BTCC Super Tourers – A Brilliant Blast From the Past

Cars are more than just the bedrock of our work here at Car & Classic, they’re also our passion. You can tell, because every now and then we get other members of the C&C team stepping up to write about their adventures and experiences. Take Auction Consignor, Henry Smith for example, who recently got to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the Super Tourers era BTCC cars. Henry, Over to you…

It’s 1997, you’ve just got back from school. A bottle of Panda Pop and a bag of Chipsticks in hand, you fire up the Playstation 1. The Codemasters logo greets you. The sound of ’90s techno music starts playing, along to footage of Audi A4’s screaming round a track, Honda Accords spinning off onto grass, and Volvo S40s slamming into walls. This can only be ToCA Touring Cars.

For many people, like me who grew up in the 1990s, we can picture this moment with 20/20 clarity. For one, beautifully pixelated moment, we were our favourite racing driver, throwing a Renault Laguna into the tight corners of a rain-soaked Thruxton with careless abandon. However, for every generation of motorsport enthusiast, our first experience of seeing the BTCC Super Tourers era whether it was on BBC Grandstand or in glorious 3D at a plethora of British race tracks, it truly was a watershed moment.

It was a golden era of motorsport that had everything – spectacular, fast paced racing, constantly changing rules, controversial moves and perhaps most famously – the dramatic crashes narrated
by an often excitable and much missed Murray Walker. In 1999, Matt Neal famously won a prize of £250,000 for becoming the first private entry driver to win a race outright, so it wasn’t always
the best-funded teams that were in with a shout. It was about who could get the car round the track fastest. All done in cars that your Dad, or your mate’s Dad owned. All presented in iconic
liveries. Perfection.

For every motorsport fan, there is a BTCC memory from this era. Perhaps that is why fans flocked in their thousands to Brands Hatch last weekend, to see these spectacular machines in action, and we were there to soak up the nostalgia and experience what many regard as the most exciting era of motorsport in history. Upon arrival, it was hard to ignore the multitude of fantastic ’90s machinery on display; many of which were adorned with sponsors of the BTCC teams from the era. It was ’90s repmobile heaven. It wasn’t long however, before some more serious and memorable metal came into focus.

Raised on hydraulic jacks, Alain Menu’s actual 1997 Williams-Renault Laguna looked equal parts menacing and beautiful in the famous yellow and blue ‘Kaliber’ livery. Another hit of ’90s nostalgia came into view after a few more paces along the pit lane, in the form of Tim Harvey’s 1998 Esso/Ultron Peugeot 406, but a short walk over to the marquee tent revealed in all its glory, perhaps one of the most famous – and controversial cars of the era – Jan Lammers 1994 Volvo 850R estate.

When it appeared suddenly in 1994, many people thought the race prepared estate car was a joke, but that notion soon disappeared when Jan and his teammate, Rickard Rydell got behind
the wheel. Despite only finishing 14th overall that season, it was the 850R that had the most attention throughout the year and it served as valuable research for Volvo, who would go on to
consistently improve and eventually win the 1998 season with Rydell at the helm of the S40. That exact car, which we imagine was no coincidence, was parked next to the 850, looking every bit
intimidating as it did back in 1998.

After a couple of minutes of being deafened by Roland Ratzenberger’s 1988 BMW M3, we headed over to the ‘Retro Tent’ which gave us the opportunity to play ToCA Touring Car Championship on PS1, with the late David Leslie’s 1997 Nissan Primera GT serving as the backdrop. Does life get much better? Well, yes it does. Given that qualifying was over, it felt prudent to take a walk down to the pits and soak up the atmosphere. What we were greeted by was a not only a sight to behold, but a trip down memory lane. I was present at Brands Hatch in 1998 to watch this, albeit at the tender age of 9, but on this day, it hit different. It’s hard to describe the feeling. It was somehow, more special. It really was one of those ‘You had to be there’ moments.

I vividly remember watching Anthony Reid effortlessly pilot his Nissan Primera GT round the track that day, scoring a convincing victory, and I can recall standing behind the pits, watching Anthony get ready to go out. It wasn’t long before we saw the man himself, dressed in his Vodafone Nissan race suit, deep in conversation with his co driver for the weekend, current BTCC hotshot, Jake Hill. Owner Richard Wheeler had brought along three ex-BTCC cars – David Leslie’s 1997 car, driven throughout the weekend by Mr Wheeler, Anthony Reid’s 1997 car driven by the man
himself and the ex Laurant Aielo 1998 car, driven by Jake Hill. You could have been forgiven for thinking it was race day, in 1998 standing behind the pits, with only some modern cars in the pits,
and a more mature Anthony Reid being the only give away.

You could also be forgiven for thinking that Anthony, now 66, may not have the same pace of the 1990s. You would be very wrong. We weren’t able to grab a word with Anthony, as predictably swarms of fans were eager to get a minute with BTCC legend. We were however, able to have a quick word with his ‘teammate’ Jake Hill. ‘’A lot lighter, and a lot more responsive’’ commented the BTCC hotshot when asked how the older car stacks up to his current BMW 330e M-Sport. One can only imagine how it would feel to be in command of the untouchable Primera, alongside a legend such as Anthony Reid.

Anthony was not the only member of the ‘old guard’ in attendance. Far from it. Just a few doors down, the legendary Paul Radisich was getting ready to jump in the very same Ford Mondeo V6
that he drove to success in the Touring Car World Cup back in 1994. I mentioned earlier Matt Neal won £250,000 for winning a race in his Team Dynamics Primera, well, that car was also in
attendance, driven by V8 Supercar and Bathurst leviathan, Greg Murphy. The attendance of that car proved to be very significant and sadly ironic, as it was announced on Sunday that ex-BTCC driver Steve Neal, founder of Team Dynamics and Matt’s father, had sadly passed away. As a tribute, the car was placed at the front of the grid for the first race of the day. A
poignant touch, and even more special when you realise that car was brought over from New Zealand just for the weekend.

The Super Tourer races over the entire weekend were everything we expected. Nostalgic. An audible feast. Exhilarating, and predictably in standard BTCC fashion, not short of a spill in
places. A heart-stopping moment occurred when the 1996 Ford Mondeo driven by David Power lost control on Paddock Hill bend and slammed into the fence. Luckily, David was unharmed but the car was rather bruised. We hope it will be back fighting fit again. A textbook BTCC moment also presented itself at Paddock later in the day, with Primera team owner Richard Wheeler pulling a beautiful move on the inside of Anthony Reid. We suspect Anthony may of backed off here slightly to avoid giving Mr Wheeler a potentially big bill, but luckily the razor sharp reactions and
unarguable experience of Reid prevented this. For better or for worse, the excitement of that era was there for the entire crowd of spectators.

Jake Hill displayed exactly why he is in contention to win the BTCC this year. Anthony Reid clearly proved that none of his instinct, skill and competitiveness have in any shape or form, waned over the years. The competitiviness of Reid clearly hadn’t faded with time either – he amusingly stated later in the day that Jake Hill had the edge because of the superior suspension on his later, 1998 car.

In terms of noise, the howl of the SR20DE-equipped Primera GT’s were a cacophony of internal combustion delights, but the screaming 2.0 V6 from the 1995 Mazda 323F was almost V10 era F1-esque. It’s a shame that it never saw a track in anger in period, but we were very glad to see it in action today.

It wasn’t just the Super Tourers that provided the thrills, either. A brace of other classes and clubs were supporting through the weekend, such as the tremendous Thunder Saloon class, with The
Grand Tour star Abbie Eaton in command of a earth-shaking Holden Commodore. In the pre-66 Historic Touring Cars, Grant Williams put on a show in the famous Jaguar Mk.1 ‘BUY 1’. Plenty of
action on the track, then. Off the track, it’s not like we were short of entertainment. Alain Menu, Paul Radisich, Tim Harvey, Andy Rouse and the legendary Steve Soper were all present on the Auto Sport stage at various points, reliving memories and discussing all things Super Touring. We were able to meet both Menu and Radisich which was in no uncertain terms, an honour. As well as talking on stage and greeting fans, both Tim Harvey and Steve Soper took part in historical demonstrations on track, both in command of fire breathing Sierra RS500s and predictably showing why they were (and still are!) both a force to be reckoned with on the track.

There was so much to see, so much to watch and so much to take in, that we could go on for days with this. You often hear about the rose tinted glasses and that some things are best left in
the past. Not so here. The Super Tourers deserve to be celebrated. They are still just as imposing, impressive and as aggressive as they was all those years ago. The action still every bit as exciting. Many people argue that motorsport will never be as thrilling as this again, and it’s hard to argue against that after this incredible spectacle.

Whatever your stance is, we’re just glad these cars are still around, and the dedicated owners are as passionate to keep them running as we were to watch them. For that, we thank you, everybody
responsible and MSV for putting on what I thought, was the event of the year. All of us at Car & Classic extend our condolences to the Neal and Team Dynamics family for the sad loss of Steve Neal.