1988 Dunlop RAC British Touring Car Championship - Discussion & Results

[Jesper OH]

1988 Dunlop RAC British Touring Car Championship – unofficial standings

Class C (1601-2000 cc)

Pos.	Driver	Points	R01	R02	R03	R04	R05	R06	R07	R08	R09	R10	R11	R12	R13
1.	James Shead	31	DNS	-	6	5*	[2]1*	[1]*	4	5*	[2]	DNS	DNS	6	4
2.	Andrew Jeffrey	27	-	DNF	[3]	DNS	-	DNS	7*	6	5*	5*	DNS	4	DNF
3.	John Brindley	9	-	-	5*	DNF	4	DNS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4.	Alan Minshaw	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	DNS	DNF1*	7*
5.	John Morris	5	-	-	-	5*	-	-	-	DNS	-	-	-	-	-
6.	Andy Middlehurst	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
6.	Martin Wray	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-
8.	James Kaye	1	[1]*	DNF1*	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NC	John Llewellyn	0	-	-	-	DNF	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NC	John Clark	0	-	-	-	DNS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Legend:
9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points for top-6 positions
* indicates bonus point for fastest race lap
[] indicates position outside top-6 in class
DNF did not finish
DNS did not start
Best 11 from 12 or 13 rounds to be counted

It seems that two starting drivers only paid 4 points for the class winner while runner up spot received nothing. According to the Autosport review Andrew Jeffrey didn't receive points for third in class at the Thruxton third round.
At round 7 at Silverstone Jeffrey received the bonus point for fastest lap despite Andy Middlehurst being the faster!
Both Shead and Jeffrey entered the final with 27 points. Who finished the best in the Silverstone finals would also take class C.

Jesper

[Jesper OH]

1988 Dunlop RAC British Touring Car Championship – unofficial standings

Class D (Under 1600 cc)

Pos.	Driver	Points	R01	R02	R03	R04	R05	R06	R07	R08	R09	R10	R11	R12	R13
1.	Phil Dowsett	98 (102)	10*	10*	4	6	7*	5*	10*	10*	10*	10*	DNS	10*	10*
2.	Tony Crudgington	35	6	-	7*	3	4	[2]	DNF	DNF	6	6	DNS	DNF	3
3.	Geoff Kimber-Smith	23	-	4	DNS	9	DNF	DNS	4	-	-	DNF	DNS	6	DNF
4.	John Llewellyn	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	DNF	4	4	4	DNS	4	4
5.	Barbara Cowell	17	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	6	DNF	DNF	DNS	-	2
6.	Mark Hales	8	-	6	-	2	-	DNS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6.	Kevin Eaton	8	DNF	3	-	5*	-	DNS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8.	Mark Goddard	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	DNF	DNF	-	-	-	-	6
8.	Tiff Needell	6	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8.	David Loudon	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-
11.	Alex Moss	5	-	-	-	5*	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12.	Richard Belcher	4	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13.	Vic Lee	3	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13.	Alastair Davidson	3	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13.	Jeremy Rossiter	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
16.	Patrick Watts	2	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NC	Nick Whale	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	DNS	-	-

Legend:
9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points for top-6 positions
* indicates bonus point for fastest race lap
[] indicates position outside top-6 in class
DNF did not finish
DNS did not start
Best 11 from 12 or 13 rounds to be counted

From a points table send to me Barbara Cowell, Dave Loudon, Mark Goddard and Jeremy Rossiter was not eligeble for points.

Tony Crudgington who had been somewhat anonymous the previous years, finally came good in 1988, while Geoff Kimber-Smith couldn't maitain his fine 1987 form.

Jesper

[Jesper OH]

Originally Posted by Tim Wilkinson

Fastest laps - weather was drizzly for the race, so times were slower than qualifying
Class A - Bristow 1m45.91s
Class B - Sytner 1m49.09s
Class C - Kaye 1m57.68s
Class D - Dowsett 1m53.93s

Race had originally been scheduled for 16 laps, then upped to 20. Eventually ran over 17 (47.07miles), as William said, because of the Minshaw crash. There was a bit of contention about that "accident".

Grid (3-2-3) - I would assume that pole at Oulton was on the right rather than the the left
3 - Bristow, 2 - Mahony, 1 - Rouse (A pole - 1m41.67)
5 - P Hall, 4 - Goode
8 Sands, 7 G Hall, 6 - Sytner (B pole - 1m44.90s),
10 - ?, 9 Newman ,
13 Minshaw, 12 Harvey, 11 Jones
15 O'Brien 14 Hodgetts,
18 Smith 17 Hathaway, 16 Buxtorf,
20 Hales, 19 Dowsett (D pole 1m50.39s)
23 Eaton, 22 Kimber-Smith, 21 Wallis
25 Kaye, 24 Jeffrey (C pole 1m56.11s)
26 Wiffen



James Weaver deputised for Smitty in testing and a practice session, due to Mike's broadcasting commitments - this might account for the missing number 10 slot on the grid, which could shift the rest of the grid around. Maybe there's more info on the video? I have it, but don't have a VHS player any more!

Other info - The two Golfs are both ex-Tarmac rally cars. Mike O'Brien was still in the VL Commodore as the evoultion engine hadn't turned up from Australia. Andy Rouse won AT Oulton on Friday, and then also won the first round of the French championship at Nogaro. Pete Hall retired, both from the race, and from racing due to work pressures.

I am looking at grid positions race-by-race and don't think the missing 10th at the 1988 round 2 at Oulton Park. Tim suggest that James Weaver recorded the 10th fastest time only to hand it over to Mike Smith, who started in a lowly 18th.

Jesper

[Jesper OH]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

Time for the 1988 season. Information gathered from mainly late 1988 Autosport magazines including their most valuable seasonal review, a few YouTube clips, a points chart I was mailed some time ago and various pictures to be found around the net and not least other threaths on ten-tenths and TNF. I'm looking forward to your contributions - they're needed - but should make for some time well spend.

1988 Dunlop RAC British Touring Car Championship intro
Same class structure as in 1987:
Class A: above 3000 cc
Class B: 2001-3000 cc
Class C: 1601-2000 cc
Class D: under 1600 cc

Points for the top-6 in each class according to 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points with an additional point for fastest lap in the race.
With three starters: 6, 4, 0 points for top-3 positions with an additional point for fastest lap in the race
With two starters: 4, 0 points for top-2 positions with an additional point for fastest lap in the race
With one starter: 0 points and no points for fastest lap in the race

Late in 1987 it was announced that highlights of six races would be transmitted by the BBC, while Ford announced a bonus for top-3 overall results by Ford drivers with £15,000 for first, £10,000 for second and £5,000 for third – can't find my reference for the Ford-part, though.

13 races on the schedule, but ended on 12 with the cancellation of the Birmingham round.

Jesper

Seing that this was the first 1988 post, post #193 on page 13, I would suggest to start a separet thread for the 1989 season when it's time for that. As it is there's still a lot of minor loose ends for 1988 to stop here. Was it Tim who suggested to gather all the info on a web-site? Have been thinking of that in connection with looking for all kind of Group A racing for a far flong book project.

Jesper

[Jesper OH]

As promised I will re-run the results as they are updated when the 1988 season are completed ..as it seems to have happened, now. I'm looking for qualifying times, fastest lap times and elapsed times - and the ever fickle notion on who signed for the entry! I only recently learned that you had to have a license to enter as well as a license to drive.

Round 1 of 13 of the 1988 Dunlop RAC British Touring Car Championship held on Sunday March 27 1988 held over 25 laps on the 2.587 kms Silverstone (Club?) circuit.

pos.	#	Driver	Entrant [*owner]	Cat.	Car	Grid	Q-time	FL-time	Laps/time	notes
1.	8	Jerry Mahony	Arquati UK Limited [Roger Dowson]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	2.			25/25:02.12	only BTCC victory
2.	14	Mike Newman	Burlington Wall Coverings Limited [Graham Goode]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	9.			25/25:06.20
3.	17	Bob Sands	Crystal Facilities Limited [Pete Clarke+David Cook]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	6.			25/25:16.57
4.	33	Frank Sytner	BMW Finance Racing with Mobil 1 [David Richards]	B	BMW M3	8.	0:59.71	1:00.07	25/25:32.38	Class winner
5.	32	Mike Smith	BMW Finance Racing with Mobil 1 [David Richards]	B	BMW M3	12.			25/25:36.35
6.	43	Godfrey Hall	Godfrey Hall Limited [John Maguire]	B	BMW M3	10.			25/25:37.07
7.	44	Alan Minshaw	Alan Minshaw [Alan Minshaw]	B	BMW M3	14.			25/25:54.60
8.	1	Chris Hodgetts	Shell-Toyota-MIL [Alex Moss]	A	Toyota Supra Turbo	13.			24/no info
9.	27	Peter Buxtorf (CH)	no info [Peter Buxtorf]	A	BMW 635CSi	15.			24/no info
10.	70	Phil Dowsett	TOM'S GB Limited [John Wickham]	D	Toyota Corolla FX/GT	17.	1:04.42	1:04.07	23/no info	Class winner
11.	63	Tony Crudgington	Tony Crudgington [Tony Crudgington]	D	Toyota Corolla GT	18.			23/no info
12.	38	Dave Wallis	Terry Drury Racing [Terry Drury]	B	Ford Escort RS Turbo	21.			23/no info
13.	39	Lionel Wiffen	Terry Drury Racing [Terry Drury]	B	Ford Escort RS Turbo	24.			23/no info
14.	?	Richard Belcher	AJG Transport? [Alan Gaunt?]D	Ford Escort RS1600i	19.			22?/no info
15.	50	James Kaye	Demon Tweeks [Alan Minshaw]	C	VW Golf GTI 16V	23.		1:07.41	23?/no info	Class winner
16.	22	Andy Rouse	Kaliber Ford [Andy Rouse]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	1.	0:57.86	0:57.78	21/no info
DNF	5	Tim Harvey	Terry Drury Racing [Terry Drury]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	11.			12/no info	Gearbox
DNF	15	Graham Goode	Listerine-Texaco Racing [Graham Goode]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	3.			6/no info	Turbo hose
DNF	20	Graham Hathaway	Soans-Ford Dealers [Graham Hathaway]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	16.			6/no info	Engine
DNF	10	Pete Hall	Industrial Control Services plc [Andy Rouse]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	5.			4/no info	Differential
DNF	69	Kevin Eaton	MIL Motorsport [Alex Moss]	D	Toyota Corolla GT	22.			4/no info	Puncture
DNF	7	Mike O'Brien	Autoglass [Alan Docking]	A	Holden Commodore VL	7.			2/no info	Puncture
DNF	19	Laurence Bristow	Baynard Cars Limited [Andy Rouse]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	4.			0/0:00.00	Accident
DNS	55	James Shead	John Maguire Racing-David Sutton Motorsport [John Maguire]	C	VW Golf GTI 16V	20.	1:06.77			Engine
DNA	16	Karl Jones	Duckhams Racing with Karl Jones [Richard Asquith]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth					Delivery of rims
DNA	77	Geoff Kimber-Smith	AJK Motorsport [Geoff Kimber-Smith]	D	Toyota Corolla GT					Handling

- James Kaye supposed to be in his Production Saloon 16V, as the Group A car blew on the dyno, According to Tim Wilkinson. Was this still an Alan Minshaw/Demon Tweeks Golf? Minshaw should have had such a car left over from the '87 season. As the only starter in class C though, Kaye scored a big ZERO in points.
- Where is the #21 Kaliber Ford of Guy Edwards? Only discovered this when I discovered that Andy Rouse's 16th overall was the best result of the ARE team, Hall and Bristow retiring.

[*owner]: either explains the owner of the car, the team or management of the entrant. Escentially, who was responsible on a hands-on lewel.

Jesper

[Tim Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Tim Wilkinson

March -

24th - Gravett was also linked to an ARE Kaliber drive which instead goes to Guy Edwards, starting at round 3, with both Edwards and Rouse using Pirellis [see February 4th]. Edwards didn't seem to have been looking for a drive, instead concentrating on his sponsorship finding business.

Qualifying times are in Autosport. When I get round to scanning again I'll do them and email them to you.

[Jesper OH]

Originally Posted by Tim Wilkinson

Yes, it disappeared mid-season, and was up for sale for the latter part of the year. Ad says 4 events from new - it was built new for '88, and had a Rouse engine and suspension.

I think it reappeared in '89 as the first JQF/Fina car for Gerrit van Kouwen (before they brought out the "active" car mid-season) and also reappeared in '90 for a handful of outings with Stuart Donnan, before he Thundersaloon-ed it.


Other info for round 1 - Karl Jones was supposed to be there in the Asquith RS500, but a dock strike stopped some wheels arriving, and the team didn't think the car would be competitive on what it had (16s, as Avon tyres wouldn't fit the 17s they had) so they delayed until round 2 at Oulton. Geoff Kimber-Smith didn't have his Corolla ready in time - suspension issues.



Mike O'Brien was planning to debut an updated ex-Brock VL-SS Commodore at round 2.

Regarding the CC-RS500 of Bob Sands: Found the add in Autosport 13 October 1988 with phone number 0751 31867 for either Pete Clark or Paddy Gibson, but no David Cook. £80,000 for the car. Does this indicate that the Clarke/Cook relation was ended by then? ..and might have ended Sands' season as well?

On the same pages the Bristow/CAM Shipping/Rouse RS500 is for sale, Bristow the contact, Chris Hodgetts has two Corollas on offer while John Maguire has the class C winning +200 bhp David Sutton build Golf for sale among an Ecosse C2 car.

O'Brien already had the ex-Brock VL for round 1 as a replacement of his '87 Les Small VK by round 1?

Missed it on a first glance but there's also a Prodrive-built 1988 BMW M3 Evolution for sale by Paul Crumlish of Woodner Racing (Tel: 1-202-483-6569), if that is of any help? Graham Hathaway has a production saloon Cosworth with a 120 liter tank (Willhire 24/25 car?)! for sale as well.

Jesper

[chunterer]

Dave Cook had already been running his own cars under the DCRS title in 1985in Thundersaloons (Woodman's Capri, then the Senator/Commodore), so CC may well have continued minus Dave either that or Pete Clark had decided to 'come back' after a couple of year break.

Mike O'Brien didn't run the VK in 1988, he was in the VL from his first appearance on the Silverstone Club circuit.

[Jesper OH]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Dave Cook had already been running his own cars under the DCRS title in 1985in Thundersaloons (Woodman's Capri, then the Senator/Commodore), so CC may well have continued minus Dave either that or Pete Clark had decided to 'come back' after a couple of year break.

Mike O'Brien didn't run the VK in 1988, he was in the VL from his first appearance on the Silverstone Club circuit.

Thinking about opening a "Teams thread" for clarifying people and locations and this contribution will be most helpfull.

Thank you for confirming the VL and the club circuit.

Jesper

[KA]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

On the same pages the Bristow/CAM Shipping/Rouse RS500 is for sale, Bristow the contact, Chris Hodgetts has two Corollas on offer while John Maguire has the class C winning +200 bhp David Sutton build Golf for sale among an Ecosse C2 car.

Slightly O/T- John Maguire having the C2 Ecosse for sale as well as the James Shead Golf is probably no coincidence-presumably the car that Maguire ran for Shead's father Don Shead in the British C2 series
http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...-03-27-011.jpg

[Jesper OH]

Originally Posted by KA

Slightly O/T- John Maguire having the C2 Ecosse for sale as well as the James Shead Golf is probably no coincidence-presumably the car that Maguire ran for Shead's father Don Shead in the British C2 series
http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...-03-27-011.jpg

..and good friend of Andy Rouse, David Sears, it seems!

Jesper

[KA]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

..and good friend of Andy Rouse, David Sears, it seems!

Jesper

Yes- the Shead Ecosse only appeared a handful of times I think, but Sears and David Leslie both drove it.

Interesting that Sears had links with both the Rouse and Maguire teams- although he more often appeared in Rouse cars, he'd also driven the Tim Harvey/Istel Rover at the '87 TT.

Slightly O/T- After his season in the Golf, James Shead moved on to sportscars- his father replaced the Ecosse with a Spice for 1989 and stepped up to the World Championship races in C2, both father and son appearing in the car alongside regular drivers Robbie Stirling and Ross Hyett. IIRC, they'd also moved on from the John Maguire team, the Spice being run by John McNeill under the 'Team Mako' name.

Utterly O/T- Don Shead's background was in historics and Thundersports IIRC, but I think he'd also been a powerboat racer- his 'day job' being as a designer of powerboats and yachts?

[Jesper OH]

Looking for a bit of British C2 info and all of a sudden the opening 1988 BTCC round has a name: Kaliber Euro Race Day: http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...988-03-27.html
Round 6 was the BRDC 40th International Trophy and round 13 the Istel Trophy Meeting, all held on Silverstone.

Jesper

[KA]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

Looking for a bit of British C2 info and all of a sudden the opening 1988 BTCC round has a name: Kaliber Euro Race Day: http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...988-03-27.html
Round 6 was the BRDC 40th International Trophy and round 13 the Istel Trophy Meeting, all held on Silverstone.

Jesper

Interesting that Istel seem to have switched their sponsorship from the TT (sponsored by Fina in '88: http://www.racingsportscars.com/cove...1988-09-04.jpg ) to the BRDC finals meeting. (I don't recall if the BRDC meet was Istel-sponsored before '88)
Could the presence of Istel-backed cars in two of the championships featured (C2 and the BTCC with the return of Istel sponsorship to Harvey's Sierra) have been significant?

[Jesper OH]

Originally Posted by KA

Interesting that Istel seem to have switched their sponsorship from the TT (sponsored by Fina in '88: http://www.racingsportscars.com/cove...1988-09-04.jpg ) to the BRDC finals meeting. (I don't recall if the BRDC meet was Istel-sponsored before '88)
Could the presence of Istel-backed cars in two of the championships featured (C2 and the BTCC with the return of Istel sponsorship to Harvey's Sierra) have been significant?

Looking at the Autosport 1988 review Istel was sponsoring Tim Harvey at least from the Brands Hatch round 8 on 24th July in addition to Piper Cams, which seems to have been a TDR sponsor for years.

Could money be involved in the FINA vs. Istel TT sponsorship? Haven't found the date yet, but Dunlop and RAC was negotiating for a third year of the BTCC but as the RAC wanted to promote the series further Dunlop had to pay more for the naming rights but didn't and so Esso was brought in at some point for the 1989 series.

Jesper

[Jesper OH]

Round 2 of 13 of the 1988 Dunlop RAC British Touring Car Championship held on Sunday 1st April 1988 over 17 laps on the x.xxx miles/4.456 kms Oulton Park circuit. Race scheduled for 20 laps but results declared as of lap 17 due to an accident involving Frank Sytner and Alan Minshaw.

pos.	#	Driver	Entrant [*owner]	Cat.	Car	Grid	Q-time	FL-time	Laps/time	notes
1.	22	Andy Rouse	Kaliber Ford [Andy Rouse]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	1.	1:41.67		17/31:54.36
2.	7	Mike O'Brien	Autoglass [Alan Docking]	A	Holden Commodore VL	15.			17/32:09.06
3.	8	Jerry Mahony	Arquati UK Limited [Roger Dowson]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	2.			17/32:40.10
4.	5	Tim Harvey	Terry Drury Racing [Terry Drury]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	12.			17/32:52.38
5.	14	Mike Newman	Burlington Wall Coverings Limited [Graham Goode]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	9.			17/32:55.38
6.	33	Frank Sytner	BMW Finance Racing with Mobil 1 [David Richards]	B	BMW M3	6.	1:44.90	1:49.09	17/33:14.25
7.	44	Alan Minshaw	Alan Minshaw [Alan Minshaw]	B	BMW M3	13.			17/33:15.24	Accident
8.	43	Godfrey Hall	Godfrey Hall Limited [John Maguire]	B	BMW M3	7.			17/33:20.00
9.	27	Peter Buxtorf (CH)	Peter Buxtorf [Peter Buxtorf]	A	BMW 635CSi	16.			16/no info
10.	70	Phil Dowsett	TOM'S GB Limited [John Wickham]	D	Toyota Corolla FXGT	19.	1:50.39	1:53.93	16/no info
11.	60	Mark Hales	CHMS [Chris Hodgetts]	D	Toyota Corolla GT	20.			16/no info
12.	77	Geoff Kimber-Smith	AJK Motor Sport [Geoff Kimber-Smith]	D	Toyota Corolla GT	22.			16/no info
13.	20	Graham Hathaway	Soans-Ford Dealers [Graham Hathaway]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	17.			16/no info
14.	32	Mike Smith	BMW Finance Racing with Mobil 1 [David Richards]	B	BMW M3	18.			16/no info
15.	69	Kevin Eaton	MIL Motorsport [Alex Moss]	D	Toyota Corolla GT	23.			15/no info
DNF	50	James Kaye	Alan Minshaw [Alan Minshaw]	C	VW Golf GTI 16V	25.		1:57.68	14/no info	Driveshaft
DNF	39	Lionel Wiffen	Terry Drury Racing	B	Ford Escort RS Turbo	26.			12/no info	Turbo
DNF	15	Graham Goode	Listerine-Texaco Racing [Graham Goode]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	4.			11/no info	Electrics
DNF	19	Laurence Bristow	Baynard Cars Limited [Andy Rouse]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	3.		1:45.91	10/no info	Differential
DNF	10	Pete Hall	Industrial Control Services plc [Andy Rouse]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	5.			4/no info	no info
DNF	16	Karl Jones	Duckhams Racing with Karl Jones [Richard Asquith]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	11.			4/no info	Overheating
DNF	48	Andrew Jeffrey	Specialist Cars Aberdeen Limited [Andrew Jeffrey?]	C	VW Golf GTI 16V	24.	1:56.11		3/no info	Driveshaft
DNF	38	Dave Wallis	Terry Drury Racing [Terry Drury]	B	Ford Escort RS Turbo	21.			3/no info	Gearbox
DNF	17	Bob Sands	Crystal Facilities Limited [Pete Clark+Dave Cook]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth	8.			0/0:00.00	Clutch
DNF	1	Chris Hodgetts	Shell-Toyota-MIL [Alex Moss]	A	Toyota Supra Turbo	14.			0/0:00.00	Driveshaft
DNS?	?	?	? [?]	?	?	10.
DNA	6	Steve Soper	Eggenberger Motorsport [Ruedi Eggenberger]	A	Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth					Dock strike

* The person most likely to be responsible for the entry

It has been suggested that the missing 10th on the grid might be James Weaver substituting for a media committed Mike Smith, but confirmation of this would be nice.

Jesper

[bigears]

Got a letter from my contact regarding about the 1988 BSP round, he said:

"As I am sure you are aware 1988 was the year of the 3 red flag and restarts in the F3000. So, the BTCC Race did not actually run as we ran out of time against the 6pm curfew there was only one practice session on Monday morning. I don't think any official results of practice or grid were issued."

He works high up in the organisation for the BSP but I am surprised there is no official times whereas the Motoring News report got the laptimes. Perhaps the journo compiled the times rather than the official sources?

I will keep pressing for more specific information and I will try to find out more about the Motoring News report especially that journalist who reported about the cancelled BTCC race.

[KA]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

Looking at the Autosport 1988 review Istel was sponsoring Tim Harvey at least from the Brands Hatch round 8 on 24th July in addition to Piper Cams, which seems to have been a TDR sponsor for years.

Could money be involved in the FINA vs. Istel TT sponsorship? Haven't found the date yet, but Dunlop and RAC was negotiating for a third year of the BTCC but as the RAC wanted to promote the series further Dunlop had to pay more for the naming rights but didn't and so Esso was brought in at some point for the 1989 series.

Jesper

I can't shed any more light on the TT sponsorship, but found something interesting that might account for the absence of Istel backing on Harvey's early-season RS500.
Just had a look at the Motoring News 1987 season-review article, and there's an interesting comment on Harvey:
At the urging of Istel, his attentions are being directed towards the C2 championships from now on. Hopefully his talents will not be lost on Group A, because he could develop a real career in Steve Soper's footsteps if the offers come his way

So it looks as if Istel were keen to direct Harvey's career towards sportscars?

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by bigears

Got a letter from my contact regarding about the 1988 BSP round, he said:



He works high up in the organisation for the BSP but I am surprised there is no official times whereas the Motoring News report got the laptimes. Perhaps the journo compiled the times rather than the official sources?

I will keep pressing for more specific information and I will try to find out more about the Motoring News report especially that journalist who reported about the cancelled BTCC race.

That's right, the BTCC race didn't run in the end as they ran out of time due to all the stoppages & re-starts in the F3000 race.
I'm sure that official practice times and grid positions were issued however as the BTCC teams were expecting to still race, only being told at the last minute that their race would not be running after all.
This was after they's been sitting around waiting in what was the Fruit & Vegetable (and fresh fish) market where the BTCC pits were, along with the relevant smells this had!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

That's right, the BTCC race didn't run in the end as they ran out of time due to all the stoppages & re-starts in the F3000 race.
This was after they's been sitting around waiting in what was the Fruit & Vegetable (and fresh fish) market where the BTCC pits were, along with the relevant smells this had!

Mr Spence was the main culprit IIRC, deciding to stay in his Reynard as poor marshalls began lifting it from the corner of Bromsgrove and Hurst St!!!

Yes the Fish/Wholesale market. Noone could ask for more glorious surroundings for a race car paddock! Monaco eat your heart out!

There was a heady armoma of fish and cured meat, but the space, it has to be said was almost ideal for a paddock?

[William Dale Jr]

I was looking at the info on Birmingham that bigears accidentally posted here in the 1989 thread.

The sheet shows Win Percy in the Demon Tweeks M3. Is that right?

[Jesper OH]

Originally Posted by William Dale Jr

I was looking at the info on Birmingham that bigears accidentally posted here in the 1989 thread.

The sheet shows Win Percy in the Demon Tweeks M3. Is that right?

Wondered about that too, as I have Roland Ratzenberger driving the car in Birmingham.

Jesper

[Tim Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by William Dale Jr

I was looking at the info on Birmingham that bigears accidentally posted here in the 1989 thread.

The sheet shows Win Percy in the Demon Tweeks M3. Is that right?

I think so, yes. It was mentioned in the Autosport for that week. I've read most of them, but haven't got round to posting the "news" info up yet. TBH there's not much of interest - most of the good stuff was early season.

[bigears]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

Wondered about that too, as I have Roland Ratzenberger driving the car in Birmingham.

Jesper

You are correct, it said on the entry list from the 1988 BSP programme saying that Win Percy is there but then I didn't update my 1988 BSP Excel file saying that Ratzenberger drove the car.

[bigears]

Here is my updated 1988 file:

1988_BSP_BTCC.xls

Sources:

Autosport, Motoring News, 1988 BSP entry list and this very thread.