Conference terri::cars_uk

    The BTCC gets under way at Oulton Park next weekend (I think)
    
    Autosport reports that Jimmy McRae has signed to do a number of
    races (probably 5 or 6) in an Ecosse Motorsport BMW M3.
    
    Also Ceefax reported last night that "Mr Personality" Andy Rouse
    (sorry - but he is a bit dour!) was around 2 seconds inside the
    lap record at Oulton in testing. He certainly has a way with those
    RS500s.
    
    Paul
    

    Correction to -1
    
    The BTCC starts *this* weekend at Oulton Park. Championship dates
    as follows:
    
    13/04	Oulton Park
    29/04	Donington (1hr)
    28/05	Thruxton
    10/06	Silverstone
    01/07	Oulton Park
    15/07	Silverstone
    22/07	Brands (1hr)
    05/08	Snetterton
    19/08	Brands
    27/08	Birmingham
    16/09	Donington
    23/09	Thruxton
    07/10	Silverstone
    
    Entries -
    
    Class A (All RS500s)
    
    Andy Rouse/Sean Walker Rouse Sport
    Tim Harvey/Laurence Bristow Labatt's
    Rob Gravett/Mike Smith Trakstar
    Graham Goode/Mike Newman Goode-Listerine
    Graham Hathaway
    
    Class B
    
    John Cleland	Cavalier GSi
    Frank Sytner	BMW M3
    Kelvin Burt		BMW M3
    Nick Whale		BMW M3
    Jerry Mahony	BMW M3 
    Godfrey Hall	BMW M3
    John Clark		BMW M3
    Ian Forrest		BMW M3
    Hugh Chalmers	BMW M3
    Bill Hall		Sapphire Cosworth
    Ray Armes		Honda Civic
    Mark Hales		Mitsubishi Starion
    Nick Baird		BMW 318is
    
    Note: Some of the BMW M3's will be driven by other people like Jimmy
    McRae during the series.
    
    Paul
    
    

    Anybody at Silverstone yesterday witnessed a superb farewell to the
    BTCC by the RS500 brigade. Gravett and Rouse put on a superb show at
    the front, and the sheer speed of these beasts makes me very sorry that
    we won't be seeing them again.
    
    Still, the 2 litre brigade again put on a great race with Synter just
    having to give best to Cleland. The thought of these two mixing it with
    Rouse and Gravett in equal cars next season has got my mouth watering
    already. I hope that Patrick Watt from the one make series gets a good
    drive too.
    
    So goodbye Sierras, maybe they should put on a special race for them
    every year, just to remind us what we're missing.
    
    Paul
    

    
    The GTCC is coming to Britain! 
    
    There is to be a race at Donnington in October and, although it won't 
    actually be part of the Championship (It's part of the ITR Cup or
    sommit), all the major teams have signed up to compete. There will be
    races on both the Saturday and Sunday (heats on Saturday, races on
    Sunday) and an advance ticket will cost only �8 for BOTH days!
    
    With the reports of the racing I've heard (very close) I would have 
    thought a visit to Donnington would be a good bet for an exciting 
    weekend.
    
    Mark
    
    PS Will Hoy and the Vic Lee Motorsport team mopped up at the first 
    BTCC race at Silverstone leaving the fancied runners (Palmer/Soper in
    at Prodrive BMW and Allam/Cleland at Vauxhall) in his wake. His car
    was a BMW M3.
    

    
    A good race at Thruxton in the BTCC yesterday, saw (perhaps suprisingly
    given the Vauxhall's FWD and the Thruxton's reputation for consuming
    tyres) John Cleland and Jeff Allam cruise to a 1-2 win over Will Hoy 
    and assorted BMW M3s and Rouse's Carina.
    
    There was a battle for 1st place, with Allam never giving up on passing
    his team-mate, but frankly never looking as if he would.
    
    Hoy still leads the championship with the Vauxhall's in hot pursuit.
    
    Mark
    
    PS And the F3 race was something else! :^)

    You should have seen it from the timing box! Fortunately, both the main
    races were being timed by transponders, but I was testing on manual
    timing of the F3 boys. I was timing Roberston, Gene, Diniz and Negri.
    Boy was I glad when Diniz and Negri went off!
    
    Back on the BTCC -
    
    did you see Leech's accident? When I went round collecting the
    transponders from the cars they were just bringing it back. What a
    mess, he'd well and truely rolled it somewhere.
    
    Gravett looked well hacked off after the race. He's got a dog of a car
    in the Saphire at the moment. His whole team looke very down in the
    paddock. Palmer however was jubilant, obviously pleased to have
    finished a race!
    
    On the F3's (as they don't have a topic) we've now had 5 winners in 6
    races, its very open this year, but doesn't say much for the "star"
    quality of the contenders. We've also had three chassis, and could soon
    have a 4th as the Bowman BC1 is getting faster every race.
    
    Good day's racing.
    
    Paul

    
    Sounds like Silverstone is about to get a rollocking!
    
    Apparently the revised circuit has a bad drainage problem which caused
    the track to flood badly during a cloudburst in Sunday's BTCC race. In
    fact, I remember watching a very wet ETC TT race at Silverstone back in the
    early Eighties. I saw a Volvo 240 Turbo (don't laugh, it was a red hot
    racer, even if they did bend the rules a bit) spin 4 times going along
    the pit straight! He eventually straightened it up and continued on his
    way. Woodcote was like a scrapyard with cars piled one on the other!
    
    Anyway, this cloudburst caused lots of cars to go off (only 3 started 
    on other than slicks, despite the fact that it was designated a wet
    race) including the 1st and 2nd placed Vauxhall's. The marshall's then
    stopped the race (possibly at 10 laps, but others claim 1 or 2 laps
    later) giving the win to Cleland, whose Cavalier was stoved into a tyre
    wall by this point!
    
    And then, to compound things, despite the fact that the race was
    stopped at 10 laps (instead of 25), full points were awarded and the
    race not restarted! It sounds as if the organising body (BRDC) made
    a big boo-boo.
    
    Stand by for some full-scale mud slinging!
    
    Mark
    
    PS Should make fun TV though!

    
    I saw the penultimate round of the BTCC yesterday and it was a
    brilliant race. Jonathon Palmer had taken pole (Even HE sounded 
    suprised about it!), but it was John Cleland who leapt from the 
    second row to take the lead (there were 48 points left to be won
    this season and Will Hoy led by 20 points going into this race).
    
    However Cleland's glory, this time, was short lived (judging by
    the cheers John is not a popular man with the crowds! :^)) and 
    he dropped away down the field. Hoy took up the cudgles and actually
    stole the lead from the battling Prodrive BMs of Palmer and Soper,
    but that wasn't the end of it. The whole field (except 3 at the back
    who were fighting with each other) came through in a single queue
    lap after lap with no-one taking a clear lead and most places changing
    every lap for the first 10 laps of the 20 lap race.
    
    Something had to give and eventually Hoy and Palmer had a coming
    together at the chicane which caused Hoy to spin and loose a few places
    and fall behind Cleland. Still, though, Cleland was in trouble and Hoy
    had little problem getting past, or so it seemed. As he attempted to
    outbrake the Vauxhall into the Chicane he went wide and Cleland tried
    to dive back around him. Opinions differ on who was to blame, but to
    me it looked as if Hoy tried to barge his way back onto the track and
    Cleland, already on the kerb, just held his position. The two cars
    collided gently, but the BMW's front spoiler was knocked off onto the
    wheels and the car rapidly slowed until it became undriveable.
    
    Soper and Palmer eventually stole away into the lead and on the final
    lap Hoy's team-mate, Bellm, lost third place to Armin Hahne (and maybe
    fourth to Rouse?).
    
    All in all, a very entertaining and exciting race. The result also
    ensured that the final round will decide the championship as Cleland
    picked up (I think) 3 points to Hoy's 0. The odds are still on Hoy,
    but expect some excitement at Silverstone in two weeks time.
    
    Mark
    
    PS I've got my two-day ticket for the GTC race at Donnington ordered,
    so my next live Touring Car race will include the likes of Stuck,
    Laffite, Ludwig.... Should be good!

    
    Saw the Thruxton round on Screensport last night.
    
    Did I miss it on BBC or has the Sat beaten the Beeb this time?
    
    Anyway, if it hasn't been on BBC1 yet, don't miss it!!!!!
    
    Mark

    
    Me again (Doesn't anyone else LIKE touring car racing? You're all
    too busy following the Nige and Ayrton show, I guess).
    
    Anyway, I got my tickets for Donnington yesterday.
    
    33 cars have entered (last round in Germany only had 38) and it
    looks as if only the tailenders aren't coming. The likes of Stuck,
    Laffite, Soper, Surer, Hahne, Ludwig, and Biela (the new champion)
    will all be there along with the vast majority of the other entrants.
    
    Saturday 19th October sees the qualifying race (basically a certain
    number get to the grid by rights - 16 I think) and the  rest have to
    race it out for the final N places on the grid (Anyone know the
    exact way it works?) and Sunday 20th will see the two main races,
    seperated by a 10 minute break in which the cars cannot be refuelled
    (or change tyres?). There will be some support races too, over the
    two days and a ticket for Sunday will only cost �6!!!! For what
    should be about 10,000 times more fun than a Grand Prix, that's got
    to be bargain of the year.
    
    Mark

Did you see the last round of the German Touring Car championship at Hockenheim
- amazing. There were 4 drivers with a chance of the championship - Stuck,
Biela (both Audi), Ludwig (Merc.) and Cecotto (Bee 'eM).

Stuck was favourite - 5000 employees had come to cheer him up. However, in the
first leg (there are two legs - each counting for 20 points for a win) he
had electrical problems, and was out. Biela - his team mate won.

Second leg, Stuck starts in the "T"-car - in 38th place. It was raining. By lap
6 he was first! He just made the other drivers look so amateur (though 4WD on
the Audi helps a lot when it is wet). He gave up his position to Biela so that
the latter could win the championship from Ludwig. Audi finished 1-2-3-4.

The reputation and charisma that Stuck has in Germany is amazing: Afterwards,
it was Stuck that got the fanfare from the Audi employees, and Biela apologised
for winning - he had come to the race to support Stuck! Stuck himself was very
modest about the whole thing, saying that what was important was that the team
had won, and that there was always next year.

    
    Yeah, I saw it (before I'd heard the result, which is always nice).
    
    Somehow I felt a bit uneasy about all that organised fervour linked
    to an organisation which promotes such phrases as 'Vorsprung Durch
    Technick" and fanfares new cars with Wagnerian grandeur! :^)
    
    Stuck is brilliant in the wet. I well remember him storming away
    from the field in a 1000k sportscar race at Brands once in a Sauber
    with about 3/4 the power of the leading cars (Porsches/Works Ford
    C100s/Lancias). However, it would be unwize to underestimate, as 
    you said, the advantage of the 4WD system. Also Audi's win didn't
    some very just considering Hubert Haupt's disgraceful punting off
    of the race leader's Mercedes in the previous round (For those
    who didn't see it. Haupt's Audi was a lap down and Stuck's Audi was
    a distant second - Very sporting!!!!).
    
    Stuck needn't worry about (narrowly) losing this year as he has 
    another 6 years with Audi to win the championship!!!!! :^)
    
    Mark

Of all of the drivers I've watched race, Stuck was probably my favorite. You 
could watch him come onto the front straight at Watkins Glen in Bob Akins 
962, sideways onto the curbing lap after lap after lap.... I always thought 
it a shame that he didn't have a real co-driver in the car.

    
    A bit unfair on Derek Bell, don't you think? 
    
    Mark

.14 >>    A bit unfair on Derek Bell, don't you think? 

Are you refering to my note about Stuck not having a real co-driver????? 

In IMSA, I always remember Bell driving with Holbert. After Akin re-signed
Coke as a sponser he hired Stuck to drive with him instead of taking money
from John O'Steen for the ride. 

I always thought that Bell and Stuck only really drove together in Europe
for Porsche (eg: Le Mans).

My thoughts were that Bell and Stuck were the best drivers in IMSA at the 
time. Bell was fast and smooth and Stuck was just FAST.

    
    Yes, I was.
    
    As you say Stuck and Bell achieved "joint" prominence with the works
    Porsches (almost being joint world champions one year, FISA insisting
    on giving it solely to Bell), but I believe they have driven together
    in IMSA on occasions.
    
    Being a European based Noter, I tend to think of Bell and Stuck as
    a pair (much like Bell and Ickx at Le Mans), but I can recall seeing
    Bell driving a Ford at Le Mans (1979) and Stuck a Sauber at Brands
    Hatch (1981) as well.
    
    Mark

    I don't want so much to revive the note but get some information which
    I don't thinks worth a new note. I managed to enter an argument over
    the weekend about touring car teams. Someone tried, and failed to
    convince me that Tim Lee Davey (Team Davey) of sportscar note, prepared
    the team Labbat's M3's last year. I suggested that it not team davey
    but Vic Lee Motorsport and that the only link was that VLM has the word
    lee in the name and TIM harvey drove one. The other factor that made me
    doult all that is the workshop was in Coventry and I know without
    checking that TLD are based in Maidstone, Kent, and apart from that VLM
    are also in Kent.
    
    So what I want to know is, The Team Labbat's cars were entered by
    labbats and Vic Lee Motorsport (in addtion to the listerine cars),
    whilst it seems unlikley to me that VLM would farm the work out , did
    someone else really prepare the cars. And just to cover all the
    possible angles , did anyone race a Labbats sponsored car in say the
    Esso saloon car championship or whatever that was prepared by a
    Coventry based team.
    
    If anyone has the answers I would love to rub someone's node in the
    dirt.
    
    Garry 

    
    John asked about the VLM/BMW team's alleged involvement in drug
    smuggling.
    
    Here's what I've heard :-
    
    A number of people, including Vic Lee, have been arrested for allegedly
    using saloon car racing as a cover for drug smuggling from warehouses
    on the continent to distribution organisations in the UK.  
    
    None of the Group A drivers are involved (it seems) and the VLM team is
    now being run by former driver Ray Bellm. VLM were tipped to be to sole
    works BMW team in next year's BTCC, but that would now seem in doubt.
    
    It would seem (since the Group A teams don't race in Europe) that the
    smuggling was being done under the cover of the Group N cars which had
    raced at Spa and Nurburgring in the last couple of months (This is
    conjecture, there could be VLM prepared cars racing in Europe).
    
    I believe that all those arrested were given bail.
    
    Mark

    
    Well after the disgraceful BMW display in the final round of the BTCC,
    (If Soper isn't sanctioned for that, there's no justice!) we can look
    forward to another year of touring car action.
    
    In Germany, interest should increase with Alfa Romeo entering the fray
    with their dominant in Italy 155, Opel back with Calibras entered under 
    the Joest Racing banner and, hopefully, Audi back with a new car. Mercedes 
    and a slimmed down BMW entry will do more than make up the numbers.
    
    In the UK, we can also look forward to new manufacturers, with Renault
    joining in with a 19 16v (probably with Tim Harvey, 1992 champion) and 
    Ford likely to make a return to the series they once dominated, with a 
    version of the new Mondeo (Sierra replacement). Andy Rouse is tipped to
    run the Ford entry, now that TOMS have taken over the Toyota challenge
    for the 1993 season. BMW UK have threatened to withdraw, but with BMW
    Munich saying they want a presence in the BTCC, expect to see some sort
    of works BMW presence, in addition to the normal plethora of privateers
    and work's cars from Vauxhall, Peugeot, Nissan, Mazda and BMW.
    
    Whilst F1 threatens to be more interesting in the motorhomes and the
    gossip columns than on the track and Sportscar racing faces up to an
    uncertain GT based future, Touring Car racing looks to be entering a
    golden age. 
    
    Just watch FISA spoil it...
    
    Mark

    
    
    BMW have said they won't be participating next year because they
    say they don't have the budget. (Maybe a return to F1???)
    
    They said they were not withdrawing because of the drugs.
    
    They also said they were not withdrawing because the rules have been 
    changed. Next year 2/3 door coupes will not be allowed to compete 
    unless they share the same body panels as their 4/5 door variants.
    
    What engine did they use in the 318is? Was it an M3 lump or just a
    much tuned 1.8 16v?
    
    Richard.

    
>>                                -< BMW are out >-
    
    BMW UK said they intended to withdraw, but BMW Munich have said they
    would support BMW UK if they decided to race after all and Ray Bellm,
    who's just bought the VLM outfit, is trying to persuade BMW UK to find
    the money to run 1 4 door 318is.
    
    The 318is engine is a bored out 318is engine. The engine being taken
    out to 2 litres, as the rules exist. I believe some of the M3 runners
    had sleeved down 2.3 M3 engines.
    
    Mark