Stories from Super Touring. Hello everyone, and welcome to
this week's episode of Stories from Super Touring.
I'm Levi Riley and joining Alex, Adam and myself this week to
look ahead to the forthcoming Super Touring Power Two event at
Brandon's Hatch, MSV's David Willie, the chairman of the
CTCRC, Stuart Kay and touring car legends John Cleland and
Anthony Reed. A big warm welcome to you all.
You've all been on the show before, so how are we all doing
this evening? Great in Scotland, apart from
it's wet, but it's wonderful. We had the wet weather yesterday
so it's nice. And we've had it all day today.
Yeah. Now if you're a big fan of Super
Tourists, and let's face it, if you're listening to this, you
probably are, you might know that Brands Hatch will be
hosting Super Touring Power 2 next month on the 29th and 30th
of June, the sequel to last year's extremely successful
event. David, you are one of the main
organisers behind this event for both this year and last.
Can you tell us a little bit more about it?
Yes, absolutely evening everyone.
So I think anyone who's listening to this podcast and,
and follows your social media, massive followers of, of the
Super tour era and the event we organise at Brands Hatch Super
Touring power in the second edition this year is basically a
celebration of, of that area, which I think everyone can agree
is, is probably the most fondly remembered era of touring cars.
And we basically do our best to transport everyone back to the,
the 90s, which was obviously the, the, you know, the heyday
of, of, of that era. And there, there is just so much
going on. The on track is, is headlined
by, by the Super Tours, which is created by, by Stewart and
CTRCCTCRC. And off track.
We have hundreds of, of pre 2000 cars to, to make it feel like
you're, you know, you're heading down brands in the sort of mid
to late 90s. And we, we also have many static
displays of, of other super tourism and other touring cars.
So basically if you're listening to this podcast, then the I can
I can assure you this event is 100% for you.
Anna Stewart coming to you now after the last year's successful
event, how quickly did you decide to get the the
arrangements made on the sequel? It was quite, it was quite an
interesting one actually. Obviously, you know, last year
we never realised how many people would turn up.
You book these things and try and make things happen and when,
when there were people queuing to get in on the Sunday, we knew
we'd we'd got on to something. I think it was when Auto Sport
started a campaign about a week after to, to bring out Super
Tour of Power too. I got a phone call from David.
I think he'd spoken to JP and that was that.
I went up to Brands Hatch and we shook hands and I think we were
the first people to book book Brands Hatcher outside the
touring car and Super Bikes, weren't we?
It was it was that quick. Yeah, the the.
The date soon got soon got pencilled in, but yeah, the the
feedback from last year was was so positive.
I mean, personally, I've, I've worked at brands for, you know,
for almost 20 years now and it was just amazing to see how, how
much people actually enjoyed the event.
It was fantastic to have all of the, the touring car legends
that were there, you know, it was just evoking memories of, of
such an amazing era. And we'll, you know, we'll be
doing that again all on the 29th, 30 of June this year.
And talking of the success from last year's event, Anthony, you
were racing in the event last year.
Fond memories of taken out your old Primera.
Well, yes, I mean, it's now a bit of history.
It's a classic racing car. Actually.
Most of the mechanics working on the car weren't even born when I
raced that car back in the period, because the car now is
26 years old, but it still drives the same way as it didn't
period. The the fundamental difference
now is that we don't have factory Michelin tires on the
car, so we're having to run a kind of control tire, which is a
lot harder. So the car is not as quick as it
used to be in period. But I mean, the weekend was
amazing. You know, a lot of, you know,
the big names turned up. Alan Menu was there, Tim Harvey,
but a whole range of different drivers turned up and it was and
the weather was great. There were big crowds.
So in a way it was a sort of a vignette of what happened back
in period. It was just not quite on the
same grand scale. But it was it was a fabulous
event. And you all had to behave
yourself as well this time. Well, we didn't have Alan GAO
and his, yeah, thankfully. And yeah, we didn't have the
lawyers in in period. I think we had a significant
number of the teams. The big factory teams had
lawyers because they were protesting each other.
John, you were initially meant to be down at the event last
year but unfortunately business commitments meant you have to
withdraw. Are you happy to be involved in
the event this year? Yeah, I mean, I was disappointed
not to be there last year. It was the plan.
The car was ready, the truck was ready.
I, I think I said before we came on air that my plan is to
eventually reverse out of my business and leave my two sons
to run it. And unfortunately they are the
two guys that run my race car or rebuilt the race car and, and
run it for me. So unlike in the day when we had
a team of 12/15 mechanics, I've got two guys that look after it
and they happen to be part of the family.
So it was going to disrupt the business for the three of us to
be away for as long. And that's why this year again,
I can't race down there with my own car, which is a shame.
But I just to get the feel, I go down to the garage sometimes at
night and make racing car noises sitting in it just to make me
feel good, you know. But it's, it amazes me that it
was a real high period in what Anthony, myself and and the
other guys did. And I think Anthony stole my
strap line that says that there was more of us being paid to
drive touring cars than there were guys being paid to drive
Formula One cars back in the day.
And and that was in fact the case there was there was hardly
anybody taking money. Everybody was getting paid.
And really did we appreciate that?
We probably didn't until we were standing outside of it looking
back in again. And it amazes me that, I mean
without bringing this up very much, but all the way back to
1992 in the infamous Silverstone last race, you know, we are
talking towards that 30, God knows, 3030.
Two years, this year 30. Two years ago and people still
talk about it and, and I just, I'm amazed how popular that
whole period was. You know, it just people come up
to me still in my showroom and they say you're the guy that
raced the, the, the, the Vauxhall.
Did you never drive the Volvo? No, I didn't.
I was offered to drive and I didn't take it and blah, blah,
blah. But they still relate to it all
these years later. So it definitely left an
indelible mark on everybody's memories.
And ironically now lots of guys in the guy who's got two
premieres at Anthony Drives, he was probably in short trousers
when we were racing them. He's now a successful
businessman. Like a lot of people, they've
made a bit of money. They loved that era, and they've
gone out and bought one or two of the cars that they loved,
whether they'd be the Nissans, the Volvos, the Mondeos or
whatever, because they can now have fun in what they only
previously could watch on television.
That was an amazing period in time.
Well, I think you're going to have a few more people coming up
to at Brands Hatch, John, saying the man's an animal and.
John's going. 1st and all all the other things that are going
to be covered I'm sure. Well, I, you were talking about
Anthony talking about lawyers there, but the lawyer that I
employed when Steve and I went to court about that incident was
such a good lawyer that Toca then employed him as their
lawyer. And then I think Malik took him
on board as their lawyer. So I introduced him to to a huge
opportunity within motorsport. A jump.
A jump for life. Alex, you were at last year's
event. Any particular favorite memory
stick out from that weekend for you?
Yeah, I remember firstly walking into brands on a Saturday
morning, the two with with with yourself and you could just hear
that five cylinder Volvo because they were they were on, they
were in a practice session just going down the pit straight.
And I remember turning to you saying I've not heard that for
23 years or whatever it was or something silly like that.
And it just sounded exactly the same.
I'm looking forward to hearing the BMW that Steve Sopa's
driving this year because they sounded so good in period too.
And the other, the other thing that was really nice was when we
got chatting with with Paul Radix.
And it was the first time I'd seen Paul since I was probably a
little kid, you know, and, and he invited us to go on the grid
with him on Sunday and, and, and spend some time with him.
And that was really cool. He was really, really brilliant
being so up close and personal with the cars, the
personalities, the drivers, everyone, everyone involved.
It was just a wonderful event and I can't wait for for next
month. I'll tell you a funny story
about Paul Radissex. To digress slightly.
Yeah, we, we, Paul Radissex, Steve Sopa, myself, Alan Go were
travelling back from Bathurst to Sydney in a rental car after the
Bathurst 1000. And Sopa was driving us BMW
rental car and we're doing about 8090 miles an hour.
And Radicic leaned over from the back and pulled the handbrake on
all the way to the very last notch and it jammed the back
wheels on in this thing. And it's scheduled for about 150
meters with the back wheels locked up.
And when, when eventually Sopa had managed to miss everything
solid and get the handbrake off, we then proceeded for the next
250 miles to get to Sydney with frightening back tiles.
And that was, that was radical sense of humour, yes.
We must bring that up next time. Yes, absolutely.
Adam, you weren't with us last year.
If you hadn't quite joined the team at that point, I'm guessing
you're looking forward to this year's event and is there
anything in particular that you're looking forward to see?
To be honest, it's just one of those events where I'm super
excited because I'm not competing now in anything.
So it's I really appreciate being at circuits and being the
fan again and not just a competitor.
So anything I do get the chance to go to, I just really love it.
And I don't think there's any one specific thing.
I think whenever I've been fortunate enough to be at, you
know, any classic events where there's been like a static
display of a super tour or anything like that, I just feel
really nostalgic and, you know, just looking at them and
appreciating the design of them and like, you know, the engine,
like how far the engines were back in the bulkhead and, and
just how different they were back then with obviously the the
manufactured budgets that they had.
So I don't think anyone, you know for sure, the BM Sandy
good, the Volvo's amazing, but I just think to be, I'm just, I
just appreciate the fact that these guys just that own them,
love them and they still want to use them.
It's very much like going to Goodwood when you can't quite
believe the array of vehicles and everything that you see
there that's not just on us. You'd be happy to see them on a
static display, but to see them running, yeah, it's it's just
something else. So yeah, I'm super, super
excited about it. Well, we asked our listeners for
their favorite memories from last year's of event and here
are a few of them now. So Phil does says that he was
there and that even though it was only a demo run, seeing that
1997 Renault Laguna running again was an absolute delight.
And that's bon. I also agree with that was
wonderful. Yeah, it's my favorite.
That was an absolute, the incredible special moment.
Talking of that 97 Laguna, Tony Cole says that meeting our menu
and having a chat about how good that car was was absolutely
amazing. He also said that Menu told him
that Will Hoy was his favorite teammate.
Sorry, Anthony, that I think Will's beating you on that list
there, John. That's probably one thing that
we can all agree on. You've spoken to us at length
before about Will. He was a special character,
wasn't he? Yeah, I met Will for the very
first time. I knew of him from his clubman's
background and I mentioned I can't remember what he was
testing, but we were, we were tired testing down in Nagaro in
southern France. And he was there with a truck.
And that was the first time that I met him.
And we then became really good friends and we played golf
together, we ate together. We, I went and stayed with him
at his House of London. He came and stayed with me.
And he was a guy that I could trust.
And there's very few, as Anthony will probably attest to, there's
very few drivers at that time that you could honestly trust
that you could go side by side around half a lap of Donnington
or Thorpston or somewhere and trust that they won't heave you
in the boonies. Well, Will was that guy because
he and I had some great battles for the championship that he
ultimately won and race after race after race.
But then we would socialise and he had an evil sense of humour
again. When we went out for dinner, he
was, he was just a, he was a hoot.
I mean, it's just a, I've got so many tales of, of, of Will, all
of them good. Nothing bad about him.
He was just great fun to be around.
And I can imagine Alan saying that he was, he was his best
team mate. I would love to have been a team
mate Will. And it was a, a sad loss.
The, the, the day that he left us and Judy, his, his wife
phoned and asked if I would say some words at the at the
service. And I, I was massively honoured.
But at the same time it was the hardest thing I've ever done in
my life was to stand and honour a guy who was no longer with us.
It was just the the most difficult thing I've ever done
and I'm never normally sure for words, but that that was a real
challenge. But a lovely, lovely guy.
One thing I do remember from last year is an understanding in
the pits at one point and seeing the, the three Nissans that
Richard Wheeler has there, the the one obviously Anthony
drives. And I remember just thinking,
wouldn't it have been nice? It would have been great to have
had David along with us as well at that weekend.
And obviously we talk about Will being a tragic loss in, in
touring cars in the BTCC. But Anthony David was a great,
great driver and a great person too, wasn't he?
Yeah. I mean, talking about favorite
team mates, David fitted that category.
Absolutely. We, we got on really well.
Our families would spend time together.
We worked together really well as a team.
We like the same kind of set up. We developed the the Nissan
together. And yeah, another tragic loss.
Yeah. Absolutely.
Well before his time. I remember when David and I were
doing the, the Edinburgh Motor Show many, many years ago and we
were very combative on track and we, I didn't really know David
that well. He came from Dumfries area and I
was only 50-60 miles further up the road.
And I remember the two of us over a cup of coffee that day
and he said to me, he says can I ask you a personal question?
He said how much do you get paid?
And I said, well, I'm not going to tell you, but if you tell me
what ballpark you're in then I'll tell you if you need to ask
more money or whether I need to ask for more money.
And he told me then what he was being offered.
And I gave him some friendly advice about he was worth a lot
more money than that and he was underselling himself quite
considerably. And he didn't believe what the
money was. And I always meant to go back
and ask him afterwards did he get what I told him to ask for.
But he was, he'd have driven anything anywhere for a pie and
a pint. And, and actually he was worth a
lot more than that. And I know that it breaks it
down to money, but at the end of the day, we all need to live.
And he deserved to be paid more money than he was at that time,
you know. Steve Pryor says it was an
absolutely great weekend with so many great memories.
Seeing Super Touring cars that he had watched over 30 years
previously and meeting drivers again from the era was just
really special. Dean Slater got in touch to say
that just being able to see all the special cars again in one
space was epic. He said his family never really
had the money to go to a race when he was growing up, so to
see the cars in the flesh for the first time was really
memorable. Mark Burns said that meeting
Patrick Watts was amazing. I can imagine very entertaining
as well. Nothing Patrick.
Yeah. Tim Davies said big on the grid
and seeing Paul Radysich being greeted by Charlie Cox was
surreal, with Radysich being his touring car hero.
Steve Sutton said that the noise of the Super tourist screaming
towards Paddock Hill Ben for the first time in years was amazing.
And lastly, Ashley Sharpe got in touch to say that standing on a
grid full of super tours was brilliant, whilst David Hill
said seeing Paul Radysich reunited with his World Cup
winning Mondeo was brilliant. So David, along with John and
Anthony being at the event, what else can visitors expect when
they come to Brands Hatch on the 29th and 30th of June?
Well, as you can imagine, we've been working tirelessly to to
make sure we're at least, you know, put on a good event as
last year, but it's going to be obviously so much better now
that Mister Cleland will be will be attending and you know, we're
extremely. Grateful for for his support.
And it's fantastic to have Anthony back racing again.
And you know, it's due, it's due to John Anthony.
That's you know, why I'm, I'm working at brands and MSV, you
know, from following them their careers through, through touring
cars. It's just so fantastic that
they're, they're still enthused to, to be part of the Super
Touring era. And it's still what they do.
It's, it's just fantastic. And you know, all the fans
appreciate in, you know, they just can't wait to see you there
on the 29th, 30th of June. So obviously I've been working
very hard with Stuart and the other guys at the CCRC.
And the highlight of the weekend is obviously going to be the,
the four super Tour races over the weekend, two each day.
So on the, on the Saturday, there'll be two races on the, on
the GP circuit. And then what's unique about
this event as per last year is that on Sunday, we basically
have a a brand new event start off of qualifying and two more
races on the indie circuit. So fans get the chance to see
the cars on on the GP and the indie, which is which is pretty
unique. As we've already briefly
mentioned, R&L groups celebrate their 40th anniversary
celebration this year. And we'll be delighted to to
welcome both both Ray and his son to come along to, to
celebrate that, which we'll go into a bit more detail later on
joining John and. And his, his special guest will
be Andy Rouse. We can't wait to welcome Andy
back to, to the events again together with Steve Super who
will be racing the BMW E36 and providing he comes back from his
running escapades, Hopefully we can welcome back Patrick Watts
as well. We're, we're following his his
social media quite closely and we we're just hoping he makes it
back. If his wife doesn't kill.
Him. Yeah, exactly.
And also we we very much look forward to welcoming Jeff Allen
back to the event again as well. We've got, we've got.
Lots of other drivers that we're hoping to confirm and also
personalities in in due course, but we just want to keep
everyone on their toes really and just keep looking out on
social media for, for updates on that.
Obviously we we have the, the Autosport stage has been
announced again, that'll be taking place.
And obviously, you know, we can't wait to have John and
Nancy on that stage again and obviously get John on there
with, with Steve at some point. All being well.
Boxing gloves provided or. Yeah, we are really well.
Oh. That's for Tim, isn't it?
Sorry. Yeah.
We've also.
We've also got lots of Super Tours that aren't able to race,
but they are able to take part in special demonstrations.
So there'll be a special demonstration of Super Tours and
other famous touring cars during, during the event,
together with static displays. We, we have open paddocks at the
event. There's no, there's no
restrictive access. So fans can get down to the GP
paddock, into the garages and get real really up close to the,
to the Super Tours. You know, you can actually walk
into the garage, speak to the drivers, speak to the owners,
and some of them might even let you, you know, sit in the car.
It's, it's, it's just a real special occasion to, to do those
sorts of things. We have a free pit walk on the
Sunday morning. So again, that will start around
about 9:00 AM. So spectators can queue up from
just about 8, about 8:30 in the morning, head down to the pits.
We'll be giving away posters. All of Stuart's drivers will be
there to, to, to, to sign autographs, including including
Nancy and, and Steve and, and the other special guests and
John that we have. Again, we'll be repeating the
the grid walk on on Sunday. So we'll be having all the Super
tours on the grid and fans can flock onto the onto the grid
like we used to at brands and in the in the good old days and
again, get close to drivers. And if John and Anthony are
willing, we're, we're looking to do autograph sessions.
But I'm, I, I need to to ask your opinion on something.
John and Anthony. I had a conversation with a good
friend of the show and I'm sure you'll know Andrew chairman last
week and he reminded us that during the Super Touring era,
prior to each race, well prior to the racing, you did a a
driver parade in the road going versions of the cars you're
racing. John.
Did we do a special trick? Yeah, exactly.
As I said earlier, we, we have a, we have, you know, hundreds
of of pre 2000 cars that are going to be Rd. going cars that
are going to be on display. So we're currently going for the
applications there to see if we can find for John, either a
Cavalier or a Vectra, and for Anthony, a Primera.
And yeah, if you, if you wouldn't mind guys, yeah, we'd
love to get you on one of those cars and and sign autographs for
the fans just to relive those special moments from the 90s.
Those cars would have to have sunroofs so we can sit sit on
top. We, we found a few models ready
and there we've had a few disappointed owners.
Once we've said you do have a sunroof, don't you?
I said, no, we don't. It's a high case.
Sorry. It's heartbreaking.
Oh, I I can do it with us. I can do it without a sunroof.
John, you used to balance on the window, didn't you?
Yeah, I can do that without a sunroof.
No problem. Yeah, I'm sure we will.
Find a way. Yeah, We'd be delighted to help
on that, Absolutely. That that that would that would
be cool. That's, that's great.
And we've got many, many more things on that.
We've got the the Tucker Gaming tents again.
That was really, that was really popular last year, yeah.
And we'll be we'll be playing out the top of theme tunes prior
to each Suit Tour race and afterwards.
Again, that went down so well last year, the amount.
Of people that they walked in, it's the token music, it's the
token. Music exactly.
I think it it, it almost got to the Top 40 there.
There'll be there'll be a lot more to announce the closer we
get to the event. But yeah, it's there's going to
be so much going on and no, we, we can't wait to welcome John
and Nancy. It's going to be it's going to
be fantastic. You.
Know tremendous. Stuart, you'll be bringing out
your 1994 Vauxhall Cavalier again.
It was a slightly tricky weekend for you last year.
Are you hoping for better? Better luck this time around.
Do you mean being a complete idiot and throwing it off into
the Kitty litter a clear way? Don't.
Worry still we'll get. That bit out mate.
We'll let it that bit out, don't worry.
Far too excited. Chasing after more modern
touring cars and flying off backwards was, yeah, tricky.
There we are. No, we're all right this time.
We're all right. So I've been at it a little bit
start. It's quite interesting to get
used to the column change that's play the least because you
change gear. I'm so used to pulling the
shifter towards me. And of course, as John knows,
you push it away and it's just messes your head up.
But anyway, yeah, we're all we're ready to go.
The car's, the car's been rebuilt from top to bottom this
year. We I'd only just bought it last
year. I've ended it for two weeks.
So yeah, we're all right. I'm really looking forward to
it. You know, we're some of the cars
that have come in. You can see, you know, you'll
see the entry list and stuff over the next few weeks and
there's some beautiful old cars out there and running around.
It's it's going to be absolutely awesome.
Anthony and John, as David said already, we're going to be
seeing the best of both sides of Brands Hatch, with the weekend
taking part on the Grand Prix circuit on the Saturday and the
Indie circuit on the Sunday. Which of the layouts do you 2
prefer to race and drive on? Is there any favourites there
either of you have at the two? Yeah, I.
Love the the Grand Prix track there.
It's it's a very challenging track even with some of the
changes that have been made over the last handful of years, but
it's still one of my favorite tracks in in the country.
The indie circuit, I just, I could never really get my head
round it. I don't think I ever got a
decent result there at all. I did visit the Kitty litter
nearly every corner on the track at some point.
So, but the Grand Prix track for me is, is just a, a fabulous,
fabulous track, really brave circuit.
You know, a driver with big gahunas usually gets on quite
well there. What's your favorite time?
Personally, I love both those tracks in the very early days.
I mean, drivers now when they're starting out their career, they
would, they would never do this. But I actually rented a garage
and lived in that garage and kept my race car there, Garage
18 on Pit Rd. during the 1970s. And I've done so many laps
around, particularly the club circuit, but I also love the
Grand Prix circuit, both fantastic cracks.
And I mean the great thing about the arena of the club circuit is
the spectator involvement all the way around.
Absolutely rammed in Super Touring days.
Still very popular to today with the the the modern British
Touring Car Championship, but nothing quite like what the
atmosphere was, you know, like in in periods during the Super
Touring year. Great memories.
Talking of which, I mean, both of you have got yourselves into
a bit of bother of brands over the years, haven't you?
I mean, Anthony, you, you and Rickard had a bit of toe to toe
in in Park Fermi in 1998, didn't you?
After after an on track collision.
And that was really peak Super Touring, wasn't it?
Yeah, I, I, I sort of called that weekend.
It was the August bank holiday weekend, I think the 31st of
August 1998. Super Touring was that popular
that the Top Gear decided to do a feature programme about, you
know, the success of British touring cars.
So they entered Tiffany Dell in a third works prime era.
And I mean there was all sorts of vignettes that went on
through the weekend. You know, the Ricard Rydell and
myself, Dave Barkle, Tiffany Dell being, I don't know who's
grabbed who, but Nigel Mansell and Tiff had a little bit of
physicality in the paddock at the back of the pits.
They've never been the best of the friends ever since Nigel had
nicked Tiffany Dell's former three drive.
I mean Tiff was driving a Uni Park former three car and it was
a bit of a dog. Remember Tiff got so pissed off
he he just handed the keys back to the car.
The next guy ran, Nigel Mansell, who was out of a drive, came
straight round to Tiff's car house to to get the company car,
which was ATR 7, literally just took the keys off him and drove
off. But the next race of France
Hatch was pissing with rain. It's a great equalizer and the
UNI park. I think he finished on the
podium. Mansell.
So the rest is history, you know, So there was all these
situations going on and the racing was incredibly
competitive and. That August weekend at at
Brands, that was my first ever visit to to Brands Hatch and it
always obviously stays in my mind for that reason.
But also because the day before, the Sunday of that weekend was
the infamous Spa Grand Prix, the Damon Hill one, but also where
Schumacher went to the back of Coulthard and he had Schumacher
going, rushing down to the garage to try and, you know,
lamp Coulthard one. And then the next day in the
park for May of Brands Hatch, we have Rickard Rydell trying to do
the same thing to Anthony Reed. I remember standing in the crowd
and everyone was going, guys, it's like, it's like Spa
yesterday and everyone was just loving the theatre and
everything, you know, I mean involved.
Yeah, the, the, the needle between Rickard and myself had
sort of developed a number of years beforehand when we were
both, you know, racing in Japan. We didn't know then what we know
now, but I mean the the incredible welcome of drivers
that were out there at the time, you know, Michael Schumacher,
Ralph Schumacher, Johnny Herbert, Jacques Phil and
there's Tom Christianson's. The list just goes on and on.
Eddie Irvine, Roland Ratzenberger and and Rickard and
I were fighting tooth and nail for the Japanese Formal 3
championship, which I went on to win and Jack Phil have finished
second. So the rivalry had developed
many years before in Japan, and we all seem to find ourselves,
you know, racing against each other.
Yeah. And it got really intense that
week in the brands. And.
And of course, it was live on television.
It was live. Steve Ryder was commentating.
BBC Grandstand, Yeah. On BBC Grandstand was it?
And of course there were far fewer television channels.
There were far fewer television channels in those days.
It's not like you have to really look to, to, you know, through
300 channels to find the British Touring Car Championship.
I was, I was spectating that at clearways for that race and the
comments, because obviously we're from clearways, you can't
really see Druids. And I remember, I think it was
Ian Titchmarsh commentating and saying, oh, Anthony and Ricard,
we can't see him, but something's going on behind the
trees. And then when you emerged out of
Graham, who'll bend through 30s in the lead, I mean, that was
some some cheer from the crowd seeing the the brick, the brick
take the lead. And then everything after that
was, yeah, it was just just incredible to see.
And yeah, but what what a race that was.
You were saying about the viewing figures on Grandstand
and we had Barry Nutley on show a couple of months ago and who
was commentating on touring cars when Murray was doing live F1
with ITV and he said a good touring car coverage would get
nearly 4 million viewers. So that's how big it was.
It was it. Was yeah, it was more than more
Formula One we're getting on ITV, wasn't it?
Yeah, yeah. There was quite a bit of needle
during that period between Alan GAO and Bernie Eccleston.
OK. No comments in the press and
stuff, you know, rental car racing versus Formula One.
But Alan, come back with some great comments about F1 and I
don't need to recall that, John. Yeah, Go go was if it wasn't for
Alan Gowie, whether you like him or loathe him.
And I love him and I've always got on well with him and he was
the guy that got me in 1993 for the first time out to to drive
and race at Bathurst along with Peter Brock.
I get on really well with Gowie. I used to phone him up every
Monday morning after an event and give him grief about
something. And even when I retired I would
still watch the races and still phone him up and give him grief
about driving standards or or or something.
But without Alan being the autocratic ruler that he is.
And if you, you could say a bit less so than Bernie, there would
be no touring camps. I mean, no matter how clever we
all thought we were and the manufacturers, it needed someone
with an iron fist like Go to say, if you don't like it, fuck
off. That's it.
Take your Alfa Romeos and go home.
And frankly, Alfa Romeo did that.
And then all of a sudden, when they realized that Go wasn't
kidding, they came back and said, well, we'd like to put our
coffee machine back in the paddock again, please.
I mean, without Go controlling that, whether we like all of the
regulations and the hybrid and the push to pass and all that
sort of stuff. But certainly in my time go was
he was a great operator. And again, he was Will and
myself and he and a whole squad of others would go out for
dinner and just have an absolute hoot of a time.
But you, you never got any favouritism from him, regardless
of whether I bought him dinner the night before and I would
still be in the bus and got my knackers kicked in for something
I'd done wrong the following day.
Yeah, he, he, he's a pretty, he's a pretty good and very
shrewd operator. I remember when he when he was
putting together the Toka game, I got a bunch of the drivers
together and they said that what we wanted was we wanted a share
of the action if they're going to use our names.
And I said fine, I won't use your name, I'll make it.
I'll make it sound something like Cleland, but it won't be
Cleland, but it'll still be in a Vauxhall.
But you're not getting anything. End of story.
And we actually tried to get legal with it and he won and he
pocketed all the the rights and the royalties and everything
from it. We got butter all.
So that was quite annoying. We did get a free PlayStation
though. I.
Wouldn't I? Wouldn't even.
I wouldn't even know how to work a PlayStation.
I'll have to. Get you in the Gaming 10 on the
weekend. Yes.
No, no. Going back to Ricard Rydell a
minute John, you and him had a few run insurance around Brands
Hatch in 1995 yourself, didn't you?
Yeah, it was myself and Ricard and Alan Menu and it was nipping
top between all of us and, and literally at every event we went
to, it was the three of us. He was leading, I was second
going into clearways on the club track and he swears I hit him,
but I just kissed him and I just touched the back bumper when it
was loose, when the back of the car was a little bit loose.
And it's Anthony or any touring car driver will tell you the
back wheels on these super tours, they're only there to
hold the back bumper off the ground.
They knew nothing, you know? And it was up on the back.
And I just gently put the front bumper against him and they got
past. And Tom Walkinshaw got really,
really tweaked about it. And he had, he'd gone out and
asked for photographers all around the track get pictures of
what had happened. He got blown UPS that were six
foot by 6 foot pictures to see if I had touched him.
There was no paint on my car. But it was a bit like in NASCAR.
It was just a wee draft that lifted him off the road.
But there was no again, Rickard was a bit like Will Hoy.
We were, the three of us used to play golf quite a lot and again
we would socialise. We got on brutally well so there
was no malice at all. It was just he'd win or I'd win
or Alan would win and that's what that season was all about.
It was the the best man at the end of the day that pulled the
pulled the hat. John So from obviously, you
know, Hoy and Rouse the collision on the on the GP
circuit, that was on quite a a famous accident that occurred
over there. And it's just when I was even as
a fan, when you're not directly involved, you used to look at
two cars in the same team and you just head in hands moment of
like, oh, no, you know, how do you explain that one?
But obviously, you know, they're in your mirrors.
Yeah. Well we, we've been I think on
on the lap before so that Andy had been in front and then it
was Will, then it was me I think and then it was at Will and then
Andy and then me. And as we went out onto the back
of the track, away from the club track, up the hill and down
towards Hawthorne's, I think will miss the gear and, and Andy
got past them and then I got past both of them on the run
into Hawthorns, which is kind of, you don't do that normally,
but I just speared the truth. I've got that.
I'm now in front And none of them was going to give the other
one an inch. And as team mates against the
boss and the team, you would think there would have been some
form of ruling. But the two of them locked horns
and they're literally just locked wheels.
Going through the next the right-hander, I can't remember
what it's called now. Sterlings, I think yeah, yeah,
and and down the hill and they just walked onto each other and
dragged each other off the track and what I always pry myself a
video to watch this the dash and I could pick out Reds and
different things on the dash at the same time watching the.
Mirrors I could. See exactly what was going on?
One minute they were there and the next minute they were gone.
What happened there? And as I went into the dip and
then up slightly, I could then see the two of them sliding down
the side of the barrier. And honestly, I nearly had to
draw into the pitch to go to the toilet.
I was laughing that much, Andy. And you go back and you look at
the the video from that day and Andy gets out of the car and
he's, and he's a lovely, lovely guy and very calm.
And he gets out the car and slams the door.
And I think Murray Walker said something like, that's one
unhappy Andy Rose. You know, the body of language,
whatever. And I'm quite sure that would
have been an interesting trip back to the paddock in the one
vehicle. I bet, I bet he didn't slam the
door as hard as you at Silverstone in 92, did he?
It wasn't slamming the door. It was a problem trying to open
the door of the BMW to get Steve out.
It was, Yeah. But no, I mean, that was that
was absolutely hilarious. And it did.
Basically, it just let me quietly saunter on and, and, and
lead the race at a pace which was hilarious.
Yeah. Yeah.
Will was a bit unfortunate that year with that car because every
so often, and he was convinced that Andy had a button in his
car that would remotely control Will's engine management at
Hilton Park. It lost its power and then
mysteriously it came back. And then I think Silverston had
the same problem and Will was convinced that Andy had this
remote control that could kill his car.
Brilliant. But Bill Will.
Here's a question for everyone now really Why do you think the
Super Touring cars are still so fondly remembered to this day?
And what about that era of race and made it so special that
people come in their droves to Brands Hatch at the end of June
to to watch these cars run again?
I think unlike today's cars, which I think are great to
watch, they don't actually look like a Ford or a, you know, a
Vauxhall or whatever the cars of the day, whether it be a Nissan,
a Vauxhall, a Volvo of Mondeo. To all intents and purposes,
they looked a lot like the car that the man, his wife and his
two kids would drive to the event.
The truth of the matter was that the wiper blades were about all
that you would. Hear between the two.
And even sometimes that wasn't the same, but I think that was
the the draw that if you drove a Vauxhall or you drove a Nissan
and then you supported Cleland or Reed or Leslie or Allen menu
in a Renault Laguna, but with a little bit of wing, some fancy
paintwork, a splitter on the front.
That was it really from the distance.
That's that was it. And I think the fact as well
that we had multiple international names in the
championship. And you know, if you look back
as X Formula One drivers, X world sports car drivers,
there's lots and lots of international drivers that we
that wanted to come and compete in the UK.
So I think it was the that whole international flavour and the,
the closeness to the car that people came to the track in.
I think that's what it was about.
I think that's the following. And the coverage that he had, I
think was you guys were household names.
Now you ask anyone now you'd struggle to name half a dozen
touring car drivers. I couldn't because I've I don't
watch it nowhere near as much as what I did back then.
But it was your household names. But then yes, I understand the
deliveries and the try to make it look as close to the family.
You know, when on a Sunday by on a Monday, that was the whole
ethos of of their sort of plants to obviously make money as a
manufacturer. But I just think, you know,
everybody knew from the Toca game to the coverage, everything
your household names. You know, I think it was as
followed and as loved more than what Formula One was back then,
which is far greater than what he's ever been.
It's never been repeated since. It's interesting, you said
earlier, John, about the Toca games and the names and that
because Toca, I've said before on the podcast, Toca has
introduced so many people I know into touring cars.
The game brought so many new fans into the championship.
And suddenly I'm in school, in comprehensive school and my
friends are going. That's the John Clennan that you
can't stop going on about then, is it?
You know, and that's the sort of thing it brought you, Anthony,
and all your, your colleagues at the time, It brought you to a, a
different plane of, of public knowledge, you know, people
knowing about you. It was, yeah.
You, you were, you were superstars, you know?
It's a combination of lots of things.
And again, Anthony probably agree with us, but you know,
like in the latter stages we all had the fancy Michelin tires,
but in the early stages of Super Touring we had Yokohama, Dunlop
and Michelin. So you had 3 tyres that had a
strength and a weakness at different points during a race
or qualifying or wet or dry or whatever and you had that was
the combination. Then you had Money Walker's
Dorset tones, which I think just sealed the whole job as money
could make a boring race sound exciting beyond belief.
Whereas I would maybe watch the recording sometime the following
week. I think that wasn't the race I
was in. The one I was in was pretty
boring and he's just like, they made it sound fantastic, you
know? So it was, I think it was a
combination of all those things, you know.
Is that what made you want to buy a Super Touring car, Stuart?
Because I must admit, it's always been something I've
wanted to do and very nearly did a couple of years ago.
But is that something that you, is that like I've always wanted
to race one of those cars because when you watched it when
you were younger sort of thing? I've got the one of them one,
some of them sort of cars, sometimes into life cars kind of
find you. It was one of them where I was
chatting to Bob Jones about the Cavalier and he said, oh,
because he's got the got Laguna as well.
I've got these Cavaliers. I don't use it anymore.
It's all Cavalier you got. And then of course, he had
Jeff's car under a cover sitting in the back of the workshop in
at the top of the M6 river. And I raced it a little bit with
the, the HSCC stuff. But you know, it sat there
largely since I bought Laguna and yeah, you know, I had the
the conversation with my wife and all the rest of.
It signed the divorce papers and went and bought it.
Yeah, what a great idea it would be to be play a touring car
driver for the day. And yeah, you know, I love it.
It's it's just so, so difficult to to learn to to learn how to
drive quickly. I normally race the Capri Group
1 and so I've gone from the Capri to to the Cavalier.
Sure. Was that the master fit car?
Yeah. Was it?
Yeah, so. So that's what we've got.
But yeah, no, it goes, it goes Well, it's just, yeah, it's just
for me feeling the race last year was just unbelievable.
I mean, I was last, right. There's no because I was sitting
at the back. I'd had the car a couple of
weeks poodling around. But in the following the safety
car and there's all these cars like you guys that you know, I'm
45 so I played soccer and yeah, I went to brands in 96 and
watched everybody race and we, you know, used to drive up there
and mild mark to escort and all that business, you know, to see
to be in that pack. I didn't care that I was last.
It was just so I was like, this is unbelievable.
You know, it was just like a chart to.
Be a part of it, yeah. It cost me a fortune and just
the IT was just amazing and I can't wait to do it again in
what four or five weeks time because it's he's just
incredible. You see, he's good for the fans.
I've never been to a a race meeting where for us, you know,
we are, we are a club that runs it.
You know, we're not business as you all, you all know, we're a
club that runs it for, for, for racing drivers for our own good.
And it was a meeting that was brought together by racing
drivers for racing drivers. Everyone brought out the cars
they've got in their sheds, you know, and it's like, oh,
actually, I've got this blah, blah, blah.
I've got I'd get a phone call and there was a guy that had
ADTM car and you'll see some of the stuff that's there this year
that's that's coming out that David will, I'll leave David to
announce. And yeah, you just get a phone
call on Wednesday afternoon. And this card has been lost for
like 20 years and someone's got it in there.
A guy is a guy that's got a one of the I think it's one of
Anthony's Mondeo's and it's it's in a shed.
It's in a shed in the just sitting there and he's like, oh,
can I bring that? I was like, Oh yeah, of course
you can, you know, just put it as a static display and just
cars that people bought because obviously after touring car
after that, that era finished, a lot of the stuff was sold off
and the shelves were sold off. There was a lot of cars or demo
cars as well that were in dealerships and stuff that kind
of looked like them. So there's a lot of stuff
floating around and it was just good.
Like everybody kind of just brought it together to brands
actually, this kind of one meeting of everybody wanting to
do the same thing and achieve the same thing.
And this year, hopefully with the addition, so I'm going to
roll on to your next question, but with the addition of with
the Group A race with all the RS5 hundreds and the BMWs will
also, you know, just sort of cement that whole thing of when
we were young and watching, watching grandstand and all the
cars going around, you know. Adam, as you've said in the
past, you've driven one of those Group A Sierras.
I'm guessing you're looking forward to seeing those beasts
racing again around Brands Hatch.
Yeah, it's brilliant. Honestly, again, it was just
through, you know, I remember like the LA Bats RS5 hundreds,
obviously Rouse and Tim and you know using them obviously
whenever I speak to Tim or see him, but being team, I always
managed to find a way of just start, you know, a conversation
about the Ras 5 hundreds because you watch the footage of them
guys going around the Birmingham Superbury.
It's like trying to get it around Monaco, you know, bumpy
as hell, no grip, shed loads of power and you look at it as a
fan, you just think they look absolutely awesome, like it's
mental in every way you could imagine.
So when I got the opportunity to drive one a few years
background, Steltz Netterton was then it was just it was just one
of those cars where you just smile from ear to ear and it was
you sort of get out. It's like get off a roller
coaster. You know, you've got a roller
coaster. You just think you come off and
you're just a little bit still a bit stunned as to what the fact
that I've experienced it and it was just one of those absolutely
bucket list moments. But the thing had that much
power. It's like one hand's permanently
on the steering wheel. And I say this all the time.
On one hand is just constantly going through gears.
The car does not have enough gears.
The amount of power, you know, they were just incredible and
great to watch. It's great to to have the
pleasure to drive one of those round SNET as well.
So yeah, if it's any of them, they're going to be there then
yeah, I'll be. I'll be all over them as well.
One special celebration at Brands this June will be the
40th anniversary of RML, who was synonymous of the British
Touring Car Championship, in particular the Super Touring
era. But RML celebrations at Super
Touring Power will centre around a team transporter and a
selection of special items from the outfits past.
This will include trophies, race suits and display engines.
David RML celebrating their anniversary at Super Touring
Power. That feels like a great way and
a great moment to celebrate that milestone.
Yes, it really does. We're absolutely privilege to
to, to have RML choosing super touring power to as as part of
their, their 40th anniversary celebrations.
And you know we we can't. Wait to welcome both.
Ray and, and Michael Malik, who's the current RML Group CEO
to the event. And then they'll also be taking
part on the sport stage to to talk about the history of RML
within, within the Super Touring era and, and their their
incredible history within within touring cars.
And it's obviously fantastic that we'll also have John, who,
you know, won won the championship with, with RML and
also Anthony, who, who had a luscious career with with RML in
in the prime era. And also Ray will actually be
bringing a selection of his own race cars to to the event as
well. So that'll be really cool to see
what you know, his his old, his own race cars and.
We'll have we'll have a. Few a few modern touring car
touring cars as well. The the Chevrolet Cruze the the
world touring car championship winning winning Chevrolet Cruze
will be there as well. And we very much hope that that
will be hopefully going on track at some point during the
weekend, which will all being well be driven by a a famous
driver, which will be announced in in due course.
Brilliant. John, as David the leader today,
you won the 1995 title in the Ray Malik Cavalier.
Can imagine those are some pretty fond memories working
with them. Yeah, I mean, I, I run with Ray
in 94 and we've done a fair bit of testing to put better aero on
the 95 car. And the one thing Ray was pretty
good at from his sports car days was the aero.
And I remember testing the car at brands and there was no the
dash wasn't working. And I was screaming down the
radio to my engineer, a guy called Phil Barker.
There's fever jumps, not got a blinking dash on it.
It's whatever. And we were on sort of travel
tiles. So I did a three or four laps
and came in and said he didn't fix a dash.
I don't know what I'm doing. He said, well, you're about,
it's a quarters of a second faster than anybody else at the
minute. And we played with it for the
day and Ray was actually going to be my engineer.
And I discovered that I really couldn't work with Ray because
he's a lovely guy, very clever engineer.
But I needed somebody that I could bond with.
And he gave me this guy, Phil Barker, and I got on brilliantly
well with Phil. And I think if it weren't
fulfilled, we probably wouldn't have had the success we had
because he just understood. Exactly.
I'm a driver, not an engineer. You know, David Leslie was a
driver and an engineer. Whereas I'm quite happy to admit
I can drive cars consistently on the bottom within a 10th of a
second alarm and come in and tell you what it's doing.
And then I'll leave that to the engineer who's paid to do that
part of the job to make it better.
And Phil Barker had that technical ability.
So I got on really well with him.
And I don't think Ray took me seriously because I was a bit of
a joker in the pack and I I wasn't the most serious guy in
the paddock. I would fool around, I would
laugh and joke and I would take the piss out of people.
And I'm not sure Ray had ever worked with anybody like that
before. So I had to go to him at the end
of 94 and tell him that I was going to put a general manager
in my business. I was going to concentrate 100%
because I'd driven it and I knew it was going to be good.
And I said we'll win this championship.
I guarantee you we will win this championship and we put the our
heart and soul into it. And his guys, he did a great job
and and at the end of the year, I had no reason to doubt that
the vector that he was producing from the early part of 95
onwards for the for Opel directed throughout the rest of
the world. I've no doubt that that was
going to be a superb car as well.
But as it turned out, it wasn't. And I don't think it was
altogether Ray's fault. It was just the the sheer design
of the car and what it didn't have that would have made it a
really good race car. But I have a massive respect for
Ray and what he did then and what he's done since then with
the the Chevrolets and the Nissans and everything really
that that they've turned their hand to at RML.
He had a really, really good team of people there and he knew
the right people to employ to do the job.
So we got it done, but I'm sure he thought I was a bit of a
joker in the pack. But as soon as I pull my crash
helmet on, all the the stupidity goes out the window.
And let me tell you, there's nobody more fierce.
Anthony, you also race for RML in your two seasons with Nissan,
as well as racing an RML Cavalier in Japan.
How was your memories of those days with RML?
It was one of really my favorite periods in motor racing to race
in Japan and, and Ray would come out out to the races and, and
you know, supervise the the engineering of the car.
That was great. We were very successful in Japan
with the the Cavalier. We won seven or eight races in
the Japanese Super Touring championship over a two year
period. And then to come back to Britain
with Nissan, Well, actually it was initially Germany and
developed the car with RML, but also very significantly with
Nissan Motorsport Europe. We had some great guys there,
Derek Gardner, who designed the Tyrell that Jackie Stewart won
the World championship with all those years before.
And he was brought into the team of engineers at Nissan
Motorsport Europe, along with Ricardo Davila, Richard
Crawford, Bob Neville, and because Alec Poole was in charge
up to standard Kioki from Japan. And the great thing about that
period was that I was able to build my own DNA into the
development of the car. I was there a year earlier than
than David. I mean, that car so suited my
driving style. It was really my favorite period
in motor racing because all the guys on the team, they knew what
I wanted. They delivered that.
We've all worked together really well and just missed out on the
championship in 98. And when you get an offer from
from the Blue Oval, that's difficult to turn down and
you're all a long time retired in this business.
So I I did jump ship, but a fabulous period.
Really, really, really great. This is everyone now is is there
anything in particular that maybe we we haven't mentioned
this evening that you're looking forward to?
Well, Dee, I I was just over. It was not wasn't last weekend.
It was the weekend before I was invited down to Thraxton for one
of their track days. I think it was a Saturday and
they said you can do the high speed lapse and the Ford Focus.
Well, of course, Tiffany Dell was there.
I don't, I don't know if, yeah, I and TIFF and I go back many,
many years, but I don't know if you know Thruxton.
TIFF does the TIFF taxi. It's a collaboration between
BMW, Thruxton and TIFF and he charges a lot of money for five
laps. But I could see through through
the day he was getting a little bit more and more irascable.
But basically I was absolutely run ragged all day by queues of
people that were regaling me with stories about their
memories of the Super Touring era.
And Tiff, because to to given his due, he charges a lot more
money than Thruxton were charging for me for some high
speed lapse. We only had about 9 hunters
through the day run ragged. There was a huge queue and they
were all, you know, remembering that that's that's what we were
kind of tapping into like a Brands Hatch.
You will see that next month that hasn't gone away.
Richard Wheeler who used to queue up for John's autographs,
you know, Alan Mannieu myself in period as a boy or as a young
man has bought these 3 Nissan Primeras.
So that period in motor racing is hugely significant because
you know, you've got Richard Wheeler has given me this
fabulous opportunity to be reunited with my old car.
You've got, well, the Goodwood thing.
I mean, I wouldn't be at Goodwood who have extended my
career by 10 years and counting if I hadn't been a name then.
And I've driven my Nissan Premier a number of times on the
hill. And so it's, it changed my life.
Driving Super Touring changed my life and I'm still benefiting
from that matter. Yeah, I mean, you say, you say
about Richard Wheeler queuing up for, you know, you're that your
autograph, John's autograph, other people's autographs.
I mean, it was the same for me, except I haven't bought 3 Nissan
Super Taurus. But for me, it's just as you
say, it's that nostalgia that the, it's, it's just, it's a
nostalgia hit that you cannot. Get.
Anywhere else it's wonderful. You know, just walk in that grid
on brands last year with, you know, you look to the left and
Paul Radish, which is there and you look to the right and
Anthony's there and then it's it's.
You know that you're obviously we know how boring Formula One
is in terms of the sound of them now.
But you know when you used to like be miles away from a
circuit or you was even walking into the circuit and you're
there of screaming V10 or V12 and you just it just got you
going, didn't it? It just got the the levels
flowing. And that's exactly what the
Super tourists do. Like you hear them.
You can identify the car, you know each one it is and it's
just that nostalgia way. It just hits you.
I went to to I phoned not killer.
We were we were going to run an engine and and I wondered if
they would let me have the track because they've been long term
personal sponsors of mine through all of my touring car
career. You had to need your helmet
didn't. You.
Yeah. Any crash helmet you ever see me
wearing from the early 90s? Till I retired.
It's got no killer racing circuit on it anyway.
I phoned them up and I said I just want to come up and do a
few dozen laps just to bed this engine in.
And they said yeah, fine. We're we're quiet.
We've got nothing on on Wednesday night, whatever it
was. And I appeared up there.
We offload the car, we go out, the place is deserted,
absolutely deserted. And we do three or four laps,
come back and check everything's right and then go back and go
absolutely on the limit with it. And I've done 5 or 6 laps and
I'm about to come back in again and the pit lane is absolutely
mobbed with people who had heard the sound of this engine.
And they knew full well that it was a super tour.
And they'd come out of all the the little offices and blocks
and people that were passing and not kill.
And it knows there's nothing wrong about there.
But it seems to be that people people were coming out of the
hills just to listen to this thing.
It was just incredible. And when you hear a grid of all
of those compared to a grid of hybrid touring cars today,
whilst they're very quick and they're very spectacular to
watch, they don't quite have the same, they don't make their
hairs in the back of your neck stand up quite the same.
No, no. And that's.
Exactly what I'm talking about, exactly that, and that's what
Super Touring power would do. It would just be amazing.
So on the on the Saturday morning when that grid of Super
Tours head out the pit lane, it goes green and they're heading
out for that qualifying session, It'll be incredible.
Just remembering that from last year, the energy from the crowd
up against the fence, seeing those cars go round, you know,
it's just an amazing experience. And it's going to be, you know,
replicated even even better for this year.
Obviously another highlight I'll be getting John, John on the
stage, Lord sports stage and and Anthony as well.
Hearing even more stories from from the era, which would be
which would be incredible. Yeah, we've got plenty of them.
And that's the thing now, like if you used to interview some of
the the current touring car drivers, they couldn't really
tell you much like you guys could from back there because of
such thoughts. It's there was always something
happening at some point, wasn't there?
Look, I couldn't imagine running a podcast based on current
touring cars now, to be honest. There were things that I've been
asked so many times to write a book and I absolutely cannot
write a book because I will go to jail.
There are there are things I could tell you that we make your
hair color and and they're not just all about Victoria Lee
either. Or Ian Flux.
Well, yeah, yeah. Well, Fluxy, Yeah.
What can we say about him? No, there's, there's lots of
things that happened in those days.
And I'm sure there's not, as you say, Adam, not so many things
now because the boys are squeaky clean.
The the the although they're not working for a manufacturer where
in Anthony and I's day the cars win a race on the Sunday and we
sell more cars on a Monday. And in my case, if I said
something wrong on a Sunday, there'd be lawyers all over us
on the Monday morning, you know? Yeah, because I can't imagine I
Sutton saying something that's going to get him into any
trouble on the Monday morning. Yeah, no, I mean, I remember
another eventful Brands Hatch meeting for you with Mr. Pierre
Armani. Pierre Armani When I accused
them, I accused them of being on drugs and it ended up it ended
up all over the The Red Talk newspapers the following day.
Cleland accuses clerk of the course of being on drugs.
I was, I was talking about that incident actually with Andrew
Charman this week is he was mentioned earlier in the pod and
he the the the memory of you all being stood on the grid being
told off by Pierre. And he said all of you looked
very, very solemn, apart from Jam Pierre of Simoni, who was
giggling like a schoolboy getting told off.
And I remember that. And it was just crazy, the
thought of that now, like, you know, that you were all just
giving, being given a bollocking live on the that.
That was live on the grid when you, you, you, you might not
remember, but there was a big old grandstand opposite the old
pets at Brands and it's huge covered thing and and it was
absolutely rammed with people who were watching us publicly
getting a flogging. I thought, the next thing you're
going to tell us to take our pants down and we're going to
get whipped. It was honestly embarrassing.
And that's what I won the race. And then in the in the in the
press conference, I said, I just want to say I think Pierre
Armani must have been on drugs. The fact that he gave us such a
doing, you know? So anyway, that got me in
trouble. Alex, we are also going to be at
Super Touring Power over the weekend.
What have you got lined up for the Stories from Super Touring
team? Yes, so we're going to be at the
event too and we're hoping to produce two shows, two podcasts,
live, live recorded podcasts at the race, at the meeting.
We've also got features and interviews lined up.
We've already agreed to do a piece.
I don't know if he's told you yet, Anthony, but Richard and I
have have come up with a plan for a sit down with you, Richard
and Jake on the Friday, a sit down interview, talk about the
Nissan and talk about Super Touring.
I've not asked John yet, but seeing as I can do it live here
now, he can't say no Kenny. So we're hopefully going to do a
few bits with John and basically, yeah, just cover the
event as much as we can get stories, interviews, pieces
about the cars, the history of the cars.
I'm really interested in the history of the chassis and stuff
like that. So yeah, we're going to be
producing lots of content. We're going to be joined by
Eurosport commentator Greg Haynes for the weekend, so it'll
be the four of us there and making sure that we get as many
stories as we can from the weekend out of it.
So and mainly just so we can get the obviously the the listeners
that can't be there costing on everybody can go to A to a race
weekend. So I think he's just trying to
bring you a big take somebody home with us, really just to,
to, to let them know what it's all about and to give them a bit
of an insight to it really. Because I think it'll it'll only
continue to grow if this can carry on again.
So if you haven't got your tickets to the event yet and
this has made you want to attend, get yourself over to
www.ramshatch.co.uk and secure your tickets.
Adult tickets are available from 26 lbs in advance with free
entry for under thirteens. I'd like to thank our guests for
coming on the show today. Stuart and David, thank you
again for coming on to the show this evening and also for
organising such a wonder of. And I think I can say on behalf
of everyone here at the podcast, we're looking forward to it so
much to be part of that again. And John Anthony, thank you very
much for joining us as well. And we will hope to see you both
at Brandon's Hatch at the end of June.
Brilliant. Thank you.
Yeah, we look forward to it. And our thanks as ever go to you
guys for listening to the show. And if you enjoyed today's
episode, please make sure to give us a review, A5 star rating
and subscribe to the podcast feed on your podcast app of
choice. You can also submit your
questions to our panel for our season finale with Greg Haynes.
So if you have a question or thought about the Super Touring
era of touring car racing, don't forget to e-mail them to us
using pod at 1990s btcc.com. You can also use that address to
send us a comment about today's episode, the podcast in general,
or if you have a question or suggestion for a future episode.
In the meantime, we'll see you next week.
Goodbye.