[KA]

Originally Posted by William Dale Jr

Great stuff, guys! A few notes and questions on the stuff covered so far:

• I was under the impression that Bristow's 1988 car was sold and a new car used for 1989. I think I asked the question in the '88 thread with the response that it was sold to Asia. Doesn't 10-Tenths member Martinlabatts own the 89-90 Bristow car, now?

Yes, I think the Labatt's cars were new for 1989 as well. 'Martinlabatts' has owned both cars, the Harvey car which is now in Australia, and the Bristow car which I think he still had- it's a bit of a hybrid, restored to Labatt's colours, although it's still in the Thundersaloon spec that Bristow had it converted to- IIRC it ran with Arquati and Securicor Omega Express sponsorship in that spec, but never Labatt's

• Why were Hodgetts/Leslie and Goode/Lyall non-starters for Round 4 at Donington? I assume both cars had mechanical problems during practice/qualifying. Why didn't Leslie start when Nick May had started the race single-handed the year before? To save money when there was no chance of a result? And how was the Listerine car considered too slow when it was not the slowest qualifier overall? Did the RAC enforce an 'outside X% of fastest in class' regulation? Was there no mechanism in the regulations that would allow Goode's car to start, considering the car's usual performance? I know these questions are probably not covered in the race reports, but I'm just curious in how the British approach compared to the Australian approach of the time.

From memory, where the entry exceeded the usually-allowed number of starters, they sometimes used effectively a 'quota' system, so the fastest X number of cars in each class would get a start- the 'outside X% of fastest in class' rule is another possibility.
Alternatively, they may have only been listed as reserves in an over-subscribed entry- to be honest, I don't know which circumstances apply, it's one that's been puzzling me since I looked at the result

Given the below-par performance of the Goode car in qualifying (Jesper mentioned engine problems), did the team ever intend to start both cars after one had problems?- note they'd only got three drivers (Goode, Newman and Lyall) to handle the two cars, and I won't swear to this, but the Motoring News report might have suggested that all three drivers qualified in the Newman car at least, if not both?

Re the Brooklyn car, Jesper mentioned that Chris Hodgetts was sick- again, is it possible that Chris might have decided he wasn't fit to race and opted to withdraw the car after he failed to qualify?

• Mike Smith/Mike Wilds' retirement at Donington was caused by a mechanical failure that caused to car to spin off. The on-board camera in the car behind showed the car suddenly trail sparks immediately before Wilds spun off at McLeans. Specifically what failed wasn't mentioned in the review video, but it looks like something failed in the right rear suspension.

Could well be rear suspension as you say- I haven't watched the review video in a while. I've also got a vague memory that the car might also have been dragging it's exhaust system- from memory Smith had a big 'rallycrossing' moment, taking a trip across the infield after going off possibly between McLeans and Coppice earlier in the race?
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a couple of thoughts on some of those points