1989 Esso RAC British Touring Car Championship - Discussion and results

[KA]

Class C

No	Driver	Donington CoDriver	Team/Entrant	Sponsors	Car	Notes
50	Alan Minshaw	John Brindley	Demon Tweeks	Catrol TXT+Demon Tweeks	VW Golf GTi 16v
53	Mike Jordan	Peter Tyson	Team Eurotech		Peugeot 309GTi
55	John Morris	Barrie Williams	Listers of Coventry	Listers	VW Golf GTi 16v
55	John Morris		Demon Tweeks	Castrol TXT+Demon Tweeks	VW Golf GTi 16v	leased the Minshaw Golf after his own was shunted late season
56	John Cleland	Ian Flux	DCRS	Vauxhall+Mobil 1	Vauxhall Astra GT/E
57	Jeremy Rossiter		DCRS	Vauxhall+Mobil 1+Spax	Vauxhall Astra GT/E	took over Louise Aitken-Walker's ex-rallycar from mid-season
58	Louise Aitken-Walker	Vince Woodman	DCRS	Vauxhall+Mobil 1	Vauxhall Astra GT/E	started season with ex-rally car, race car from mid-year
?	Tony Lanfranchi		Monorep		Vauxhall Astra GT/E	Prodsaloon

[KA]

Class D

No	Driver	Donington CoDriver	Team/Entrant	Sponsors	Car	Notes
70	Phil Dowsett	Mark Goddard	Dowsett		Toyota Corolla AE82	entered by 'Rayscar' from mid-season. Early-season entrant sometimes listed as 'PDR-Toyota'?
75	Ray Armes		Graham Goode	PG Tags	Honda Civic Si
77	Geoff Kimber-Smith	Barbara Cowell	Five-Star Racing	?	Toyota Corolla GT AE86	not sure of the sponsors- I've got a photo from Brands late season of a plain white car carrying a couple of 'Dianetics' decals
77	Mark Goddard		Five-Star Racing		Toyota Corolla GT AE86
81	Tony Dolley		Dolley	Wembdon Motors	Toyota Corolla AE82
85	Les Liddiard	Steve King	Liddiard		Toyota Corolla AE82	Entered by 'Rayscar' from mid-season
88	Tony Crudgington	Chuck Nicholson	Crudgington		Toyota Corolla GT AE86

[bigears]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

R11 1989.08.28 Birmingham
Fastest race lap missing for:
Louise Aitken-Walker
Jeremy Rossiter
John Morris
Les Liddiard
Mike Newman
John Clark
Nettan Lindgren
Tony Crudgington
Jesper

I will a look tonight or later this week.

[KA]

Just picking this up after a very long break- finally found a pic of Tony Lanfranchi's Monrep prodsaloon Astra doing occasional BTCC duty to keep the Class C numbers up so Cleland could score full points for the class win...
This is Brands, August 1989, car #63
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard...dentouringcars

[Richard G Hilsden]

Thank you for your link to my pictures

[bigears]

Originally Posted by Richard G Hilsden

Thank you for your link to my pictures

Have you got anything from the Birmingham Superprix? Just wondering.

[KA]

Originally Posted by Richard G Hilsden

Thank you for your link to my pictures

Great to see them Richard- you've caught some of the cars that are usually fairly difficult to find pics of online- the Lanfranchi Astra, Robin Donovan RS500 and Mike Jordan's Peugeot were particularly nice to find!

[KA]

Originally Posted by KA

AFAIK just 3 cars:
1:- RHD race car, started the season with Cleland- possibly then passed on to Louise Aitken-Walker mid-season

2:- LHD rally car- started the season with Louise Aitken-Walker, still in rally team colours, like this one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howiendlynne/4112751741/
IIRC at first using adapted tarmac rally-spec suspension, including 5-stud hubs and white (OZ or Speedline?) rally wheels.
Later fitted with full race-spec suspension etc, then passed on to Jeremy Rossiter once Louise had got a 'proper' race car. From the evidence of this pic
http://images.forum-auto.com/mesimag..._800.jpg1..jpg
it seems to have been reliveried to match the other two cars by the end of the season.

3:- RHD race car. Debuted mid-season- Either used by Cleland, with LA-W getting his original car, or LA-W getting the new car

Finally found pic links to show the difference between the Cleland and Aitken-Walker cars early season- pics from the Donington 1 hour race:

#56, Cleland/Flux with RHD race car
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard...57627283400681

#58, Aitken-Walker/Woodman with the LHD converted rallycar- note the different paintscheme and rally-style wheels
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard...57627283400681

Late-season, after Louise got a 'proper' race car, the LHD car went to Jeremy Rossiter- by now signwritten to match the other two cars (plus Jeremy's additional 'Spax' sponsorship) and on 'race'-style (BBS?) wheels
http://i56.tinypic.com/11kcfae.jpg

[KA]

Something else interesting to notice in Richard's pics- the changes in sponsors on some cars over the season:

John Llewellyn's M3 at Donington, backed by Johnston's and IMF Finance,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard...57627283400681

and at Brands, by Colchester BMW dealer 'Neep'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard...57627283400681

[KA]

Originally Posted by KA

John Morris took over the Minshaw Golf for the final round at Silverstone- his own had been badly shunted at the previous round. I think I've read somewhere that he used his own engine in Minshaw's car- the Demon Tweeks machine having been sidelined with a blown engine as you suggest?

Another picture find- don't think I've posted this before. Found this in a thread on BTCC Golfs in a VW forum- it seems to be the Minshaw Golf as a John Morris entry in the paddock- it's not very clear, but you can make out a 'Listers of Coventry' logo on the windscreen sunsstrip, and it liiks like Morris' race #55 on the bonnet rather than Minshaw's #50

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...lfgtibtcc2.jpg

[KA]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

Short news from early 1989 Autosports

19 January 1989
Ian Forrest announces his BTCC programme in an ex-Prodrive BMW M3 thas has been fully rebuild. Sponsorship is to come from Novaphone, Douglas Park, Drambuie and ANC and Forrest will give up his day job in order to give his racing full attention. In addition he will defend his Scottish Special Saloon title in the Drambuie-Imp and fielding a Davrian for Bob Jamieson, whose sponsorship has been vital for the BTCC effort (Drambuie?)

Bob Jamieson was the boss of Novafone apparently- it's mentioned towards the end of this piece on Ian Forrest.
http://www.imps4ever.info/racing/rac...est/index.html

Drambuie were a very longtime sponsor of Ian Forrest- going back to about 1975 apparently. Forrest's 'Drambuie Imp' (maybe more than one of them?) was a very well-known and successful car in club racing in Scotland during the 70's/80's.

[Andy Clegg]

I remember watching Ian at Croft, and I think Oulton in the Imp. In 1991, I gave him a photo from Oulton when he won the Class Championship in the BMW.
Andy

[Malcolm Smith]

[QUOTE=KA;2992028]Bob Jamieson was the boss of Novafone apparently- it's mentioned towards the end of this piece on Ian Forrest.
http://www.imps4ever.info/racing/rac...est/index.html


Bob Jamieson, an enthusiast of all Imp related cars, and long-time friend of Ian Forrest,ran Novaphone, who held the Vodaphone franchise for Scotland. He used a considerable portion of income from the business to generate publicity for Novaphone, via motor racing and football sponsorship.
He recruited support for the BTCC events from the Edinburgh ANC Parcels franchisees, who provided a tractor unit, trailer and driver for the duration of the campaign.
Also, Douglas Park, a west of Scotland motor dealer who held (and still hold) a BMW franchise.

Sadly for Novaphone, after a couple of years, all franchise arrangements were ended and the business was subsequently controlled centrally. Thus denying further funding to Bob’s ambitious racing team plans.

[bigears]

I have urchased a 1989 BTCC Media guide from the Birmingham Superprix. I will include the registered competitors for the whole season.

1) Andy Rouse - Ford
2) Jerry Mahony - Ford
3) Mike Newman - Ford
4) Graham Goode - Ford
5) Sean Walker - Ford
6) Laurence Bristow - Ford
7) Tim Harvey - Ford
9) Mark Rennison - Ford
10) Guy Edwards - Ford
14) Graham Hathaway - Ford
15) Chris Hodgetts - Ford
16) Dave Pinkey - Ford
17) Mike O'Brien - Ford
18) Robin Donovan - Ford
19) Dave Brodie - Ford
20) Mike Smith - Ford
21) Robb Gravett - Ford
22) Kaj Bornebusch - Ford
25) Gerrit van Kouwen - Ford
26) Nick May - Maserati
28) Karl Jones - Ford
29) Tony Hilton - Ford

Never heard of Tony Hilton before, all I know he is a compnay director and he is from Southampton.

30) James Kaye - BMW
31) John Clark - BMW
32) James Weaver - BMW
33) Frank Sytner - BMW
35) Ian Forrest - BMW
37) Nettan Lindgren - BMW
43) Godfrey Hall - BMW
44) John Llewellyn - BMW

50) Alan Minshaw - VW
53) Mike Jordan - Peugeot
55) John Morris - VW
56) John Cleland - Vauxhall
57) Jeremy Rossiter - Vauxhall
58) Louise Aitken-Walker - Vauxhall
63) Tony Lanfranchi - Vauxhall

70) Phil Dowsett - Toyota
75) Ray Armes - Honda
77) Geoff Kimber-Smith - Toyota
81) Tony Dolley - Toyota
85) Leslie Liddiard - Toyota
88) Tony Crudington - Toyota

Hope it helps!

[KA]

Originally Posted by bigears

I have urchased a 1989 BTCC Media guide from the Birmingham Superprix. I will include the registered competitors for the whole season.

29) Tony Hilton - Ford

Never heard of Tony Hilton before, all I know he is a compnay director and he is from Southampton.

That Hilton Sierra is a bit of a mystery- it certainly never appeared, although it did appear in entry lists during the season- I don't have the actual programme to hand just now, but IIRC it's listed in the entry for the round supporting the Group C sportscars at Brands in July or so

It's been mentioned before in the thread- Jesper posted some stuff from an April issue of Autosport, which reported the Hilton RS500 was due to debut at Thruxton, but that's about all I know about it:
http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/show...57&postcount=9

So was this intended to be an existing car bought from one of the 1988 Sierra runners, or an all-new machine?