Giovanardi still determined to win title

The 42-year-old Italian trails Colin Turkington by 13 points in the championship battle with 52 still up for grabs over the three races on the Kent circuit's Grand Prix layout.

Despite failing to score a point in the last of three races at Rockingham, and seeing the gap increase from a tiny five points beforehand, the Vauxhall driver still knows he has a great chance of landing the title.

"I still believe I can win the championship, I have to, I'm only here to win," said Giovanardi, who can become the first man since Andy Rouse in 1985 to win three straight crowns.

"The last race at Rockingham didn't go the way I wanted it to go and it's left us having to make up a lot of ground at Brands Hatch. Both Colin Turkington and Jason Plato [who is 15 points further back in the title race] are my biggest rivals now.

"Colin is the biggest competitor in terms of points, as he has 13 points over me, and with the rear wheel drive BMW, he'll definitely have the advantage off the line. Jason has the power and performance. The Chevrolet is quick and Jason has the experience of touring cars to be a real threat."

Giovanardi has not raced on the GP loop since tackling it in a Formula 3000 car in 1989, and he knows this will play against him during the early stages of the weekend.

However, he believes the Vectra will provide a strong package through the circuit's long, sweeping corners, with high-speed stability one of the car's major strengths.

"The strategy for the weekend will be to just take each race as it comes. The practice sessions will be very important as I've only driven the GP circuit about 20 years ago and I'm sure many of the other drivers have more experience than me.

"The weather could also be a big factor, although ideally I'd like it to rain as our car works well in these conditions. I have no influence on that though, it will be whatever it will be!"