ended his championship chances. He finished second overall to Emanuele Pirro. In 1997 he came second in the FIA GT Championship. Soper finished fifth driving a Ford Sierra for Eggenberger Motorsport in the one-off World Touring Car Championship in 1987 run under Group A regulations. That year, he won the Bathurst 1000, but was later disqualified for a technical infringement[5] Soper was offered a works drive for BMW, and competed in the night European, Japanese and German Touring Car Championships.[6] During the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, he expressed dislike of the 24-hour classic race, established in the early 20th century.

By 2000, Soper fell out of favour with Gerhard Berger, who was in charge of BMW's motorsport operations and retired from racing as he was solely interested in racing BMWs and acquired a BMW dealership in Lincoln.[7] For 2001, he reluctantly made a surprise return to the British Touring Car Championship with Peugeot. The car's build rendered it less successful than the Vauxhall Astra. He finished 6th in a thin field and was advised to retire on medical grounds after a heavy crash in the final round.

In 2013, Soper, who had earned the nickname "Soperman" (with final syllable stress to sound like "superman") from his fans during his career, announced plans, on medical clearance, to race. [8]

In 2005, Soper was ranked as the greatest touring car driver ever by a panel of experts in Motor Sport Magazine.[9][10][11][12][13][14] In 2024, Autosport ranked him as the greatest BTCC driver to not have won the title.[15]

Racing record

[edit]

Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1973–1990 in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded ?–1989 in class)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 DC Pts Class
1982 Team Sanyo Racing with Esso Austin Metro 1300 HLS A SIL
? 		MAL
Ret† 		OUL
6† 		THR
12 		THR
Ret 		SIL
Ret 		DON
10 		BRH
? 		DON
9 		BRH
6 		SIL
14 		3rd 65 2nd
1983 Team Sanyo Racing with Esso Rover Vitesse A SIL
1 		OUL
3 		THR
7 		BRH
1 		THR SIL
1 		DON
Ret 		SIL
1 		DON
1 		BRH
2 		SIL
2 		DSQ 68 DSQ
1984 Team Sanyo Racing with Esso Rover Vitesse A DON
2 		SIL OUL THR THR
1 		SIL SNE BRH BRH DON SIL NC 0 NC
1985 Roger Dowson Engineering MG Metro Turbo B SIL
Ret 		OUL THR DON THR SIL DON SIL SNE BRH BRH SIL NC 0 NC
1988 Eggenberger Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 A SIL OUL
DNA 		THR
1 		DON THR SIL SIL BRH
2 		SNE BRH BIR
C 		DON
2 		SIL 15th 21 6th
1989 BMW Team Finance BMW M3 B OUL SIL THR DON
11‡ 		THR SIL SIL BRH SNE BRH BIR DON SIL 43rd 4 10th
1991 BMW Team Finance BMW M3 SIL
18 		SNE DON
1 		THR SIL BRH SIL
1 		DON
1
2 		DON
2
Ret 		OUL
3 		BRH
1
6 		BRH
2
Ret 		DON THR
1 		SIL 4th 96
1992 M Team Shell Racing with Listerine BMW 318is SIL THR
5 		OUL
8 		SNE BRH
3 		DON
1
17 		DON
2
3 		SIL KNO
1
4 		KNO
2
6 		PEM
2 		BRH
1
Ret 		BRH
2
5 		DON
2 		SIL
Ret 		6th 77
1993 BMW Motorsport Team BMW 318i SIL
1 		DON
3 		SNE
1 		DON
3 		OUL
Ret 		BRH
1
4 		BRH
2
1 		PEM
3 		SIL
Ret 		KNO
1
12 		KNO
2
8 		OUL
2 		BRH
3 		THR
6 		DON
1
Ret 		DON
2
5 		SIL
5 		2nd 150
1994 BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer BMW 318i THR
4 		BRH
1
10 		BRH
2
6 		SNE
8 		SIL
1 		SIL
2 		OUL
4 		DON
1 		DON
2 		BRH
1
4 		BRH
2
14 		SIL KNO
1
3 		KNO
2
1 		OUL BRH
1
5 		BRH
2
4 		SIL
1
22 		SIL
2
5 		DON
1
12 		DON
2
Ret 		7th 102
2001 Peugeot Sport UK Peugeot 406 Coupé T BRH
1
7† 		BRH
2
4* 		THR
1
Ret 		THR
2
Ret 		OUL
1
16 		OUL
2
Ret 		SIL
1
11 		SIL
2
6 		MON
1
4 		MON
2
Ret 		DON
1
6 		DON
2
5* 		KNO
1
Ret 		KNO
2
4* 		SNE
1
20 		SNE
2
4 		CRO
1
12 		CRO
2
Ret 		OUL
1
Ret 		OUL
2
Ret* 		SIL
1
20 		SIL
2
8 		DON
1
20 		DON
2
Ret 		BRH
1
Ret 		BRH
2
DNS 		6th 93
  1. ^ – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded.

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

‡ Endurance driver.

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

Source:[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points
1986 Switzerland Eggenberger Motorsport Ford Sierra XR4Ti MNZ
Ret 		DON
Ret 		HOC
3 		MIS
Ret 		AND BRN
Ret 		ZEL
Ret 		NUR
Ret 		SPA
7 		SIL
Ret 		NOG
4 		ZOL
11 		JAR
Ret 		EST
1 		30th 69
1987 Switzerland Ford Texaco Racing Team Ford Sierra RS Cosworth DON EST
2† 		AND ZOL
1† 		ZEL IMO NOG NC 0
1988 Switzerland Ford Texaco Racing Team Ford Sierra RS500 MNZ
1 		DON
Ret 		EST
1 		JAR
1 		DIJ
1 		VAL
Ret 		NUR
1 		SPA
4 		ZOL
Ret 		SIL
2 		NOG
1 		2nd 290

† Not eligible for points.

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1987 Switzerland Ford Texaco Racing Team Ford Sierra RS Cosworth MNZ
DSQ 		JAR
ovr:5
cls:6 		DIJ
ovr:3
cls:1 		NUR
Ret 		SPA
Ret 		5th 193
Ford Sierra RS500 BNO
ovr:2
cls:2 		SIL
ovr:13
cls:5 		BAT
DSQ 		CLD
ovr:1
cls:1 		WEL
ovr:3
cls:2 		FJI
ovr:5
cls:3

* Overall race position shown. Registered WTCC points paying position may differ.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Pts
1987 Ford Grab Motorsport Ford Sierra XR4Ti HOC ZOL NÜR AVU MFA NOR NÜR WUN DIE SAL
3 		27th 16
1988 Ford Ringhausen Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 ZOL
1 		ZOL
2 		HOC
1 		HOC
2 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		BRN
1 		BRN
2 		AVU
1 		AVU
2 		MFA
1 		MFA
2 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		NOR
1
Ret 		NOR
2
25 		WUN
1
2 		WUN
2
2 		SAL
1 		SAL
2 		HUN
1 		HUN
2 		HOC
1 		HOC
2 		24th 36
1989 BMW M Team Zakspeed BMW M3 Evo ZOL
1
3 		ZOL
2
18 		HOC
1
2 		HOC
2
Ret 		NÜR
1
1 		NÜR
2
1 		MFA
1
4 		MFA
2
4 		AVU
1
2 		AVU
2
4 		NÜR
1
5 		NÜR
2
6 		NOR
1
10 		NOR
2
Ret 		HOC
1
16 		HOC
2
Ret 		DIE
1
4 		DIE
2
13 		NÜR
1
5 		NÜR
2
2 		HOC
1
16 		HOC
2
22 		5th 233
1990 BMW M Team Bigazzi BMW M3 Sport Evo ZOL
1
2 		ZOL
2
Ret 		HOC
1
2 		HOC
2
Ret 		NÜR
1
1 		NÜR
2
1 		AVU
1
14 		AVU
2
8 		MFA
1
4 		MFA
2
2 		WUN
1
4 		WUN
2
8 		NÜR
1
3 		NÜR
2
Ret 		NOR
1
11 		NOR
2
10 		DIE
1
8 		DIE
2
20 		NÜR
1
10 		NÜR
2
2 		HOC
1
6 		HOC
2
8 		4th 152
1991 BMW M Team Bigazzi BMW M3 Sport Evo ZOL
1
5 		ZOL
2
15 		HOC
1
1 		HOC
2
1 		NÜR
1
Ret 		NÜR
2
16 		AVU
1
5 		AVU
2
4 		WUN
1
20 		WUN
2
6 		NOR
1
9 		NOR
2
4 		DIE
1
2 		DIE
2
1 		NÜR
1
5 		NÜR
2
14 		ALE
1
6 		ALE
2
16 		HOC
1
Ret 		HOC
2
29 		BRN
1
2 		BRN
2
1 		DON
1
2 		DON
2
2 		5th 133
1992 BMW M Team Bigazzi BMW M3 Sport Evo ZOL
1
4 		ZOL
2
13 		NÜR
1
Ret 		NÜR
2
7 		WUN
1
24 		WUN
2
Ret 		AVU
1
1 		AVU
2
9 		HOC
1
4 		HOC
2
5 		NÜR
1
6 		NÜR
2
8 		NOR
1
4 		NOR
2
1 		BRN
1
Ret 		BRN
2
Ret 		DIE
1
Ret 		DIE
2
7 		ALE
1
5 		ALE
2
7 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		HOC
1
NC 		HOC
2
Ret 		9th 109

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
1988 Australia Miedecke Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 BAT
Ret 		WEL
NC 		PUK
1† 		FUJ NC 0
1994 Germany BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 318i FUJ
1
Ret 		FUJ
2
7 		MAC
1
2 		MAC
2
2 		SEN
1
C 		SEN
2
C 		WEL
1
4 		WEL
2
Ret 		CLD
1
C 		CLD
2
C 		CHE
1
C 		CHE
2
C 		3rd ?

† Not eligible for points.

Complete Italian Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos. Pts
1990 Bigazzi M Team BMW M3 Sport Evolution A1 MNZ
1
2 		MNZ
2
4 		VAR
1 		VAR
2 		PER
2 		PER
1 		MAG
1 		MAG
2 		VAL
1 		VAL
2 		MIS
1 		MIS
2 		MIS
1 		MIS
2 		IMO
1
3 		IMO
2
2 		VAR
1 		VAR
2 		MNZ
1
Ret 		MNZ
2
6 		13th 58
1992 CiBiEmme Engineering BMW M3 Sport Evolution S1 MNZ
1
3 		MNZ
2
9 		MAG
1 		MAG
2 		MUG
1 		MUG
2 		BIN
1 		BIN
2 		VAL
1 		VAL
2 		IMO
1 		IMO
2 		MIS
1 		MIS
2 		PER
1 		PER
2 		VAR
1 		VAR
2 		MNZ
1 		MNZ
2 		16th 14
1996 Scuderia Bigazzi BMW 320i MUG
1 		MUG
2 		MAG
1 		MAG
2 		MNZ
1 		MNZ
2 		BIN
1 		BIN
2 		MIS
1 		MIS
2 		IMO
1 		IMO
2 		PER
1 		PER
2 		PER
1 		PER
2 		VAR
1 		VAR
2 		VAL
1
8 		VAL
2
2 		14th 18

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Pts
1994 BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 318i AUT
1
Ret 		AUT
2
7 		SUG
1
3 		SUG
2
1 		TOK
1
6 		TOK
2
9 		SUZ
1
2 		SUZ
2
2 		MIN
1
1 		MIN
2
1 		AID
1
9 		AID
2
3 		TSU
1
Ret 		TSU
2
DNS 		SEN
1
1 		SEN
2
1 		FUJ
1
Ret 		FUJ
2
7 		3rd 132
1995 BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 318i FUJ
1
10 		FUJ
2
5 		SUG
1
4 		SUG
2
4 		TOK
1
3 		TOK
2
3 		SUZ
1
2 		SUZ
2
1 		MIN
1
9 		MIN
2
2 		AID
1
3 		AID
2
9 		SEN
1
3 		SEN
2
1 		FUJ
1
1 		FUJ
2
2 		1st 124

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

[edit]

Source:[23]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Pts
1995 BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 318is ZOL
1 		ZOL
2 		SPA
1 		SPA
2 		ÖST
1 		ÖST
2 		HOC
1 		HOC
2 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		SAL
1
11 		SAL
2
7 		AVU
1
22 		AVU
2
20 		NÜR
1
3 		NÜR
2
4 		21st 90
1996 BMW Team Bigazzi BMW 320i ZOL
1
7 		ZOL
2
4 		ASS
1
1 		ASS
2
3 		HOC
1
6 		HOC
2
3 		SAC
1
5 		SAC
2
2 		WUN
1
1 		WUN
2
3 		ZWE
1
3 		ZWE
2
2 		SAL
1
1 		SAL
2
2 		AVU
1
Ret 		AVU
2
6 		NÜR
1
13 		NÜR
2
Ret 		2nd 491
1997 Isert BMW-Team BMW 320i HOC
1 		HOC
2 		ZOL
1 		ZOL
2 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		SAC
1 		SAC
2 		NOR
1 		NOR
2 		WUN
1 		WUN
2 		ZWE
1 		ZWE
2 		SAL
1 		SAL
2 		REG
1 		REG
2 		NÜR
1
16 		NÜR
2
12 		30th 23

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

[edit]
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1984 United Kingdom Mobil Rover Racing Australia Ron Dickson Rover Vitesse Group A 116 29th 8th
1987* Switzerland Ford Texaco Racing Team Belgium Pierre Dieudonné Ford Sierra RS500 1 161 DSQ DSQ
1988 Australia Miedecke Motorsport Australia Andrew Miedecke Ford Sierra RS500 A 102 DNF DNF
1993 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Tony Longhurst BMW M3 Evolution A 79 DNF DNF

* 1987 finished 1st on the road but later disqualified.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

[edit]
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1983 Japan Mazdaspeed United Kingdom Jeff Allam
United Kingdom James Weaver 		Mazda 717C C Jr. 267 18th 2nd
1996 Italy Team Bigazzi
Germany Team BMW Motorsport 		France Jacques Laffite
Belgium Marc Duez 		McLaren F1 GTR GT1 318 11th 9th
1997 Germany Team BMW Motorsport
Germany BMW Team Schnitzer 		Finland JJ Lehto
Brazil Nelson Piquet 		McLaren F1 GTR GT1 236 DNF DNF
1998 Germany Team BMW Motorsport Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck
Denmark Tom Kristensen 		BMW V12 LM LMP1 60 DNF DNF
1999 United Kingdom Price+Bscher Germany Thomas Bscher
United States Bill Auberlen 		BMW V12 LM LMP 345 5th 4th

Macau Grand Prix Guia Race results

[edit]
Year Team Car Class Heat 1 Heat 2 Pos.
1993 Germany Watson’s Team Schnitzer BMW 318i FIA Class 2 - - DNF
1994 Germany San Miguel Team Schnitzer BMW 318is FIA Class 2 2nd 2nd 2nd
1995 Germany BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 318is FIA Class 2 5th 2nd 2nd
1996 Italy BMW Team Bigazzi BMW 320i FIA Class 2 DNF 1st 12th
1997 Italy BMW Team Bigazzi BMW 320i FIA Class 2 1st 1st 1st
1998 Germany BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 320i FIA Class 2 1st 1st 1st
2001 United Kingdom WK Longman Racing Peugeot 306 Super Production 3rd DNF -

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Steve Soper". historicracing.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993.
  3. ^ "Up Close and Personal with A 'group A' Great". 20 July 2012.
  4. ^ Taylor, Simon (February 2014). "Lunch With... Steve Soper". Motorsport.
  5. ^ Dowling, Joshua (18 May 2010). "Niedzwiedz: 'sorry' for cheating Bathurst 1987".
  6. ^ "BMW Motorsport : DTM : DTM History". www.bmw-motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Exclusive Interview with Steve Soper". BTCCCrazy. 17 December 2010.
  8. ^ "BTCC legend to return to track". 22 May 2013.
  9. ^ Davies, Steve (22 May 2013). "Touring car legend Steve Soper returns to racing". Transmission. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Top 20 tin-top drivers". Motor Sport Magazine. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Motor Sport Magazine February 2005 – Page 46".
  12. ^ "Motor Sport Magazine February 2005 – Page 47".
  13. ^ "Motor Sport Magazine February 2005 – Page 48".
  14. ^ "Motor Sport Magazine February 2005 – Page 49".
  15. ^ "Top 10: Ranking the greatest BTCC drivers not to be champion". www.autosport.com. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  16. ^ "1985 European Touring Car Championship: Round 7". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  17. ^ "1985 European Touring Car Championship: Round 9". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  18. ^ "1985 European Touring Car Championship: Round 14". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  19. ^ "1986 European Touring Car Championship final standings". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  20. ^ "1987 European Touring Car Championship: Round 2". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  21. ^ "1987 European Touring Car Championship: Round 5". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  22. ^ "1988 European Touring Car Championship: Round 8". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  23. ^ "German Super Touring Car Championship 1994: Schedule and Standings". motorsport-archive.com. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Preceded by Japanese Touring Car Championship
Champion
1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Guia Race winner
1997 		Succeeded by
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