The handsome new BMW 3 Series is flying high in its first British Touring Car Championship season. Colin Turkington is set for a record-equalling fourth title, team-mate Andrew Jordan is chasing him and another makes title beckons.
The cars look splendid in BMW’s traditional white, blue and red. But they’ve triggered a memory. Ahead of the BTCC’s second visit of 2019 to Thruxton, let’s scroll back 30 years. Have tin-tops ever looked better than Prodrive’s boxy M3 E30s?
YouTube is a great time-waster. Here's a BBC Grandstand gem, complete with the soothing tones of Steve Rider (still at the helm) and FANTASTIC commentary from the one and only Murray Walker.
Those were the days of four classes, when a bevy of Sierra Cosworth RS500s ruled on boost. And on top at Thruxton was devilish club racing legend Dave Brodie. Whispers he was running illegal fuel sparked a pre-race TV tirade drivers wouldn’t give today: “They prance around in their overalls all day long, but when it comes to getting the business done they’re a bunch of wallies,” sneered ‘Brode’. “Apart from Andy.”
Ah, Rouse, whose title record Turkington could equal. Andy ended up with another of his 60 BTCC victories that day, but only after early contact with Brode, who led easily until a tyre blew out. Rider then tells us Dave was running illegal fuel after all…
Back in Class B, James Weaver and Frank Sytner – “he’s had more rolls than Joe’s caff”, slammed Brode – went to war again in the M3s. But this time the sting was taken out by Sytner hitting trouble. Cue more TV gold. When asked about their famously fractious relationship, a droll Weaver says: “Normally when we get back to the motorhome the atmosphere is atrocious… but once we’ve sat down and had a cup of tea, Frank and I get on very well. There’s no animosity…” The twinkle in his eye is almost blinding.
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Better then than now
Ah the rose tinted specs!!!
The racing in the BTCC is just as close if not as close as it was back in the day and i loved the racing back then as i do now. They do have standard parts from TOCA to try and keep the costs down and introduce new teams and manufacturers.
As for driving standards, they are certainly stricter on punishing the drivers now than they were before and looking back at some of the punts and racing then, it was more stock car than touring car!! Surely contact is inevitable in any form of saloon car racing more so when the grid is so evenly matched as it is now. Yes the BTCC doesn't have the big gun driver's and house hold names as it used to do, things have moved on, the old guard is still there and there are some talented and extremely capable young guns waiting in the wings.
Better then than now
I wish we could return to the days when Touring cars looked a lot more like production models and retained more standard parts. I daresay the racing wasn't as close, but it was authentic. The BMW M3 and Sierra Cosworth dominated the field because they were faster cars. With today's racing - with standard parts and weight penalties for winners - any benefits of the production model are lost and a Skoda can easily see off a BMW M car or Honda Type R.
And as for driving standards, you may as well watch a banger race!