BMW M3 in ATCC.

[ian beckett]

Hi Guys,a friend of mine has just bought an M3 which will eventually be restored here in the UK.I am trying to piece together the history of the car since it ran first in '87 here in Europe.The car has a CAMS '97 scrutineers sticker on the rollcage which has lead me to conclude from other evidence that the car was driven by Graham Hutchinson in one round of the ATCC and aslo driven by its owner(?) Stephen Waugh at that years Surfers Paradise and Bathurst support races? Has anyone got any further info on the car and any pictures.I believe the car had earlier been driven by Mark Seymour,Mark Adderton and maybe even Geoff Full in the preceeding three years.I would really appreciate any help you guys can come up with.Thanks in advance,Ian.

[William Dale Jr]

The car would most likely have been racing in the Australian Super Touring Championship at that time, not the Australian Touring Car Championship, as the ATCC had already gone down the 5L Holden-vs-Ford route.

If Geoff Full had been driving it in previous years, then that would indicate that it was one of the ex-Benson & Hedges M3s that was campaigned in the 1993 ATCC and possibly in 1992 and 1991 as well. Full campaigned an M3 in the 1994 ASTC as well.

I just had a quick look at Natsoft and, although their results aren't really comprehensive for 1997, I can't find any evidence of an M3 racing that year. Based on what you said about Surfers and Bathurst support races, I had a look at Natsoft's 1996 results (http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?1996). These show that the car (entered by Stephen Voight) raced at the Bathurst support race with Voight at the wheel and was at least entered for the Lakeside round of the 1996 ASTC for Graham Hutchison to drive.

[ian beckett]

Is that it then guys? Ian

[Tony C]

Originally Posted by ian beckett

I believe the car had earlier been driven by Mark Seymour,Mark Adderton and maybe even Geoff Full in the preceeding three years.I would really appreciate any help you guys can come up with.Thanks in advance,Ian.

I have been trying to think back to that era and know that these guys drove the peugeots in super tourer during that period. Dont remember them is BMW.

You might be best to talk to David Towe about BMW history but after the death of group most M3 were sent overseas (very cheap), Bob Holden had a couple that he ran in the super touring c'ship in 95-96 but dont know what happened to them. The only Lonhurst car that stayed (and raced during that period) was the Cam McLean car.

[alfacors]

I remember Mark Adderton drove a BMW M3 before the Peugeot, it was the 1994 season from memory, red with Momo sponsorship. The Pugs were driven in 95/96 before Tony Newman bought them for the 1997 season.

I am not sure on it's background history though - i believed it was a converted Group A car like the Cotter and Doulman cars (ex-JPS, ex-Mobil/Brock), but not sure if it was one of the Diet Coke M3 Evolutions or not.

[GTRMagic]

The car was liveried at various times in the colours of Momo Corse, and later on, ASV European Parts.

There seem to be few pics of the car around... perhaps the Bathurst book would be the best bet?

[ian beckett]

I have all the Bathurst annuals from this era and they do not shed any more light on the car other than what I wrote when I started the thread.Thanks for trying guys! Ian.

[pete60]

I do remember the car.

As I recall ,there were 5 M3s run in 1993, 2 in B&H colours (for Longhurst and John Blanchard), 2 in Diet Coke colours (for Morris and Geoff Full) and a fifth "spare" in BMW Driver Training Centre colours.

At the beginning of 1994, the spare was sold off to an expat in Indonesia ( Rob Paul?), one B&H car became the Cam McLlean sports sedan, one B7H car was converted to 2 litre trim and run by John Blanchard in the 2 litre series in 1994 and one ex Diet Coke car was also converted to 2 litre trim. Painted red, it was initially run by Mark Seymour and then by Mark Adderton. I don't know what happened to the other Diet Coke car.

I do recall the red ex Adderton M3 bobbing up in Steve Voight's hands but lost track of it after that. How did it get to the UK??

It would be great to see it restored to the 1993 Diet Coke "one awesome calorie" livery. You either loved that colour scheme or hated it!

[ian beckett]

Hi Pete,thanks for the reply.My friend acquired the car via Singapore where it raced in'97.On the rollcage was a CAMS '96 scrutineers sticker which is why I made the connection to Graham Hutchinson.Is it possible you can dig a little further? The current plan is to restore the car back to its very original Bastos livery from '87.Thanks for the help,Ian.

[William Dale Jr]

I guess, based on the drivers listed in both pete60's and Ian's original post, that the car in question must be Geoff Full's Diet Coke car from the 1993 ATCC. But 1987! I didn't realise any of the B&H or Diet Coke cars were that old! Ian, what do you know of the car's race history before it came over here?

It was my understanding that the original two B&H cars were ex-Schnitzer units that came out to do the Nissan-Mobil races in New Zealand in 1990.

I don't know much about the B&H M3s - or how many there were in total - but there were at least three cars at Bathurst in 1991: two entered for the race, one was a T-car in the aforementioned BMW Driver Training Centre livery. One of the B&H-liveried cars was demolished by Tony Longhurst in a horrifying accident during the Wellington street race.

Tony got a new car for 1992; probably sourced from Schnitzer again, and I assume this was the other car that was shown in the team's workshop during a piece shown during the 1991 Bathurst coverage. The team ran 3 M3s throughout the 1992 ATCC and at the Thundersports support race at Gold Coast Indy.

The team expanded to four cars - two B&H, two Diet Coke - in time for 1993. Not sure where the fourth car came from, and I didn't realise that there was a spare (fifth) car in Driver Training colours that year. I do recall it being mentioned that Longhurst's car was the final Schnitzer M3 racecar built, but don't know whether it was the car he used all year or whether it arrived for just Bathurst.

So what does that leave the total number at? Seven? Eight? Then there was the ex-BTCC E36 'M3' that Paul Morris ran at the AGP meeting in 1992...

[drbob]

If this is the car I think it is I made some enquiries about it some time ago.
The CAMS sticker should have the logbook number on it It starts with Q....
I spoke to Steven Voight about it. He did not own the car.He maintained it for a south east asian racer. It had no earlier Australian race history, Group A or otherwise, except for 1 or 2 races in 1996, Supertouring from memory.
He was doing some work on it, engine I think but hazy recollection, and decided to test it by running it in a race or two in Australia so he obtained a logbook in his name in 1996 for that purpose. The car then went back to Asia. He thinks the car has some European history.
Ian I suggest you ring Steven Voight.. very approachable and no doubt he can give you the history as far as he can. I no longer have his number but I am sure someone on ten tenths can give it to you

[Falcadore]

1996 ASTC on Wiki

I remember that car when it appeared at Lakeside in Hutchison's hands. From what I recall it was a different shade of red to the Adderton/Seymour Bimmer, and certainly had a different aero kit, having a genuine rear wing (rather than modified spoiler) which no previous M3 had sported in Australia.

I have photos of the car somewhere - I've moved three times since I last saw the photos.

[ian beckett]

Hi guys,all the information I put in my opening post was gained from the Bathurst annuals of the period.There used to be a site which contained photos of all the cars which had raced in both the ATCC and the Supertouring series,on there was a picture of the Hutchinson car which has several similarities to that now owned by my friend here in England.That plus the CAMS 96 sticker was what pointed me in the direction of his car having a link to Hutchinson and then backtracking through the potential previous users in Australia with the final link being Geoff Fulls car from the Diet Coke team in '93. The car (if our efforts are correct was originally sponsored by Bastos a Belgian cigarette company for the '87 Spa 24 hours.it was then taken to the Far East for the Macau race and was part of a two car team that raced in '87 with one of the drivers being David Hunt(the late James' brother) and the other by a British club racer called Tom Waring. The cars remained in Asia and were raced again at Macau in '88 and subsequently were owned by Kevin Wong and Charles Kwan.Their history then gets extremely hazy but the car we are discussing was returned to Britain from Singapore in late '07 and acquired by my friend in a rather dishevelled state this March. I agree that the link to the Diet Coke effort is perhaps the weak spot but that is what the writers of the Bathurst annual said! Any more info' about the expat Mr Paul would be helpful.He certainly raced an M3 in the Indonesian Touring Car Championship and I have found a clip on Youtube titled Sentul Race which shows no less than 5 M3's racing! Any help on these cars? The biggest problem with tracking any car which has a past in Asia is the obvious language barries so any help would be appreciated as you guys are alittle closer than me and possibly have more contacts? Once again thanks for all the help so far.Ian.

[KA]

Originally Posted by ian beckett

' The car (if our efforts are correct was originally sponsored by Bastos a Belgian cigarette company for the '87 Spa 24 hours.it was then taken to the Far East for the Macau race and was part of a two car team that raced in '87 with one of the drivers being David Hunt(the late James' brother) and the other by a British club racer called Tom Waring. The cars remained in Asia and were raced again at Macau in '88 and subsequently were owned by Kevin Wong and Charles Kwan.Their history then gets extremely hazy but the car we are discussing was returned to Britain from Singapore in late '07 and acquired by my friend in a rather dishevelled state this March. .

Ian- is this one of the two cars you're talking about? Kevin Wong at Macau in 1988....
http://photo.163.com/photos/tcd1388/2378874/60771729/
Sadly there don't seem to be many 1987 shots on that site...

[ian beckett]

Thats the one! Ian

[Bimmerhead]

Front and rear body work on that car indicates that its probably an Evo 2 version.........

[pete60]

So, as it seems pretty clear that the car Voight had briefly was NOT the ex Adderton car, the question now is...whay happened to that car??? It disappeared at the time Adderton moved into the Peugeot 405.

[ian beckett]

I still maintain that the Adderton>Seymour>Hutchinson/Vought link is correct! Ian.

[E36ST]

Originally Posted by William Dale Jr

It was my understanding that the original two B&H cars were ex-Schnitzer units that came out to do the Nissan-Mobil races in New Zealand in 1990.

I don't know much about the B&H M3s - or how many there were in total - but there were at least three cars at Bathurst in 1991: two entered for the race, one was a T-car in the aforementioned BMW Driver Training Centre livery. One of the B&H-liveried cars was demolished by Tony Longhurst in a horrifying accident during the Wellington street race.

...

Slightly off topic but the 1990 NM500 race winning ex Schnitzer M3 is now owned by Rick Michels in Invercargill NZ, understand it was in B&H colours then in Diet Coke colours which is how it remains today.

[pete60]

Just found an old Motorsport News from 1994. The Adderton car was definitely an ex Diet Coke car.

However, I doubt the car would go back to 1987. Tony would have had newer units than that for his big campaign in 1993.

What colour is the interior and the cage in your friend's car Ian?

[ian beckett]

Hi Pete,I doubt if Full's car was a front line racer rather a spare,to be used in an emergency.I have always felt that this connection was the most tenous,it may therefore make more sense to concentrate on the Adderton/Seymour/Hutchinson period.The car as it is now will bear little remblance to how it was then and it may be that a careful removal of paint layers is the only way to reveal all.It certainly shows some evidence of having had red with yellow striping or lettering which would fit in with both Hutchinsons car which was red with yellow logos and signwriting and the Momo backed colours of Seymour.The interior is currently red as is the cage.The body is white.With a car having originated in '87(we know this to be definite) it may have had up to 8/10 different owners who have repainted it,added new parts and also having sat around in various warehouses it is currently in a sad state.Obviously as more evidence is uncovered I will update the forum.In the meantime guys,keep digging,you could just be the person to unlock its secrets!!

[brown dog]

Hello Ian,
the Geoff Full car from 1993 is indeed an ex Schnitzer 1990 (Wellington 1990 winner) ex B&H car from 1990/91 and as someone correctly pointed out now owned by Rick Michels in Invercargill, still in the Diet Coke livery. That car came to NZ in 1994 when it competed in the 1994 Wellington race and was then sold locally, and has remained in Diet Coke colours ever since.It regularly competes at classic race meetings. The other Diet Coke car, the one Morris campaigned and drove with Winkelhock at Bathurst, is the car that Seymour drove (see youtube link below) and is now undergoing a full restoration. It is a 1992 spec. car that came to Australia at the end of 1992 or early 1993 for Morris to race.
cheers BD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwDJt1Twj_Q

[mtpanorama]

I watched some video of 93 Aus 2lt and the Momo M3 has a white roll cage.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by E36ST

Slightly off topic but the 1990 NM500 race winning ex Schnitzer M3 is now owned by Rick Michels in Invercargill NZ, understand it was in B&H colours then in Diet Coke colours which is how it remains today.

This one?

[GTRMagic]

Still think the simplicity of this livery is brilliant...