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25 Apr 2010, 13:32 (Ref:2679351) | #101 | |
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In their Nov '86 issue (the same one as the famous Ayrton Senna rallycar test) Cars & Car Conversions published an article on the decline of the BTCC
The article is headlined 'Not Fade Away: Why was the 1986 RAC British Saloon Car Championhip such a waste of time' and is headed with a pic of the 12-car grid at Donington. There are some interesting quotes from drivers and representatives of teams and sponsors: Andy Rouse felt that the Austin Rover withdrawal in '84 'was the start of the slippery slope; before that the championship was in a reasonably healthy state but people were put off because there was a tarnish to it; manufacturers, for sure were put off' Conversely, Pete Hall felt that the arrival of TWR/Austin Rover was part of the problem 'not because they were doing anything wrong, but because they came well-prepared, they were just too good and started to frighten people away' The sheer cost of Group A was a cause for concern- Richard Longman said' the main cause is a lack of money; it is a terminal disease, the rules are very complicated and you can find yourself with a car that is fashionable for one year- after that the manufacturer would prefer that you didn't race it, then you're stuck with a car that cost 50k to build. The capital cost is too high these days...some of the electronic engine management systems cost 5-6k each. The technical explosion has made running costs ridiculous The handling of the class structure was another issue- Mike Lindsey of Alfa Romeo Dealer Team commented on the dropping of the 1300cc class in the early 80s which excluded a number of cars, followed by reintroducing it for 1986 'when nobody was geared up to do it' Equally, 'In hindsight, I don't think the 3.6-litre upper limit was a good idea either, now we are running to Group A regulations. We should be exactly the same as Europe with no artificial upper limit' There's quite a lot of comment on a lack of commitment and promotion from former sponsor Trimoco, both Mike Lindsey and Pete Hall remarking on the lack of promotion the series recieved- Hall: I am very critical of Trimoco as a sponsor because it made no effort. Compare the company with Uniroyal which deseves the success of the prodsaloon series because it looked at sponsorship as more than just the name on the car- it saw it as an event, brought customers to every race, got the competitors involved and has always taken an interest. The RAC gets quite a rough ride....the failure of the deal for Lucas to sponsor the 1986 series, which led to them jumping ship to back F3, the perceived cutting of corners over the number and length of races, shortage of prize money and even lack of garlands & champagne for class winners- 'The races are being cut and cut, to the stage where we only get 30 minutes practice and a 12 lap race, which is about the same as some of the leading FF1600 series get '(Mike Lindsey, ARDT) 'This year, to a certain extent, the championhip has been downgraded with one-day meetings, just one practice session and 12 lap races, rather like a club event..and at Brands on August Bank Holiday Monday, we were reduced from 40 to 20 laps (Max Churchouse, Datapost) At the Brands GP meeting, Churchouse apparently found himself having to explain to no less than the head of the Post Office why Richard Longman hadn't received a garland for winning Class B.... Communication between the RAC and competitors was apparently poor- for example, the rule requiring a minimum number of starters for full points to be awarded in a class was apparently dropped- but no official notification of this was given to teams. The revived 1300 cc class only saw entries on three occasions, Tony Lanfranchi being the sole starter twice. The article asks if Lanfranchi had started enough (7) races and scored maximum points from them, would the RAC have awarded him the title? One anonymous driver said 'a lot of the blame could be laid squarely at the door of the RAC' and described it as 'a professional championhip run by amateurs' The article ends with an outline of the changes proposed for '87- the new class structure (A-2501+, B-2001-2500, C-1601-2000 and D- up to 1600), the removal of the 3.6 litre limit, an increase to 12 rounds and the expected appointment of a Championship Co-Ordinator Last edited by KA; 25 Apr 2010 at 13:38. |
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25 Apr 2010, 16:22 (Ref:2679420) | #102 | ||
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Interesting points there, KA. This leads to why 1987 was the start of a BTCC revival - sheer determination and persinstance from the competitors?
Jesper |
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11 May 2010, 17:26 (Ref:2688725) | #103 | |||
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Quote:
2) Leech 1m 38.51s 3) Hall 1m 40.69s 4) Lovett 1m 42.08s 5) Newman 1m 42.47s 6) Hodgetts 1m 42.59s 7) Kirby 1m 45.10s 8) Crudington 1m 45.29s 9) Longman 1m 45.32s 10) Barnes 1m 45.72s 11) Curnow 1m 46.29s 12) Taft 1m 46.78s 13) Kimber-Smith 1m 47.40s 14) Hales 2m 07.43s DNA) Brodie DNA) Dooley |
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11 May 2010, 19:02 (Ref:2688782) | #104 | |||
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At Snetterton, Brian Chatfield clocked up a 1m 14.18s, Mike O'Brien got 1m 12.50s and I got nothing on Richard Belcher's time but he clocked up his time on Saturday as he had engine problems on Sunday. |
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12 May 2010, 05:34 (Ref:2689013) | #105 | |||
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Jesper |
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12 May 2010, 16:00 (Ref:2689244) | #106 | |||
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From my own experience, normally MN don't include fastest laptimes but there might be something with class fastest lap times. I will have a look of course, a bit more thoroughly this time! |
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12 May 2010, 18:25 (Ref:2689316) | #107 | |||
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Jesper |
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14 May 2010, 18:08 (Ref:2690500) | #108 | |||
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Quote:
2nd) Jeff Allam (1m 37.41s) 3rd) Dave Brodie (1m 37.74s) 4th) Andy Rouse (1m 38.46s) 5th) Neil McGrath (1m 39.05s) 6th) David Sears (1m 39.59s) Richard Longman Ford (Class B pole) Mike Newman Mark Hales Chris Hodgetts (Class C pole) Jon Dovley Tony Crudington (1m 44.85s) 21st) Mikael Sundstrom Peugeot 205 GTi (1m 46.99s) (Circuit debut!) James Kaye (1m 51.77s) Class D pole Tony Lanfranchi (the only other Class D runner) Brian Chatfield (went to the back of the grid as he was 33kg underweight) Richard Belcher (back of the grid because he couldn't do 3 qualifying laps due to mechanical problems) David Grimshaw (at the back because of fuel leak at the start of qualifying) Martin Carroll Dennis Leech Those drivers are only mentioned in the order of the qualifying article of the MN newspaper. In the results, it states that Kirby, Pearcy, Minshaw, Simsey, Saunders, Curnow, Gibson, Pownall and Davidson have taken part in the race but nothing in the qualifying results. There is nothing at all about Mike Smith and Chris Maries turning up at Brands Hatch. Barry Williams was supposed to race in the David Sears Toyota Supra but Sears pulled him out at the last minute. Regarding about Mike Smith, he raced his Uniroyal Production saloon Ilford Escort RS Turbo on the previous Sunday at the same circuit and driven into Tim Harvey as the latter slowed after black flags was shown after a melee at Paddock Hill Bend on the first lap. He decided to withdraw his car after deciding that he don't want to race with a black mark hanging over his name. |
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14 May 2010, 18:25 (Ref:2690511) | #109 | |||
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Quote:
Rick Shortle 1m 01.26s (His time was already within the lap record for the Escorts set by John Watson) Stuart Cole The rest of the instructors (Chris Cresswell, Pete Rogers, Peter Argetsinger and Ben Edwards) was within a few tenths of each other. Lucy King (penultimate qualifier) Peter King (stumbled out from Ronnie Scott's nightclub and went straight into qualifying!) 1m 03.53s |
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14 May 2010, 18:27 (Ref:2690512) | #110 | |||
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Quote:
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16 May 2010, 14:10 (Ref:2691535) | #111 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quote:
In the 'Pit & Paddock' pages of Autosport there's a pic of the Brodie Starion, which confirms my vague memory that he ran here with a slogan supporting boxer Frank Bruno. The report is headlined 'Prizefighter Brodie' and says 'Dave Brodie returned to the British Group A scene last Sunday with a beautifully prepared BBW Colt Starion Turbo. 'The Brode' attracted a lot of attention for his 'Bruno for Champ' signwriting, although actual backing was more forthcoming from Mobil and a couple of other companied. 'I'd love to do more of the series' said Brodie afterwards 'but that really depends on obtaining further sponsorship- and Mitsubishi's reaction of course' The car carried sponsorship from Mobil 1 and Armstrong World Industries There's also a report in 'Sports Extra' of Martin Carroll's prodsaloon Mercedes 190: 'Martin Carroll was present at the GP meeting with his prodsaloon Mercedes 190-16 for the RAC British Saloon Car Championship race. However, sponsor Servis was no longer in evidence, replaced by Burlington Air Express, a large air freight company in the States. Burlington livery will probably appear for the rest of the season. However, Carroll's race lasted just one lap before he pulled off at Graham Hill, the gearbox broken' The pic shows the car carrying 'Burlington' and Carrolls Transport sponsorship with race number #36.According to the actual race report, he'd hoped to upgrade the car to Group A, but had been unable to obtain a proper Group A engine- available supplies of Gp A Merc engines having been diverted to the Nurburgring ETC round the same weekend. There was a slightly nostalgic look to a couple of entries down the grid- Colin Pearcy's Metro turbo still in original works 'Computervision' colours, and Nick Sismey's ex-Jon Dooley Alfasud still in ARDT/Napolina colours Last edited by KA; 16 May 2010 at 14:21. |
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16 May 2010, 14:38 (Ref:2691559) | #112 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Added qualifying times....
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17 May 2010, 19:06 (Ref:2692766) | #113 | ||
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I have decided to scan the BTCC results so it would save me time!
R1 - Silverstone: R2 - Thruxton: R3 - Silverstone: R4 - Donington Park: R5 - Brands Hatch: R6 - Snetterton: R7 - Brands Hatch: R8 - Donington Park: R9 - Silverstone: R9: Silverstone (5 October) incomplete grid 1) Rouse 1m 36.56s 2) Leech 3) O'Brien 4) Hall 5) Brodie Class B pole: Longman 1m 40.45s ?) Newman ?) Hales I will complete the rest of the grid a bit later as I need to have my dinner! Dave Brodie entered into the season at the Brands Hatch GP support race so he may not be eligable for points as he didn't take part at the start of the season? |
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20 May 2010, 14:15 (Ref:2694767) | #114 | |
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Brilliant!!- I think that fills in quite a lot of the gaps. We're still short of some qualifying times, but as you suggested a few posts back, MN didn't always print full details of these in 1986....
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22 May 2010, 11:08 (Ref:2695897) | #115 | ||
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I got the afternoon free as the missus and kid are out to town today.
So I will have a look into it in a minute! |
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24 May 2010, 11:50 (Ref:2697095) | #116 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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To try and tidy up a few loose ends, I'm pulling together the entry lists across the season, to see if we can fill in gaps of race numbers, teams, sponsors etc.
1986's runners and riders...the list is fairly huge bearing in mind that only a dozen cars turned out for many races- a lot of these were one-offs, or only did a couple of races...
Class B to follow... |
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24 May 2010, 12:09 (Ref:2697110) | #117 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Class B
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24 May 2010, 12:33 (Ref:2697133) | #118 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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C, D & XR3i
Class C
Class D
Escort XR3i- August Brands meeting only
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24 May 2010, 17:41 (Ref:2697342) | #119 | ||
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I believe Brodie was sponsored by Philips Car Stereo or something like that at Silverstone. I will dig up my newspapers to confirm soon.
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24 May 2010, 18:25 (Ref:2697363) | #120 | |
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24 May 2010, 18:42 (Ref:2697375) | #121 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quote:
On to the next round! |
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24 May 2010, 20:12 (Ref:2697435) | #122 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quote:
Tony Crudington did not make the race in his Clausthaler-backed Toyota Corolla as he crashed at Kimpton Bend and damaged his right rear during the 2nd time session so you can add him into the table (don't know how to do that!) Longman was running low on fuel and had to peel off into the pits. Also he and Curnow was having problems as their Escorts kept cutting out around the circuit, so that explains why Kirby had a good day at the time. Rouse spun at Church on the 4th lap and he set a fightback afterwards. Now, next round soon! Last edited by bigears; 24 May 2010 at 20:30. |
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24 May 2010, 21:15 (Ref:2697484) | #123 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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One thing, what is the "cat" column means? |
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24 May 2010, 21:30 (Ref:2697493) | #124 | ||
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25 May 2010, 18:52 (Ref:2698099) | #125 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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