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Steve Soper is a racing driver from Surrey, England, born in 1951. He raced in major sports car and touring car categories in the 1980s and 1990s. He won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1987, the 24 Hours of Spa in 1995 and the Guia Race in 1997 – many of which through his longest association, with BMW. ==Achievements== 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. In 1983 he won the British Touring Car Championship before his Rover was deemed illegal due to an issue with the engine installation. He finished as runner-up in the series in 1988 in a Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, and in 1993 behind teammate Joachim Winkelhock for BMW. In 1997 he came second in the FIA GT Championship. fifth driving a Ford Sierra for Eggenberger Motorsport in the one-off World Touring Car Championship in 1987 run under Group A regulations. He 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.〔http://www.btcccrazy.co.uk/2010/12/17/btcccrazy-exclusive-interview-with-steve-soper/〕 For 2001, he reluctantly, made a surprise return to the British Championship for 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. 〔http://www.crash.net/btcc/news/191468/1/btcc_legend_to_return_to_track.html〕 Soper was voted the greatest saloon car driver ever by readers of ''Motor Sport.''〔http://www.stevesoper.co.uk/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Steve Soper」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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