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26 Jan 2010, 23:04 (Ref:2620017) | #1 | ||
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1990 Esso RAC British Touring Car Championship - Discussion and results
The final year of Group A (above 3000 cc) and what would become the 1990s Super Touring 2 litre cars in their first year.
Opened on request, but if there's some burning information out there, please enter. Jesper |
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27 Jan 2010, 09:55 (Ref:2620202) | #2 | |
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Jesper- I've got most of the results for 1990, though a few are partial, so I could kick that one off later- don't have time now
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27 Jan 2010, 20:10 (Ref:2620546) | #3 | |
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As 1989 is well under way, and Jesper has started the thread, I'll get this one rolling. I'll post some results later tonight, but for now I'll do a quick overview of the season entry
As Jesper said, 1990 was the first stage of transition from Group A to the new 2-litre regs that became Supertouring. The 'big' class over 3000cc Group A cars stayed for one final fling, but the remaining three classes were swept away to be replaced by a single new 2-litre class. At this stage, the cars looked very much like their Group A predecessors- in fact, some of the M3s would have been existing cars converted to the new engine regs. Class A- All RS500 this year- the Maserati project having been abandoned at the end of '89. The Sierras were fewer in number this year, but the 'big four' teams, Rouse, Trakstar, Graham Goode, and the Rouse-run Team Labatt's were still present with a pair of cars each. The Kaliber sponsorship deal had ended, and Rouse was back in ICS colours. Team-mate would be Sean Walker, moving over from running a third Goode car, and bringing his regular FAI Automotive sponsorship Graham Goode reverted to running just a pair of cars, otherwise nothing else changed- Goode and Mike Newman, with Listerine sponsorship again in what would turn out to be the final BTCC season as drivers for both- Mike missing several races mid-season, and Andy Middlehurst stepping in for one of them. The Bristow/Harvey/Team Labatt's combination continued unchanged, apart from a new paintjob, the cars carrying a prominent 'Don't Drink & Drive' message Trakstar also continued with the same driver pairing- Gravett and Smith, but the cars would look very different to 1989. The Cartel/NEC backing from '89 had gone- and there was no title sponsor to replace it. Robb Gravett starting the season in a pristine white (a new car I think?) RS500, with only a few Shell decals. Smith wouldn't appear until round 2- and then his car wore the previous year's red and white paintscheme, but with no more sponsorship than Robb's. Moreover, for his debut at the Donington 1-hour race, Mike was sharing with Graham Hathaway- the car's new owner. Hathaway would continue to run the ex-Trakstar car himself, but the next time we'd see Smith in an RS500 would be Silverstone- in July...This was a far cry from 1989's well-funded effort, with various one-off sponsors appearing from time to time- Qubie Computers,Champion, Dianetics...Ford Credit stepped in late season. Fortunately, although the team's finances were uncertain, the car was as effective as it had been in '89 That was it for regular Sierras- Graham Hathaway did about half a season in his ex-Trakstar car, as did Dennis Leech in his new RS500 (sadly in plain white, rather than the distinctive black and dayglo orange of his Rover) The others the others were occasional visitors, only doing a few races. Dave Brodie did a few rounds in the second half of the year, ), Italian Amato Ferrari visited a couple of times with a car run by F3000 team Crypton Engineering, and Stuart Donnan appeared once |
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27 Jan 2010, 20:35 (Ref:2620565) | #4 | |
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To some extent, the 'brave new world' of the 2-litre class didn't look much different to the old, with lots of BMW M3s
Prodrive were back with a pair of cars, the team led by Frank Sytner. There was a big change in the other car though- James Weaver replaced by a trio of youngsters from single-seater backgrounds- Kurt Luby, Kelvin Burt and Tim Sugden The M3 proved a popular choice for the 2-litre privateer. BMW dealers Godfrey Hall, John Clark and Nick Whale joined forces to run a trio of cars under the Pyramid Motorsport banner. Ian Forrest returned, as part of a two-car Ecosse Motorsport effort. The second car would be handled by several different drivers, Hugh Chalmers being the most regular occupant, but rallyman Jimmy McRae appeared a few times Jerry Mahony stepped down from the Sierra class to drive BRR Motorsports M3 in Arquati colours, but quit about halfway through the season- Ian Flux would take the car over at the end of the year. Nettan Lindgren continued to make the trip from Sweden, doing most of the season Not all of the BMWs were M3s though- Techspeed fielded a 318iS for Nick Baird, but never quite got to grips with it. There were new cars other than BMWs though... Reigning champions John Cleland and Vauxhall were back, the successful Astras replaced by a Cavalier GSi built to the new rules. A second car appeared from time to time, (including some unsuccessful experiments with rwd). Chris Hodgetts was the most regular pilot, but Bob Berridge, Markus Oestreich all had at least one appearance, as did a young Formula Vauxhall Lotus driver by the name of David Coulthard. His immediate future wasn't going to be the BTCC though... Andy Rouse stuck with Ford for his first try at the new regs, with a 4-door Sierra Sapphire for ex-sportscar racer Ray Bellm. The car proved troublesome, and a disillusioned Bellm quit before the end of the year, having missed a number of races. Chris Hodgetts had a couple of runs in the car at the end of the season Mitsubishi were back, with a non-turbo Starion for journalist & racer Mark Hales. Sponsorship and tyres came from Firestone, though at the start of the year, not all would be as it seemed in the tyre department.... After his success with the Honda Civic the previous year, Ray Armes was back with a new Trakstar-run 4-door Civic, again with PG Tags sponsorship. The car would prove much less successful though, firmly rooted to the foot of the timesheets all season, not helped by engine development delays forcing them to use the 1600cc engine from the original car in the early races.... Finally, privateer Jeff Wilson went the Vauxhall route- not a Cavalier though, but the Astra-based 4-door Belmont saloon. It was a low-budget effort, and off-the-pace when it finally appeared at the end of the year The calendar was pretty much as before, although the early-season Donington 1-hour/2-driver race would be joined by a second one at Brands later in the year First results to follow later |
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28 Jan 2010, 09:46 (Ref:2620869) | #5 | |||
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Incognito: An Italian phrase meaning Nice Gearchange! |
28 Jan 2010, 11:48 (Ref:2620947) | #6 | |
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Thanks- I'd completely forgotten about that! Now you mention it, I half-remember the bit about Brodie's comments- wasn't it from a bit of pre-race interview for the BBC, something like 'We've got Mad Mike Newman on the front row, so anything could happen?'
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28 Jan 2010, 12:02 (Ref:2620954) | #7 | ||
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That's right KA. I can't remember it word-for-word, but something very close to what you remember I'm sure.
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27 Jan 2010, 20:38 (Ref:2620569) | #8 | ||
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Graham Hathway entered his Ford Sierra RS500 for the Birmingham round but never took part in the qualifying sessions.
Same goes to Ray Bellm with his Ford Sierra Sapphire and Jerry Mahony with his BMW M3. |
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27 Jan 2010, 21:00 (Ref:2620580) | #9 | ||
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Thank you, KA, for a very proper introduction.
I have to add the presence of Vic Lee as an entrant of a converted Bigazzi Group A BMW M3 for BTCC returnee Jeff Allam, who would be one of the leading lights of the season. Like your description of the Mitsubishi tyre deal ..and early rubber situation Jesper |
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27 Jan 2010, 22:38 (Ref:2620652) | #10 | ||
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Quote:
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27 Jan 2010, 23:07 (Ref:2620671) | #11 | ||
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28 Jan 2010, 00:16 (Ref:2620696) | #12 | |
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30 Jan 2010, 21:47 (Ref:2622501) | #13 | ||
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I got a copy of the official qualifying times at the Birmingham Superprix and I put it together with some notes from Autosport and Motoring News. No official race results yet but hopefully I will get it soon.
I don't know how to use code to edit Jesper's posts but I have put up an Excel file of the 1990 BTCC details from the Superprix so perhaps someone can put up the edited details into Jesper's post of the BSP results and grid. 1990_BSP_BTCC.xls |
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31 Jan 2010, 13:55 (Ref:2622801) | #14 | ||
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I was searching around for pictures of the Labatt's cars and had a nice little find:
http://www.btccaction.co.uk/results/1990/rd1.php The results only seem to be accessible through the "Select Result" dropdown box (selecting 1990 doesn't work), but the site has results from every round! No qualifying times, but full fastest laps data. A quick shifty through the forum suggests that the results might have come from Autosport. |
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31 Jan 2010, 14:42 (Ref:2622835) | #15 | |||
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Quote:
Jesper |
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16 Feb 2010, 21:50 (Ref:2634638) | #16 | ||
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Im working on digitising the 1990 season from old videos I have but it takes time. Im currently working on the 1989 season so patience is the watch word !
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16 Feb 2010, 22:32 (Ref:2634658) | #17 | ||
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WHat kinds of video do you have?
I only got the 1989 and 1990 BTCC season reviews at the moment. |
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17 Feb 2010, 10:08 (Ref:2634863) | #18 | ||
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THere was a protest about oversized fuel tanks. I got the AUtosport magazine that covered the race. I need to boot up my scanner at some point soon.
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17 Feb 2010, 11:47 (Ref:2634921) | #19 | |||
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I'm pretty sure that both cars had the fuel systems sealed and were checked at a later date (some problem with the calibration of the equipment at Brands if I remember correctly), and I think both cars were declared legal. |
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17 Feb 2010, 22:39 (Ref:2635233) | #20 | ||
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In response to an earlier question from Bigears, I have the whole 1990 season on tape from the half hour Grandstand shows. I also have the 1989, some of the 1988 and some of the 1991, Ive since found a video of the Tooheys 1000 from around that era too.
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22 Feb 2010, 17:50 (Ref:2638422) | #21 | ||
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No mention of Mahony with his DNA in the Birmingham round?
I am not disputing anything, just wondering you know! |
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22 Feb 2010, 18:23 (Ref:2638447) | #22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Round 10 - Birmingham street circuit, 27th August 1990, 18 laps. Race supporting the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship
Jesper |
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22 Feb 2010, 19:19 (Ref:2638496) | #23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Round 11 – Donington Park, 16th September 1990, 15 laps
The victory secured Robb Gravett the class A title for 1990. Jeff Wilson turned up with a newly build Vauxhall Bellmont. Build by Brian Holliday of HWR Racing with help from Andy Barton. Engine by Bruce Stevens of Merlin Developments. Sponsorship from Bristol Street Motors (Sunderland), Auto Coachworks and Valvoline. All this ended with an oil leak and withdrawn. Jim McGaughay driving the car usually driven by Hugh Chalmers. Ray Bellm packed up after loosing an engine only to discover the replacement was no good either. Graham Goode had found a set of 2 year old Yokohama tyres. From the news September 6 1990 The Pyramid M3s will race on Yokohama tyres for the rest of the season. September 13 1990 Ian Flux has been testing the BRR BMW M3 Jesper |
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22 Feb 2010, 20:14 (Ref:2638525) | #24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Round 12 – Thruxton, 23rd September 1990, 20 laps
Robb Gravett secured the overall title with this result. Nettan Lindgren won class B. Has any female driver repeated this feat in the variety of privateer cups or +production specification cars that has been part of the BTCC since 1990? German Markus Oestreich imported from the DTM to drive the second Vauxhall Cavalier. By this point his usual mount was an Irmscher prepared Opel Omega 3.0 24V Chuck Nicholson returning to the BTCC. His latest previous race was at Oulton Park in early 1987 driving a Chris Hodgetts Corolla. Jesper |
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22 Feb 2010, 21:10 (Ref:2638582) | #25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Round 13 – Silverstone National Circuit, 7th October 1990, 25 laps
Since the Donington Park race on September 20 1987 till this race the Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth has won every single round of the BTCC – 41 straight victories (42 class victories adding the Graham Goode's success at Donington Park on August 16 1987). The end of an era - and another one already on it's way. Jesper |
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1990, bmw m3, btcc, ford sierra rs500, group a, super touring, vauxhall cavalier |
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