1983 Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship - Discussion & Results

[Jesper OH]

Originally Posted by KA

Yes, looking back it's surprising how quickly the 1600cc Mk1 Golf disappeared from the series, given that quite a few were still active in Europe as late as 1987...
Minshaw moved on to the 1800cc Mk2 in '84, and Greenhalgh quit at the end of that year, and that was it- None of the cars seem to have appeared in other hands, and if the GTI Engineering Group A demonstrator that Richard Lloyd had for sale at the end of '83 ever found a buyer, then they certainly didn't use it in the BTCC
So what was the reason- as you suggest costs, lack of support from VW GB, or difficulty in the supply of Group A parts- Or was it simply a case of Ford offering a better deal for RS1600i runners?

During 1987 it's mentioned a few times in Autosport that Alan Minshaw plans to run his VW Golf at the Bathurst 1000 WTCC race. Suspecting it was his then brand new 1800 cc Golf 2 Group A car, I was surprised that he entered a 1600 cc Golf 1, presumably his 1983 car?: http://www.racingsportscars.com/cove...987-10-04e.jpg
For the record he and Vic Lee never made it, but still an interesting idea to enter an out dated car half way around the world!

Jesper

[KA]

I've mentioned Performance Car magazine's BTCC reports several times in these Group A threads, and I've dug some of the mags out again. To recap, Performance Car ran a regular monthly BTCC feature by Art Markus, titled 'Art on A'. These suffered from PC being a monthly mag (The report for this Silverstone race in October '83 was published in the January 1984 issue...), and didn't give full results- usually top 6 or so and the top 6 championship positions, but they were good for pics and background.
As far as I can tell, they ran through the 1983 and 84 seasons, possibly into early 1985?

Added some background from the PC report for Round 10 at Silverstone- my comments in bold as usual

Round 11 – October 2, 1983, Silverstone
1./ #2/ Jeff Allam / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse
2./ #4 / Steve Soper / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse
3./ #18/ David Brodie / Brodie / A / Mitsubishi Starion Turbo (a good result for the Starion- Brodie had qualified 14th!)
4./ #3 / Peter Lovett / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse
5./ #20/ Jonathan Palmer / Bob Sparshott / A / BMW 635CSi
6./ #11/ Tony Lanfranchi / GMDS/ A / Opel Monza 3.0E
7?./#34/Andy Rouse/Rouse/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6 (not sure if overall position is correct, but 1st in class)

Class B: as far as I can tell

1- Rouse (Alfa GTV6)
2?- #31/Jon Dooley/ARDT/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6
3?- #30?/Hamish Irvine/Irvine/B/Mazda RX7


Result unknown
#35/Tony Pond/Dowson/B/MG Metro Turbo
#36/Patrick Watts/Dowson/B/MG Metro Turbo
#37/Martin Brundle/Dowson/B/MG Metro Turbo

The Metros had a nightmare race, developing an unhealthy appetite for front tyres- all three cars had pitted for new tyres by lap 5, and continued to do so....
'all three Metros developed tyre trouble, each with the front tyres shedding rubber at an alarming rate. After all three cars stopped for new rubber on lap 5, the bemused spectators were treated to the sight of at least one Metro entering the pits on virtually every lap. As the three cars wear an indentical livery, this became confusing to say the least. The tyre wear rate was such that Brundle was sent out to complete the race on a set of rain tyres- a faulty batch of tyres was later blamed for this debacle.'

Class C
1-#69/Chris Hodgetts/Brooklyn/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
2?-#66/Alan Curnow/Datapost/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
3-?#77/Richard Longman/Datapost/C/Ford Escort RS1600i

Result unknown
#60/John Morris/Maguire/C/VW Scirocco
#100/Richard Lloyd/GTI Engineering/VW Golf GTi

Morris was another in tyre trouble- he had to pit on lap 8 for fresh rubber
Lloyd was making his BTCC debut for the year with a new Golf, originally shown on GTI Engineering's stand at the BRSCC Motorsports Show back in January. The report is a bit vague on whether it actually raced, the qualifying report saying it 'sat in the Silverstone paddock on race day with a 'For Sale' sign on the windscreen, price 12k'. There's a pic of it on track though, and I think I can see it in the background of a pic showing most of the field on lap 1, although largely obscured by a Datapost Escort and the black Minshaw Golf

The DNFs
DNF#19/Fank Sytner/Sytner/A/BMW 635CSi.- gear linkage
DNF#86/Alan Minshaw/Demon Tweeks/C/VW Golf GTi- Accident, lap 17
DNF#1/Win Percy/Hughes/A/Toyota Celica Supra- Oil leak, lap 3
DNF#??/Rob Kirby/ARDT/C/Alfa Romeo Alfasud- Accident, lap 2
DNS#??/Jenny Birrell/Hughes of Beaconsfield?/C/Toyota Corolla GT
Not sure of the entrant, or reason for the DNS- just described as a 'mysterious non-starter in the report, but the car was an ex-Win Percy machine. (Win had used it in Round 1 back in March to post a Class C win, presumably with the Supra not yet ready)

After a good start (up to 3rd on lap 1) Percy was soon in trouble, falling back to 5th, pitting the Supra on lap 2. 'A lubrication problem in the new engine had caused the crankcase to pressurize, blowing out the dipstick and spraying oil everywhere. The dipstick was replaced and the car sent out again, but only one lap was neccessary to convince the Hughes team to retire the car'

Kirby's Alfasud was damaged after 'the rest of the class tried to get through the chicane together amidst clouds of tyre smoke, resulting in much exchanging of paint' on lap 2.

Minshaw ended up going heavily into the catchfencing on lap 17,after an entertaining dice with the Datpost Escorts. A fastest lap was enough to give him Class C championship over Hodgetts and Minshaw

Other notes on the entry


In Class A, Jonathan Palmer was substituting for an injured Stuck in the BS/Cheylesmore 635. Stuck was sidelined by a hip injury after a shunt in qualifying for the ETC race at Zolder the previous weekend- to add insult to injury, he was stung by a wasp while climbing out of the bent BMW...

Austin Rover fielded a 3rd Metro Turbo for Martin Brundle- Martin stepping into the Metro straight after beating Senna in the F3 race. The report suggests the extra Metro was intended to support ARG's championship situation against the Rouse Alfa- though it was hardly needed- Andy needing needed to win Class B and score fastest lap, with both Soper and Lovett's Rovers failing to score in Class A if he was to take the championship....

I reckon there were 25, maybe 26 starters- Looking at the pic of the pack on lap 1, I can identify a few cars not mentioned in the report-not sure where any of these finished:

Charles Sawyer Hoare's Esso/Daily Mirror Rover
an ex-CC Motorsport Capri, still in CC colours- possibly Brian Chatfield?
a pair of white RS1600is at the back of the pack- one is possibly Rob Hall?
a pair of unidentifiable dark-coloured cars at the back of the pack, obsucred by the Datapost Escorts, Minshaw's Golf and possibly the white GTI Engineering Golf- I'm guessing one must be Kirby's Alfasud- the other is anyone's guess...

[KA]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

During 1987 it's mentioned a few times in Autosport that Alan Minshaw plans to run his VW Golf at the Bathurst 1000 WTCC race. Suspecting it was his then brand new 1800 cc Golf 2 Group A car, I was surprised that he entered a 1600 cc Golf 1, presumably his 1983 car?: http://www.racingsportscars.com/cove...987-10-04e.jpg
For the record he and Vic Lee never made it, but still an interesting idea to enter an out dated car half way around the world!

Jesper

That's interesting- I had an impression that the black Mk1 had long since been sold- Minshaw had entered his original Mk2 in the 1985 TT, shared with Tony Hill and journalist Art Markus, by then writing for 'Cars & Car Conversions' magazine- Markus wrote an article on the race, and Minshaw's problems with the uncompetitive Mk2 (I quoted some of this a while ago in the Group A VW thread), having been caught out by the delayed homologation of the 16-valver and the arrival of turbo cars like the Nissan and Escort in the 2500cc class.

Markus described how the heavier Mk2 was little faster than the 1600cc Mk1, and quotes a comment by Mnishaw on the situation, Alan saying 'I should never have sold that little black Golf'

Ironically, if he'd got to Bathurst, the 1600cc Mk1 would probably been a better shot in it's class than the 1800cc Mk2, which would have been up against the M3s in the 2500cc class, although frankly he'd still have been better off using the Hodgetts Corolla he'd driven in the early-season BTCC rounds....

[Jesper OH]

Originally Posted by KA

I can help with some of these- again, based on notes I took 20-odd years ago (...and have transcribed at least once...) plus articles in 'Performance Car' Magazine back issues that I've got (PC journalist Art Markus did a monthly BTCC review column under the title 'Art on A', which only gave partial results, but were quite good for pics and background)

My additions in bold




More to follow....

Round 7 – June 25, 1983, Donington Park
1./#3/Peter Lovett/TWR/A/Rover Vitesse
2./#19/Frank Sytner/Sytner/A/BMW 635CSi
3./#11/Tony Lanfranchi/GMDS/A/Opel Monza 3.0E
4./#34/Andy Rouse/Rouse/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6
5./#35/Tony Pond/Dowson/B/MG Metro Turbo
6./#??/Hamish Irvine/Irvine/B/Mazda RX7
7./#??/Mike Newman/Newman/A/Ford Capri 3.0S
8./#10/Charles Sawyer-Hoare/Equipe Esso/A/Rover Vitesse
9./#6?/Dennis Leech/Leech/Rover Vitesse
10./#60/John Morris/Morris Vulcan/VW Scirocco

Class C
1./Morris
2./#72/Rob Hall/Lloyds/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
3./#86/Alan Minshaw/Demon Tweeks/C/VW Golf GTi
4./#66/Alan Curnow/Datapost/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
5./#??/Lionel Abbott/Abbott/C/Ford Escort RS1600i

DNF
#2/Jeff Allam/TWR/A/Rover Vitesse
#69/Chris Hodgetts/Brooklyn/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
#77/Richard Longman/Datapost/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
#31/Jon Dooley/ARDT/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6
#??/Patrick Watts/Dowson/B/MG Metro Turbo
#??/Graham Goode/Goode/???? (either a Capri or the Nissan Bluebird?)
#??/Andrew Thorpe/ARDT/Alfa Romeo Alfasud
DNS#4/Steve Soper/TWR/Rover Vitesse

For the convenience of continuity I have allowed myself to do a copy-and-paste of KA's contributions with the addition of a pair of videolinks:

http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/75...nington-part-1
http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/75...nington-part-2

A review of the video tells that Graham Goode definitively raced a Ford Capri.

..that Steve Soper left a vacant fourth on the grid, but who is the Metro in fifth?

..that Dave Brodie was among the class A gang in a black Mitsubishi Colt Starion Turbo going nowhere fast.

..that Tony Lanfranchi seems to launch off the grid from 8th to 3rd into the first corner

..and that the 635 was always lousy in standing starts as Frank Sytner seems to move from third to 8th in the same isolated period of time.

Jesper

[KA]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

Round 7 – June 25, 1983, Donington Park
1./#3/Peter Lovett/TWR/A/Rover Vitesse
2./#19/Frank Sytner/Sytner/A/BMW 635CSi
3./#11/Tony Lanfranchi/GMDS/A/Opel Monza 3.0E
4./#34/Andy Rouse/Rouse/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6
5./#35/Tony Pond/Dowson/B/MG Metro Turbo
6./#30/Hamish Irvine/Irvine/B/Mazda RX7
7./#??/Mike Newman/Newman/A/Ford Capri 3.0S
8./#10/Charles Sawyer-Hoare/Equipe Esso/A/Rover Vitesse
9./#6/Dennis Leech/Leech/Rover Vitesse
10./#60/John Morris/Morris Vulcan/VW Scirocco

Class C
1./Morris
2./#72/Rob Hall/Lloyds/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
3./#86/Alan Minshaw/Demon Tweeks/C/VW Golf GTi
4./#66/Alan Curnow/Datapost/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
5./#??/Lionel Abbott/Abbott/C/Ford Escort RS1600i

DNF
#2/Jeff Allam/TWR/A/Rover Vitesse
#69/Chris Hodgetts/Brooklyn/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
#77/Richard Longman/Datapost/C/Ford Escort RS1600i
#31/Jon Dooley/ARDT/B/Alfa Romeo GTV6
#78/Patrick Watts/Dowson/C/MG Metro - accident damage?
#12?/Graham Goode/Goode/Ford Capri
#??/Andrew Thorpe/ARDT/Alfa Romeo Alfasud- accident
DNS#4/Steve Soper/TWR/Rover Vitesse- pulled off at end of pace lap?

For the convenience of continuity I have allowed myself to do a copy-and-paste of KA's contributions with the addition of a pair of videolinks:

http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/75...nington-part-1
http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/75...nington-part-2

A review of the video tells that Graham Goode definitively raced a Ford Capri.

..that Steve Soper left a vacant fourth on the grid, but who is the Metro in fifth?

..that Dave Brodie was among the class A gang in a black Mitsubishi Colt Starion Turbo going nowhere fast.

..that Tony Lanfranchi seems to launch off the grid from 8th to 3rd into the first corner

..and that the 635 was always lousy in standing starts as Frank Sytner seems to move from third to 8th in the same isolated period of time.

Jesper

Just taken another look at those while taking a very long phone call and can add a few thoughts

Whatever happened to Soper's Rover happened on the green flag lap- the yellow Hepolite car is seen very briefly at the beginning of the first video as they turn onto the pit straight- presumably he pulled off into the pits at the last minute

The Metro in 5th slot on the grid must be Tony Pond, as he features fairly prominently through both clips having an entertaining (and sometimes fairly lurid!) scrap with Hamish Irvine's red RX7, also at times featuring the Goode and Newman Capris and Dennis Leech's Rover.
Hamish had a pretty handy start, the Mazda taking to the grass on the inside to be be disputing 6th/7th place with Dennis Leech into Redgate- from what looks like the 4th or 5th row of the grid...

The other Metro of Patrick Watts is seen retiring in the pitlane with damaged front bodywork (and leaking something- oil?- looks like the crew were putting a drip tray under the front of the car in the pitlane) at about 9m18 in the first clip. Note that the Watts Metro is #78- suggests it was still the 1300cc Class C version that he'd started the season with until a second Turbo was ready? The Watts Metro Turbo was usually #36 I think

Of the other DNFs-

• Andrew Thorpe's Alfasud is presumably the black ARDT car seen parked just before Starkey's Bridge at 10m30- looks like it's got body damage on the right-hand side, so I'm guessing he had a shunt of some kind?
• Jon Dooley's GTV6 can clearly be seen expiring in a trail of smoke at Redgate towards the end of the second clip (around 17m48)
• I think there's a red Datapost RS1600i (Longman) parked on the grass near the pit exit at some point?
• Allam's Rover pits for tyres, then pits again a little while later and doesn't rejoin the race

One car not listed above, but very visible on the video is Alan Greenhalgh's yellow Ordibel Golf (#67)- seen recovering from a spin at about 10m15, a few seconds after we see Alan Minshaw's black Golf doing something similar.

[Tim Wilkinson]

Rob Kirby's Alfasud was 5th in Class C, then Abbott's RS1600i in 6th.

5th on the grid was indeed Tony Pond.

Soper's Rover "expired" on the final warm-up lap. Jock Robertson's Escort didn't make it either.

Watts was in the 1300 Metro, and was in the pits because he'd hit a spinning Andrew Thorpe.

Longman suffered a broken engine mount which meant he couldn't get gears. Allam's hub bearing carier failed, causing his problems - he had pitted complaining of a loose front wheel.

[KA]

Thanks Tim, that fills in some gaps for this one. Watts having collided with a spinning Thorpe Alfasud makes sense- although AFAIK the actual incident isn't seen on the video, the damage on the Metro is all to the front, whereas the Alfasud seems to have taken a hit in the right-hand side

Just tracked down another old report, from the Feb '84 issue of Performance Car- this is a season review article, titled 'Season of Discontent', much of which is taken up with the sorry saga of the various protests. I'll come back to that later, but for now a provisional points table might be useful (bear in mind that this was published early in '84, and is described as 'subject to protests'....)

Class A

1- Steve Soper (Rover Vitesse) 68
2- Peter Lovett (Rover Vitesse) 62
3- Jeff Allam (Rover Vitesse) 53
4- Tony Lanfranchi (Opel Monza) 17
5- Charles Sawyer-Hoare (Rover Vitesse) 16
6- Frank Sytner (BMW 635CSi) 13
7- Hans Stuck (BMW 635CSi) 12
8- Mike Newman (Ford Capri) 9
=9- Dennis Leech (Rover Vitesse) 5
=9- Win Percy (Toyota Celica Supra) 5
=9- Gordon Spice (Rover Vitesse) 5
12- Dave Brodie (Colt Starion) 4
13- Graham Goode (Ford Capri) 3
14- Jonathan Palmer (BMW 635CSi) 2

Class B

1- Andy Rouse (Alfa GTV6) 61
2- Hamish Irvine (Mazda RX7) 42
3- Jon Dooley (Alfa GTV6) 36
4- Tony Pond (MG Metro Turbo) 31
5- Patrick Watts (MG Metro Turbo) 7
=6- Tom Dodd-Noble (Mazda RX7) 3
=6- Terry Nightingale (Mazda RX7) 3
8- Martin Brundle (MG Metro Turbo) 2

Class C

1- Alan Minshaw (VW Golf GTi) 45
2- Chris Hodgetts (Ford Escort RS1600i) 43
3- Alan Curnow (Ford Escort RS1600i) 42
4- Richard Longman (Ford Escort RS1600i) 35
5- John Morris (VW Scirocco GTi) 31
6- Rob Hall (Ford Escort RS1600i) 22
7- Rob Kirby (Alfasud) 18
8- Alan Greenghalgh (VW Golf GTi) 17
=9- Win Percy (Toyota Corolla) 9
=9- Patrick Watts (MG Metro 1300) 9
11- Andrew Thorpe (Alfasud) 5
12- Richard Lloyd (VW Golf GTi) 3
13- Lionel Abbott (Ford Escort RS1600i) 2
=14- Jock Robertson (Ford Escort RS1600i) 1
=14- Jock Robertson (Ford Fiesta 1.6) 1

Manufacturers

1- Rover Vitesse (A) 81
=2- Alfa Romeo GTV6 (B) 72
=2- Ford Escort RS1600i (C) 72
4- VW Golf GTi (C) 51
5- Mazda RX7 (B) 40
6- MG Metro Turbo (B) 29
7- VW Scirocco GTi (C) 28
8- BMW 635CSi (A) 21
9- Alfa Romeo Alfasud (C) 20
10- Opel Monza (A) 16
11- Ford Capri (A) 12
=12- Toyota Corolla (C) 9
=12- MG Metro 1300 (C) 9
14- Toyota Celica Supra (A) 5
15- Ford Fiesta (C) 1

[Jesper OH]

Thanks for the updates Tim and KA. The points standing will likely be very usefull in reconstructing the final standings, once the results are more completed. The BTCC page has an overall standing with Andy Rouse winning (correctly) but with no specifications of classes. http://www.btcc.net/html/history_sta...p?season_id=26

Jesper

[KA]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

Thanks for the updates Tim and KA. The points standing will likely be very usefull in reconstructing the final standings, once the results are more completed. The BTCC page has an overall standing with Andy Rouse winning (correctly) but with no specifications of classes. http://www.btcc.net/html/history_sta...p?season_id=26

Jesper

No problem- I thought I'd post that now as I currently don't have that much more on 1983 until I find some more race reports and results I seem to have lost (I should have a complete set of 1983 results transcribed from Autosport about 20 years ago, but can only find part of them- unfortunately, they were copied from a library archive of Autosports, not my own, so I don't have the original mags)

The championship table shows up a few interesting things we've not picked up so far- Win Percy seems to have scored points in both Class A with the Celica Supra, and Class C with a Corolla- I'll have another look at the Performance Car report, as I'm sure it mentions Percy appearing at a few early rounds in the 1982-season Hughes Corolla before the Supra was ready to race.

A couple of other RX7s are listed in Class B, Tom Dodd-Noble and Terry Nightingale scoring points somewhere along the season- Neither name has come up in the results we've got so far.

Martin Brundle also pops up in the championship table, but I think we already know he made at least one late-season appearance in a third Metro in an attempt to take points away from Andy Rouse

Back in in Class C, Jock Robertson seems to have scored points in both a Fiesta and an Escort RS1600i- not sure when the Pegasus team changed car.

One more think, looking at the 'official' points list on the BTCC website and comparing it with the Performance Car version published long before the Rover issues were 'resolved' , how come Soper and Lovett have been deleted from the points table, and yet team-mate Allam is still there....?
Was one Sanyo car disqualified and the other not, or is the 'official' table just wrong....?

Overall points

(Performance Car version)

1- Soper (Rover- A) 68
2- Lovett (Rover- A) 62
3- Rouse (GTV6- B) 61
4- Allam (Rover- A) 53
5- Minshaw (Golf- C) 45
6- Hodgetts (RS1600i- C) 43
=7- Irvine (RX7- B) 42
=7- Curnow (RS1600i-C) 42
9- Dooley (GTV6-B) 36
10- Longman (RS1600i- C) 35

btcc.net version

1- Rouse (GTV6-B) 61
2- Allam (Rover- A) 53
3- Minshaw (Golf- C) 45
4- Hodgetts (RS1600i-C) 43
=5- Curnow (RS1600i- C) 42
=5- Irvine (RX7-B) 42
7- Dooley- (GTV6- B) 36
8- Longman (RS1600i-C)
=9- Pond (Metro Turbo- B) 31
=9- Morris (Scirocco- C) 31

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by KA

Win Percy seems to have scored points in both Class A with the Celica Supra, and Class C with a Corolla.....I'm sure it mentions Percy appearing at a few early rounds in the 1982-season Hughes Corolla before the Supra was ready to race.

A couple of other RX7s are listed in Class B, Tom Dodd-Noble and Terry Nightingale scoring points somewhere along the season.

Martin Brundle also pops up in the championship table, but I think we already know he made at least one late-season appearance in a third Metro in an attempt to take points away from Andy Rouse

Back in in Class C, Jock Robertson seems to have scored points in both a Fiesta and an Escort RS1600i- not sure when the Pegasus team changed car.

More good points to check KA.

Yes Percy ran the updated '82 Corolla for 2-3 rounds IIRC. I can't remember if the Celica Supra was supposed to have been ready for the first round, or whether it was always scheduled to appear later on?

The Mazda's are interesting, I have a feeling Nightingale and Dodd-Noble may have driven the same car? We may have covered this somewhere earlier in the thread or elsewhere (methinks a Grp 1/A RX7 thead could be useful as well ) Nightingale certainly started the season but sold the car to someone else could that have been TD-N or maybe Hamish Irvine? I also have a suspicion that one of the RX7's was hired from someone else, David Palmer perhaps?

Brundle did the last round at Silverstone, not sure if he did any more than that.

A Fiesta, that's interesting. Did Robertson race one in 1982, there were a couple out that year i'm sure? Again thinking along the lines as with the Supra, did Jock originally plan to race an Escort from the beginning and had to race the Fiesta until it was ready, or was it a change of heart once it was clear the Fiesta wasn't going to be competitive?

[KA]

Originally Posted by chunterer

More good points to check KA.

Yes Percy ran the updated '82 Corolla for 2-3 rounds IIRC. I can't remember if the Celica Supra was supposed to have been ready for the first round, or whether it was always scheduled to appear later on?

The Mazda's are interesting, I have a feeling Nightingale and Dodd-Noble may have driven the same car? We may have covered this somewhere earlier in the thread or elsewhere (methinks a Grp 1/A RX7 thead could be useful as well ) Nightingale certainly started the season but sold the car to someone else could that have been TD-N or maybe Hamish Irvine? I also have a suspicion that one of the RX7's was hired from someone else, David Palmer perhaps?

Brundle did the last round at Silverstone, not sure if he did any more than that.

A Fiesta, that's interesting. Did Robertson race one in 1982, there were a couple out that year i'm sure? Again thinking along the lines as with the Supra, did Jock originally plan to race an Escort from the beginning and had to race the Fiesta until it was ready, or was it a change of heart once it was clear the Fiesta wasn't going to be competitive?

Pretty sure I've seen a 1982 pic of Robertson in a Pegasus Fiesta somewhere. Looking at the results we've got earlier in the thread, the Fiesta appearances seem to be early in the year, so it could be a case of the new car not being ready and starting the season in the old one- '83 was the first year for the RS1600i I think.

[KA]

Jock Robertson, Pegasus Mouldings Fiesta 1.6- Mallory BTCC 1982, found on another forum
(Photo by Simon Arron)
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1451/scan0016lm0.jpg

[Tim Wilkinson]

The Donington report describes the Robertson Escort as "new". He didn't start cos it wasn't properly sorted.

I should have the full set for this year - I'll transcribe when I have the chance, but that might not be until the summer.

[KA]

Thanks Tim- the Pegasus Escort was certainly out and racing by the time of the second Donington race ,a couple of meetings later- it can be seen in a pic of the back of the pack in the Performance Car magazinere port- a white car with a black stripe along the side just above sill height (possibly the production 'RS1600i' stripes?), race number 70 I think- it has a 'Pegasus' number plate on the back

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by KA

Thanks Tim- the Pegasus Escort was certainly out and racing by the time of the second Donington race ,a couple of meetings later- it can be seen in a pic of the back of the pack in the Performance Car magazinere port- a white car with a black stripe along the side just above sill height (possibly the production 'RS1600i' stripes?), race number 70 I think- it has a 'Pegasus' number plate on the back

Good work you guys.

I think that car kept the same 'basic' livery into 1984 as well?

[KA]

Looking back through the 1983 results posted so far, I'm aware we're missing quite a lot of information about some of the actual entries- race numbers, entrants/sponsors etc.

Looking at what we've posted so far, plus what I can make out from pics I've found online or in the few 1983 race reports I've got, this seems to be the basic entry over the season. I'll post each class seperately, to make it easier to edit and fill in the blanks...

No.	Entrant	Sponsor	Driver	Nationality	Car	Notes
1	Hughes of Beaconsfield	Toyota GB	Win Percy	GB	Toyota Celica Supra
2	TWR	Sanyo	Jeff Allam	GB	Rover Vitesse
3	TWR	Sanyo	Peter Lovett	GB	Rover Vitesse
4	TWR	Hepolite	Steve Soper	GB	Rover Vitesse
6	Dennis Leech		Dennis Leech	GB	Rover Vitesse
10	Equipe Esso	Daily Mirror	Charles Sawyer-Hoare	GB	Rover Vitesse
11	GM Dealer Sport	Pipeline Induction Heat	Tony Lanfranchi	GB	Opel Monza	Possibly run by CC?
12	Graham Goode Racing	EBC Brakes	Graham Goode	GB	Ford Capri 3.0S
18	BBW Motorsport	Colt Cars Mid-West	Dave Brodie	GB	Mitsubishi Colt Starion Turbo
19	Sytner BMW		Frank Sytner	GB	BMW 635CSi	Team was run by Ted Grace I think?
20	BS Automotive	Cheylesmore + Diners Club	Hans-Joachim Stuck	D	BMW 635CSi
20	BS Automotive	Cheylesmore + Diners Club	Jonathan Palmer	GB	BMW 635CSi	occasionally substituted for Stuck
?	Mike Newman		Mike Newman	GB	Ford Capri 3.0S	Did Mike have Burlington Wallcoverings sponsorship on the Capri?
?	Martin Thomas		Gordon Spice	GB	Rover Vitesse
?	Brian Chatfield		Brian Chatfield	GB	Ford Capri 3.0S

[KA]

Class B

No.	Entrant	Sponsor	Driver	Nationality	Car	Notes
30	Hamish Irvine		Hamish Irvine	GB	Mazda RX7
31	Alfa Romeo Dealer Team	Napolina	Jon Dooley	GB	Alfa Romeo GTV6
34	Rouse Engineering	ICS	Pete Hall	GB	Alfa Romeo GTV6	Hall stepped down from the drive after a few rounds and Rouse took over
34	Rouse Engineering	ICS	Andy Rouse	GB	Alfa Romeo GTV6
35	Roger Dowson	Unipart + Daily Express	Tony Pond	GB	MG Metro Turbo
36	Roger Dowson	Unipart + Daily Express	Patrick Watts	GB	MG Metro Turbo
37	Roger Dowson	Unipart + Daily Express	Martin Brundle	GB	MG Metro Turbo	3rd car at the last round
	?	?	Tom Dodd-Noble	GB	Mazda RX7
	?	?	Terry Nightingale	GB	Mazda RX7

[KA]

Class C

No.	Entrant	Sponsor	Driver	Nationality	Car	Notes
60	John Maguire Racing	Volkswagen GB	John Morris	GB	VW Scirocco GTi
66	Richard Longman	Royal Mail Datapost	Alan Curnow	GB	Ford Escort RS1600i
67		Ordibel	Alan Greenhalgh	GB	VW Golf GTi
69	Brooklyn Motorsport		Chris Hodgetts	GB	Ford Escort RS1600i
70	Julian May	Pegasus Mouldings	Jock Robertson	GB	Ford Fiesta 1.6	early rounds until RS1600i was ready
70	Julian May	Pegasus Mouldings	Jock Robertson	GB	Ford Escort RS1600i
72	John Maguire Racing?	Lloyds of Stafford+ Castrol	Rob Hall	GB	Ford Escort RS1600i
74	Abbott Racing	Whitley	Lionel Abbott	GB	Ford Escort RS1600i
77	Richard Longman	Royal Mail Datapost	Richard Longman	GB	Ford Escort RS1600i
78	Roger Dowson	Unipart + Daily Express	Patrick Watts	GB	MG Metro 1300	early rounds until Turbo ready
84	Alfa Romeo Dealer Team	Napolina+Hampshires of Dorking	Andrew Thorpe	GB	Alfa Romeo Alfasud
86	Demon Tweeks Racing		Alan Minshaw	GB	VW Golf GTi
87			Geoff Kimber-Smith	GB	Toyota Corolla GT
100	GTI Engineering		Richard Lloyd	GB	VW Golf GTi	seen at last round only in GTI Engineering's Group A demonstrator/show car- was for sale
?	Alfa Romeo Dealer Team	Napolina	Rob Kirby	GB	Alfa Romeo Alfasud
?	Hughes of Beaconsfield	Toyota GB	Win Percy	GB	Toyota Corolla GT	appeared at the first round as the Supra wasn't ready. Any more?
?			Jenny Birrell	GB	Toyota Corolla GT	DNS at the last round. Car seems to have been the ex-Percy car but was it a Hughes entry?
?			Tony Crudgington	GB	Toyota Corolla GT
?			Andy Driver	GB	Toyota Corolla GT	at least one early-season race (Thruxton)

[KA]

Originally Posted by chunterer

More good points to check KA.

Yes Percy ran the updated '82 Corolla for 2-3 rounds IIRC. I can't remember if the Celica Supra was supposed to have been ready for the first round, or whether it was always scheduled to appear later on?

Found another Performance Car magazine report which sheds a bit more light on the Supra not appearing until a few rounds in- apparently Toyota had some problems homologating the car....

According to PC:

'To qualify as a Group A saloon, sports coupes like the Toyota (and the Ford Capri, Mazda RX7 etc) must meet certain criteria regarding rear seat dimensions among other things. One of these is headroom, measured by placing a dummy 'bum' of a certain profile and weight (dictated by FISA) on the rear seat and measuring the clearance to the headlining'

Sounds pretty straightforward, I hear you say- Oh no, as usual with the administration of Group A touring car regs in the 80's, there had to be a complication- or several....

According to the PC account, a roadgoing Supra was measured in the approved manner by an RAC official who certified to FISA that it met the rules- Job done.....Except that FISA rejected these measurements and insisted they were done again- by the German MSA this time....

So the German MSA measured a Supra, and confirmed it was OK. FISA then asked for the exercise to be repeated a third time - by the Belgian MSA....Toyota sent a Supra to Belgium, the Belgian official measured it, and yes, it was still OK.

Except FISA objected yet again- the measurements apparently had to be done on a brand new car, and the Belgian measurements had been taken from the same Supra used in the German measuring- which had been sent from Germany to Belgium by road, and therefore, according to the geniuses at FISA, was no longer a new car....

Eventually, the Hughes team turned up for the GP meeting at Silverstone, where a FISA official was present to confim the dimensions and rubber-stamp the homologation- There was one more complication- apparently, the rules said:
this measurement can be taken from the perpendicular, up to a 15 degree rearward slope. Now the FISA official couldn't decide whether the minimum dimensions should be exceeded at ANY or ALL points in this 15 degree arc...'

Peformance Car speculated whether FISA made the homologation process so difficult in order to justify the 'extortionate amounts of money they take from manufacturers who wish to compete at an international level with a particular model in return for the neccessary homologation papers'
and commented 'and you thought racing was simple'

[KA]

Recap on what we've got so far....

Round 1- Silverstone. 20 March 1983

Pos

Class

#

Driver

Team/Entrant

Sponsor

Car

Class

Grid

Qual time

Laps

Race Time

Fastest lap

Notes

1

1

4

Steve Soper

TWR

Hepolite

Rover Vitesse

A

2

2

2

Jeff Allam

TWR

Sanyo

Rover Vitesse

A

?

1

?

Win Percy

Hughes

Toyota GB

Toyota Corolla

C

Round 2- Oulton Park 1 April 1983. 20 laps

Pos

Class

#

Driver

Team/Entrant

Sponsor

Car

Class

Grid

Qual time

Laps

Race Time

Fastest lap

Notes

1

1

2

Jeff Allam

TWR

Sanyo

Rover Vitesse

A

20

23m15.70

2

2

3

Peter Lovett

TWR

Sanyo

Rover Vitesse

A

20

23m15.89

3

3

4

Steve Soper

TWR

Hepolite

Rover Vitesse

A

20

23m16.26

4

1

31

Jon Dooley

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo GTV6

B

20

23m46.97

5

4

11

Tony Lanfranchi

CC

GMDS

Opel Monza

A

20

23m54.52

6

2

30

Hamish Irvine

Irvine

Mazda RX7

B

20

24m09.22

7

3

34

Pete Hall

Rouse

ICS

Alfa Romeo GTV6

B

20

24m09.96

8

1

60

John Morris

Maguire

VW Motorsport

VW Scirocco

C

20

24m21.74

9

2

77

Richard Longman

Longman

Datapost

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

19

10

3

72

Rob Hall

Maguire

Lloyds of Stafford

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

19

?

?

10

Charles Sawyer-Hoare

Martin Thomas?

Esso+Daily Mirror

Rover Vitesse

A

?

?

?

Mike Newman

Newman

Ford Capri S

A

?

?

66

Alan Curnow

Longman

Datapost

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

?

67

Alan Greenhalgh

Greenhalgh

Ordibel

VW Golf GTi

C

?

?

?

Rob Kirby

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo Alfasud

C

?

?

69

Chris Hodgetts

Brooklyn

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

?

84

Andrew Thorpe

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo Alfasud

C

?

?

78

Patrick Watts

Dowson

Unipart

MG Metro 1300

C

?

?

74

Lionel Abbott

Abbott

Whitley

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

?

70

Jock Robertson

Julian May

Pegasus

Ford Fiesta 1.6

C

[Jesper OH]

Never heard that story before, KA, but one of those "wonderfull" stories about the administration of motorsport!


For the record group A homologation #5162 was approved of as off 1st August 1983, but that would have been a couple of weeks after the GP event!?

Jesper

[KA]

Round 3- Thruxton. 4 April 1983. 20 laps

Pos

Class

#

Driver

Team/Entrant

Sponsor

Car

Class

Grid

Qual time

Laps

Race Time

Fastest lap

Notes

1

1

3

Peter Lovett

TWR

Sanyo

Rover Vitesse

A

20

30m31.85

2

2

2

Jeff Allam

TWR

Sanyo

Rover Vitesse

A

20

30m32.04

3

3

10

Charles Sawyer-Hoare

Martin Thomas?

Esso+Daily Mirror

Rover Vitesse

A

20

31m06.57

4

1

31

Jon Dooley

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo GTV6

B

20

31m12.56

5

2

30

Hamish Irvine

Irvine

Mazda RX7

B

20

31m17.92

6

4

11

Tony Lanfranchi

CC

GMDS

Opel Monza

A

20

31m25.75

7

5

4

Steve Soper

TWR

Hepolite

Rover Vitesse

A

20

31m32.95

8

3

34

Pete Hall

Rouse

ICS

Alfa Romeo GTV6

B

20

31m53.42

9

1

67

Alan Greenhalgh

Greenhalgh

Ordibel

VW Golf GTi

C

19

10

2

?

Rob Kirby

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo Alfasud

C

19

?

?

60

John Morris

Maguire

VW Motorsport

VW Scirocco

C

?

?

77

Richard Longman

Longman

Datapost

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

?

72

Rob Hall

Maguire

Lloyds of Stafford

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

?

66

Alan Curnow

Longman

Datapost

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

?

86

Alan Minshaw

Minshaw

Demon Tweeks

VW Golf GTi

C

?

?

78

Patrick Watts

Dowson

Unipart

MG Metro 1300

C

?

?

69

Chris Hodgetts

Brooklyn

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

?

84

Andrew Thorpe

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo Alfasud

C

?

?

74

Lionel Abbott

Abbott

Whitley

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

?

70

Jock Robertson

Julian May

Pegasus

Ford Fiesta 1.6

C

?

?

?

Andy Driver

?

?

Toyota Corolla

C

[KA]

Round 4: Brands Hatch, 10 April 1983

Pos

Class

#

Driver

Team/Entrant

Sponsor

Car

Class

Grid

Qual time

Laps

Race Time

Fastest lap

Notes

1

1

?

?

TWR

?

Rover Vitesse

A

Round 5: Thuxton 30 May 1983

Pos

Class

#

Driver

Team/Entrant

Sponsor

Car

Class

Grid

Qual time

Laps

Race Time

Fastest lap

Notes

1

1

3

Peter Lovett

TWR

Sanyo

Rover Vitesse

A

2

2

2

Jeff Allam

TWR

Sanyo

Rover Vitesse

A

3

3

10

Charles Sawyer-Hoare

Martin Thomas?

Esso+Daily Mirror

Rover Vitesse

A

4

1

34

Andy Rouse

Rouse

ICS

Alfa Romeo GTV6

B

5

4

12

Graham Goode

Goode

EBC

Ford Capri S

A

6

2

35

Tony Pond

Dowson

Unipart

MG Metro Turbo

B

7

3

30

Hamish Irvine

Irvine

Mazda RX7

B

8

1

66

Alan Curnow

Longman

Datapost

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

9

5

11

Tony Lanfranchi

CC

GMDS

Opel Monza

A

10

2

77

Richard Longman

Longman

Datapost

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

3

86

Alan Minshaw

Minshaw

Demon Tweeks

VW Golf GTi

C

?

4

69

Chris Hodgetts

Brooklyn

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

5

78

Patrick Watts

Dowson

Unipart

MG Metro 1300

C

?

6

74

Lionel Abbott

Abbott

Whitley

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

[KA]

I think these are the DNFs for Round 5 at Thruxton

Pos

Class

#

Driver

Team/Entrant

Sponsor

Car

Class

Grid

Qual time

Laps

Race Time

Fastest lap

Notes

DNF

DNF

1

Win Percy

Hughes

Toyota GB

Toyota Celica Supra

A

DNF

DNF

84

Andrew Thorpe

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo Alfasud

C

DNF

DNF

?

Rob Kirby

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo Alfasud

C

DNF

DNF

31

Jon Dooley

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo GTV6

B

DNF

DNF

6

Dennis Leech

Leech

Rover Vitesse

A

DNF

DNF

?

Tony Crudgington

?

?

Toyota Corolla

C

DNF

DNF

72

Rob Hall

Maguire

Lloyds of Stafford

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

DNF

DNF

60

John Morris

Maguire

Volkswagen GB

VW Scirocco

C

Round 6: Silverstone, 6 June 1983

Pos

Class

#

Driver

Team/Entrant

Sponsor

Car

Class

Grid

Qual time

Laps

Race Time

Fastest lap

Notes

1

1

?

?

TWR

?

Rover Vitesse

A

[KA]

Round 7: Donington 25 June 1983

Pos

Class

#

Driver

Team/Entrant

Sponsor

Car

Class

Grid

Qual time

Laps

Race Time

Fastest lap

Notes

1

1

3

Peter Lovett

TWR

Sanyo

Rover Vitesse

A

2

2

19

Frank Sytner

Ted Grace?

Sytner BMW

BMW 635CSi

A

3

3

3

11

Tony Lanfranchi

CC

GMDS

Opel Monza

A

4

1

34

Andy Rouse

Rouse

ICS

Alfa Romeo GTV6

B

5

2

35

Tony Pond

Dowson

Unipart

MG Metro Turbo

B

5

6

3

30

Hamish Irvine

Irvine

Mazda RX7

B

7

4

?

Mike Newman

Newman

Ford Capri 3.0S

A

8

5

10

Charles Sawyer-Hoare

Martin Thomas?

Esso+Daily Mirror

Rover Vitesse

A

9

6

6

Dennis Leech

Leech

Rover Vitesse

A

10

1

60

John Morris

Maguire

Volkswagen GB

VW Scirocco

C

?

2

72

Rob Hall

Maguire

Lloyds of Stafford

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

3

86

Alan Minshaw

Minshaw

Demon Tweeks

VW Golf GTi

C

spun out of class lead...

?

4

66

Alan Curnow

Longman

Datapost

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

?

5

?

Rob Kirby

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo Alfasud

C

?

6

74

Lionel Abbott

Abbott

Whitley

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

DNF

DNF

69

Chris Hodgetts

Brooklyn

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

DNF

DNF

12

Graham Goode

Goode

EBC

Ford Capri 3.0S

A

DNF

DNF

77

Richard Longman

Longman

Datapost

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

broken engine mount

DNF

DNF

31

Jon Dooley

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo GTV6

B

Blown engine 2 laps from finish

DNF

DNF

78

Patrick Watts

Dowson

Unipart

MG Metro 1300

C

accident damage- after hit Thorpe Alfasud

DNF

DNF

84

Andrew Thorpe

ARDT

Napolina

Alfa Romeo Alfasud

C

accident-spun & hit by Watts

DNF

DNF

2

Jeff Allam

TWR

Sanyo

Rover Vitesse

A

broken hub

DNS

DNS

4

Steve Soper

TWR

Hepolite

Rover Vitesse

A

4

stopped on green flag lap (according to Performance Car magazine 'in a spectacular cloud of smoke')

DNS

DNS

70

Jock Robertson

Julian May

Pegasus

Ford Escort RS1600i

C

new car troubles

?

?

18

Dave Brodie

BBW

Colt Cars Mid-West

Mitsubishi Starion Turbo

A

?

?

67

Alan Greenhalgh

Greenhalgh

Ordibel

VW Golf GTi

C

Think that's pretty much the complete entry, based on the cars seen in the video of this race posted on www.motorsportmad.com (discussed a few posts back)