The 2008 British Touring Car Championship kicks off this weekend at Brands Hatch with last year's champion Fabrizio Giovanardi again favourite to win the title.

It's the 50th anniversary of the championship, so expect all the drivers to be on their best behavior with absolutely no repeat of the bumping, barging and arguing that characterised the 2007 season.

Hang on. That's not right. Expect even more bumping, barging and arguing: BTCC drivers are simply born that way...

Giovanardi is the clear favourite to take the title. He's won 12 of the 60 BTCC races he's entered and riding high after 2007 championship success.

Gio isn't your 'normal' BTCC racer - he rarely gets into messy scraps and doesn't make mistakes. He's also impossibly fast on occasions - often around 3/10ths per lap quicker than his team-mates driving identical cars. 3/10ths is vast in BTCC terms...

But this year Fabby Gio has two new Vauxhall team-mates: Matt Neal and Tom Onslow-Cole. Matt is a double BTCC champ and Tom a 20-year-old firebrand. Neal has taken the ballsy decision to move away from his family-run Team Dynamics squad to take on the best driver in the best car.

Jason Plato narrowly missed out on the BTCC title last year but returns in a new diesel-powered Seat Leon.

In testing, the derv-burners have set some strangely slow times leading to accusations of sand-bagging. Why? The TDi Leons have already won races in the World Touring Car Championship and it's generally accepted that the Seat's diesel motor is the most powerful out there.

If the cars clean up at Brands this weekend, expect some serious equalisation ballast on Plato and team-mate Turner's cars.

2005 and 2006 champs Team Halfords return with their Honda Civics and a revitalised former Vauxhall driver, Tom Chilton. Tom's been ultra quick in testing and with team-mate 'flash' Gordon Sheddon driving with increasing confidence, Dynamics could be an outside bet for overall BTCC spoils.

The rear-wheel-drive BMWs look ominously quick this year, with 26-year-old Mat Jackson in particular setting some scarily fast lap times. His car is Andy Priaulx's ex-WTCC winner, so there's little doubt his car's got the pace.

West Surry Racing also return with BMWs, with arguably the ballsiest driver in the BTCC (Colin Turkington) back behind the wheel of a 320si. With a consistent, intelligent approach to the race meetings, WSR could spring a surprise.

Of the others, watch out for the new Chevrolet Lacettis and the Eurotech Racing Honda Integra Type Rs. The Super 2000 rules have enabled more cars to enter the BTCC this year, with teams fielding everything from MGs to Alfa Romeos. There's even a pair of Lexus IS200s.

Let the carnage begin!

Nick Trott