132 replies to this topic

[Kevan]

After the TWR Rover v BMW controversies of 1983/4, resulting in the withdrawal of the Rover and MG Metro teams midway through the '84 season, the BSCC/BTCC went through a difficult couple of years, sometimes with grids as low as a dozen or so cars, until a revival began with the appearance of numerous Sierra RS500s in 1988.

The other side of the coin in these few years, was that the series saw a lot of one-off and occasional entries, particularly at some of the higher-profile meetings, such as GP supports- these included older Group A cars that had been sidelined from the series in previous years, second cars from regular teams, moonlighting production saloons and one-make racers, adapted rallycars and the occasional visitor from overseas. A couple of these have already been mentioned in the recent RS500 thread, but does anyone know more about some of the others?

To kick off, I've found what looks like a fairly complete entry list for the 1985 Silverstone GP support
http://www.jameslong...rstone1985.html

Amongst the season-regulars, there are a few one-off appearances on this list. Andy Rouse fielded a second (BT Radiopaging-sponsored) Sierra for Klaus Niedzwiedz- (David Sears also had a run in this car late season at Brands) and Dave Brodie entered a second Starion- Jonathan Buncombe on the entry list, though I think Vern Schuppan actually drove the car on the day. Japanese Mitsubishi works driver Kunimitsu Takahashi also appeared in this one later in the year.

Series regular Dennis Leech only had a few outings that year in his familiar black Rover, and Brian Chatfield was an irregular visitor to the series, doing about half the rounds, using both the 635CSi listed here and a Capri. Finally, Tom Walkinshaw appeared in one of the European Bastos Rovers late season at Brands

In the 2500cc class, Mike Smith's prodsaloon Escort RS Turbo was an addition to the regular entry for the GP, as was Alan Minshaw's Demon Tweeks Golf. There were a few others- one of the 1984-season ex-Computervision Metro Turbos turned up at the season-opener for Steve Soper,
http://www.ten-tenth...mp;d=1178022136
and a couple of prodsaloon Escorts at the Brands European GP support (Smith, and who?).

Karl Jones in a Marshall-Asquith Escort RS1600i was a one-off in the 1600 class, and Barry Lee turned out for a couple of rounds in his example.

Can anyone come up with a few more, or have any background on these, or some of the lesser-known occasional entries in subsequent years- entry lists, pics, anything?

Edited by Kevan, 14 November 2009 - 13:00.

[Jesper O. Hansen]

Kaj Bornebusch raced at the first 1989 Silverstone BTCC event in an Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth - don't know if he raced at other dates. Having been non-racing 1969-1986 he bought a TWR-Rover Vitesse for the 1987 season, so no sooner than 1987, of which I have about 95% record.

Fellow Swede Nettan Lindgren raced on a part time basis through 1989 in her class B BMW M3. I think Prodrive raced three M3s during late 1988 to ensure the minimum four starters for maximum points, but can't remember who was acting as third-gunner - James Weawer?

Tony Lanfranchi acted in the same mannor during late 1989 for Vauxhall as a forth car. His Monorep sponsored Astra was his usual Production Saloon Car. By then lead driver John Cleland was a serious bed for the title, supported from the season start by rally driver Louise Aitken-Walker and mid-season by Jeremy Rositer. Louise started the year in a rally car set up to tarmac specifications. Dave Cook Racing built the original Cleland car and another during the season, while Louise Aitken-Walker raced a rally car with tarmac set-up. When all three Group A cars appeared at once, Jeremy Rositer was the third driver, which happened around mid-season, when the Volkswagen Golfs seemed to come apart and Mike Jordan ditched his Peugeot 309 GTI, which in it self is a candidate.

Rallycrosser Mark Rennison did the first five or six rounds of the 1989 season before running out of money with his Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth.

Jesper

Edited by Jesper O. Hansen, 14 November 2009 - 18:16.

[Tim Wilkinson]

Paul Harmer turned out in an Astra in '97 or '88 - was this a prodsaloon? 8v or 16v? I think there was a prodsaloon Honda of some sort at a Brands Hatch round one year (not the Ray Armes version that ran with a 1600 engine in the early days of 2l Supertouring).

Also, Maserati Biturbo.

[Leigh Trevail]

Also, Maserati Biturbo.

By any chance was the Biturbo painted orange and sponsored by Victoria Motor Company of Diss.

[rdmotorsport]

Kaj Bornebusch raced at the first 1989 Silverstone BTCC event in an Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth - don't know if he raced at other dates. Having been non-racing 1969-1986 he bought a TWR-Rover Vitesse for the 1987 season, so no sooner than 1987, of which I have about 95% record.

Fellow Swede Nettan Lindgren raced on a part time basis through 1989 in her class B BMW M3. I think Prodrive raced three M3s during late 1988 to ensure the minimum four starters for maximum points, but can't remember who was acting as third-gunner - James Weawer?

Tony Lanfranchi acted in the same mannor during late 1989 for Vauxhall as a forth car. His Monorep sponsored Astra was his usual Production Saloon Car. By then lead driver John Cleland was a serious bed for the title, supported from the season start by rally driver Louise Aitken-Walker and mid-season by Jeremy Rositer. Louise started the year in a rally car set up to tarmac specifications. Dave Cook Racing built the original Cleland car and another during the season, while Louise Aitken-Walker raced a rally car with tarmac set-up. When all three Group A cars appeared at once, Jeremy Rositer was the third driver, which happened around mid-season, when the Volkswagen Golfs seemed to come apart and Mike Jordan ditched his Peugeot 309 GTI, which in it self is a candidate.

Rallycrosser Mark Rennison did the first five or six rounds of the 1989 season before running out of money with his Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth.

I think Mr Bornebusch was actually Danish

Jesper

[Kevan]

Paul Harmer turned out in an Astra in '97 or '88 - was this a prodsaloon? 8v or 16v? I think there was a prodsaloon Honda of some sort at a Brands Hatch round one year (not the Ray Armes version that ran with a 1600 engine in the early days of 2l Supertouring).

Also, Maserati Biturbo.

Yes, a Honda Prelude prodsaloon at Brands in '88- Martin Wray I think. Ray Armes ran two Hondas in the BTCC- a very quick 1600 cc class Civic hatch in the second half of the '89 season (prepared by Graham Goode I think?) and then the 2-litre 4-door version in 1990- As you said,it ran a 1600 engine for most of the season because they had major issues with the intended engine, and was never close to being competitive. The 4-door was run by Trakstar- it can be seen lurking in the background of their awning behind Gravett's Sierra in the Brands paddock photo I posted in the RS500 thread

http://www.flickr.co...N00/4093179676/

I'd totally forgotten about Harmer- I think his Astra was an 8v prodsaloon- appeared several times in '87?

Edited by Kevan, 14 November 2009 - 19:46.

[FF1600 Heroes]

Nick May drove the Maserati along with John Lepp i believe?

[Kevan]

Kaj Bornebusch raced at the first 1989 Silverstone BTCC event in an Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth - don't know if he raced at other dates. Having been non-racing 1969-1986 he bought a TWR-Rover Vitesse for the 1987 season, so no sooner than 1987, of which I have about 95% record.

Fellow Swede Nettan Lindgren raced on a part time basis through 1989 in her class B BMW M3. I think Prodrive raced three M3s during late 1988 to ensure the minimum four starters for maximum points, but can't remember who was acting as third-gunner - James Weawer?

Tony Lanfranchi acted in the same mannor during late 1989 for Vauxhall as a forth car. His Monorep sponsored Astra was his usual Production Saloon Car. By then lead driver John Cleland was a serious bed for the title, supported from the season start by rally driver Louise Aitken-Walker and mid-season by Jeremy Rositer. Louise started the year in a rally car set up to tarmac specifications. Dave Cook Racing built the original Cleland car and another during the season, while Louise Aitken-Walker raced a rally car with tarmac set-up. When all three Group A cars appeared at once, Jeremy Rositer was the third driver, which happened around mid-season, when the Volkswagen Golfs seemed to come apart and Mike Jordan ditched his Peugeot 309 GTI, which in it self is a candidate.

Rallycrosser Mark Rennison did the first five or six rounds of the 1989 season before running out of money with his Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth.

Jesper

Thanks Jesper- I couldn't remember whether Bornebusch was 1988 or '89. Another of those cars that seemed to elude the photographers, I've only ever seen pics of his RS500 on ETCC duty.

Nettan was almost around enough to classify as a regular entry- although she only did a few races in '89, didn't she do most of the season in 1990. Will Hoy and Lionel Abbott both appeared as tail-gunner in the third M3 to support Sytner's championship bid- Weaver appeared in the 2-driver race, and replaced Smith for a race or two at the end of the season. Think it was after Smith's helicopter accident sidelined him?

Re the Astras, did Louise A-W get either the new race car, or Cleland's early season chassis once the new car was built, with the ex-rally car being passed on to Rossiter? As I remember the paintjob on the ex-rally car was different to the two 'proper' racers

Edited by Kevan, 14 November 2009 - 23:37.

[Kevan]

By any chance was the Biturbo painted orange and sponsored by Victoria Motor Company of Diss.

An Orangey-red and blue, with sponsorship from Campari in 1988, though I've got a feeling Victoria Motor Co were involved as well?. The car continued in '89 (though no more competitive....), but did the sponsors change?

http://www.flickr.co...N08/3999931831/

Nick May drove the Maserati along with John Lepp i believe?

Yes, May and Lepp both drove it. Tomas Mezera also had at least one run in it as well I think?



Changing the subject slightly from the Maserati, quite a few Renault 5GT Turbo Cup cars turned out on occasion between '86/7 as I remember, particularly at the GP supports. Roger Saunders was the most prolific (think his car was uprated to something closer to a proper Group A car in the end?- I know there's been a pic of it posted on here in the past), but who were the others?

Edited by Kevan, 15 November 2009 - 00:05.

[Kevan]

There's one particular instance that I think I remember, but I'm not sure whether I've got the detail right.

At the late-season Brands round in '86, in an attempt to boost the grid (some of the '86 races particularly struggled, with as few as 11/12 cars on occasion), some of the Brands Hatch Racing School Escorts appeared- I think driven by the instructors- as I remember, several well-known Formula Ford names of the period were involved?

Does anyone remember this, and did they run as part of the 1600 class, classified in the overall result, or did they run as a seperate 'Invitation' class

Talking of rarities, I'm sure this was also one of the couple of rounds that year which saw Peugeot UK field one of their Group A 205GTI rallycars for rally driver Mikael Sundstrom- this might have been the race where his rally skills came into their own in a wet race, bringing the little 1600cc Pug home in an overall podium position, behind Rouse's XR4Ti and one of the Rovers....

Edited by Kevan, 14 November 2009 - 20:06.

[bigears]

I would love to see photos of Stuart Donnan's RS500 at the 1990 Birmingham Superprix and most of the 1988 field at the same circuit as someone else mentioned it, seems like that it avoided the photographers very well!

[Kevan]

I would love to see photos of Stuart Donnan's RS500 at the 1990 Birmingham Superprix and most of the 1988 field at the same circuit as someone else mentioned it, seems like that it avoided the photographers very well!

So would I! That's another car that seemed to be rarely photographed, though there are a fewshots of it in it's later Thundersaloon career in the Thundersaloon thread

The 1988 Birmingham 'race that never was' of course saw another BTCC one-off- Tom Walkinshaw with the 1988 'TWR-spec' Holden. He eventually debuted the car at the TT(though I think the equivalent Australian version of the car had already appeared?)

[bigears]

The 1988 Birmingham 'race that never was' of course saw another BTCC one-off- Tom Walkinshaw with the 1988 'TWR-spec' Holden. He eventually debuted the car at the TT(though I think the equivalent Australian version of the car had already appeared?)

I will have a look in my photo collection tomorrow and see how I can contribute in this thread.

[Kevan]

An Orangey-red and blue, with sponsorship from Campari in 1988, though I've got a feeling Victoria Motor Co were involved as well?. The car continued in '89 (though no more competitive....), but did the sponsors change?

http://www.flickr.co...N08/3999931831/

Going back to the Maserati, found a better pic, taken in qualifying for the TT, and it shows the Victoria Motor Co sponsorship (5th pair of pics down)
http://homepage.mac....ilverstone.html

The TT pics also show a few more cars which made occasional BTCC apperances. Eggenberger sent one of the Texaco cars over for a few 1988 appearances with Steve Soper and Gianfranco Brancatelli, Jesper mentioned the Kaj Bornebusch car (r/h pic, 3rd row), the Nissan Skyline appeared at the Donington 1-hour race for Grice/Percy (next row down)
the TWR Commodore qualified at Birmingham as seen above, and John Maguire Racing entered a second FFB Electronics M3 alongside Godfrey Hall's car in a couple of late season races after the TT for David Sears (bottom left pic)

Edited by Kevan, 15 November 2009 - 00:02.

[Phil Rainford]

Changing the subject slightly from the Maserati, quite a few Renault 5GT Turbo Cup cars turned out on occasion between '86/7 as I remember, particularly at the GP supports. Roger Saunders was the most prolific (think his car was uprated to something closer to a proper Group A car in the end?- I know there's been a pic of it posted on here in the past), but who were the others?

Here is the Saunders R5GT at the GP Support Race 1987.....




....while from the same meeting Karl Jones's Escort



PAR

[bigears]

Found a little gem from the 1990 Birmingham Superprix:

Nick Baird's BMW 318i under the Techspeed/R&D Motorsport lurking behind Andy Rouse.



Credits to Peter Gillott.

Edited by bigears, 15 November 2009 - 18:09.

[Kevan]

Although the Techspeed/R&D 318iS was raced fairly regularly over two seasons, it definitely qualifies as a rare car in the BTCC- I'm pretty certain its the only 'non-M3' E30 3-series ever seen in the BTCC.

Although pre-M3 Group A 323 and 325i models were fairly common, and very competitive in the 2.5 litre class in Europe, surprisingly it's a car that was never taken up by a BTCC team.

The Techspeed car was driven by Whale and on occasion Robin Brundle (sharing respectively with Dave Carvell and Nigel Corry for the two 1-hour races) in 1990, then in a few 1991 races under the R&D Motorsport banner, for Angus MacKay and Alistair Lyall

Edited by Kevan, 15 November 2009 - 18:53.

[SteveG]

Found a little gem from the 1990 Birmingham Superprix:

Nick Baird's BMW 318i under the Techspeed/R&D Motorsport lurking behind Andy Rouse.



Credits to Peter Gillott.

I am wondering if that is my hand as I remember standing at that point chatting with Rouse as he had his window down!

[Jesper O. Hansen]

Kaj Bornebusch is Swedish. He's part of Hyllinge Motorsällskap, the club running Ring Knutstorp.

Jesper

[Kevan]

Here is the Saunders R5GT at the GP Support Race 1987.....

....while from the same meeting Karl Jones's Escort

PAR

Thanks Phil- Saunders was the most prolific Renault 5 Turbo campaigner in the BTCC, but there were quite a few others who turned out from time to time. I know Alex Postan was one (his car also did the '86 TT at Silverstone), but can anyone fill in the others?

The Karl Jones Escort only appeared a few times- he otherwise concentrated on his Prodsaloon season

[Jesper O. Hansen]

Thanks Phil- Saunders was the most prolific Renault 5 Turbo campaigner in the BTCC, but there were quite a few others who turned out from time to time. I know Alex Postan was one (his car also did the '86 TT at Silverstone), but can anyone fill in the others?

The Karl Jones Escort only appeared a few times- he otherwise concentrated on his Prodsaloon season

Checked up on my notes on the 1987 BTCC no less than five R5 GTs raced at the GP support meeting. Except for Roger Saunders, who won the class, David Grimshaw, Alex Postan, Niki Philips and Les German raced their Renaults as well. There might have been more, as I don't have complete results. German also did the following race at Brands Hatch, where he was joined by Paul Gottlieb. David Kay did a late season appearence too. There's also supposed to have been a non-starting 5 GT at the opening round, but no info about the driver. The same goes for a production saloon Mitsubishi Starion Turbo at the same event.

Jesper

[glyn parham]

Does the later version of the Mitsubishi Starion qualify?

If so, here is one I shot earlier

9 August 1990 at Brands Hatch with Mark Hales steering.

I know that Brodie raced one in 84-86 but I really don't know if this later version ran all that regularly.

Look forward to all the corrections

Glyn

[Gregor Marshall]

My late father made the odd one-off appearance after his "retirement" from Touring Cars in 1979, notably in a Group N Capri in '82, Toyota Corolla in '86 and '87 and an M3 in '89, all one off deals.

[Kevan]

Does the later version of the Mitsubishi Starion qualify?

If so, here is one I shot earlier

9 August 1990 at Brands Hatch with Mark Hales steering.

I know that Brodie raced one in 84-86 but I really don't know if this later version ran all that regularly.

Look forward to all the corrections

Glyn

Hales ran the full-season with the Starion, but it was the only one raced in non-turbo 2-litre form, and I'm pretty sure the only one raced as a touring car (in Europe at last- I think but won't swear that I've seen a pic of one raced in Japan or Australia?) with the later 'wide-arched' bodyshell,so definitely a rare car. It wasn't seen in the BTCC again after 1990 (replaced by a Lancer hatch and a Galant for 1991, neither being successful), but later became a Cosworth-engined Thundersaloon in Brian Chatfield's hands- there are several pics in the Thundersaloon thread

[Kevan]

My late father made the odd one-off appearance after his "retirement" from Touring Cars in 1979, notably in a Group N Capri in '82, Toyota Corolla in '86 and '87 and an M3 in '89, all one off deals.

Geoff Kimber-Smith's Corolla in '86/87 I think? I'm sure I remember you posting pics of it on Ten-Tenths

I don't remember which M3 it was though?

[glyn parham]

Hales ran the full-season with the Starion, but it was the only one raced in non-turbo 2-litre form, and I'm pretty sure the only one raced as a touring car (in Europe at last- I think but won't swear that I've seen a pic of one raced in Japan or Australia?) with the later 'wide-arched' bodyshell,so definitely a rare car. It wasn't seen in the BTCC again after 1990 (replaced by a Lancer hatch and a Galant for 1991, neither being successful), but later became a Cosworth-engined Thundersaloon in Brian Chatfield's hands- there are several pics in the Thundersaloon thread

Thanks for that Kevan, I didn't recall too much about the car but I just knew it was different/rare in some form or other especially as 1990 was the transition season for the change from Group A to 2 litre regs.

My late father made the odd one-off appearance after his "retirement" from Touring Cars in 1979, notably in a Group N Capri in '82, Toyota Corolla in '86 and '87 and an M3 in '89, all one off deals.

Am I right in thinking that these were usually two driver/long distance races Gregor?

Glyn

[Tim Wilkinson]

There's one particular instance that I think I remember, but I'm not sure whether I've got the detail right.

At the late-season Brands round in '86, in an attempt to boost the grid (some of the '86 races particularly struggled, with as few as 11/12 cars on occasion), some of the Brands Hatch Racing School Escorts appeared- I think driven by the instructors- as I remember, several well-known Formula Ford names of the period were involved?

Does anyone remember this, and did they run as part of the 1600 class, classified in the overall result, or did they run as a seperate 'Invitation' class

Talking of rarities, I'm sure this was also one of the couple of rounds that year which saw Peugeot UK field one of their Group A 205GTI rallycars for rally driver Mikael Sundstrom- this might have been the race where his rally skills came into their own in a wet race, bringing the little 1600cc Pug home in an overall podium position, behind Rouse's XR4Ti and one of the Rovers....

25th August '86. 13 starters, 12 finishers. Not including and unspecified number of BH Racing School XR3i's driven by the instructors. Autosport don't publish the results of that "section" (and ignore it except for a couple of lines - I haven't seen an article elsewhere in that issue to explain it, either), but do say it was won by Stuart Cole from Chris Creswell. Stiart Cole shared with Graham Hathaway to win the Fiesta Endurance race also run that day.

Sundstrom did finish 3rd here, behind Rouse and O'Brien's Rover. In the dry he had qualified 13th and last, almost a second adrift of 12th, and started from the pit-lane after clutch issues in the warm-up. Although he was some distance behind the leaders, his fastest lap was within 2/10ths of Rouse. From the report it does seem that he drove most of the very wet race sideways. Race was shortened to just 20 laps of the Indy circuit, rather than the usual 40.

Edited by Tim Wilkinson, 17 November 2009 - 12:30.

[Kevan]

25th August '86. 13 starters, 12 finishers. Not including and unspecified number of BH Racing School XR3i's driven by the instructors. Autosport don't publish the results of that "section" (and ignore it except for a couple of lines - I haven't seen an article elsewhere in that issue to explain it, either), but do say it was won by Stuart Cole from Chris Creswell. Stiart Cole shared with Graham Hathaway to win the Fiesta Endurance race also run that day.

Sundstrom did finish 3rd here, behind Rouse and O'Brien's Rover. In the dry he had qualified 13th and last, almost a second adrift of 12th, and started from the pit-lane after clutch issues in the warm-up. Although he was some distance behind the leaders, his fastest lap was within 2/10ths of Rouse. From the report it does seem that he drove most of the very wet race sideways. Race was shortened to just 20 laps of the Indy circuit, rather than the usual 40.

Brilliant Tim, thanks. Could you post the full finishing order by any chance? Looking at my notes, it's the only 1986 race I don't seem to have results for. I should have the Autosport report, but couldn't find it last time I looked. Sundstrom only appeared a couple of times, the other being a 2nd in class behind the Hodgetts Corolla at the Brands GP meeting. Very rare circuit successes for the Pug, as its not a car that had much circuit success in Group A- they were very rarely seen, even in Europe as the 1600 class was dominated by Corollas, Escorts, Golfs and Audi 80s

I think somewhere between half-a-dozen and ten XR3s started, but I wasn't sure if they were classified as part of the main race or not.
I remember that Autosport's report largely ignored them, as you say, but I think Motoring News did include them in their report, as I'm sure I used to have a full result somewhere. Wish I could remember the other drivers involved- I'm sure several of them were well-known FF1600 names of the time, the late Pete Rogers (and possibly his sister Lucy) come to mind for some reason?

Interesting that it mentions the race being shortened. Was this due to the weather, or had it been shortened in advance due to the sparse entry? Ive got a vague suspicion that this happened at least once that year

Edited by Kevan, 17 November 2009 - 12:56.

[glyn parham]

Interesting that it mentions the race being shortened. Was this due to the weather, or had it been shortened in advance due to the sparse entry? Ive got a vague suspicion that this happened at least once that year

Definitely the weather Kevan, I was spectating at the first Birmingham Superprix that day and racing was abondoned there and I remember being amazed at the result from Brands which was also very wet.

Glyn

Edited by glyn parham, 17 November 2009 - 13:02.

[Kevan]

Definitely the weather Kevan, I was spectating at the first Birmingham Superprix that day and racing was abondoned there and I remember being amazed at the result from Brands which was also very wet.

Glyn

Thanks Glyn- I'd forgotten it coincided with the first Birmingham

[Alan Cox]

Hales ran the full-season with the Starion, but it was the only one raced in non-turbo 2-litre form, and I'm pretty sure the only one raced as a touring car (in Europe at last- I think but won't swear that I've seen a pic of one raced in Japan or Australia?) with the later 'wide-arched' bodyshell,so definitely a rare car.

You will recall that Mark was sponsored by Firestone, and it was proposed to run Firestone tyres - At the opening round of the BTCC on Good Friday 1990 at Oulton, the tyres weren't ready, so the team ran Dunlops and scuffed off the Dunlop markings from the sidewalls and painted 'Firehawk' on instead. You can just make out the Dunlop arrow logo before the 'F' of Firehawk at the bottom of the sidewall in this pic

I don't know if Firestone tyres ever made their mark in the series.

[Kevan]

You will recall that Mark was sponsored by Firestone, and it was proposed to run Firestone tyres - At the opening round of the BTCC on Good Friday 1990 at Oulton, the tyres weren't ready, so the team ran Dunlops and scuffed off the Dunlop markings from the sidewalls and painted 'Firehawk' on instead. You can just make out the Dunlop arrow logo before the 'F' of Firehawk at the bottom of the sidewall in this pic

I don't know if Firestone tyres ever made their mark in the series.

I hadn't realised that! I don't think Firestone made much impact with the Mitsubishi at least- neither the Starion, or 1991's Lancer GTI (so uncompetitive the team ditched it in favour of building up a new Galant mid-season) made a great deal of impact on the results- though I don't know to what extent the issues were car or tyre-related- Certainly in '91, I suspect the former- you don't park a new car and start over developing a different car altogether half-a-dozen races in because the tyres aren't up to scratch...

They'd had quite a bit of success in Prodsaloons with Hales in a Starion and Sierra Cosworths, but that was a very different game

Edited by Kevan, 17 November 2009 - 13:49.

[Phil Rainford]

Checked up on my notes on the 1987 BTCC no less than five R5 GTs raced at the GP support meeting. Except for Roger Saunders, who won the class, David Grimshaw, Alex Postan, Niki Philips and Les German raced their Renaults as well. There might have been more, as I don't have complete results. German also did the following race at Brands Hatch, where he was joined by Paul Gottlieb. David Kay did a late season appearence too. There's also supposed to have been a non-starting 5 GT at the opening round, but no info about the driver. The same goes for a production saloon Mitsubishi Starion Turbo at the same event.

Jesper

Jesper

Time to check your notes from 1986 ;) Dennis Leech and ?????



This is from the Brands GP support race

PAR

[Kevan]

Jesper

Time to check your notes from 1986 ;) Dennis Leech and ?????



This is from the Brands GP support race

PAR

Could any of the following: Roger Saunders, David Grimshaw, David Gibson or Anthony Pownall according to my notes.

Sadly I don't have any idea of race numbers or colours of the cars. Anyone got an entry list? Jesper?

Edited by Kevan, 17 November 2009 - 20:08.

[Tim Wilkinson]

Checked up on my notes on the 1987 BTCC....... There's also supposed to have been a non-starting 5 GT at the opening round, but no info about the driver. The same goes for a production saloon Mitsubishi Starion Turbo at the same event.

Jesper

Most likely Roger Saunders again, as he and Chris Maries failed tech scrutineering after their R5 Cup race

[Kevan]

Checked up on my notes on the 1987 BTCC no less than five R5 GTs raced at the GP support meeting. Except for Roger Saunders, who won the class, David Grimshaw, Alex Postan, Niki Philips and Les German raced their Renaults as well. There might have been more, as I don't have complete results. German also did the following race at Brands Hatch, where he was joined by Paul Gottlieb. David Kay did a late season appearence too. There's also supposed to have been a non-starting 5 GT at the opening round, but no info about the driver. The same goes for a production saloon Mitsubishi Starion Turbo at the same event.

Jesper

Thanks Jesper. I've tracked down my 1987 results now and I've got the following (though I seem to be missing Round 5 altogether)

Round 1- No idea on the Renault, but the Starion might have been Graham Rose- not a name I'm familiar with, and this is based on notes taken 20 years ago, so I won't guarantee it. Apparently he was a DNS with an oil leak

Renaults as far as I can tell:

Saunders- possibly the full season except Round 1? (possibly a DNS as Tim suggested?)
David Grimshaw- possibly Round 3 (Thruxton) and the GP
From your information, Postan, Philips and Pownall at the GP, and I've also got Germain and Gottlieb at Round 8, Brands, as you suggest
Finally, David Kay at Donington, late season (Round 11 I think)

I've also possibly got David Gibson and David Martell as non-starters at Round 4 (Thruxton), maybe withdrawn after qualifying?

Edited by Kevan, 17 November 2009 - 20:55.

[Kevan]

To follow up on Phil's pic from the '86 GP meeting.

Apart from the Renaults, the entry saw the following additions to the regular lineup

• Dave Brodie in the Starion- also turned out for the last round at Silverstone (and the TT) After Mitsubishi pulled the plug on support for the Starion effort, and Brodie was left unsponsored, IIRC, the car might have appeared once with 'Bruno for Champ' signwritten down the side in support of boxer Frank Bruno (there was a pic in Autosport as I remember)- Was this the race? It was certainly around the time of Bruno's first World title fight against Witherspoon in July '86. By the TT, Brodie had sponsorship from Philips, and Barry Sheene on board as second driver
• Neil McGrath in a second Linden Racing/Connells/Castrol Rover, alongside Mike O'Brien's similar car. Think he'd also appeared at Silverstone earlier in the season
• David Sears in the ex-Barry Sheene/Toyota GB Celica Supra, entered by Hughes of Beaconsfield. It had also appeared at the first round with Peter Lovett
• Brian Chatfield in one of his Capris- he did a couple of other rounds as well
• a pair of TWR Rovers for Jeff Allam and Jean-Louis Schlesser- they finished 1-2 in their only appearance in the championship

In Class B, as well as the Renaults, there were 'guest appearances' from Colin Pearcy's Metro Turbo (he came back for the final round) and Martin Carroll's prodsaloon Mercedes 190
Did Mike Smith's Ilford Photo Escort RS Turbo appear as well?

In the small class, the few championship regulars (Hodgetts and Crudgington in Corollas and Paul Taft's Brooklyn Escort) were joined by:

• Mikael Sundstrom in the Peugeot Talbot Sport UK 205GTi (also seen at Brands in August, as mentioned earlier)
• Alan Minshaw in a second Hodgetts Corolla- he did a few more rounds, and Barry Sheene also drove this one at Silverstone late-season
• Alastair Davidson in a Fiesta XR2- this also appeared in a couple of early-season rounds. Was it a Fiesta Challenge car?
• Nick Sismey in an Alfasud. I think this was an old Napolina Alfa Dealer Team car from a few years before?
• Julian Mays 'North Essex Motorsport' Escort RS1600i for Richard Belcher- I think Phil Dowsett might have driven this at some point in the season as well?

Finally, a 1300cc class was re-introduced for 1986, though hardly anyone bothered. A couple of Vauxhall Novas turned out for the GP (probably prodsaloons) for Tony Lanfranchi (Monorep) and James Kaye (Containerships) Lanfranchi won the class championship on the strength of being the only driver to do more than the one round...

There were a few other one-offs, though none of them were seen at the GP:

At Round 1, Barry Barnes in a Mann's Garage 635
At the last round, Barry Robinson's T.W. Robinson Demolition/SDC Builders 635

In the 2.5 litre class, the Alfa Romeo Dealer Team/John West Alfa 75's weren't homologated in time to make the start of the season- Rob Kirby did Round 1 at Silverstone in one of their old GTV6s.

Geoff Kimber-Smith (Corolla) and Lionel Abbott (RS1600i) appeared at least once each in the small class.

Anyone able to add more?

Edited by Kevan, 17 November 2009 - 21:31.

[Gregor Marshall]

Am I right in thinking that these were usually two driver/long distance races Gregor?

Glyn

Yes, the two driver/long distance races Glyn.

[Gregor Marshall]

Geoff Kimber-Smith's Corolla in '86/87 I think? I'm sure I remember you posting pics of it on Ten-Tenths

I don't remember which M3 it was though?

Yes, right on the Corolla Kevan.

I'll let you guess the M3 - it was a one-off with a good friend of his and a good result too!!

Edited by Gregor Marshall, 18 November 2009 - 16:12.

[Kevan]

Yes, right on the Corolla Kevan.

I'll let you guess the M3 - it was a one-off with a good friend of his and a good result too!!

One of the races in the GK-S Corolla was the Oulton race in '87- Wasn't this the one where Chris Hodgetts turned up for the 1-hour/2-driver race with two Corollas, and just Tiff Needell as a second driver. They decided to race both, Chris starting one, Tiff the other, and getting round the lack of co-drivers by both making their pitstops on the same lap and swapping cars, Hodgetts/Needell winning the class from Needell/Hodgetts...or was it vice versa?

Think the M3 might have been John Llewellyn? Had to look it up, but I think 7th overall and 2nd in class behind Prodrive's Sytner/Hoy at Donington in '89

[Jesper O. Hansen]

Jesper

Time to check your notes from 1986 ;) Dennis Leech and ?????



This is from the Brands GP support race

PAR

Sadly I have little info about 1986 - or 1985, 1984 or 1983 for that matter, but learning all the time. Nice pic though.

Jesper

[Alan Cox]

[*]a pair of TWR Rovers for Jeff Allam and Jean-Louis Schlesser- they finished 1-2 in their only appearance in the championship

Here are te self-same Rovers from Brands 1986 - no 22 is Schlesser

[Kevan]

One of the Linden/Castrol Racing with Connell's pair (Neil McGrath & Mike O'Brien) behind Schlesser in the second pic- one of the few occasions they entered two cars

Herbie Clips seemed to be TWR's all-purpose sponsor for one-off races and other such extra-curricular activites- seen also on the Holden at the Nurburgring WTCC race in '87, the aborted Birmingham BTCC race and the TT in '88, and on some of the early Rover rally outings in 1983/4 by Walkinshaw, Tony Pond, and Marc Duez. Was it a company that Walkinshaw had interests in?

http://picasaweb.goo...565364299482722

http://img339.images...twrvl87nn7.jpg/

Edited by Kevan, 19 November 2009 - 14:07.

[Gregor Marshall]

One of the races in the GK-S Corolla was the Oulton race in '87- Wasn't this the one where Chris Hodgetts turned up for the 1-hour/2-driver race with two Corollas, and just Tiff Needell as a second driver. They decided to race both, Chris starting one, Tiff the other, and getting round the lack of co-drivers by both making their pitstops on the same lap and swapping cars, Hodgetts/Needell winning the class from Needell/Hodgetts...or was it vice versa?

Think the M3 might have been John Llewellyn? Had to look it up, but I think 7th overall and 2nd in class behind Prodrive's Sytner/Hoy at Donington in '89

Gold star on both counts (3rd in class at Oulton in a Toyota was GKS and GM).

[Phil Rainford]

Here are te self-same Rovers from Brands 1986 - no 22 is Schlesser

Not surprisingly here is a similar picture to Alan's.................... due to the fact that I was standing next to him

Would guess at Karl Jones waving the Rover through?

PAR

[Kevan]

Not surprisingly here is a similar picture to Alan's.................... due to the fact that I was standing next to him

Would guess at Karl Jones waving the Rover through?

PAR

Mark Hales in the Terry Drury/Duckhams Escort Turbo.

Jones did make a few BTCC appearances in a Duckhams Escort RS Turbo, but they were in 1987

[Phil Rainford]

Mark Hales in the Terry Drury/Duckhams Escort Turbo.

Jones did make a few BTCC appearances in a Duckhams Escort RS Turbo, but they were in 1987

Many thanks


PAR

[Kevan]

No problem Phil- the Jones car in your 1987 pic on the previous page was run by Asquith, who also ran his RS500 in '88/9

Coincidentally, just looking through an old (1989) magazine for something totally unrelated and found a Piper Camshafts advertisement, which features pics of a couple of 1987/8 Terry Drury Racing cars. (Piper were a TDR sponsor in those two seasons: http://farm4.static...._6d53d1b742.jpg )


One is Tim Harvey's 1988 RS500, seen early-season before the return of Istel sponsorship (For some reason, Istel, who'd sponsored him for a few years in FF1600, MG Metro Turbos, Prodsaloons and his first BTCC season in the Rover were absent from his RS500 in the early part of '88, instead he ran either largely unsponsored, or with a series of race-by-race deals until Istel re-appeared later in the year)

The other is the Hales RS Turbo from your Brands pic, but seen in 1987- still basically in the blue Duckhams paintjob, but sponsored by Shell- the yellow stripes have been changed to red/purple...

Edited by Kevan, 21 November 2009 - 09:40.

[Jesper O. Hansen]

Having another look at my 1987 BTCC files and found an unconfirmed 16 different point scorers in class D, of which 9 drivers did one race. Chris Hodgetts Corollas and one or two Ford Escort RS1600is seems to have been going around the block a few times during the year accounting for the many one-off drives. Alan Minshaw, Chuck Nicholson, Will Hoy and Tony Dron all had one-offs in CHMS cars during the year, to bolster the grid I presume, but rather classy grid fillers! Mark Hales, having already wrapped up the class B title and no chance of improving on his overall position, raced yet another CHMS entry for the Silverstone finale - Hodgetts' usual entry, as Chris raced at Bathurst. Hales usual Terry Drury Escort RS Turbo was taken over by Graham Hathaway for this race. Historic racer Chris Aylett had a go at modern cars in the Brodie Mitsubishi Starion Turbo in class A in this race.
Two class D Escort RS1600is took part during the year. Alan Gaunt/AJG Transport had Richard Belcher and Mark Goddard in the seat at the two final races at Donington and Silverstone respectively, while North Essex Garage had Phil Dowsett as their major part timer in their car. Patrick Watts and Keith Norman had late season one-off drives at Snetterton and Donington respectively.

Jesper

[Tim Wilkinson]

Historic racer Chris Aylett had a go at modern cars in the Brodie Mitsubishi Starion Turbo in class A in this race.

He had a lot of sponsor guests attending the meeting, and the race he was entered in was cancelled, due to the death of John Foulston earlier that week. So he hired The Brode's car.