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The stature of the British Saloon/Touring Car Championship as seen through Autosport. I have a full set of 1982 and 1987 and most copies from late 1988-2000. In '82 race reports were usually up front spanning 2-3 pages including separate qualifying and race results. By early 1987 this was reduced to reports and results squeezed into a pair of columns, sometimes just before the international second tier series. As the season progressed - as the actual racing proved to be quite good - the reports grew back to the sort of 1982 standard and stature, but is this rightly assumed?
A few thoughts about Brian Chatfield, too. He did have quite a few cars at his disposion, some with a historic record, but that also meant that they were obsolete when he raced them in the BTCC - did he have a money tree or a rich uncle? I remember him from the late 80s/early 90s when he seemed to have specialised in ancient group 2 or 5 BMWs, running in various modified saloon/Thunder Saloon series.
The story of his 1985 GAA engine block in his Capri makes me wonder why he would pull such a stunt, but then again, I don't know the person or his personality - or if that explains his moves.
Jesper
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