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28 Nov 2009, 12:12 (Ref:2590727)
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1984 Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship - Discussion & Results
The BTCC home page has updated their yearly point standings at some point:
http://www.btcc.net/html/history_standings.php 1983 and 1984 has made me wonder a bit, though. The TWR Rovers were excluded from the 1983 results, but it only seems that Steve Soper is missing from the standings! Part way through 1984 Austin Rover retired from the BTCC because of the Soper exclusion of '83 was finally decided, but somehow all MG and Rover factory drivers has ended up with 0 points although they did finish in the points in individual races before the retirement. What's that about? Jesper |
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28 Nov 2009, 15:01 (Ref:2590801)
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I'm not completely sure, but IIRC, but when John Davenport pulled the cars out in June '84 he/ARG asked that points be nullified, even though the actual entries for the 6 cars remained?
Last edited by chunterer; 28 Nov 2009 at 15:26. |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!"
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28 Nov 2009, 15:13 (Ref:2590808)
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Last edited by chunterer; 28 Nov 2009 at 15:27. |
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28 Nov 2009, 17:57 (Ref:2590877)
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1984 Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship - Discussion & Results
Since 1984 is the year discussed, I might as well start my quest to fill in my massive gaps of 1980s group A style BTCC by posting what I know:
Round 1 of 11 the RAC Tricentrol British Touring Car Championship March 25, 1984 at Donington Park Result 1. #7 Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse Since that is what I know, the qualifying results might be more of more use to tell who was there. These results might have been copied from an MG Metro Turbo sales add from a few years back – can't remember. Position / number / driver / team (my guess) / class / car / time 1./ #11 / Tony Pond / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse / 1:20.07 2./ #7 / Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse / 1:20.07 3./ #20 / Steve Soper / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse / 1:20.17 4./ #6 / James Weaver / CC / A / BMW 635CSi / 1:20.28 5./ #9 / Frank Sytner / Sytner / A / BMW 635CSi / 1:20.40 6./ #10 / Peter Lovett / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse / 1:20.88 7./ #14 / Win Percy / Hughes of Beaconsfield / A / Toyota Celica Supra / 1:21.28 8./ #4 / Dennis Leech / Leech / A / Rover Vitesse / 1:21.72 9./ #18 / David Brodie / Brodie / A / Mitsubishi Starion Turbo / 1:21.91 10./ #34 / Patrick Watts / Dowson / B / MG Metro Turbo / 1:22.59 11./ #40 / Phil Dowsett / unknown / B / Alfa Romeo GTV6 / 1:23.23 12./ #35 / Robin Brundle / Dowson / B / MG Metro Turbo / 1:24.10 13./ #30 / Jon Dooley / Dooley / B / Alfa Romeo GTV6 / 1:25.11 14./ #69 / Chris Hodgetts / Brooklyn/ C / Ford Escort RS1600i / 1:25.27 15./ #32 / Rob Kirby / unknown / B / Alfa Romeo GTV6 / 1:25.36 16./ #41 / Paul Smith / unknown / B / Alfa Romeo GTV6 / 1:25.55 17./ #33 / John Morris / Morris / B / VW Scirocco GTI / 1:25.82 18./ #51 / Alan Greenhalgh / C / Ford Escort RS1600i* / 1:26.24 19./ #66 / Alan Curnow / Longman / C / Ford Escort RS1600i / 1:27.81 20./ #77 / Richard Longman / C / Ford Escort RS1600i / 1:28.13 21./ #38 / Graham Goode / Goode / B / Nissan Bluebird Turbo / 1:31.57 22./ #84 / Barry Lee / Lee / C / Ford Escort RS1600i / 1:32.89 23./ #31 / Andrew Thorpe / unknown / B / Vauxhall Astra GTE / 1:36.11 *Thought that Greenhalgh raced a VW Golf GTI. Maximum 9 points for a class win in all three divisions. Round 2, April 1, 1984 at Silverstone 1./ #11 / Tony Pond / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse pole by Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse Round 3, April 20, 1984 at Oulton Park 1./ #6 / James Weaver / CC / A / BMW 635CSi starting from pole Round 4, April 21, 1984 at Thruxton 1./ #7 / Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse starting from pole Is the date correct? A day after the previous round! Qualifying and racing on the same day, I presume then. Round 5, May 28, 1984 at Thruxton 1./ #20 / Steve Soper / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse 2./ #7 / Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse 3./ #11 / Tony Pond / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse 4./ #10 / Jean-Louis Schlesser / A / Rover Vitesse DNF / #14 / Win Percy / Hughes of Beaconsfield / A / Toyota Celica Supra DNF / #18 / David Brodie / Brodie / A / Mitsubishi Starion Turbo DNF / #34 / Patrick Watts / Dowson / B / MG Metro Turbo ? / #9 / Vince Woodman / CC / A / BMW 635CSi ? / #? / David Kennedy / Kennedy / A / BMW 635CSi ? / #35 / Robin Brundle / Dowson / B / MG Metro Turbo DNS / #6 / James Weaver / CC / A / BMW 635 CSi Round 6, June 10, 1984 at Silverstone 1./ #7 / Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse pole by #11 / Tony Pond / TWR / A / Rover Vitesse Round 7, July 1, 1984 at Snetterton 1./ #7 / Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse starting from pole Round 8, July 20, 1984 at Brands Hatch as Grand Prix support race 1./ #7 / Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse starting from pole ? / #14 / Win Percy / Hughes of Beaconsfield / A / Toyota Celica Supra Round 9, August 28, 1984 at Brands Hatch Maiden victory of the Toyota Celica Supra in the capable hands of Win Percy. Andy Rouse got the better start but tyre wear handed the victory to Percy. 22 entries for this race. 1./ #14 / Win Percy / Hughes of Beaconsfield / A / Toyota Celica Supra 2./ #7 / Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse 3./ #18 / David Brodie / Brodie / A / Mitsubishi Starion Turbo 4./ #6 / James Weaver / CC / A / BMW 635CSi 5./ #? / Vince Woodman / CC / A / BMW 635CSi 6./ #? / Neil McGrath / unknown / A / Rover Vitesse ? / #9 / Frank Sytner / Sytner / A / BMW 635CSi ? / #? / Mike Newman / Newman / A / Ford Capri 3.0S ? / #? / David Kennedy / Kennedy / A / BMW 635CSi ? / #30 / Jon Dooley / Dooley / B / Alfa Romeo GTV6, winning class B ? / #38 / Graham Goode / Goode / B / Nissan Bluebird Turbo, second in class B ? / #40 / Phil Dowsett / unknown / B / Alfa Romeo GTV6 ? / #77 / Richard Longman / Longman / C / Ford Escort RS1600i, winning class C DNF / #? / Charles Sawyer-Hoare / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse DNF / #69 / Chris Hodgetts / Brooklyn / C / Ford Escort RS1600i Round 10, September 16, 1984 at Donington Park 1./ #7 Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse 2./ #14 / Win Percy / Hughes of Beaconsfield / A / Toyota Celica Supra, beaten by 0.23 seconds after starting from pole Round 11, October 7, 1984 at Silverstone 1./ #18 / David Brodie / Brodie / A / Mitsubishi Starion Turbo pole / #7 / Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse, starting from pole This is what I got about the 1984 RAC Tricentrol British Touring Car Championship. The first year as a touring car championship rather than the previous saloon car designation. Any help in filling in the gaps will be much appreciated. Jesper |
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28 Nov 2009, 18:09 (Ref:2590881)
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Hi Jesper- I don't have time to look at these in detail now, and I don't have a full set of results for '84 anyway, but I can offer rough answers to a couple of questions straight away
Yes,AFAIK, Alan Greenhalgh raced a Golf- the yellow Ordibel car The rounds on consecutive days (3&4 at Thruxton and Oulton are definitely possible- IIRC, around that time they sometimes ran a couple of rounds on an Easter weekend, possibly one on the Saturday/Sunday and one on Easter Monday. Do the dates fit that pattern? I'll dig out what 1985 results I've got and see if I can fill in more later- I can definitely help more with '85 onwards |
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28 Nov 2009, 19:22 (Ref:2590899)
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April 20, 1984 was a Friday, the 21st a Saturday. According to this site, Easter it was when these two rounds were raced:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter I have a correction to the 1984 championship title - it was the RAC Trimoco British Touring Car Championship, not Tricentrol as main sponsor. Jesper Last edited by Jesper OH; 28 Nov 2009 at 19:28. |
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28 Nov 2009, 19:57 (Ref:2590913)
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Found my '84 results out, such as they are, and I can add the following- (I'll put my info in bold) The results I've added are based on notes taken about 20 years ago from the original Autosport race reports, and 'Art on A' article by Art Markus in Performance car magaine. I'm fairly sure about the top 6 and class placings, but bottom half of the top 10 might not be 100% accurate, so might be worth checking against another source. I'll add more later if I can find them
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28 Nov 2009, 20:18 (Ref:2590924)
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Thanks a lot, KA. Just as I'm sitting here preparing a 1985 installment and then being disturbed by your post
 . Also realising that the Win Percy Toyota Celica Supra maiden victory was to be the only BTCC for that particular model.Jesper |
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29 Nov 2009, 20:19 (Ref:2591361)
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Cracking work there KA!!
Re 1984: Rob Hall's RS1600i was entered under either; Universal Grinding Wheels and/or some Ford dealership in Stafford. Can't remember exactly? The car was prep'd by John Maguire. EDIT!! It was entered by Julian May Racing but prep'd by Maguire in both 1983 and '84 with the Universal backing? Can anyone else confirm this at all? Last edited by chunterer; 20 Jan 2010 at 11:13. |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!"
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18 Jan 2010, 22:29 (Ref:2615397)
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19 Jan 2010, 16:53 (Ref:2615780)
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That's pretty good scalps in Andy Rouse's favour, beating all three TWR Rovers (Soper, Pond, Lovett) in the very first race of the season.
Jesper |
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24 Jan 2010, 13:17 (Ref:2618555)
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I seem to recall it being misty mind you, I was very young and that was the first meeting my father had taken me to since '82 after we had moved upto the Midlands so my memory may not be right on the button there! KA brought up the Cheylsmore BMW in the '85 thread, so a quick hark back to KA's questions about possible other entries for the earlier rounds. I think the Grunding car may not have appeared in '84 until the Easter Monday Thruxton round, can't be 100 percent on that though? |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!"
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25 Jan 2010, 01:58 (Ref:2618875)
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__________________
"Our traction control was kinda how much your last crash was still hurting you." - Kevin Schwantz
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25 Jan 2010, 11:11 (Ref:2619026)
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Also just noted the dates question further back. The Oulton Good Friday round was 20th April, the Easter Monday Thruxton round was April 23rd. It was pure BTCC heaven for a little 10 year old at the time I can tell you, although the old man must've felt the mileage covered that weekend in his Capri 2.0S!! |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!"
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25 Jan 2010, 20:30 (Ref:2619357)
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A 1983 pic of the Hall Escort shows it carrying sponsorship from Castrol and Lloyds- presumably they're the Stafford Ford dealer? |
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25 Jan 2010, 21:09 (Ref:2619375)
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A few extra details on Round 10, September 16, 1984 at Donington Park 1./ #7 Andy Rouse / Rouse / A / Rover Vitesse 2./ #14 / Win Percy / Hughes of Beaconsfield / A / Toyota Celica Supra, beaten by 0.23 seconds after starting from pole Class B winner- Graham Goode/Goode/Nissan Bluebird Turbo Most of the report concentrates on the dramas surrounding the Goode Nissan, which are probably worth telling here: Basically, the story was that they tested at Donington on the Tuesday before the race, and with representatives of AP Lockheed on hand to advise, went home with some upgrades for the Bluebird's brakes. These proved troublesome to fit, needing much adaptation of existing parts, and the job, (and fitting a new engine) took until midnight on Saturday to finish. Graham then fired up the Nissan -already on the transporter- for a final check, only to discover the new engine had a head-gasket failure.... The team loaded up anyway, and by 2:30 am were working an all-nighter in the Donington pit garage to change the engine. Graham went out for the first practice session at 9:00am, but within 3 laps (and a multiple spin at Redgate) discovered the car was virtually undriveable- the upgraded rear brakes were locking solid... He opted to stay out and cautiously do just enough laps to qualify, only for the gearbox to break...! Between the two practice sessions, while the team changed the gearbox, Graham was changing the brake master cylinder to sort the braking issues- both jobs being finished with only minutes to spare, enabling him to go out and qualify on class pole, before going on to take the class win in the race Top few grid positions: 1: Win Percy (Supra) 2: Andy Rouse (Rover) 3: Dave Brodie (Starion) 4: James Weaver (635CSi) 5: Frank Sytner (635CSi) - Ted Grace's crew, who prepared the Sytner car having grafted a new rear end onto the shell, after Barrie Williams had been ended up as part of the infamous multiple car pile-up at Woodcote in the TT the previous weekend Last edited by KA; 25 Jan 2010 at 21:15. |
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25 Jan 2010, 21:39 (Ref:2619394)
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Dooley only needed a 4th place finish to clinch the class title- unfortunately, despite being fastest Alfa in qualifying, he also lost two engines, and had to start the race with one described in the report as 'cobbled-together'. Predictably, this was off the pace, and in the race, he ended up down in 5th in class, with team-mate Rob Kirby the leading Alfa in 2nd.... On the last lap, approaching the chicane, Kirby held a narrow lead over Phil Dowsett, but suddenly slowed, allowing a surprised Dowsett to take 2nd in class. Presumably this was a last-ditch attempt to help Dooley into 4th place, however Kirby's momentum was enough to still take him over the line in 3rd, denying his team-mate the class championship.... Dooley wasn't impressed with Kirby's actions, commenting 'He'd have done the team a bigger favour if he'd just driven it into a wall!' Much of the drama was off-track though, with protests flying around- Dooley protesting the Goode Nissan over it's use of an intercooler, and Toyota protesting the Starion on similar grounds (to say nothing of the scrutineers asking for no less than 3 fuel samples from Brodie's car...) |
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26 Jan 2010, 09:40 (Ref:2619585)
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Two quite informative posts there, KA. Impressive stuff about what it took for Goode to win this round of the series.
As for Kirby, named Roberto Kirby in one of the BTCC standings on the official site, did continue but he was the guy eventually to be sponsored by John West Salmon? Jesper |
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26 Jan 2010, 17:26 (Ref:2619793)
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Quote:
 Yes I recall Rob being referred to as Roberto back then, more humourous affection I think. Yes you're right Jesper Kirby went from 'Salmon Can' to John West Salmon' logo's although it was essentially the same sponsor. Dooley's car also sported that later in 1985. Got to be worth mentioning again just how well engineered that Datsun/Nissan Bluebird was as well. The mind really boggles as what that car could have achieved with some proper factory money and support behind it. Graham and his team must've worked miracles to get that car running so strongly, particulary later in the season and on into 1985. Thanks to some footage that has recently become available to me, it really brought home the huge void left after the withdrawal of ARG and BMW, Rouse had no rivals aprt from when Percy ran and The Brode got the Starion reliable towards the end of the season. The '84 season showed so much promise for the future it really would've acted as a magnate for further manufacturers had it retained the works teams in the 2 upper classes. With apart from Andy Rouse and Dave Brodie there wasn't really much to compete against in '85 and anyone thinking of it would've looked at Andy's performances and thought twice I suspect! It would certainly have been interesting to see how some proper Rovers would've gone against Rouse's Sierra and also with the latent promise of the Supra whether Percy would've been tempted to stay on in some capacity if the competition was worth it and dovetail that with ETC action - Barry Sheene could've done with a lead car/driver to learn from. What if CC had continued, or another crack team had come in to prep the BMW's, with all the info gained from '84, the cars could've been more consistently competitive in 1985. |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!"
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26 Jan 2010, 21:05 (Ref:2619942)
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The story I've read is that early in 1982 there was a big food poisoning scare (botulism) due to faulty tins from one factory in Alaska. After that, to try and boost UK customer confidence in tinned salmon, the state government in Alaska put money into a 1983 advertising campaign run by BACFID, the canned food importers trade association in the UK. After running TV ads etc, there was some money left, and BACFID were persuaded that sponsoring an Alfa in the BTCC would be the obvious way of spending it... After the Alaskan money ran out, John West took over as sponsor (IIRC, they'd been involved in the original deal) for '85 first on Kirby's car, then Dooley's when Napolina pulled out mid-season |
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26 Jan 2010, 21:31 (Ref:2619960)
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Good info KA!!!!; I had no idea about any Alaska link to the Salmon backing? I always thoughts it was John West (even if West products have perhaps been more associated with Tuna!!)
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!"
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26 Jan 2010, 21:57 (Ref:2619978)
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As long as the West sponsorship wasn't a hearing
Jesper |
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26 Jan 2010, 22:21 (Ref:2619996)
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27 Jan 2010, 11:06 (Ref:2620244)
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Quote:
  Ironically I've often heard small Citroen's referred to as 'sardine tins' but Kirby's must be the only Alfa ever know as 'The Salmon Can.' Alfisti must've been up in arms! I was listening to an old tape recording of the Trimoco June F3 supporting round at Silverstone and Ian Titchmarsh actually calls the car that was well! Back to discussion of that final round at Silverstone and the footage i've got hold of from Will, showed a good scrap for a good part of the race between Rouse and Brode for the lead and further down a titanic battle between all four BMW's vying with, firstly Percy's recovering Supra (got bogged down off the start removing any chance he had of staying with the Vitesse and Starion) and Sawyer-Hoare's red Vitesse, until it peeled off. I was in the Woodcote stands for this one and really couldn't remember any of that! The angle those Bimmer's get at going through thie chicane rivals anything Stucky did before I can tell you!! Interestingly CS-H's car hadn't gone anywhere near as well as that in it's occasional races prior to this round so it's left me wondering if he either had some newer Rouse bits on the car, or whether he fuelled it lighter to show it off in order to attract buyers. As we know it went to Australia in the end, but I bet that's not where Charles or Andy Rouse reckoned it would end up!! Something else, not really relevant I discovered whilst reading Maurice Hamilton's Williams book last night was that CS-H's girlfriend in the late 60's; Virginia, went onto become Mrs Frank Williams!! |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!"
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27 Jan 2010, 11:24 (Ref:2620260)
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Jesper |
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