Stories from Super Touring. It seemed to be a race that
nobody wanted to win. Snetterton often brings great
race into the BTCC, but this meeting was another level of
crazy. For starters, in race one, the
lead pack all annihilated themselves with three laps to
go. Jocko Winkle hopped through his
BMW off track at least four times during the race.
There were fisticuffs in the paddock after the race and John
Cleland was giving one word answers to the waiting press.
Welcome to the latest episode of Stories From Super Touring.
I'm Levi Riley. And as ever to take a look back
on this memorable BTCC meeting, our former BTCC driver Adam
Jones. BRSCC commentator Scott Woodwis
and Al Clark as the gentleman. How are we all?
Yeah, yeah, not bad. Thank you.
Looking forward to having a little chat about this rather
crazy race that took place. Yeah, it was a bit bonkers
wasn't. It absolutely.
And on that note, Scott, starting with you, what are your
first thoughts when it comes to this race meeting, which was not
surprising. He'd hub the race of the season
in 1996. I'd strongly agree with that.
I think it was an excellent race meeting in Hull.
It. The first thing that comes to
mind for me was that it was the first ever race event that I
ever attended in real life and that's for a race meeting.
I was tender age of five years old.
What a race to go to. Yeah, absolutely.
But little. Little did I know it at the
time, but looking back, it was quite an event to go to and I
remember watching all the action pretty much mostly from the
outside of the s s or I think we moved a bit further up onto the
Revit straight for Race 2. So there was quite a lot of
action going to where we were. So it was quite, quite a warm
day as well actually if you see if you watch about the the
footage for the for the conditions which was quite,
quite interesting and just everything that went on which is
absolutely bizarre and obviously some of the more bizarre stuff
and crazy stuff happened away from where we were down at that
complex. But it was just quite a a great
race event and it was pretty good in terms of what we had in
terms of the race that was there.
I think couple of things that come to mind also is one.
I think there's some people maybe it's just me but I think
that this. Race weekend, this first race in
particular, we talked about great BTCC races and everyone
points to Silvers in 92 and Donnington 98.
I actually think this race is great, but I think it's also a
very underrated race because not many people talk about Snest in
96 and if you look back and watch it, it's actually a damn
good touring car race for everything that happens in in
between it, which is quite fun. So I think it's slightly
underrated for some people, even though I'm glad there's plenty
of people who remembered it from asking your your viewers for the
questions by looking through who asked what.
And also as well there was a quote which.
This was quite funny from your friend of mine Patrick Watson
who's talking about after being taken out of race one after
getting hit by Will Hoy and he he he called Will Hoy's car an
orangey Renault thing for some reason and and when he was asked
by Barry Humphries can you get it fixed.
I quote he said word for word Oh yeah we can fix anything for the
next race. We're the Peugeot team ever full
of humour with Patrick, so that was something I remember there
be all round. It was a a mega meeting and as
we'll as we'll discuss I'm sure there was all the action
primarily was in that first race, which I think is a very
underrated. But classic Super Touring race
of the era? And Adam, coming to you now,
what are your first thoughts when thinking about this race at
Snetterton to to be honest, I I echo what's just been said
because yes, everyone talks about 92, but in reality there
was tons of good races in in touring cars and it happened
quite regularly. Yes, there were certain ones
that stood out more than others and and that's that's easy to
sort of for us to talk about you know for everyone to remember
those. But like you said there, no
one's really spoke about SNET that much.
But then you actually watch the footy's back, he's pretty
brilliant and there was lots of races that were like that.
So without sort of going too into it with this first sort of
comment, really. But yeah, there were, there was.
There's lots to talk about which option we're going to crack on
with now. But you know, just one thing
that just comes to mind is bloody wink a lot.
Made it hard for himself, didn't they?
And I've got to say, you know when you're watching the footy's
back and you and you you you're listening to those engines and
the induction, particularly the BMWs coming down that straight
down the Revit, straight coming towards the the chicane at the
bottom. That's just it just sort of just
takes me straight back like to to those days and you know the
sound of those and that's half the reason why you wanted to go.
Yeah, you wanted to watch the good racing.
But just to see these cars going flat out with these sort of
international superstars driving these vehicles around in the way
that they did, it was just Mecca, wasn't it.
It was just. Mecca.
Yeah, absolutely. And and finally coming to you,
Al, what are your sort of standout memories from this race
meeting? Well, I'm going to steal Adam's
one that that he just mentioned that the the first memory of
this race for me is always the sound of that BMW screaming as
it goes down the river. Great.
And especially with two of them at the front as well, you had
the pair of them, you know, it was awesome.
They were just incredible and when the footage cuts to the in
car. As smoking Joe is going through
the gears. Ah, with what a sound it is.
Just incredible. Do you know what I could never
understand as well, it's how they how did they not put a con
rod through the side of that engine and out the wing and into
the crowd? Because you look at the down
changes on in car compared to others.
Like yes, we do change down gear quite soon, but you did that in
the modern day car and now blow it to pieces.
But you look how early he's changing down and like it's
going beyond the revlimiter. Yeah, makes you cringe as a as a
as a driver. Knowing what that does just
makes you cringe thinking, God, how did they survive that you
can make? You cringe as an engine builder,
wouldn't it? Watch that thing, Absolutely.
Together, just careful. As as was said earlier though,
Snetton tends to get overlooked slightly when it comes to the
this era of touring car racing. But you look back at the races,
Snetton, 94 was great, 93 was great. 95 was a Corker, this
19698 was brilliant. You had the night race in 99.
There's a lot of really good racing that took place.
I love this layout of Snetterton.
I'm not a big fan of the new Snet and as I'm telling you as a
driver it's it was way better than there was less corners, but
the the challenge of it was greater than what it is now.
Yeah, I could imagine. And I've added a car track to
the middle, really just to sort of extend.
It but you know that that's all it's done for me.
It's completely ruined the character that was Snetterton.
As ever, we've asked our faithful listeners what they
thought of this race meeting on our social media channels.
There was quite a varied response, which I'll go through
now for you, Greg Denton says. His first thoughts are Yo-yo Joe
doing everything to try and win the race, but also everything to
try and not win that race as well.
In the first, he did make it hard, so frustrating to watch.
Wasn't. He, Frederick Ollison, tells us
that he remembers everyone having a lot of fun that day,
which I think. I don't know.
If you asked Roberto Rivalli, I don't think he would say that he
had fun. Matt Bridland remembers that
Murray Walker was just getting more and more excited every time
Winkelhawk through his BMW. Aaron Collins, meanwhile, says
that three into one in the first corner was never going to work
out and that something was always going to happen there,
which I'm sure we'll get on to a little bit later.
Whilst Alex Otner Harkick gives us another Murray memory by
saying he recalls him just saying.
Just listen to that screaming BMW.
Which, yes, Murray. Murray was an admirer of it.
Yeah, you know. Nicholas Mellon remembers
Thompson always spinning off at turn one with a brilliant save.
Barry Pierce remembers hot headed Revalia as he calls him
storming into the Volvo garage after the race and says it's one
of the reasons why he cannot stand him, which is some strong
feelings from Barry there about the Italian.
Yeah, tell us how you really feel barred.
Kenny Dowling just says it was the race of the year and I can't
imagine, as we've already touched on, there are many
people that disagree with Kenny there.
And finally, Craig Saunders remembers Jochen Winglehot
calling it a funny race afterwards, which indeed it was.
The build up to this race meeting was dominated by the
aftermath of Kelvin Burt's huge shunt to Alton Park.
In the previous meeting. After contact with our menu down
Cascades, Burt's Volvo went off track and hit the knuckle end of
the arm code that separated the track from the lake.
Alton Park Adam. With the drivers here on this
one, would that have been a big hit for that there?
Yeah, without a shadow of a doubt.
It's one of the biggest shunts you're ever going to see in the
motorsport, to be honest. In terms of the, you know, it
wasn't multiple roles that you'll sometimes see it like
with NASCAR or some other ones. But in terms of the actual
impact and the speed of it, it I remember being there and
watching it and I just and the amount of time he was in the car
and you just thought he's dead. Like dads killed him because you
know you know you just know with certain shunts like do you
remember Grosjean when he crashed and hit the barrier and
then they saw the ball of flames and then you saw the car in two.
It was all my. I think I've just witnessed a
death here. I think this is bad.
It was very similar with that because like that was some shunt
like the fact and to to to survive that.
Very lucky. Yeah.
Very, very lucky like that. The lot of these circuits in the
UK are very similar to like some of the ones in the States where
they're very unforgiving. You know, they're not the old
school circuits, they're not your Silverstones that have got
loads of runoff or you know, Bahrain or Abu Dhabi and stuff
like that. These were the circuits where
you put a wheel on the grass. You were only travelling one way
and the speed they're travelling down there just before you
started, you know, he was, he'd have been full throttle at the
time and you know you've got that sort of tire barrier
separating you from a lake. You know, that was or you know,
the other side it was, it could have been worse, a whole lot
worse. So the fact that they survived
it was was remarkable really without any sort of serious
serious injuries to to live with.
But yeah, I just remember it very vividly and just thinking
that, you know, will you walk away from this?
Because it was a it was a huge shunt.
After the shunt, Burt was keen to get back into the car and
race at Snetterton, but doctors felt it would be safer giving
him more time to recover prior to a Silverson test before the
Snetterton meeting, Burt told Auto Sport.
I'd love to have a go in tomorrow's test and see if I am
100%. To me it would be better to race
Snetterton and maybe get a 6th or 7th place rather than letting
someone else do it and get no points at all.
BTCC doctor Paul Trafford said of that he's 95% there but not
quite fully fit yet. Although he should be fine for
Brands Hatch. He's done very well so far and
his recovery has been very quick.
Scott, what do you think about the doctor's decision there?
Do you think it was Why select Kelvin wait a little bit longer
before returning to his seat at the Volvo 850?
I think so. I think to err on the side of
caution was the right thing to do given the size of the
accident as Adam was talking about, and it was.
You have to remember that this was safety standards back in the
mid 1990s and they weren't short on things of course all the roll
cage and roll over they have, these were course effectively in
many ways like space frame cars built around a chassis and A
roll cage and with with kind of whatever was left of the road.
Body Lake is used to use as a as a base as well on top of that.
So it was quite a hefty hit that he took.
And ultimately, in any situation, even back then, it's
as much as we talk about the good old days.
This wasn't like the 70s or the 80s where you could just shake
it off and try and just, you know.
Be like, ah, it'll be fine. I'll get back in the car and
race Cos. And I think in some ways I think
that it was one of those accidents, bit like to use an
example, like when when Piquet crashed at San Marino in 1987 in
practice, he always said afterwards that his depth
perception was a little bit different.
He could never tell. And whether Burt will say so or
not, it seemed to me like he was on on the up and up,
particularly having, you know moved from 4:00 to Volvo that
year. And I think maybe that accident
maybe just rattled him a little bit.
So I think. Bearing on the side, of course,
then making sure that he was fully recovered was at the
absolute right thing to do. Burt's replacement in the Volvo
seat was going to be British Formula Free front runner Jamie
Davis. The youngster was driving for
the TWR junior team in F3 and he tested an 850 at Stetterton
prior to the event, posting a time 0.691 seconds slower than
team leader Ricard Rydell after the test, Davis said.
It is a competitive series in if I race, I want to be right up
there. The palace of weight ratio of
the car is similar to Maya free car, but the brakes aren't as
good in the Volvo. Plus there is a bit of oversteer
in the corners. Alex, are you surprised that TWR
went with Davis to replace Burt? No, not at all.
Burt wasn't going to be out for too long.
He wasn't going to miss too many meetings.
So they only needed somebody that would be able to hop into
the car for one meeting. Do a bit of testing beforehand.
And then hand the car back to Burt when he was fully fit and
somebody that's already linked with the team, you know, he was
racing for for TWR in in F3. He was the obvious choice.
Ironically, there was also the the the sort of the similarity
in that Burt jumped from F3 into the BTCC with Ford in 95 S There
was that sort of similarity he he he was racing in F3 and was
going to jump into this. Into this 850 for a one off
race. So no, not a surprise at all.
TWR needed somebody quickly and and he was the obvious choice
and I think just to echo that as well I think you've got AI was
thinking exactly the same thing else at Burt's come from single
seaters. We'd obviously we know the story
with with Ricard coming from single seater.
So it wasn't something new or a risk in terms of shall we take
this kid from single seater and put him into this things now got
a really funny yeah. He was like it wasn't at the at
the you know it wasn't at the ordinary to do that.
It was already been done. It's been proven that he can be
done. So I don't think it was such a
gamble that probably some people think and and Jamie Davis was
like it was super quick like in single seater he was he was one
of the best. So you know I think he was a
good good replacement, you know a good idea at the time anyway.
Yeah. And I think in terms of the
driver that he was, if you look at what he went on to, I mean a
year later in 97, he did the first of Four Seasons in.
International F3000, which shows the calibre he was, he was doing
and he went on to do British GT, he did the Le Mans series,
American Le Mans Series, raced at Le Mans 5 times on top of
that. And I think he even won his
class in 2003 in GTS. So it just shows that Kyle
Calaby was and he's been touted as one of the especially F 3001
of the fastest drivers that we had in that category.
So I think TWR knew knew what they had on their hands given
that he he he gave all that experience as single seaters.
So I think for them, again it was an obvious choice and also
no brainer forced up anyway because he was that good, good,
good, a calibre driver in his early stages of his career.
Come the Snetterton test, Davis was building confidence in the
car when his left rear tire deflated on the approach to the
fast riches right-handed at the end of the pit straight.
He tried to catch the slide and keep the car on the road, but to
no avail. He hit the plant field sideways,
tossing the Volvo into a series of roles in which he was knocked
unconscious. I woke up in the car with an
oxygen mask on, a bracelet down my back and a drip in my hand
whilst they were removing me from the car.
It was a pretty big one, he subsequently told Also Sport.
Davis also said that his inexperience in a touring car
was a big factor in the shunts. You put a single seater in the
gravel and you're in the pits for an hour whilst they're
cleaning all the crap out of it, explains Davis.
But if I just steered it to the field and came to a halt then
they would have brought it back to the pits, sorted out the
tyres, given it a dust off and we would have gone.
It was the fact that my single seater brain was thinking try
and keep it on the track, that I was still correcting the slide
as I went through the corner. I was opposite lock, full
throttle, but they're so low and tight in the wheel Archers that
there's only a limited amount of steering lock that you get and
it was nowhere near enough lock to be able to do anything about
it. Adam, talk about lightning
striking twice there for Volvo. Was that some pretty bad luck
there for Davis? Yeah, I think he was.
And you know, he was super, yes, he says the inexperience of
being in sort of a tin top. But, you know, he was super
experienced. You know, he knew what he was
doing, You know, he was just unlucky.
And I think looking at, you know that first court sort of double
right-hander at Snetterton, it's always been a quick corner,
which has been, you know, the plus side of that circuit and
and it's one of the best corners on the calendar really.
But you never really used to see massive shunts there.
You'd see obviously people go off sideways or into the the
field and what have you. But I think he was in lucky the
fact that his tires deflated, it's dug in.
I imagine that was the cause of it actually digging in and then
flipping him over. But yeah, I think unlucky for
him because you don't know where that could have took him.
If. I mean, yeah, he still carried
on to have a great career but you don't know, you know how
things could have panned out for him.
But isn't this lives that we live is full of ifs and butts
isn't it? And maybe so he wasn't lucky.
I think it was even more unlucky for Volvo because they've got
two destroyed cars that have cost Volvo huge amount of money
in in in a matter of days, haven't they?
So yeah, he's unlucky for him. He was a shame he didn't get to
do to do that race that he was brought in for.
But yeah he's super unlucky. But again another one lucky to
walk away from what what you know was clearly a massive shunt
and there are some images that you can see of the car as well
as I think auto sport I've got there's an image on the back of
the tow truck that you'll find online as well.
So you know, with doors missing and you know the car was in a
bad in a bad way. And I think that just would have
been a case of, you know, still similar to Kelvin's.
Just take the engine out of it and the bits that are actually
still straight and got salvageable and and literally
been the rest because you know there wasn't much left of that
vehicle. Yeah, it was a wreck, wasn't it?
Yeah, it was a big wreck, yeah. With the chassis written off and
Burt's 850 also a wreck, there was no spare for Davis to race
and Volvo had to withdraw the second car from the event.
It was a shame because I can still remember now.
I was P4 before I went off, which is I guess pretty good for
a rookie jumping in, Davis told All This Ball.
After dominating free practice, BMW were always looking likely
to dominate the qualifying sessions, and so they did
smoking. Joe Winklehock took pole
position for both races with teammate Roberto Rivallia in 3rd
and 6th. The top 13 cars were covered by
just one second in both qualifying sessions, and things
were looking pretty even between the top runners.
But it was Winklehock's race simulations that were worrying
the rest of the grid. We will know more after the
races of Winkle Hot commented after the qualifying session.
Twice on the front row and a good race run says the car is
good but it is very close out there.
Meanwhile, further down the grid, ALDI was still struggling
to deal with the extra 30 kilos that a falls were handed at the
previous meeting at Alton Park, 5th and 10th on the grid for
Beeler, whilst Binkliff was 10th and 12th on the grid.
Get used to a miserable dealer set after the sessions, Scott.
Can you understand why our ALDI would find it so tough?
It's net and with the extra weight penalty they were
carrying. Yeah, I can.
I mean, this is, this is BAP. Before the term BAP was
prevented with the extra 30 kilograms, I mean the at at that
point the Outers have come straight in.
It was their first season in the championship and from the outset
they showed how quick they were with four wheel drive.
The fact they brought Frank Wheeler across from from racing
in Germany was quite clear and even a a young rookie like John
Bincliffe that come up from racing in you know Cleos and
Fiestas beforehand who was impressing in the second car.
So it was obvious that you know there was obviously something
that Toca had to do to reel them in a little bit and make it a
little more even. Otherwise it would have been a
complete runaway from the team throughout the rest of the
season. So I can understand where
there's a a disappointment with them in terms of where their car
is. I mean obviously given that
you've got extra weight, you've got to stay with it, you've got
to brake with it, you've got to accelerate with it.
And I'm sure, as I'm sure as Anna will know of course from
touring car days, particularly in the days where they used to
have ballast and things on top of it, you know, 30 kilos might
sound like a lot. And I guess in in a racing car
that's a heck of a lot because obviously kilogram can, even
just one kilogram can cost you a handful attempts a lap at least.
So an Audi was so used to having such a dominant run at the start
of the season, they're having to try and feel the effects of
being pegged back a little bit and everyone else is starting to
catch up. And despite having 2 wheel drive
less, I think those cars which were on good form like the
Renaults, the BMWs and the Volvos etcetera, we're starting
to find that form and we're starting to keep them much
closer. And given the fact that Sneston
was also a circuit where has a lot of stop start nature, a lot
of bit of relatively big braking zones, tight corners,
particularly where you've got traction, has got to be quite
key. The lighter, more nimbler cars
that BMW Renault Audi and BMW Renault Volvo so would have had,
would have meant that the Audis were going to struggle anyway,
even with the four wheel drive and even with it being slightly
dusty out there on that first race.
At the green lights for race one, Winklehot converted his
pole position into the lead, with Rydell bogging down in the
single Volvo 850. That allowed Ravanglia to take
second behind his teammate into the first corner, with Beela
following behind him third. James Kay, who had qualified 7th
in the Honda, became the first retirement of the race at the
very first corner after having a strong start.
He got hit by menus, Renault and spun out of the race.
He admitted it after said a disappointed Kay.
But when you see what happened later on, I could have won that
race. Oh, that's a pretty strong claim
there from James Kay. But do you think he was right?
I mean, looking at the race back, anyone could have won it
really. You've also got.
To look at the fact that Smoking Joe should have won that race.
Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.
So it's. K started 7th, which was a good
qualifying position for James. He seemed to struggle in 96,
whereas his teammate David, sort of.
David Leslie took, took the Honda onto new heights.
But yeah, it he he could have won it.
He probably wouldn't have done it even if he'd stayed on track,
but you never know, I guess. And if if James thinks he could
have won it, who? Who am I to say otherwise?
But I'm not sure it's. I'm not sure it's that
realistic. Thompson ran the outside line
into the first corner and clipped the front of Rydell's
Volvo, pitching his Vectra sideways, which the Yorkshireman
recovered brilliantly and stayed in the race.
Adam, that was some say from Thompson.
There wasn't it? Yeah, it wasn't.
It's just one of those sort of typical front wheel drive
moments where you're thankful you're in the front wheel drive
car because when that happens you just you just keep it
pinned, you know, you just keep keep your foot to the floor and
or change down the gear if you get the chance to just to to.
Just spin the wheels to bring you around and you just
literally nail it until the front end comes back round.
I remember doing strategy. Isn't it just if a?
Significant. You have to do it dry car, get
sideways, boot with bottle and just hope the front end comes
around eventually. You have to I do the same,
exactly the same thing in on the Saturday practice at brands
we're on worn tyres script tyres.
So they were they're at the end of life and I've just come into
Paddock and. Because on my own I've done,
it's just done that so but I've got the momentum of I've got
sideways, you then start dropping down the hill and I'm
looking out the side of the window going sideways down the
hill. But I've just absolutely nailed
it and I bought it back around. But it's all you can do.
But you have to be thankful that you're in a front wheel drive
car in situations like that because if that had been smoking
Joe or a vaglia, then in a rear wheel drive car you wouldn't
have had a chance, you'd have been straight off into the
field. On to lap two and the race seat
of Inkle Hawk has his First off of the day running wide at Sears
and kicking up the dust. Windy conditions and a lot of
cars going off on that one. That meant that certain parts of
the track would be slightly slippery with dust for the rest
of the weekend. Attempts to alleviate the
problem by putting tyre stacks on the curves that certain
corners helped, but Inkle Hawk seemed to be more susceptible
than others on the grid. Whenever I was leading and found
the sand, the others could see what had happened and make sure
they didn't do the same thing. I find all the trouble for them,
Vinco Hawk remarked after the race.
Ow, it was a dusty day at Citizen for that meeting.
Do you think it was having quite a big impact there?
Yes, I mean you can see it on the track as the as the cars are
going by, they're kicking up a lot of sand and dust.
I don't know why it was so dusty that day, but the wind obviously
brought in a lot of it. You can see where Winklehot goes
off the the the cloud. I mean, he does it several times
in this race at various parts of the track.
The. Problem was, he was bringing all
the crap on himself. The next time, but every part of
the track that he goes off, he kicks up this big sandstorm or
dust storm. And and and even as you say
James K spun. That kicked up a lot of dust.
There was I think Radysich had a had a spin at some point as well
and that that brought on a lot of dusty.
I I don't know. There was.
There was certainly a lot of dust in the air and every time
the car went off it just made it even worse.
And yeah, one. Thing that you'll see on the
footage is when he overtakes Revaglia at the end of the Revit
straight you just what I think he just went in too quick
because as he's then turned into the obviously head of the Revit.
To the left, then into the right.
He's not on the right line. He's a good half a car wider,
which has caught him out. But you've got to also sort of
respect the fact that look at the job that Revali did for
probably the first half of the race, leading the race with all
them sort of glued behind him, kept it clean and I thought he
was on for a win when you were looking at it.
So I do. It's easy for us to say that Joe
Winkler was unlucky but. It didn't.
It didn't affect the value when he was in the late did.
It No, it didn't. No.
Quite right. Ravali and now LED from Beeler
with Bingle Hawk now down into 5th place behind Alan Menu.
Beeler's second place wouldn't last however, as Ryder was soon
passed with the extra weight. I'm slower on the straights and
also the tires were quicker too. I can't even race with the guys
like Bingle, Hawk at the moment, so I just do my own thing and
see what happens, Beeler said after the race.
Scott coming back to you again with the Aldis, how frustrating
do you think this had to be for Beeler?
He's sort of dominated the early part of the season, one race
after race now feels like he can't even keep up with the
leaders, that that must have been a pretty frustrating thing
for him. Of course.
I mean, it goes to that question.
I mean, you look at the fact that, as you say, Beeler came in
straight away off the bat and Audi were the dominant force.
They were the car that everyone had to be.
They jumped in straight away at the deep end with all the
experience that had racing in Germany and in in Italy
beforehand on top of that with the A four.
And then straight away they're winning races and they're almost
catching everyone else on the hop.
And this is all teams like TWR and Williams and Ray Malik and
other top teams that are running cars and have done for several
seasons of the championship. And I know Strange, you know
Schnitzer, BMW on top of it as well.
These are all really high calibre teams now.
You just come straight in with Auk arm and go bang straight
away. They're winning races and being
the top car on the grid. As I mentioned earlier on the
fact that Toker obviously felt something had to be done to
regulate their performance a little bit by adding the weight
penalty, which I think was always a bugbear.
I think with the Audi's, ever since that weight penalty
started coming in, it's but it wasn't.
Something needed to be done, didn't it?
And you you can imagine the pressures from?
Schnitzer from TWR, from Vauxhall Ford.
Everyone on Toker and Alan Gout that that something needed doing
because Alan Gout needed something to happen in terms of
the racing. You know he wants it to be fair
and a good racing, but also the pressures from those
manufacturers would have been immense.
Yeah, there was a there was a race at Thruxton earlier on in
the season where Beeler had a 10 second penalty at the start, so
he started from the pit lane with a 10 second penalty, so.
We started 10 seconds after everyone else and sliced his way
through the field and finished third if I remember rightly so.
The performance was clearly there, too much, there was too
much performance with the Audi and and it needed it did need
sort of pegging back I felt for Toker because it's really, it's
almost impossible to try and have equalisation between front
wheel drive. And four wheel drive it's it's
it's it's almost impossible because.
And with the rear wheel drive BMWs thrown into the mix as.
Well, of course there's that as well.
Yeah. And and, and that's when.
And then there were, there were sort of whispers at this at this
race meeting actually that people were saying, well, the
BMWs are a bit quick now, can't we Chuck a load of weight in
their cars too? And I know Schnitzer were
anxiously waiting to see if there were going to be any grid,
pen grid penalties, weight penalties added.
For the British Grand Prix round at the the the Silverstone
event, as that would have been the next time where the ballast
could have been applied. So, so yeah, it's it's.
It was a very tricky, tricky task for Toca to try and keep
everyone happy and keep the cars as balanced as possible.
Beer and Ali were just a little bit sour that they just had
their advantage cut coming straight away and being king of
the hill from the outset and all of a sudden they were now being
pegged back and everyone else was with them.
It was just. And they were never going to
like it, were they? No, they're not like it.
But they've they've had their dominance, You know, they've had
their time, yeah. And also TOCA had to do
something because otherwise it would have been a whitewash and
to make it more competitive. And Alan, Gal and TOCA all about
making the show as competitive as possible in touring cars,
regardless of what year and what era it is.
Then, on lap five, came the incident that left even John
Cleland giving only one word, answers.
The Scott got clipped by David Leslie, allowing Thompson to get
alongside Cleland into the final chicane.
Thompson carried a lot of speed through and ran wide on the
exit, accidentally taking team mate Cleland off with him
dropping the scalp from 6th to 11th.
There were one or two lunatics out there today, Cleland said
after the race. And after this included
Thompson, he replied. Now that is a question I do not
want to answer. How coming to you, can you
understand Cleland's frustration and and how sort of did you see
the incident? Yes, I can understand the
frustration very much because John was very much minding his
own business and took a tap from Leslie from behind, which
pitched his car sideways. And as he corrected it, Leslie
had to back off as well. And that put Thompson around the
outside of the pair of them. And and James.
Momentum, though, didn't. He yeah, he had the momentum.
He. Had the He was there.
Yeah, yeah, he had the momentum because obviously John had to.
John has slowed and was and Leslie was bulked.
So Tomo had the momentum around the outside.
Whether he carried in too much speed, I'm not sure.
But yeah, he he ended up getting around both of them, but taking
himself and John off which. I can't imagine would have
pleased the people at Vauxhall very much, at least of all John
Cleland. I think looking at it, I think
JT put the car more alongside Claire than going into the left,
coming onto the straight and the exit, that she came more than he
needed to. I think he did it purely the
fact that he's his team mate. Yeah.
So we so we had to put the car there to know that the move was
definitely on in reality if that had just been somebody else.
Putting your car alongside the door, the the front door would
have been enough because you've got the line, You'd have ran
them wide over the curb a little bit and you'd have had the run
up the up the straight and that had been done.
I think it's purely the fact that it was his team mate.
He had to make it as clean as possible and make sure the car
was fully, fully in front of him, but unfortunately by doing
that he took too much momentum in there and obviously just you
know. Going off, dropping two wheels
off himself, but then obviously forcing Cleland off as well.
But you could see what, that wasn't intentional.
He just did it purely for that. The the momentum, the move was
on. But anybody else you did just
put half a car up there and the job would have been done.
But you had to make it like really convincing because it was
his teammate. It wasn't quite Hamilton
Rosberg, Spain 2016, was it? But it was still.
It's still a situation that I think that Ray Malik and Koke
could have done without. Leslie was the third party in
the incident and said after the race.
John had a wobble through Corum, so I had to back off and James
came through. He was never going to get around
John with the extra speed he was carrying.
It was hilarious to watch. My favorite bit about that is
that David Leslie doesn't mention why John got a wobble
through Corum, given given his gripe in the second race later
on, which you heard about it a bit.
That's a bit black, is a given that he was actually the
instigation. What?
Happened in that first. Race.
So it's like, hold a minute, you're going to criticize, which
will get to you later on. Yet you almost completely
forgotten what you ended up doing initially to claim to
start off that incident. It's like, OK, just kind of I
like you, David, but still, let's just bring you down to
reality here for a second. It just makes me laugh like, oh,
John had a wobble through quorum.
They've nothing to do with the front of my Honda whatsoever,
like. You know, bearing into the back
of a yellow box. It may be absolutely in the 1st
place, just just just asking the question.
So how did John get sideways? And Leslie's like, I don't know
it? Just happened in front of me.
By lap 10, BM WS 1/2 had been restored as Finkel Hock had made
his way back to 2nd place behind Ravalia. 2 laps later and Smoke
and Joey made a move on his teammate and took the lead for
about 3 seconds. The German ran wide again and
slid off into the sand, dropping down to 5th and having to start
the comeback all over again. Adam Can you quite believe this
series events from a former champion of Winkelhok here.
This I was. I was a really big fan of
smoking Joe and I. Like many, I wasn't the only
one. I just loved these car nature
got relaxed about stuff when he was interviewed, poking a
cigarette, hence his nickname. But watching it was so
frustrating because he clearly, I believe, had the fastest car
and you know, he made obviously a mistake and and sort of
dropped back. Then you sort of, you know, most
races, you sort of done. Then you sort of.
You get punished and you very rarely get to recover like that.
But because he he did have the fastest car at the you know at
that point of the race he clawed back and got to the front again
and he's like how hard is this guy making it, you know he was
so frustrated to watch because I thought if he had just kept it
clean you know and and not maybe not tried quite as hard going
into a couple of the corners where he made these mistakes.
I think he'd had just either stretched his lead a bit and and
had a had a comfortable win, but like I said earlier, Ravalia.
Did a great job at front on his own and you know he was unlucky
but I think it was definitely the quickest car and obviously
he proved that in the in in Race 2.
Rydell was back into second, but not for long.
As Menu was thrown into second himself on lap 14, the Renault
started to look like pressuring Ravalio in the lead 2.
Meanwhile, Bealer dropped behind Winkelhorke and Thompson.
The Vauxhall's now coming on strong in the second-half of the
race. Cleland was also up into seventh
Despite that off during the incident with his teammate on
lap 20. Rivalia, who was starting to
suffer with tyre problems, locked up into the final corner
which allowed Menu alongside down the pit straight into
Riches and Rivalia Romenu collide, allowing Rydell to make
a move inside the BMW. Rivalia spun and Rydell's Volvo
was too damaged to carry on as well.
Both are out on the spot. Menu, who turns in and he hits
Rivalia. Rydell goes into the smoke,
Rivalia is spun and James Thompson comes through and he
clips the punch of the BMW. And Rivalia is out of the race.
My goodness, Rydell is out too. We're in the Volvo now.
There's two of them out, two of the top three.
Rydell is trying to get back, but he's lost steering.
Scott, that was a controversial start to lap 21 there.
How does she view that one in what was a pretty messy first
quarter? So I actually watched this
interview this back just before we recorded this, both at full
speed and also in the replay. And as much as there are people
who dislike Rivalia, I'm going to put Stick It Nick out and say
none of this was his fault. Same here, I agree.
No. Yeah.
No, no. No, because first of all, menu
turns for the corner when Varale is clearly there and slams into
the side of it. That's that.
That's punch #1. He's turned menu, turned in like
Ravalia wasn't there. Exactly.
Yeah, he was absolutely not there.
Yeah, but he was. I I felt sorry for Ravalia.
Really. Yeah.
Ravalia has his foibles, as we'll talk about in a minute,
I'm sure, But it's at the same time ultimately into that one.
He was involved in an incident where he was right to hold the
inside line menu, went for a sweep round the outside but
either just turn into a didn't realise that Valley was going to
hold his line like that, or misjudged his speed and his
angle. Either way he just clatters into
the side of the BMW, which understandably causes some kind.
If he carried on he would have had some kind of aftermath after
that. If he didn't, I'd have been
vastly surprised. And then Valley holds his line
on the inside through the second part of Richie's.
Rydell tries to squeeze up the inside to get the gap and then
just realise he's going to run out of room.
He might feel that Ravalia squeezed him, but to be fair,
Ravalia held his line. He didn't purposely move across,
he was trying to take the apex as normal.
Ravalia had the line, it was at the inside, but you look where
menu turns into him. His front wheel hits the front
wheel of Ravalia's. It wasn't like he was 3/4 way up
and his menus right rear wheel made contact with Ravalia's left
front wheel. Yeah, they were like side by
side. Yeah.
And so it was Ravalia's corner menu.
Should have gave room. And and and carried on.
But he he just winged it did they and thought he goes
nothing. See, see if I can pull this off.
And and it was such a hit that that it was the it's such a hit.
The menu clattering into Rivalia's left hand side almost
practically sent his sent Rivalia's right wheel, right
wheels, side wheels up into the air.
That was how absolutely severe the the hit was.
So I think if Rivali had carried on, he probably would have only
lasted for how long was left in the race and and dropped back a
bit because of the damage that he'd had.
And also we also have to remember as well as that it was
it wasn't the he also got a third little kiss as Thompson
went past as well because Thompson passed he.
Thompson got lucky there. It could be worse for him.
He did, yeah. So, so understandably are those
people don't have a a very bright view of of Rivale's time
at BTCC or that they. I think to be fair, his
gesticulation at Rydell afterwards when he got out of
the car, I think for all his foibles, I think was absolutely
justified because he was literally innocent party and
that when while down the menu had two separate incidents.
And I think in their explanations afterwards, I think
it was one of those cases if they had a bit of a false belief
that they have more room and more right of a line than there
actually really was but there was absolutely no line for
Rydell, the reason why he's cut across the grass was was
extraordinary. And so he just harpoons the side
of Revali's BMW and wrap around he went and that's what did the
second hit which essentially put him him out on the spot and you
know it's it's it's unfortunate that he played out like that but
at the same time I think that Manuel Rydell could have made
it. It's a split.
It's it's it's in the moment. It's splits.
Second as a racing driver you have to make whatever move you
can. I don't get that.
But at the same time, I think they keep looking back at it.
I think maybe with hindsight these days to look back at it
and think, yeah, I could have made some better choices there
rather than taking the lines that I did.
So yeah, but bottom line, not regarding his fault that was
more squarely on menu and Rydell's shoulders in their two
separate parts in that. And as you talked about,
Thompson gave the the fine little love tap as he went past.
I think was very lucky not to be involved more in that.
Menu then LED from Finkelhawk, but coming into the Esses at
Finkelhawk again threw it all the way.
Instead of running wide this time, he would spin the car and
rejoin down in fifth, then only a few 100 yards up the track
menu himself were grind to a halt with his Renault suffering
from ignition failure. At this point, Alex is one of
the most bonkers ending sewer race and the history of the
entire BTCC, not just super Touring.
Yeah, I mean, it's bizarre, isn't it?
There's two. It seems like nobody wants to
win this race. You know Rivalia as Adam said
earlier had LED actually the majority of the race because his
teammate just kept throwing it off the track and sadly then you
know as you explained earlier started suffering with the tires
and menu was closing on him and and yeah I, I, I echo the the
comments on them from Scott and Adam about that first corner
what. What Menu was doing, it was just
going to sit. It was like he was there, just
going, well, I'm going to turn in whether you're there or not
anyway, and just did it and you know, yeah, he.
Took a risk and he backfired there.
Yeah, and yeah, he he the the Rydell thing was bizarre.
I don't know what he was doing there.
And yeah, the three of them were out and then it's just bizarre,
isn't it? I can't recall another touring
car race. That had so many people retire.
They from the top three or four positions within the space of 1
lap. I I I just can't.
I can't think of another race that that happens.
So yeah, one of the most bizarre and bonkers into a a touring car
race ever. Could you imagine being James
Thompson at that time with all this car dust, sand, mud,
wheels, bumpers, wings, wing mirrors, everything flying
everywhere? And he's sort of like NASCAR,
come out the smoke the other side and gone.
Yeah, I'm lady. Where, where, where is
everybody? He starts lap, he starts lap 21
fifth and he ends at first. It's bizarre.
It's absolutely bizarre. He's looking left.
He's seen Rivalia Rydell off in 1 field.
He's lit dry, you see. Menus stopped.
It must have been Christmas birthday.
All at what? All 21 of his birthdays, all at
once by that. Absolutely.
Christmas came early. Been that day, he must he he
must have felt like Patrese in Monaco 82.
He spun it off. And then?
He came back three. This was literally BTCC's Monaco
82 MO, and he came through to win the race after spinning it
early on. And it was a race where
literally no one wanted to win it.
At some point, I think between all four of them, not sure
Rydell LED, but Menu had to turn him a lead.
Wengerhot did, Ravalli did, and maybe somebody else that's both
remembering back alongside Thompson and they all hit their
own dramas. And it's like I was almost like
I can always hear James Hunt saying the same thing.
So you know, was wait, sit at the start line waiting for the
check with the checkered flag, waiting for a winner to come by.
We don't seem to be getting one because of retiring and taking
each other out, which is quite ironic so.
Watching the footage, I thought, I thought that the Ryder was
going to get the win because you start.
He was starting to become strong coming onto the Revit straight.
BMW seemed to start not being as strong coming onto the Revit
straight, but that's where the Volvo started to pull on him.
He seemed to have a better drive coming onto the Revit straight
and you could see the Volvo was sort of gaining on him.
Where the where the tires were going off a bit on the BMW so he
couldn't, you know, But yeah, he just shows you just how things
can change. The drama somehow didn't end
there though, with Ravalia storming into the Volvo warning
to try and have it out with Rydell.
However, he soon viewed the video footage and as a result of
this, his attention turned to menu instead.
Everything I said about Rydell, you can now say about menu
instead, he proclaimed after the race.
Menu was on the other side of the track and just flew across
into me. I take it all back about Rydell,
Rivalia continued. His rant intercluded the classic
line. And I'll try and say this
without chuckling too much. Why does he need to wear a
helmet if he doesn't have a brain?
I think you should have said that in Italian.
Adam, do you think Rivalia had fair reasoning to feel so
aggrieved at this incident? I think we've touched on it
quite a bit. I think we have, but I just, I
do feel a bit sorry for him because he did such a great job
at the beginning of the race, nice and clean.
Everyone was sort of pretty much glued behind him, waiting for
him to make a mistake. But you know, everyone is apps,
you know they're driving 110% round there.
No one's sort of bidding their time here.
You know in touring cars, you're driving flat out from the word
go. So he did a great job in the
lead. I thought, especially with the
toe that you could get down the Revit straight as well, you know
the hole in the air that he was creating for everybody else.
So I did, I think he did a splendid job and then all of a
sudden for men, you to do what he did and take literally a risk
where he should have gave him a bit of room and then it all just
ended for him. So I felt he deserved a lot more
than what he actually got. So yeah, I completely agree with
Rivalia and and how it ended for him because I don't think he
deserved it. My one what I'm puzzled about is
that somebody has shown Rivalia that footage and he's suddenly
thinking, oh, Ricard did nothing wrong.
I think you can see then realized that like why was I in
the position that Ricard was trying?
I'm in that position because Alain has caused that whole.
Carnage at turn one. And was it not the front
suspension on the BMW or Ravalli's BMW that caved in
because of the impact? Yes, yeah, that.
Probably because it was a Fair Work menu game.
Oh, it was a fair way. You think the speed they're
going like, you know, it's a quick entry into there.
So if it's that impact, you know, wheel on wheel that's some
force? I've seen the footage.
Too many responded to Rivalia. I gave him room.
Not a lot, but it was enough. Sorry.
Do you think the Turkish do has laughed like we did?
When when he, when he got, when he made that comment, I I I gave
a room. Oh, so the front space just
broke by itself then? Yeah, I gave him room.
Not a lot, but it was enough to get a BMW or two free.
The reason there's enough room for a BMW to get through there
is because it was already there when he turned in.
Yeah, yeah. The problem was because there
was one alongside him in the first place.
It's like. Ravalia would receive a verbal
warning after the race for attempting to physically punch
Ricard Rydell, as well as verbally, who was not injured in
the scuffle. Alan Gall intervened and told
Autosport after he saw the tape of the incident, he saw the
error of his ways. And they had strong words with
him in private. And he subsequently went to
apologize to Ricard Scott. I think obviously we said that
maybe Ravalli wasn't too at fault in that incident.
He didn't really win many friends though, during his time
in the BTCC, did he? No, he didn't.
No. Just one thing I'm going to
mention just before that and this, this.
The genuinely quite fortunate, I think, typo in the script is.
So I'm not actually pointing out.
Just a shame. It's genuine quite funny and
quite ironic is that the script we've got here it says he got a
verbal warning after attempting to punch rock hard Rydell.
I think that quite sometimes quite well given the fact that
you just had to receive a punch. So I think actually say whether
the the typo or not. That's actually quite a good way
to describe it given he. Managed to survive that on the
point of Ravali, I think. Yeah.
He only did two seasons of a championship for one.
Remember, he did part seasons in 94 and 96.
He was somewhat a bit like Steve Soper was and that he was there
to do a job for BMW. He was not a permanent champion
contender. The main person who was there to
support primarily in both cases really.
Soper was there to in his days in BMW to support first Tim
Harvey and then Jerk and Ben Cock.
Although I think serpeted more of a title title tilt in 93 and
then kind of settled into being the kind of guy that they
parachuted in wherever they needed him.
Same really with Vivalia. I mean in fact he was a good
enough driver of course he he was the first ever World Touring
Car champion 87 or part of those two the the the driver conboys
did it. So skill was there and the fact
he won a couple of races and BTCBTCC was there.
But what let's say next is pure. I think the the viewpoint of
BTCC drivers when I say this next bit and not not myself is
that I think there was fair people in the BTCC padding
certain drivers. It viewed him as often more than
a just an Italian prat basically in terms of where he was in
terms of that. That's the thing.
I mean if you look at other instance he was involved in, I
think the two which stand out was that he very sort of rudely
shoved Paul Ratatich off at Brands Hatch.
I'm not sure these these are both on the same weekend.
I can't remember. But at Brands Hatch he shoved
him off the road and then when when Rallis each went to go and
have a word with him about it, he was caught on camera and
Ravali simply ended his conversation with and I go where
I like in terms of basically saying, look, I don't give a
damn what you think, I'll put my car exactly where you want.
It's the same as menu with with rally on him but I'm going to
put my car where I want if you're going to have an accident
it's your choice if we have it or not.
And then the the one which he didn't cover himself in glory
with and he tried to explain it away to the cameras afterwards
and wasn't faulting anyone was right at the last race of the
season when he. I don't know if maybe this is
this is I think was it whether it was retaliation or kind of
payback for Stetson or so I'm not sure thinking about it
possibly because when of course menu is batting the second of
the championship or second of. Yeah the second of the
championship. I think we've got was still one
of the competitors in it And Ravalli comes down to the pits
and then just conveniently finds himself in the if it finds
himself off the pace a little bit which he tries to explain
and happens to be happens to be in front about that menu when it
happens. And then oh just by coincidence
Peter Cox thinks I'll sneak up the inside and try and form a
pincer movement if I don't mind And then but menu couldn't
believe it and he even set himself on the camera I think he
said we could do without this guy BTCC.
Yeah. Like, kind of just, you know,
you couldn't believe it. And even Murray Walker couldn't
believe it. He was like, oh, he's blocking
menu. I've never seen that before.
And it's like, yeah, just Ravalli was a talented driver,
but at the same time he was very much someone who was a team
player and he played the game with BMW in terms.
Of but it it it also had a long relationship with BMW, hadn't
he? So yeah, some time.
But like you said, if you have the incident with Radders Hitch,
really likable guy, good fan base.
But he's also a team mate to Winkler, who was also a huge
star and had a massive fan base. So.
You're not really going to be that well liked if you're having
incidents with the likes of Radisich and causing, you know,
causing a load of issues. And you're never going to be as
liked as the likes of Wincock either.
So, you know, he did make it tough for himself, but he was a
bloody good driver, wasn't he? He was, yeah.
But had these moments where you you just sort of felt like just
felt like a disappointed parent, didn't you?
At times like, oh what are you doing?
You can't do that. And it comes out with some
comments you're like you can't say that but yeah but he said he
was just a full on team player. It's just go back to the instant
when you block menus. Like I think if we if that gets
covered as as one of what happens to the future episodes.
I think just hearing the audio from Rivalia literally trying to
explain away what happens and I I don't know what happened just
the car was off the bit of pace from earlier on I don't happen
and menu tried to get past and he just have to build the same
line as I was now the cameras caused it all mate didn't
blocked him let's let's let's not beat around the Bush here
you put your car on the on that car line to stop menu getting
through and to help Cox try and get past take points off let's
be real here that's what happened.
So yeah, I agree with Adam that one is that fast driver, no
doubt and obviously that he was 87 world touring car champ for a
reason. But at the same time I think
that his way of going about things and trying to play the
team game was a bit was at the time I think something which
yeah that that those of the the fairest, the the fairer side of
BTC. He's he's one of the old school
ones where if he needed to play dirty he would play dirty.
He was. And I think the guys who are
like the, you know the the the Patrick Watts and the John
Clemens and the Paul Ratte, each of this world who were slightly
more kind of doing it the old fashioned more gentlemanly way
in terms of racing hard but fair and find themselves on the wrong
side more often than not. I think they were the kind of
people who he jumped into the series and they've been there
for several years beforehand and obviously his way of going about
things didn't quite to them. It wasn't, it wasn't cricket, it
wasn't the the way in which we did things.
We raised hard but fair but not did things that was going to
cause problems. So yeah, fast, but I think it's
for to some in the BCCC paddock. A bit, a bit flawed I think in
some cases, but definitely had the speed.
And with all that said, let's now hear what the drivers told
the BBC in the paddock after the race.
Well, here comes Roberto Ravalli has battered BMW and a very
angry Roberto. There he is and he's going into
Ryder's Volvo garage. But Ricard's all right, he's
round the back. Roberto, Roberto, Roberto.
Just a bit too many cars into the first corner really.
We tried to go three rest into the first corner and somehow I
think Menu and Raval get touched 1st and then.
They went into me and it was just not not enough room for
three cars. Well, what happened?
It's very clear that I let me know.
Was doing something that normally a professional driver
cannot do. I mean, I don't know what he
wants to do in this moment. They crashed in my car, It was
outside and it's something that also I would like to ask him
what he was doing. Are you going to ask him?
Well, I know it's enough to see the video.
I got I had a better exit break on the inside for Russell so I
had a better exit out of the corner.
I was a bit quicker first like half the straight.
Then he called me back and I thought, you know, OK no man,
I'm going to try to go around the outside and if I go off I go
off and and retouch. But but it it worked And then I
think Rider pushed him off and then I had a big lead and then
then the engine, everything just got.
I mean I had no no ignition in any anymore.
Thompson then duly saw off the final two laps without any more
dramas. And crossed the line to take his
second ever BTCC victory and more importantly the first BTCC
win for the new Vauxhall Vectra. After the race he told the press
it would have been nice to have won the race by overtaking cars,
not inheriting places, but it is just nice to be back at the top
of the podium. Those last few laps were pretty
unbelievable, weren't they? Thompson had hoped that it would
also silence the detractors. He said that he wasn't the same
driver as he was before his testing accident at Knockhill in
1995. Alex, was it wrong if people
suggest that Thompson hadn't been the same since that testing
shunt? Yes, I think it was very unfair
actually, because Tom had a great 1995 at one at Thruxton in
only his fifth race as a as a Vauxhall works driver.
As a 21 year old I think was the youngest BTCC winner at the
time. He broke the record there and
obviously had had his testing accident which curtailed his
season. He didn't race again and Mike
Briggs came across to race for the rest of the season in the
Cavalier and and and Thompson come back in in in for 1996 and
people were saying he wasn't the same and that's very unfair
because. It's easy to.
Criticize him and someone in that position.
Absolutely, yeah. But the car wasn't the same.
Yeah, the the Cavalier had just won the championship.
It was a race winning car. It was a championship winning
car. It was a front runner.
This was a brand new Vectra which had never been raced
before. It was being raced in Britain
for the first year before going elsewhere in in Europe to race
and. It it it it.
You're not comparing like for like it.
Thompson wasn't jumping back into a race winning,
championship winning car. You know if he was jumping back
into the Audi, he'd have been winning races, I'm sure, no
doubt about it. If he was in the BMW he'd have
been winning races. He jumped back into a car that
had taken the backward step in competitiveness.
Compared to the car he was driving before.
So yeah, I don't think it was fair at all that people were
saying that, that he wasn't the same driver and no.
One mentioned anything about Cleland not winning immediately,
Did they? No, exactly.
Yeah. And, and let's be honest, Tomah
went on to prove that that accident did absolutely nothing
to stop his career because he went on and had a fabulous
career in touring cars and motorsport.
Wheeler took second with Clement rounding out the podium and
taking third place, which was the reigning champions first
podium finish of the season. Tim Harvey also gave Peugeot a
much needed shot in the arm, with 4th place by far the best
result yet for the new 4A6 model.
Race two was all about Winkelhock, and for all the
drama of race one, this one was a much more calm affair.
Winklehock stormed into a huge lead which he would never lose,
whilst Cleland took second and his second podium of the day.
In fact, the biggest drama of the second race was the battle
between Beeler and Leslie. Beeler went for a move at the
final chicane on lap 15, which saw Leslie spin out in
retirement. Beeler would be subsequently
disqualified from the race for that move.
After the race he said to the media.
I've apologised to David. But it was still just a racing
incident for me. Adam, do you agree with Beela
there or do you think it was a pretty fair decision to
disqualify even during the race? Yeah, yeah, 100%.
Needy, needy, punishing for it because you know, he's put.
I apologize to David, but it was still just a racing incident for
me, right? Well, what else was he going to
say really? Because his body felt was a bit
embarrassed by it. But if Leslie had done that to
him, what would he have said? And and coming coming out like
quorum and into that chicane there where he basically T boned
him like you're carrying you are counting a lot of speeds for
that double right-hander before you hit the brakes.
But you hit the brakes so late and you carry quite a bit of
speed into that chicane. Any any overtake into there, if
you pull it off is a good one because it's rare that you see
one that's clean because you're only into the right-hander for a
short period of time before you then go on to the left-hander
which pulls you back onto the pit straight.
So it's rare you'll see an overtaking today because of how
late you're breaking. So yeah, he just got it
completely. It was, it just looked like a
desperate move. He was struggling.
He was off the pace. He just looked like a desperate,
desperate move and he just got it completely wrong and just T
boned him, basically. And yeah, I think he got what
what he deserved on that one, unfortunately.
But yeah, the move was never on in the past when people, not the
people, often knocked him into retirement.
The decision has been to penalise the person doing the
wrong the same way really hit me point blank.
Not a hope on hella getting around the corner. 100% blame
signs now I would say, of a team turning very desperate because
the rest of us are getting there.
Scott, some strong words there from David Leslie about Audi.
Was he right do you think? I think so.
It goes back to the conversation we've had already in this in
this podcast about the fact that Audi was struggling with this
weight penalty. And yeah, given the fact that if
you look at where they were this weekend compared to again the
Volvo, the BMWs, the Renaults, the holders getting up there as
well, the Vauxhalls too. As as David rightly said, the
rest of them, we're getting there, they're getting to that
point where Audi had been figured out, have been found out
effectively their 4 wheel drive advantage was being negated.
You know, the extra weight penalty was starting to hurt
them, particularly on certain kinds of circuits.
Yes, they've built up enough of an advantage where they had
quite a lead in the Championship anyway.
But ultimately this is the second-half of the season where
you know these cars and teams are starting to figure out what
they need to do to get on top of Howdy's strengths and take
advantage of their weaknesses. And the weakness seems to be you
add more weight to it and the car just becomes completely out
sorts and not where it should be.
I mean if you'll also look at an example where Binkliff was as
well, Binkliff was way back in in race one of course and had a
a slide at at Richie's corner and he was way back in race 2 as
well. And and being that, as we've
heard was actually nowhere near he wants to be compared to where
they've been at the start of the season.
So I think, I think part of that obviously would have come from
Lesse's I think abject and and perfectly understandable
frustration and annoyance that he'd been harpooned out of the
race by being and making such a desperate move.
And I think anyone would and anyone of us that had that
happen to us if we were in Davis situation would be full
absolutely the same same way. So I think he's absolutely right
in that Audi's advantage was starting to be snuffed out a
bit. There were still bits of weather
was still strong. The four wheel drive so had its
advantages here and there but the weight was really starting
to hurt them particularly on a hot dusty day.
Even wear on dusty conditions. The forge.
I should have been a massive advantage in some of those
corners. The extra weight was what was
happening than the most and the fact that that as we talked
about just now, B was probably getting to that point of the
weekend. We're thinking I've had enough
of this like we've had our pace is nowhere where it should be.
I'm getting frustrated. I just go for a move up the
inside and see if it works and it just didn't.
So I think that Leslie had every justification to be that pissed
off when he said about the fact that no, it was a desperate
attempt to get past from a team that are struggling.
And he was right. The rest of the the rest of the
the teams were getting there, they were finding more pace,
they were getting quicker and out.
His advantage was becoming near 0 at that point.
As the dust settled at Snetton, there are lots of new questions
to ask in the 1996 season. Was Winklehot now a genuine
title contender? Were ALDI going to remain at the
top of the standings? And were Vauxhall now emerging
as a threat at the front of the grid?
It's now time to wield Back Out, our new feature for Series 3
where producer Dan asks us all the question and we can see if
we were paying attention to the discussion and coverage.
Don't forget to play it long at home too.
It doesn't count if you if you rewind and get the question
wrong the first time. Now after the last time out when
we discussed Silverstone 1992, Andrew Sharman scored a point
for the guests and Al got a point for the regulars.
So currently it is 1/1. So I'll now hand it over to
producer Dan and ask. Have you got your question?
I have it was mentioned briefly early one of the podcast, but
which manufacturer team scored their only podium of the season
in the manufacturers championship?
Peugeot but. Tim got fourth.
Tim got fourth there, didn't he? Yes.
And with the two voxels, that would have been third.
Yeah, Yeah. That is right.
Persia got their only podium in the season in the first race at
Snetterton. Well, that's a trick question
there. No, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I I I get what you mean. I get what you mean with.
With the manufacturer, points are handed out.
Yes, they got the third most. Yeah.
Oh, right. I I was, I was the.
I was the dumb one. Sat there thinking, hold a
minute. How's it?
Yeah. You finished?
I I get it. I.
Get it? It is.
It is a quirk, as you say, of the point system.
That was used for the manufacturers Championship was.
That team's best result of that season, yes.
Yeah, and Peugeot was by far. I mean, I'm.
I'm scrolling through now and I think apart from an A couple of
8th places, that was their best result quite significantly.
I mean, they scored points on a reasonable number of occasions
but they finished at the end of the season.
Tied with Ford for last in the Championship, but they both have
74 points. That was the last year that
Peugeot were running out of the factory.
Out of the Peugeot factory. MSD took over in 97 and and they
were properly prepped rather than being prepped by.
Peugeot. Peugeot guys.
Then you know, so out. The corner of the factory in
Covent. Yeah, yeah.
Which in fairness Andrew Charman says it was the the last true of
the work true works entry because it was literally
produced in in house but rather than being outsourced by a
preparation company. But yeah that that Peugeot was a
bit of a dog. So, so it was a real shot in the
arm for for Tim to get 4th that day.
It's like it's like Patrick's, as I mentioned with Patrick
Watson at the start of the podcast, they can do anything.
Yeah. I I think is that the is that
the is that the comment when Murray afterwards said something
like good old Patrick full of fun?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
What are you meant to say? What's that?
All good old Patrick full of shit.
Can you imagine if you said that live on BBC?
Well, Patrick was our PR guy at Super Touring Power effectively,
because. We were in the Kentagon on the
Saturday evening and we were having a drink with Patrick and
he was literally collaring everyone he could and telling
them that and no uncertain terms that they had to come on the
podcast. So yeah, Patrick is a good
friend of the podcast. So yeah, he's our PR guy.
This was the story of one of the craziest races of not just the
1996 season, but the Super touring era which has gone down
in BTCC folklore. James Thompson took the first
win for the Vauxhall Vectra and Roberto Ravalia ended up the
villain not for the first time in 1996.
I'd like to thank Scott Woodless for joining us to look back at
this race and we hope that we'll see you on stories From Super
Touring again soon. Yeah, likewise, pleasure to be
on here. As always, good to chat Super
Touring. I'm never someone who can shy
away from having a chat about things super tearing.
I'm more than happy to come back anytime you'll have me.
So thank you very much boys, really enjoyed it and already
looking forward to next time. Fantastic.
Thank you very much, Scott, and our thanks as ever also go to
you guys for listening to the show.
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