Good thread!! Good to have your contributions 'MG Rover Sport.'
I guess as we're talking about the Group A cars we'll leave the earlier Grp 1 Austin Metro's aside shall we?
From memory the first MG Metro was pedalled by Patrick Watts and in the 1983 BTCC.
The Dowson Turbos came out later in the year sponsored by Daily Express/Esso and pedalled by Tony Pond and Robin Brundle with Watts continuing in the normally aspirated car?
In 1984 There were the 2 Computervision Turbos for Watts and Brundle and a 3rd Klaxon backed car for Paul Taft. It was such a shame that ARG withdrew from the series in both Class A with the Vitesses and Class B wth these fabulous little cars.
They were still being developed overall but there were some great scraps with the Alfas and Graham Goode's Nissan!
There was also as you say one or 2 German cars entered in the German series, one for Hahne, but I don't know the identity of the second driver?
How the next couple of seasons in Britain would have been so different had they carried on!! Continually developing Rovers against the oncoming Turbo onslaught in Class A and the Metros against the Nissan, Alfa and probably Escort Turbos in Class B...
I remember reading the Metros were trickly cars to get to run properly so that's probably a reason why we never really saw one run competitively in privateer hands? Although it was nice to see that Soper outing at the beginning of '85 (purpose still not yet sure about??) and Colin Pearcey wheeling his ex Computervision car out a couple of season later.