The idea of the new promoter (and manufactures too) was that if the races were on RAI Channel before the start of f1, there would have been better results in term of audience.
Round 5, 6 and 7 in Vallelunga, Magione and Pergusa were again without any tv coverage before that the final decision from court that assigned definitively the Sponsor Service as new promotors of Italian Superturismo.
Although in terms of audience there was a promising result, the tv coverage in 1998 was a complete disaster compared to the previous years.
The most penalised were the private drivers that never as in this year made a big effort to buy competitive cars.
The Super Pole used until 1997 with one single lap for top ten driver was replaced by 30 minutes of qualifying session.
Fabrizio Giovanardi after 5 years where he came always close to the title, finally won the championship, driving the new and immediately competitive Alfa Romeo 156; the Italian manufacturer won also the constructors' championship, while the rookie Fabian Peroni took the privateers' trophy driving an ex official Audi A4 Quattro.
The fight for the Championship was balanced between Giovanardi and Naspetti until round 6 in Magione where the 2 contenders were divided by just 1 point, but in the final part of the Giovanardi scored 6 victories in a row (Pergusa, Misano, Monza) that allowed him to become the new champion before of last round in Vallelunga.
Nicola Larini made his debut in Italian Supertouring after leaving the series at the of 1992 but due to his limited knowledge of the FWD he was not able to fight for the title although he helped his team mate against BMW and he won the challenge against De Simone for the third place in the final Standing.
Unfortunately Audi left officially the Supertouring (in BTCC, STW and Italy) at the end of the season to focus on Le Mans Program.