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Steve Soper

British racing driver (born 1951)

Field	Value
name	Steve Soper
image	Fina McLaren F1 GTR.jpg
caption	Soper driving a McLaren F1 GTR at Donington Park in 1997
nationality	GBR British
birth_date
birth_place	Greenford, London, England
last_series	British Saloon / Touring Car Championship
years_active	1982–1985, 1988–1989, 1991–1994, 2001
teams	Hepolite Glacier Racing
Team Sanyo Racing with Esso
Roger Dowson Engineering
Eggenberger Motorsport
BMW Team Finance
M Team Shell Racing with Listerine
BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer
Peugeot Sport UK
starts	106
wins	14 (5 in class)
poles	14 (2 in class)
fastest_laps	13 (5 in class)
best_finish	2nd
year	1993
titles	Japanese Touring Car Championship
title_years	1995

Team Sanyo Racing with Esso Roger Dowson Engineering Eggenberger Motorsport BMW Team Finance M Team Shell Racing with Listerine BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer Peugeot Sport UK

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, and is widely regarded as one of the best Touring car racers of all time.

Career

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.

One-Make Racing

Soper was successful in one make series, notably winning the inaugural MG Metro Challenge in 1981.

Touring Car Racing

Soper made his British Saloon Car Championship debut in 1982 in an Austin Metro. 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. 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.

Soper challenged for the title in 1991, finishing fourth 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'. 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 Soper was offered a works drive for BMW, and competed in the night European, Japanese and German Touring Car Championships. 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. 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.

In 2005, Soper was ranked as the greatest touring car driver ever by a panel of experts in Motor Sport Magazine. In 2024, Autosport ranked him as the greatest BTCC driver to not have won the title.

Racing record

Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1973–1990 in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded ?–1989 in class) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	13	14	15
with Listerine	nowrap	BMW 318is	6th	77	nowrap	BMW Motorsport Team	nowrap	BMW 318i	nowrap	BMW Motorsport
Team Schnitzer	nowrap	BMW 318i	7th	102	nowrap	Peugeot Sport UK	nowrap	Peugeot 406 Coupé	T	Touring}}	6th	93
1982	SIL
ovr:?
cls:3	MAL
Ret†	OUL
ovr:6†
cls:2†	THR
ovr:12
cls:1	THR
Ret	SIL
Ret	DON
ovr:10
cls:1	BRH
ovr:17
cls:2	DON
ovr:9
cls:1	BRH
ovr:6
cls:1	SIL
ovr:14
cls:1													3rd	65	2nd
1983	SIL
ovr:1
cls:1	OUL
ovr:3
cls:3	THR
ovr:7
cls:5	BRH
ovr:1
cls:1	THR	SIL
ovr:1
cls:1	DON
Ret	SIL
ovr:1
cls:1	DON
ovr:1
cls:1	BRH
ovr:2
cls:2	SIL
ovr:2
cls:2													DSQ	68	DSQ
1984	DON
ovr:2
cls:2	SIL	OUL	THR	THR
ovr:1
cls:1	SIL	SNE	BRH	BRH	DON	SIL
1985	SIL
Ret	OUL	THR	DON	THR	SIL	DON	SIL	SNE	BRH	BRH	SIL
1988	SIL	OUL
DNA	THR
ovr:1
cls:1	DON	THR	SIL	SIL	BRH
ovr:2
cls:2	SNE	BRH	BIR
C	DON
ovr:2
cls:2	SIL
1989	OUL	SIL	THR	DON
ovr:11‡
cls:4‡	THR	SIL	SIL	BRH	SNE	BRH	BIR	DON	SIL
1991	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
1992	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
1993	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	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
2001	BRH
1
7†	BRH
2
ovr:4*
cls:4	THR
1
Ret	THR
2
Ret	OUL
1
ovr:16
cls:5	OUL
2
Ret	SIL
1
ovr:11
cls:6	SIL
2
ovr:6
cls:6	MON
1
ovr:4
cls:3	MON
2
Ret	DON
1
ovr:6
cls:6	DON
2
ovr:5*
cls:5	KNO
1
Ret	KNO
2
ovr:4*
cls:4	SNE
1
ovr:20
cls:5	SNE
2
ovr:4
cls:4	CRO
1
ovr:12
cls:5	CRO
2
Ret	OUL
1
Ret	OUL
2
Ret*	SIL
1
ovr:20
cls:10	SIL
2
ovr:8
cls:8	DON
1
ovr:20
cls:9	DON
2
Ret	BRH
1
Ret	BRH
2
DNS

– 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

Source:

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3
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
DON	EST
2†	AND	ZOL
1†	ZEL	IMO	NOG
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

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

Year	Team	3
MNZ
DSQ	JAR
ovr:5
cls:6	DIJ
ovr:3
cls:1	NUR
Ret	SPA
Ret
		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

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1987	HOC	ZOL	NÜR	AVU	MFA	NOR	NÜR	WUN	DIE	SAL
3
1988	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
1989	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
1990	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
1991	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
1992	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

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

(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	nowrap	AUS Miedecke Motorsport	nowrap	Ford Sierra RS500	NC	0	1994	nowrap	GER BMW Team Schnitzer	nowrap	BMW 318i	3rd	?
BAT
Ret	WEL
NC	PUK
1†	FUJ
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

† Not eligible for points.

Complete Italian Touring Car Championship results

(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	nowrap	Bigazzi M Team	nowrap	BMW M3 Sport Evolution	A1	13th	58	nowrap	CiBiEmme Engineering	nowrap	BMW M3 Sport Evolution	S1	16th	14	nowrap	Scuderia Bigazzi	nowrap	BMW 320i	14th	18
1990	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
1992	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
1996	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

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2
1994	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	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

Source:

(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	nowrap	BMW Team Schnitzer	nowrap	BMW 318is	21st	90	nowrap	BMW Team Bigazzi	nowrap	BMW 320i	2nd	491	nowrap	Isert BMW-Team	nowrap	BMW 320i	30th	23
1995	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
1996	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
1997	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

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

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

1987 finished 1st on the road but later disqualified.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps
Pos.	1983	1996	1997	1998	1999
JPN Mazdaspeed	GBR Jeff Allam
GBR James Weaver	Mazda 717C	C Jr.	267	18th	2nd
ITA Team Bigazzi
DEU Team BMW Motorsport	FRA Jacques Laffite
BEL Marc Duez	McLaren F1 GTR	GT1	318	11th	9th
DEU Team BMW Motorsport
DEU BMW Team Schnitzer	FIN JJ Lehto
BRA Nelson Piquet	McLaren F1 GTR	GT1	236	DNF	DNF
DEU Team BMW Motorsport	DEU Hans-Joachim Stuck
DEN Tom Kristensen	BMW V12 LM	LMP1	60	DNF	DNF
GBR Price+Bscher	DEU Thomas Bscher
USA Bill Auberlen	BMW V12 LM	LMP	345	5th	4th

Macau Grand Prix Guia Race results

Year	Team	Car	Class	Heat 1	Heat 2
DEU Watson’s Team Schnitzer	BMW 318i	FIA Class 2	-	-	DNF
DEU San Miguel Team Schnitzer	BMW 318is	FIA Class 2	2nd	2nd	2nd
DEU BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW 318is	FIA Class 2	5th	2nd	2nd
ITA BMW Team Bigazzi	BMW 320i	FIA Class 2	DNF	1st	12th
ITA BMW Team Bigazzi	BMW 320i	FIA Class 2	1st	1st	1st
DEU BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW 320i	FIA Class 2	1st	1st	1st
GBR WK Longman Racing	Peugeot 306	Super Production	3rd	DNF	-

References

(2020-11-25). "ktelMow".
(7 July 2014). "Saloons".
"Steve Soper". historicracing.com.
"Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993.
(20 July 2012). "Up Close and Personal with A 'group A' Great".
Taylor, Simon. (February 2014). "Lunch With... Steve Soper". Motorsport.
Dowling, Joshua. "Niedzwiedz: 'sorry' for cheating Bathurst 1987".
"BMW Motorsport : DTM : DTM History".
(17 December 2010). "Exclusive Interview with Steve Soper". BTCCCrazy.
(22 May 2013). "BTCC legend to return to track".
Davies, Steve. (22 May 2013). "Touring car legend Steve Soper returns to racing". Transmission.
(2016-04-04). "Top 20 tin-top drivers".
"''Motor Sport Magazine'' February 2005 – Page 46".
"''Motor Sport Magazine'' February 2005 – Page 47".
"''Motor Sport Magazine'' February 2005 – Page 48".
"''Motor Sport Magazine'' February 2005 – Page 49".
(2024-02-12). "Top 10: Ranking the greatest BTCC drivers not to be champion".
"British Saloon Car Championship".
"1985 European Touring Car Championship: Round 7". touringcarracing.net.
"1985 European Touring Car Championship: Round 9". touringcarracing.net.
"1985 European Touring Car Championship: Round 14". touringcarracing.net.
"1986 European Touring Car Championship final standings". touringcarracing.net.
"1987 European Touring Car Championship: Round 2". touringcarracing.net.
"1987 European Touring Car Championship: Round 5". touringcarracing.net.
"1988 European Touring Car Championship: Round 8". touringcarracing.net.
"German Super Touring Car Championship 1994: Schedule and Standings". motorsport-archive.com.

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