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After Round 6 at Silverstone, Austin Rover pulled out of the championship, withdrawing both the Rovers and Metro Turbos from the 1984 series, and repudiating any claim to the 1983 drivers' and manufacturers' titles, won on the track, at least, by Steve Soper.
It's also suggested in a later article that they tried to persuade Pete Hall and Andy Rouse to withdraw the ICS car...
According to Performance Car, the straw that broke the camel's back was the post-race issues with Soper's ETC 'Fleet' car at Thruxton-
PC quoted the ARG press release:
'This car had been examined before the start of the season by the official Group A scrutineer from FISA, and again by him at 3 rounds of the 1984 ETCC. The same car was examined by the Chairman of the RACMSA Technical Commission at the ETC race at Donington Park on April 29 and at a subsequent post-race examination at which the engine was stripped and examined in detail. On all these occasions the car was declared legal.
However, when RACMSA officials, those on whose evidence the 1983 case is based, examined the car at Thruxton, they were unable to pass it as legal. They were also unable or unwilling to state what, if anything, was wrong with it.
In addition, RACMSA officials insisted that Steve Soper accompany his car to the scrutineering bay without stopping at the start/finish line. They also failed to inform circuit officials of the reason for his absence from the start line awards ceremony attended by the series sponsor'
PC described the RAC's handling of this as a 'shameful incident', commenting that 'it is customary for a mechanic to drive the car to the scrutineering bay, freeing the driver to attend the traditional ceremony.Presumably the scrutineer responsible for this incident didn't trust a mechanic with the car (maybe the mechanic was good enough to perform a quick engine change in the 200 yard drive to the scrutineering bay!) and insisted Soper drive it.'
Whatever the rights and wrongs were of the legality of the Rovers, the handling of the affair does look like an utter shambles- the Performance Car article described it as 'the continued bumbling, ineffectual and amateurish administration of the British Saloon Car Championship' and questioned how any manufacturer-backed team, with so much money invested in their programme could do anything but lose patience with it...
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