1985 Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship - Discussion & Results

[KA]

After Thruxton's mayhem, 19 cars arrived at Silverstone...

Round 6 – June 9, 1985 at Silverstone- 20 laps

1./ #1 / Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Ford Sierra XR4Ti/33m23.95
2./#9/Frank Sytner/Sytner/A/BMW 635CSi/34m10.63
3./#7/Barry Sheene/Hughes/A/Toyota Celica Supra/34m20.27
4./#11/Neil McGrath/Linden/A/Rover Vitesse/34m26.18
5./#2/Pete Hall/Rouse/A/Rover Vitesse/34m35.06
6./#44/Richard Longman/Datapost/B/Ford Escort RS Turbo/34m39.59- 1st class B
7./#12/Mike Newman/Burlington/A/BMW 635CSi/34m45.52
8./#31/Graham Goode/Goode/B/Nissan Bluebird Turbo/34m50.93
9./#32/Rob Kirby/ARDT/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6/34m58.66
10./#30/Jon Dooley/ARDT/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6/34m59.91
11./#40/Phil Dowsett/Drury/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6/35m07.63
12./#74/Richard Belcher/Jeffeys/C/Ford Escort RS1600i/19 laps-1st class C
13./#66/Alan Curnow/Datapost/C/Ford Escort RS1600i/19 laps
14./#69/Chris Hodgetts/Brooklyn/C/Ford Escort RS1600i/19 laps
15./#41/Terry Drury/Drury/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6/18 laps
16./#62/Tony Crudgington/Crudgington/C/Toyota Corolla GT/18 laps
NCF./#70/Patrick Watts/North Essex/C/Ford Escort RS1600i/13 laps-

DNF./#5?/Dave Brodie/Brodie/A/Mitsubishi Starion Turbo/1 lap- turbo
DNF./#79/John Morris/Brooklyn/C/Ford Escort RS1600i/1 lap- brakes

Got the Motoring News report, so can fill in a bit of background to this one. A fairly dull race, dominated by Rouse after Brodie's lap 2 turbo failure. It could have been very different- Brodie putting the Starion on pole, over 2 seconds faster than Rouse- and no less than 4 seconds(!) under Rouse's 1984 Silverstone lap record....
It was livened up by an entertaining duel for 3rd in class between ARDT team-mates Dooley & Kirby, culminating in both spinning on the penultimate lap, although a down-on-power Phil Dowsett was too far back to capitalize.
The Class C battle was an epic:

Originally Posted by Motoring News 12/6/85

'...and then came the Escorts....
Throughout, Belcher, Hodgetts and Curnow ran as one, sometimes the Brooklyn car putting Belcher under pressure,sometimes the Datapost example having a go. In the end, Belcher led across the line on every lap but one, the 14th (when Curnow got ahead) as Curnow and Hodgetts fought furiously in his wake. After an enthralling 20 laps, Curnow eventually pipped Hodgetts' frequently kerb-hopping rally car, the three class C leaders covered by just 0.7s in a tight finish.Wouldnt be a bad idea if another 20 or so people could be persuaded to prepare Group A RS1600is...'

Grid:

1- Brodie (Starion/A)- 1m35.23
2- Rouse (XR4Ti/A)- 1m37.53
3- McGrath (Rover/A)- 1m38.74
4- Sytner (635CSi/A) 1m40.11
5- Goode (Bluebird Turbo/B)- 1m40.60
6- Sheene (Supra/A)- 1m40.92
7- Hall (Rover/A)- 1m42.29
8- Longman (Escort RS Turbo/B)- 1m42.31
9- Dooley (GTV6/B)- 1m42.75
10- Newman (635CSi/A)- 1m43.69
11- Kirby (GTV6/B)- 1m43.74
12- Dowsett (GTV6/B)- 1m43.99
13- Curnow (RS1600i/C)- 1m46.97
14- Belcher (RS1600i/C)- 1m47.40
15- Hodgetts (RS1600i/C) -1m47.94
16- Morris (RS1600i/C)- 1m48.52
17- Watts (RS1600i/C)- 1m48.67
18- Drury (GTV6/B)- 1m49.19
19- Crudgington (Corolla/C) 1m52.27


Some background on the entry:

Two additions to the entry, one very significant- Longman's Escort RS Turbo finally homologated, The other was a returning Tony Crudgington, whose Corolla had been sidelined by 'a heavy practice off' at Silverstone in March. Sponsorship now came from Clausthaler Lager (appropriately, as Tony was a publican)

According to the report, no-shows from the published entry list were Geoff Kimber-Smith's Corolla, Barry Lee's RS1600i, and- Steve Soper in a TWR Rover...


Several teams had had a busy time since Thruxton:

• Hughes of Beaconsfield/Toyota GB were back with the 1984 Supra for Sheene (apparently the car he'd used at the beginning of the season)
• Terry Drury Racing were hard-pressed to prepare two Alfa GTV6s in time for this weekend, cars for Phil Dowsett and Drury himself arriving at the circuit 'with the paint still wet' Both cars in a new red/yellow colourscheme
• At Brooklyn, Hodgetts' car was still being rebuilt and the teamopted to build a completely new car in time for Donington. Consequently, Chris borrowed mechanic Tim Hill's Group A rally car for the weekend, practising the Brooklyn Motorsport/ECS machine complete with tax disc, aerial and number plates'
  Hodgetts commented that 'it says a lot for the team when I can borrow a mechanic's car and race that. It might be better if the circuit was cut up a little, I think it's probably better-suited to the rough. Still, in the circumstances, it's not bad is it?
• Team-mate Morris had his regular car repaired after Thruxton- 'It's the same car with five new panels'
• The Patrick Watts North Essex car was described as 'a ten-day wonder', built up from scratch in that time to replace the car totalled at Thruxton- it was finished off in the Silverstone paddock on Saturday morning, only one panel- the bonnet- salvaged from the original shell.

The scrutineers sealed all four turbo cars after the race, so the result remained provisional....