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Stories from Super Touring. 
The 1999 Deutsche Super Touring 

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Waggon Meistershaft delivered 
one of the closest title fights 

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of the Super Touring era, and it
would also prove to be the most 

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controversial across the season.
Works Opal driver UVA Ounston 

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and semi independent ALDI ace 
Christian AT went head to head 

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in a dramatic battle for the 
championship. 

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AT burst out of the gates with 
four consecutive victories, 

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building an early points 
advantage he would hold all 

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season long. 
But while AT managed just one 

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more win after that dominant 
start ounston mounted a 

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relentless comeback, taking six 
victories of his own to drag the

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fight all the way to the final 
round. 

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Everything came down to the 
short Nurburgring circuit, with 

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only a handful of points 
separating the two drivers as 

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the STW era prepared for its 
final curtain call. 

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Joining me, Levi riding to look 
back at the final of the STW 

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meeting, are the creator and 
writer of stories from Super 

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Touring Alex Clark, touring car 
journalist Andrew Charming, and 

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motorsport photographer Greg 
Denton. 

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Gentlemen, how are we all 
exhausted? 

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Apart from that, fun. 
Yeah, yeah. 

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Good. 
Yeah, good. 

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Thank you. 
We're recording this in between 

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Goodwood, which was a couple of 
weekends ago, and Alton Park for

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Touring Car Rewind, which is 
this coming weekend. 

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So basically full of Super 
Touring at the minute. 

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So. 
So, yeah, great. 

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Yeah, and and yeah, good. 
Thanks and really looking 

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forward to discussing maybe a a 
gem of, of super touring that 

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not so many people know about. 
But I think, yeah, once we delve

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into it in a bit more detail, 
hopefully we'll whet their 

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appetite for more from from 
European racing. 

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Absolutely. 
And and Andrew, coming to you 

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first, it's our first dive into 
Europe on this podcast. 

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We've touched on on the other 
series in Europe before, but 

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when you think back to the STW 
in in this dramatic finale, what

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first comes to your mind? 
Well, first thoughts. 

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The way this ended the short 
history STW Cup, as we'll talk 

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about in a minute, it was every 
bit as controversial as the 

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Silverstone 1992 in the BTC. 
But it's virtually unknown today

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because I'll bet a great many of
our audience don't know that 

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much about the STW Cup. 
But this was a meeting that 

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ended its short history in a 
memorable with infamous way. 

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Unfortunately, I wasn't at this 
particular meeting, but I went 

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to Central during the Super 
Touring era. 

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My first was at Zelda in Belgium
in 1995 when I gave the late 

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great Brazz Hatch and BTCC 
commentator Brian Jones a list 

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in my in my company card BMW and
he wheeled his way onto the PA 

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at Zelda within minutes of us 
getting there. 

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I went to the new Burger Ring 
that year where I produced what 

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I still consider my best ever 
feature. 

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After spoken Joe Finkelhot took 
me around the 14 mile launch 

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life in his BMW Rd car. 
I tried it again the following 

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day. 
My own company, BMW Rd car very 

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nearly had the call to my 
publisher after I went over this

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left hand Crest which 
immediately turned into a right 

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hand Crest. 
And then there was the time, I 

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think it was about 97 Hockenheim
where my wife came with me. 

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We watched a load of young girls
speed bussed around the circuit 

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so that they could scream at an 
unknown boy band called the 

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Backstreet Boys. 
Apparently they did quite well 

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eventually, and I also went to 
this really weird place called 

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Zwybrook and which Greg no doubt
will recall. 

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It was a recently decommissioned
US air base. 

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And as you walked around it, 
there were signs on the tarmac 

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buried into the timer basically 
saying that you could be shot on

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sight if you did the wrong 
thing. 

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So yeah, it was it, it, it, it 
was quite something. 

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But I quickly came to realise 
that this was a very serious 

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touring car championship, 
probably the most serious 

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outside the BTCC. 
Lovely and and Greg coming to 

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you next. 
What jumps into your mind when 

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you think about believe this 
Raves meeting and the STW in 

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general? 
Yeah, I think it. 

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Links to what Andrew said. 
If you think Silverstone 1992 

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was bad, this takes it to a 
whole new level and we'll dive 

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into that in more detail. 
But yeah, the SCW was a little 

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bit of a hidden gem. 
I went like Andrew, I went to a 

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few rounds older in 1997, 
Nurburger in 1998, and it was a 

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really top class championship. 
And yeah, full of high quality 

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drivers. 
So yeah, it was, it was really 

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well worth going to watch. 
It was difficult to watch the 

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coverage. 
I think in the depths of 

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Eurosport or Speed sport as it 
was at the time. 

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You you could watch the watch 
the coverage. 

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I got a little bit of German 
knowledge from it. 

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So you've, let's see Rundi last 
laugh so I could learn that bit 

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some, some interesting German 
phrases from it. 

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But yeah, it really was top 
quality, top quality racing. 

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And finally coming to you, Alex,
what are your memories of this 

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event? 
For me it's just the yellow 

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Audi's because I love the colour
yellow. 

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Those cars are fantastic, 
although not quite as good as 

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they looked at the TT in 97 when
they were in that fluorescent 

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yellow when they came over from 
donning. 

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The Red Bull. 
Yeah, yeah. 

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But honestly, it's just 
remembering just how chaotic it 

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was. 
Obviously you've got the last 

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lap nonsense, which went on, but
you've got to watch the whole 

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race because all race long 
people were going off, coming 

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back on, bumping into each 
other, pushing past each other. 

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It was, it's a chaotic race. 
And as Greg just said, then it 

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makes Silverstone 92 look like 
kindergarten. 

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You know, everyone talks about 
Silverstone 92. 

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And don't get me wrong, 
controversial moment brought 

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touring cars to the masses, 
Absolutely. 

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But this for controversy. 
And yeah, just just how crazy it

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all was. 
This tops it easily. 

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Now, most of our listeners will 
know the BTCC inside out, but 

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the STW perhaps doesn't get 
talked about quite as much as 

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here in the UK, despite being 
one of the major championships 

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of the Super Touring era, packed
with factory teams, big 

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manufacturers and hugely 
talented drivers. 

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Before we dive into the 
Nurburgring finale itself and 

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during Greg, as we've already 
touched on, you were at some of 

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the races at the time, can you 
just help set the scene for us a

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little? 
What made the SCW such an 

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important championship at the 
time, and why does it still hold

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such a special place for touring
car fans today? 

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Well, if you think the Super 
Touring era of the BTCC was 

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short period, the STW Cup lasted
just six years. 

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It was started in 94, ended in 
99, but in that time it very 

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quickly became the most 
important Super Touring 

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championship outside the BTCC. 
In my earliest years as a 

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motorsport photographer. 
Yeah, Greg, I bet you didn't 

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know that everyone knew the DTM,
the Deutsche Turin Waggon and 

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Mason Shaft as the most 
action-packed touring car serial

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is basically in the world before
the two litre BTCC came along 

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with it's two and half litre 
turbo turbo chargers and BMWs 

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bouncing off to each other. 
But by 94, the DTM had become 

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too expensive. 
The cars had become so complex 

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and quick they were, they were 
literally comparable to Formula 

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One cars in their complexity and
their cost. 

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And the FIA had got to the point
where they came in the middle of

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it and they created their own 
international championship that 

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ran across alongside the DTM 
which the process doubled the 

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cost. 
So the German manufacturers, 

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particularly the big 3B, MWLD 
and Opal saw the success of 

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Super Touring and jumped at the 
chance of their own series 

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battling each other with 
multiple teams and listing them 

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forward, also joining again. 
And as has been said, they were 

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top drivers. 
I particularly remember the 

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Eurburgering in 95. 
Ricardo Patrese as in ex William

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Z1 driver Ricardo Patrese. 
I think he was in a Ford at 

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time, but he was having a really
bad time with it that year. 

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And one of my colleagues told me
was story this little this 

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little girl went up with an 
autograph book hoping to get his

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autograph. 
And he was sitting brooding in 

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the pics and he looked her and 
he went have you got a pen? 

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And she sort of nervously shook 
her heads and he went well then 

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and stopped off into the pit. 
But it was, it was a brilliant 

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series. 
And I will tell my favourite STW

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Cup story here now. 
And it can be cut out of the 

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edit if you feel it necessary 
because it was run by the Aidac,

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which is Germany's motoring body
also organises its motorsport as

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well. 
And they had brilliant media 

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hospitality. 
And at the time it was written 

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by this really great guy called 
Klaus Kramer. 

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He was German, obviously. 
He had a Kilani driving licence 

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which I never got to the bottom 
of, and he spoke better English 

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than I did. 
And he could not do enough for 

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us. 
See, my wife came to a few 

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meetings with me. 
He arranged us cars to get us to

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circuits with the manufacturers.
Him and his partner took us out 

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to dinner one night just so he 
could extolled the values of 

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German asparagus, which 
apparently supposed to be 

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something quite special. 
But we were sitting having a 

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drink one day in the hospitality
centre at one of the meetings 

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and Klaus came back to us and he
said, Andrew, Andrew, all of the

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British journalists, they keep 
coming up to me and saying don't

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mention the war, what are they 
on about? 

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And I looked at my wife Rosemary
and she looked at me. 

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We both grieved and we said, 
Klaus, when we get home we will 

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go and buy you the video and we 
will bring it to the next 

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meeting. 
And you will know to younger 

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people listening to this videos 
of what we had before DVDs and 

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DVDs of what we had before 
streaming. 

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OK, so we did. 
We got the video of the 

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particular 40 Towers episode. 
We took it along and we gave it 

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to him at the next meeting and 
then cut the months later at 

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another meeting. 
We said to Clouse, did you watch

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the video? 
Oh yes, he said, Cloudy and I 

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sat down one night and we 
watched it. 

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We laughed and laughed and 
laughed. 

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But a few years ago we would 
have been very insulted and that

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is my favourite SDW Cup story. 
Nothing to do with racing cars 

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at all. 
Greg, how about you? 

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What? 
What kind of team made the STW 

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so special at that time? 
Yeah, I think it was. 

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It was slightly different to the
British Touring Car 

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Championship. 
You'd never got the depth of 

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manufacturers. 
So there wasn't, you know, Rendo

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never entered it, Volvo never 
entered it. 

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But what you did obvious that 
the the manufacturers that did 

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would often enter multiple teams
in it. 

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So BMW just wouldn't enter one 
works team. 

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They'd have two, maybe 3 Oval as
well, multiple teams. 

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And often you ended up with a 
really big grid, you know, 40 

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odd cars near enough every round
at the height of it, as Andrew's

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already said, some really star 
names, Ricardo Patrese, you 

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know, there was some proper top 
level Victorian car drivers in 

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it. 
You know, often Winkleheart 

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would be flitting between the 
BTCC and the STW. 

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So yeah, I think it, it sort of 
lacked the, the manufacturer 

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total backing that we saw in 
British, the British 

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Championship. 
But we, yeah, we saw a really 

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good variety. 
We also saw some Peugeots that 

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were actually good. 
They're actually bloody good. 

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They were, you know, when IL I 
was in that hassle Rd, a yellow 

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Peugeot that absolutely flew. 
You know, that was one hell of a

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car. 
I think the other side as well, 

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some of the circuits were not, 
you know, they're they're not 

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the pedigree apart from your 
Hockenheim burgering songs. 

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Burgering was always a good one.
But as Andrew said, they turned 

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up as well at some old airfield 
circuits. 

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So the pedigree, odd say, of the
circuits were a little bit less.

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But yeah, overall it was a 
really very, very strong touring

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car champion. 
Yeah, I've recently been sent a 

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load of STW coverage, all in 
German, so I've enjoyed picking 

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up a bit from my GCSE German 
days. 

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And you're right, it's mad to 
see some of the some of the 

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tracks. 
There was one track in 

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particular that literally looked
like an airfield with tyre 

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stack. 
Yeah. 

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Well, yeah, it was. 
Like a like a go Kart track in 

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00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,840
Britain sort of thing. 
You know Arvis as well, which 

227
00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,240
was just a motorway. 
Yeah. 

228
00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,480
Yeah, I think it was one of the 
airfield circuits. 

229
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:11,080
What? 
Warren Hughes had a massive 

230
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,400
crash in a Ford Mondeo 5 
brooken. 

231
00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,280
Yeah, as well I was. 
There that was, yeah, that was 5

232
00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,240
brooken. 
And what it was because 

233
00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:22,600
vibrooken was basically taxiways
in the runway and they all went 

234
00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:25,920
off the grid and it was a sort 
of slight left, right down this 

235
00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,160
first taxiway. 
And he got sort of pushed off 

236
00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,240
onto the grass. 
And of course, it was the huge 

237
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,880
grass between the taxiway and 
the runway. 

238
00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,640
And his Ford went shooting 
across his grass and found the 

239
00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:41,360
one manhole cover that was in 
the hold of this field, hit it 

240
00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:43,280
and rolled itself to 
destruction. 

241
00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:45,560
I saw Warren a couple of years 
ago. 

242
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,840
He still remembers that we've. 
Oh dear. 

243
00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,120
Yeah, it was. 
It was some accident he had. 

244
00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,480
We asked our Paddock Club 
members what they thought of 

245
00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,600
this controversial title decider
and they've come back trusted 

246
00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,280
for the following. 
Jay Winsall said it was the 

247
00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:05,080
worst conduct he's ever seen on 
a race track, adding that it 

248
00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:08,680
makes Michael Schumacher's 
dubious moves from the era look 

249
00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:12,440
perfectly fine. 
The Doctor got in touch to say 

250
00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,760
that Roland Bash should have had
his racing licence taken off of 

251
00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:17,560
him and shredded after the 
event. 

252
00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:23,840
Jake Callahan simply said if gap
car, which I think a few drivers

253
00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,600
took that quite quite literally 
and wrote until also got in 

254
00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:30,720
touch to add that despite 
everyone going on about 

255
00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,440
Silverstone 1992, this decider 
was much worse, which I think 

256
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,160
we've already touched on that 
this is a little bit more 

257
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:40,760
controversial than even 
Silverstone 92. 

258
00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,240
I think that's Jake Callahan. 
Comment ought to be said with 

259
00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,160
the the accent from Animal of 
The Muppets. 

260
00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:56,000
Yeah, as mentioned at the start 
of the episode, this was the 

261
00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:01,240
final year of the STW with major
manufacturers such as BMW, ALDI 

262
00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,440
and Peugeot all withdrawing at 
the end of 1998. 

263
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,800
Andrew, was the STW struggling 
with the same issues as the UK 

264
00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,160
for increasing costs and waning 
manufacturer support? 

265
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:15,960
Yes. 
Absolutely. 

266
00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:21,040
Because anytime you get involved
with manufacturers, they all 

267
00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,720
want to win and they will pile 
as much money as they can get to

268
00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:26,680
win. 
And when they stop winning, the 

269
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,880
manufacturer boardrooms, you 
know, the the financial side of 

270
00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,160
the boardrooms, say why are we 
spending all this money and 

271
00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:33,720
we're not getting the glory out 
of it? 

272
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:36,680
You can understand why Peugeot 
went because they'd won 

273
00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:42,240
everything and Audi was getting 
much more interested in the 

274
00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:46,320
mall. 
And so yes, and the costs were a

275
00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,360
major factor, but there was also
another factor and that was the 

276
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:54,240
DTN made a comeback. 
They come up with a new and much

277
00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,160
more cost can train series, 
which all the manufacturers 

278
00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,440
decamped to in 2000. 
Because the DTN had always been 

279
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,680
a very, very, very German 
series. 

280
00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:09,080
I mean, used to claim to have 
Grand Prix level crowds and its 

281
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,160
meetings. 
What people, what they didn't 

282
00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,840
say though, was that 75% of the 
tickets were given out free by 

283
00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:20,640
manufacturers to get the so So 
yeah, so the DTMS come back in 

284
00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,640
2000 made a big difference. 
And I think you could also argue

285
00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,280
that all the political nastiness
that grew throughout 1999 and 

286
00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,360
then erupted at this finale, 
that couldn't have impressed, 

287
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:34,760
impressed the high ups in the 
manufacturer board with anyway. 

288
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,200
So any alternative would have 
seemed rather more appealing 

289
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:42,080
after that. 
Yeah, with much of the 

290
00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:46,720
established competition gone, 
many expect in 1999 to be Opal's

291
00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:49,880
championship to lose. 
Honda arrived with the new 

292
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:54,840
Accord mirroring the fresh start
scene in the BTCC and Opal fully

293
00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,600
expected to begin the season as 
the benchmark team. 

294
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,440
What nobody had quite 
anticipated was the speed of the

295
00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,760
semi independent at Sport ALDI 
outfit, with Christian Apps 

296
00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:08,880
stalling to victory in the 
opening 4 races of the season. 

297
00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,720
Greg, were you shocked to see 
Apps sort of fast start to the 

298
00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:18,359
season, especially going up 
against the the might of Opal's 

299
00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,480
manufacturer effort? 
Yeah, I think if you didn't know

300
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,720
the championship when you didn't
know the teams, you would have 

301
00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,119
been surprised by that. 
But App, to be honest, we're a 

302
00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,760
top level team. 
And yeah, were they a private 

303
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:31,400
team? 
I'd say definitely not. 

304
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,640
There must have still been a lot
of behind the scenes backing 

305
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,840
from from Audi and you only have
to look what he did in 2000. 

306
00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,120
As Andrew said, the DDTM came 
back on stream and apartment 

307
00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:46,440
Audi turned up with four 
absolutely stunning Audi TTS 

308
00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,400
with a really strong driver line
up. 

309
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,680
Not an Aiello James Thompson, 
Chris Nissan was it 3 maybe 

310
00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,640
there's only three of them, but 
a really strong line up of South

311
00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:59,280
build cars and you know a couple
of years later they went on to 

312
00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,520
win the DTM as well. 
So they really were absolute top

313
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,840
notch outfit. 
So for the, I don't know of the 

314
00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,360
series, you know, you said, oh, 
how can a privateer turn up and 

315
00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:10,120
do this? 
But they were, they were far 

316
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:13,200
from the privateers teams that 
we recognised from the the 

317
00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:14,600
British Championship, I would 
say. 

318
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,640
Private teams have been granted 
special permission to run 4 

319
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,360
wheel drive cars for 1999, but 
Apartment took a different 

320
00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:27,280
approach to what many expected. 
Rather than using their older 

321
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:32,720
1997 Audis, the team converted 
their 1998 front wheel drive 

322
00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,920
machine into a four wheel drive 
car using a bespoke system of 

323
00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,200
their own design. 
We practically rebuilt the 

324
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,480
entire gearbox instead of using 
the 1997 version hands. 

325
00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,480
You can act later explain to 
motorsport-total.com. 

326
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:50,280
This gave us better weight 
distribution. 

327
00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:54,640
The car felt very good. 
Of course, the big debate 

328
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,560
throughout the season was just 
how private the APP operation 

329
00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,680
really was. 
APP always maintained it as an 

330
00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,440
independent effort. 
Whilst the rivals are Opal, 

331
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:05,760
we're convinced that they're 
effectively racing against the 

332
00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:09,560
disguised fact reality. 
Team Alex was the level of 

333
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,160
support behind that, one of the 
major talking points throughout 

334
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,160
that season. 
Yes, yeah, definitely was a Greg

335
00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:20,720
sort of just outlined it there 
really apartment were a serious 

336
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:25,320
racing outfit that built serious
race cars and as you've just 

337
00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,400
explained adapted their own. 
They put their own touch on 

338
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:34,760
racing cars. 
A similar example I can give is 

339
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,560
very much a bit like Dynamics 
here in the UK when they were 

340
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:43,560
running Nissans in the late the 
late 90s and they were, you 

341
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:46,080
know, wiping the floor with the 
other independent entries. 

342
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,680
Very similar sort of setup. 
For example, Franz and Franz 

343
00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:55,440
Ensler entered halfway through 
the STW in 99 with a, with an 

344
00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,960
AR155. 
We're talking 1999. 

345
00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:00,720
So it's quite an old car at this
point. 

346
00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,040
That's what you would think of 
as a true independent. 

347
00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,440
Then he, you know, running his 
own team brought his own car. 

348
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:12,400
This was on another level, you 
know, as Greg said, when the DTM

349
00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,360
was reborn. 
They went and basically ran the 

350
00:20:15,360 --> 00:20:20,400
ODTTS for OD in that 
championship and, and, and 

351
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,360
eventually went and won. 
So they were, they were a 

352
00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:28,280
serious race team. 
And yeah, it it, it was no 

353
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,520
surprise that they were as good 
as they are, as good as they 

354
00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,120
were showing. 
Like I said, the the the best 

355
00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,360
comparison would be Matt Neil in
Dynamics. 

356
00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:41,840
Imagine Neil running and it 
nearly happened a couple of 

357
00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:43,880
times. 
Imagine Dynamics running too 

358
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,640
many sounds at the back end of 
the 90s. 

359
00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:48,560
It that's a very similar sort of
story. 

360
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,800
I think the the apartment ones 
would really stand up. 

361
00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,560
There was a second sort of semi 
works Audi team that do you 

362
00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:59,400
remember Majeva sponsored? 
I think it was Phoenix Racing, 

363
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,520
which yes Andrew might correct 
me, but I think it was something

364
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:06,800
to do with Zach's feed. 
So again another top level team 

365
00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:10,040
with two well prepared cars but 
they were never on the papers of

366
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,280
of the out cars. 
They were good drivers as well. 

367
00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:13,960
Bartels race for them didn't. 
They yeah. 

368
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:15,240
Michael Bartels. 
Yeah, Yeah. 

369
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:20,160
So, so yeah, the the top, top 
effort, top top 2. 

370
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,280
On the other side of the fight 
was the Opal Vectra B, updated 

371
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:30,560
with a facer for the 1999 season
and representing perhaps the 

372
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,360
ultimate evolution of the Super 
Touring formula. 

373
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,440
Packed with the latest 
technology, it was a car 

374
00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,880
developed with 1 clear goal in 
mind, winning the STW title. 

375
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,600
With so many manufacturers 
having already withdrawn from 

376
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,160
the championship, Opel entered 
the season as clear favourites 

377
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:50,080
and committed fully to the 
programme. 

378
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,600
Their in house tuning partner 
space produced a phenomenal 

379
00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:58,160
engine and at its absolute best 
to Vectra simply had performance

380
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,240
that few others on the grid 
could match. 

381
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,760
Behind the wheel was Uve Anson, 
an all action driver with 

382
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,040
immense natural speed and a 
fiercely competitive edge. 

383
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:13,120
By 1999 he was no longer simply 
an exciting and talent, but an 

384
00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:16,200
experienced touring car racer 
who had sharpened his craft 

385
00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,360
alongside Klaus Ludwick during 
the ITC era. 

386
00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:23,600
In 1996, Klaus was the greatest 
touring car and sports car 

387
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,160
driver of all time for me, 
Ouston later told 

388
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:30,240
motorsport-total.com, while 
others had Ayrton Senate as 

389
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:32,400
their role model. 
Clowns was mine. 

390
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:35,600
Greg. 
What sort of racer was Anson 

391
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,600
like on the track? 
Yeah, I think I looked at that 

392
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:39,920
question. 
I thought, how would I best 

393
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,440
describe him? 
And if I was to describe him 

394
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,600
like a different sportsman, he'd
be like, I think a cage fighter.

395
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:51,520
He was that type of guy, always,
always on the edge, always 

396
00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,840
pushing. 
I always remember there was a 

397
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,280
race, it probably was in 97 or 
98, He was in the Promar 

398
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,440
sponsored Opal. 
So you know, one of the yellow 

399
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,960
cars and in one of the races 
that he had an accident and both

400
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,360
the doors off the side of the 
car got ripped off. 

401
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,160
Then most drivers would just 
say, oh, I parked the car. 

402
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,960
Now we can't continue like this.
Not Uvay, Allison, he carried on

403
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,400
going. 
So there's footage of this car 

404
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,880
racing with the 2 doors that are
on the side, his side of the car

405
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,880
completely ripped off. 
I've never seen it in any other 

406
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:26,440
in any other race. 
But yeah, Uvay was still going 

407
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,400
absolutely flat out. 
And I think I first saw him in 

408
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,360
probably 92 in the DTM when it 
came to Donnington. 

409
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,760
And he was in a very old 
Mercedes, but in a private, I 

410
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:40,800
think person Motorsports, 
something like that. 

411
00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:45,080
But already then he was streaks 
ahead of any other similar 

412
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,080
driver in a similar car. 
So he knew that he'd got 

413
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,840
something special. 
And he was a a very fast driver 

414
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,840
in it. 
Yeah, that's what we saw get to 

415
00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,120
1999. 
I think he was really the the 

416
00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:59,800
pinnacle of his of his career. 
Then there was Christian App, a 

417
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,840
driver many British fans 
probably first became familiar 

418
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,840
with for his appearance at the 
1997 Touring cartridge for 

419
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:10,920
meeting at Donington Park. 
Wells, perhaps not as naturally 

420
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:14,320
explosive as Allison, and to 
build a reputation as an 

421
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:19,000
incredibly intelligent, composed
and consistent racer, qualities 

422
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,520
that have proved vital over the 
course of the 1999 season. 

423
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,360
Andrew, What sort of driver was 
Christian Act and what made him 

424
00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:29,080
just such a strong championship 
contender that year? 

425
00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:35,760
Well composed and he could be 
harder racer when he wanted to 

426
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,360
be, as he would very much prove 
in this finale. 

427
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:42,160
He tried to make his neighbour 
single seaters. 

428
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:49,840
He won the German Formula Junior
BMW Junior Series in 91 but like

429
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,600
many of a single seater driver 
he he didn't really have 

430
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,840
consistent success after that 
and he switched touring cars in 

431
00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,240
96. 
No doubt a consist. 

432
00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:02,920
A constituent factor of that was
the fact that his brother was 

433
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:08,640
running an outing team which he 
settled very nicely into and 

434
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,640
became my central part of that 
for quite a long time. 

435
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,800
But we talked just now about 
just how independent was his 

436
00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:22,600
team because clearly Christian 
impressed Audi's management 

437
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,640
because in 99 and then 2000 he 
was in one of their the modern 

438
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:32,240
cars and in the 2124 hours he 
finished third. 

439
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,920
So you know, he, he, he had it 
all, he had it all there. 

440
00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:39,320
He he was so spring cheeky by 
anybody. 

441
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,520
Shocked by the early dominance 
of the APT, Aldi's rival factory

442
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:47,040
teams at Opel and Honda began 
pushing back hard with 

443
00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,800
suggestions they could even walk
away from the championship 

444
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:53,000
altogether unless something was 
done to slow the four wheel 

445
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,280
drive cars down. 
Alex, this is the age host 

446
00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,240
debate in touring car racing, 
isn't it? 

447
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,160
Front wheel drive doesn't like 
rear wheel drive cars. 

448
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,520
Rear wheel drive doesn't like 4 
wheel drive. 4 wheel drive gets 

449
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,160
upset weight penalties. 
It's, it's normal half of the 

450
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,840
course, isn't it? 
Where's Charlie Cox with 30 bags

451
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:14,920
of sugar in the Alton Park 
pickling when you need it? 

452
00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:17,400
That's what I want to say. 
But no, you're right. 

453
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:22,600
It's, it's the same old story. 
We hear it now in modern day 

454
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,640
touring car rating. 
We heard it back then. 

455
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:30,200
It's the same thing. 
Or, you know, you're not ever 

456
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,960
going to get complete parity. 
And even if you did, nobody's 

457
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:36,320
going to be happy about that 
either. 

458
00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:43,760
Yeah, it's literally the repeat 
of 1996 and 1997, isn't it? 

459
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:48,200
In the British series, where in 
1996 already came absolutely 

460
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,640
wiped the floor with everyone, 
Frank Beeler was winning, was 

461
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,800
finishing on the podium at 
Thruxton after 10 second 

462
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,920
penalties and starting at the 
back of the grid in the early 

463
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,320
start. 
Early part of 1997 Toker slapped

464
00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:05,120
30 weight, 30 kilogramme weight 
penalty on them and the cars 

465
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,480
were nowhere and they would only
win like they did at Thruxton at

466
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:11,840
the start of 97 when it was 
raining. 

467
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:19,280
So it would be brilliant if you 
could find an in between moment,

468
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,680
an area where everyone was happy
but you just couldn't do it. 

469
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,800
Yeah, exact same story. 
What the fall with everyone in 

470
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,880
the first four races. 
Slapped another 30 kilos of lead

471
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:32,960
in the car and it's suddenly 
nowhere. 

472
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,280
Or not nowhere. 
But, you know, Act certainly 

473
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,800
wasn't, wasn't fighting for 
victories then. 

474
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,080
He was very consistent, still 
regularly finished in the top 

475
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,800
five, got a few podium scores, 
but the car had clearly lost in 

476
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,680
his competitive edge because of 
that weight penalty. 

477
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:53,560
And yeah, there's there's not 
ever going to be an answer, I 

478
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,720
don't think. 
No one is ever consistently 

479
00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,320
happy in professional motorsport
for more than 5 minutes per rank

480
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,400
weekend. 
Under increasing political 

481
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,840
pressure, the organisers 
eventually acted, handing the 

482
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:09,880
four wheel drive Aldi's a 
substantial weight penalty. 

483
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,440
Their minimum weight was 
increased from 1040 kilogrammes 

484
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,720
to 1070 kilogrammes, a 
significant handicap in a 

485
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,400
championship where margins were 
incredibly fine. 

486
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,120
Greg, 30 kilogrammes is a huge 
amount of Caribbean touring car 

487
00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:29,200
racing isn't it? 
Is that a viewed as a fair 

488
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,960
decision at the time, or did 
people feel like the Andes were 

489
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,320
being punished simply for being 
too competitive? 

490
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,920
Yeah, I'm sure if you were Opal 
or Honda, it probably wasn't 

491
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:40,840
enough. 
They probably wanted more. 

492
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:44,600
If you're the app say it was far
too much, they'll just say we're

493
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,640
penalising us for developing a 
great car. 

494
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:49,720
We use the rule book to our 
advantage. 

495
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,600
So yeah, I think without going 
back to that time, I'm sure 

496
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,920
there was as many people saying 
it was far too much, as many 

497
00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:58,640
people saying oh, it wasn't 
enough. 

498
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,840
So yeah, if you can never win. 
And we saw similar in the 

499
00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:06,000
British championship, yeah, what
someone says is the right thing 

500
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,000
to do, someone else will say 
that's that's not fair. 

501
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,240
So yeah, I think, I think the 
organisers had to do something 

502
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,280
with the threat of, you know, 
the two manufacturers that are 

503
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,600
left pulling out. 
You know, they couldn't just 

504
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,680
turn the turn a blind eye to it 
and do nothing. 

505
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:25,280
Allison responded by winning the
next three races in his Oval as 

506
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,640
the momentum of the championship
began to swing. 

507
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,440
In contrast, AT was struggling 
more following the balance 

508
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,080
changes, rarely featuring on the
podium during the middle part of

509
00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,000
the season. 
His next victory would not come 

510
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,960
in still Misano, and even then 
that arrived in dramatic 

511
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,720
circumstances after the 2A 
course. 

512
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,520
Alpha Romeos, guesting at the 
Italian round, collided with 

513
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:52,000
each other in Race 2, having 
dominated and won the opening 

514
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,600
race of the weekend. 
Andrew, this is very much a 

515
00:29:55,600 --> 00:30:00,160
repeat storyline in BTCC during 
Audi's tenure in the series, 

516
00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,800
isn't it? 
You've got all the all-wheel 

517
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,720
drive and weight penalties or 
team mates crashing into each 

518
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,760
other. 
Yeah, there were so a lot of 

519
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,040
parallels one can see between 
the BTCC and the SCW Cap. 

520
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:15,440
That was part of the appeal of 
it really. 

521
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,360
Yeah. 
I mean when I first went to a 

522
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,240
German SCW cap round I felt in a
very alien environment. 

523
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,440
That lasted about 15 minutes 
before I realised it was just 

524
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,720
all of the same issues that 
everybody has in every major 

525
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:33,320
series, just in a different 
place. 

526
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,840
So yeah, yeah, the same thing, 
really. 

527
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,560
And and Alex, a quick word on 
the Antha collision. 

528
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,040
Not not a great look in your 
single appearance in the 

529
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:49,520
Championship for 99, was it? 
So the STW went to Mizano in 

530
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:54,200
Italy and Alpha Course thought 
well great, we'll come and enter

531
00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,800
Juvenadi and Lorini Juvenardi 
went and promptly won the the 

532
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:03,720
Sprint race and then on about 
three corners in in on the 

533
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,200
second race, they take each 
other out and they both end up 

534
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:12,200
in the gravel. 
And it was just a bizarre crash.

535
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,560
I can't remember which one, 
which one, I don't know if 

536
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:18,640
Andrew or Greg can remember, but
one went wide and then onto the 

537
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,200
grass and then just came back 
on. 

538
00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:24,560
And I think it was Lorini and he
harpooned Juvenardi and they 

539
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:28,520
both just sat in the gravel. 
Just a really, really, when you 

540
00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:32,160
think you you're coming along, 
guesting for that weekend, 

541
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,000
already won one race. 
It's just, it's just a really, 

542
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,120
it's just a really silly 
accident, you know? 

543
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,360
The championship ebbed and 
flowed from that point, with 

544
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,400
certain race weekends in the 
balance switch from ounston to 

545
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:48,040
AT and back again, until the 
tempers boiled over at the 

546
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:49,960
penultimate meeting at 
Hockenheim. 

547
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,480
It was in the opening Sprint 
race that it all started. 

548
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:57,440
Apartment was aggressively hit 
and spun by a lapped privateer 

549
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,720
Oval driver, sending him 
directly into the path of 

550
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,000
Allison. 
Allison hit the howdy hard and 

551
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,640
left both cars of substantial 
damage. 

552
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:09,200
Let's breakdown the incident 
first. 

553
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,520
Greg Opal team tactics you 
think? 

554
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:17,120
Or or just a coincidence? 
Normally I would say it was just

555
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,320
a coincidence, it was just bad 
luck. 

556
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:24,880
But with the bad feeling brewing
in the championship and they're 

557
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:29,320
clearly Opal and Honda feeling 
agree that this private team was

558
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:32,280
beating them, that maybe it 
wasn't a private team. 

559
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:36,480
You wouldn't be so crazy to 
suggest that maybe some of the 

560
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:41,760
Opal privateers were asked to 
support the main Opal teams. 

561
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,480
How you know? 
Who knows what free tyres or 

562
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,480
engines they were given for the 
final rounds of the season. 

563
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,600
We'll probably never ever know 
that, but I would have to be a 

564
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,880
little bit. 
Yeah. 

565
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,800
A little bit circumspect to say,
yeah, maybe there was something 

566
00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:59,520
more more to it than met the 
eye. 

567
00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:01,680
First view was it was a basic 
incident. 

568
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:03,880
But yeah, we've what was to 
come. 

569
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,760
I'm not 100% sure. 
This was then the point where 

570
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,080
the political tension the 
championship really boiled over.

571
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:15,080
Despite heavy damage, the App 
squad somehow managed to repair 

572
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,760
Christian Apps ALDI in time for 
him to salvage a third place 

573
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,280
finish in the second race of the
day, a result that could have 

574
00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:24,120
proven crucial in the title 
fight. 

575
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:27,160
But the drama was only just 
beginning. 

576
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,080
After the race, Apartment was 
stripped of the result and 

577
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:33,280
disqualified when stewards ruled
that his mechanics had allegedly

578
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:37,080
become working on the car too 
early whilst it was still under 

579
00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:41,840
strict Park Ferne conditions. 
The protests had of course come 

580
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,320
from Opal, who formally argued 
that the ACT crew had touched 

581
00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:48,320
and repaired the damage Audi 
before they were legally 

582
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:52,280
permitted to do so. 
Alex, this is feeling like very 

583
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:54,760
classic touring par politics, 
isn't it? 

584
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,440
Was this Opal simply playing the
game better than everyone else 

585
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:00,120
at this stage of the 
championship? 

586
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,520
Oh, if you're Opal then you're 
rubbing your hands together 

587
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:05,680
thinking, well, we've got them 
here. 

588
00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:12,080
Because if Acted kept that third
place, the the championship 

589
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:13,920
picture would have looked 
totally different. 

590
00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:16,440
As it was with him being 
disqualified, there was only a 

591
00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:20,760
handful of points between Outson
and Apartment before the finale 

592
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,920
at at the Nurburgring. 
Adab kept that third place. 

593
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:28,520
It was looking a lot rosier for 
for the ACT team, wasn't it? 

594
00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:31,120
You know, they were they would 
definitely be odds on favourite 

595
00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:36,159
for winning the championship. 
But you can you've got to say 

596
00:34:36,159 --> 00:34:39,520
if, if, if that's what app did, 
if they touched the car before 

597
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:42,679
the rules entitled them to do 
so, then it's their own fault 

598
00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:44,000
and they haven't followed the 
rules. 

599
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,480
And and you've got to say fair 
play to Opal for spotting it. 

600
00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:53,520
You know, I nobody likes nobody 
likes a telltale, but Opal had a

601
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,120
a lot, a lot on the plate. 
You know, they they were 

602
00:34:56,120 --> 00:35:00,640
fighting for this championship 
and that that decision to to go 

603
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,840
to the stewards and report them.
It kept them in the hunt, 

604
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:08,400
whereas if it stayed as it was, 
they were nowhere near winning 

605
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,400
the championship. 
So no, no problem with Opel 

606
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:14,640
doing that whatsoever, because 
rules are rules. 

607
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:18,000
And if it was the other way 
around, you can guarantee that 

608
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:20,120
they would they would be doing 
the same thing. 

609
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:23,920
So no, that's, that's 
motorsport, that's sport in 

610
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,120
general, isn't it? 
You know that that's exactly 

611
00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:29,560
what sport is like. 
If you can get a competitive 

612
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,880
advantage, you grab it. 
Yeah, you can only about 

613
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:34,200
imagine. 
There's probably quite a few 

614
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:37,880
Opal employees that were 
positioned around the ABS team 

615
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,880
all weekend. 
But like Southampton, the 

616
00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:45,080
Southampton Sky and the meetings
through shredding and crowds, 

617
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:50,800
yes, I'm sure they scrutinise 
everything they did for the 

618
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,640
whole weekend. 
The the Opal interns. 

619
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,920
And so the championship arrived 
its final showdown at the Nurba 

620
00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,760
Groom, with only a handful of 
points separating Uwe Outson and

621
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,560
Christian AT. 
Despite everything that had 

622
00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,640
happened throughout the season, 
AT still clung on to the 

623
00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:17,560
championship lead heading into 
the final meeting of the STW 

624
00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:20,800
era. 
After months of controversy, 

625
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,600
political battles and growing 
tension between the leading 

626
00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,400
teams, the atmosphere was 
incredibly charged. 

627
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:30,480
By this stage, everyone sensed 
the finale had the potential to 

628
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:33,160
become one of the defining 
moments in Super Touring 

629
00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,480
history. 
Oz struck first by winning the 

630
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:40,320
Sprint race ahead of AT, cutting
the points gap even further and 

631
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:44,360
setting up a dramatic decider. 
The mathematics were now simple.

632
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:48,120
Ounces are needed to win the 
final race and hope AT finish 

633
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,840
third or lower to steal the 
championship. 

634
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:54,800
Any result of second or above 
for the Audi driver, however, 

635
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:57,440
would swing the title back in 
AT's favour. 

636
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:01,840
The atmosphere heading into the 
finale was incredibly tense. 

637
00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,360
Volkers 3 SEC ordered his team 
to attack me. 

638
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,720
Christian up later recalled as 
the pressure and animosity 

639
00:37:08,720 --> 00:37:11,080
between the title rivals reached
boiling point. 

640
00:37:12,240 --> 00:37:14,320
AT though had a strategy of his 
own. 

641
00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:18,520
Rather than trying to defend 
conservatively, he believed his 

642
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:21,680
attack would be his best form of
defence, particularly as many 

643
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,680
felt the Audi package was 
stronger than the Opal around 

644
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:28,160
the Nurba green layout. 
Andrew after everything that had

645
00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:31,800
unfolded throughout the season, 
the protests, the boundless 

646
00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:35,560
debate is the political 
gamesmanship, it felt inevitable

647
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:38,440
that this championship decided 
it was going to be an explosive 

648
00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:42,480
affair, didn't it it? 
Did everything was getting 

649
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:46,520
fairly hostile by this stage, 
which if you look at it 

650
00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:50,800
honestly, you know, some people 
would like all the, the 

651
00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:53,920
likelihood of the wrong sort of 
action. 

652
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:57,040
But obviously it's a sad way to 
go motor racing. 

653
00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,920
I mean, everything was expected 
to kick off and it was expected 

654
00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:01,640
to kick off for all the wrong 
reasons. 

655
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,880
To me, that's no way to decide 
any sort of championship. 

656
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:09,040
I, I, I'd like to see proper 
pure racing, not you know. 

657
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:15,080
So there we go. 
At the start at 4 wheel drive, 

658
00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:18,160
Audi launched exactly as 
expected, allowing him to grab 

659
00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:21,280
the lead into the opening 
corners, but the advantage 

660
00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:23,880
wasn't quite as decisive as many
had predicted. 

661
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,600
Outson produced one of his 
trademark starts in the front 

662
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:30,880
wheel drive Opal and thanks to a
strong launch, Outson stayed 

663
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:34,720
close enough to attack and sweep
him to the lead before the Vidal

664
00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:37,720
chicane. 
As the pair approached the break

665
00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:41,200
in zone Out made contact with 
the rear of the Opal, nudging 

666
00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:43,280
Outsense Vet just straight 
through the chicane. 

667
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,400
There was later debate over 
whether the sponsor board and 

668
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,360
Outsense car had already been 
damaged at that point, but 

669
00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:51,280
crucially he held on to the 
lead. 

670
00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:54,840
Behind him, the drama 
intensified almost immediately. 

671
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:58,920
Eric Ellery attacked A slowed 
ALDI about into the final corner

672
00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:03,160
that the pair ran out of room. 
Apps defended aggressively while

673
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:07,200
Ellery break too late, damaging 
Inspector and ending his race on

674
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:10,480
the spot as the cars accelerated
away. 

675
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:13,920
Apartment Emmanuel Reuter then 
became entangled in another 

676
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:16,640
Flashpoint. 
Apps squeeze across Reuters 

677
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:20,240
Opal, prompting A dramatic 
reaction from the Opal driver, 

678
00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:24,040
who swerved theatrically towards
the pit wall before powering 

679
00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:28,480
passed in the chaos. 
App also lost third place to Tom

680
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:33,080
Christensen's Honda Greg. 
All of that drama and already 

681
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:35,240
won Opal out by the end of that 
one. 

682
00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:37,440
It was a hectic start, wasn't 
it? 

683
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,040
Yeah, it was absolutely a 
frenetic start, you know, with 

684
00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:43,160
all the title contenders or the 
two title contenders at the 

685
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:46,080
front and teammates around 
about, I think, yeah, the 

686
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:47,960
circuit had some tight corners 
as well. 

687
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,760
So I think it was inevitable 
that something was going to 

688
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:52,720
happen. 
And yeah, I think it it played 

689
00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:56,640
how it was probably we predicted
with with some carnage just on 

690
00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,840
that one. 
On to lap 3 and AT had closed 

691
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:02,320
right back onto the rear of 
Reuters Opal. 

692
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,680
Reuters task was clear, keep the
Audi bottled up long enough for 

693
00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:08,480
outs and to disappear up the 
road. 

694
00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:11,960
Also the chasing packs formed 
all over AT from behind. 

695
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:14,920
AT wanted. 
No passing it though and he 

696
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:18,520
lunges into the corner behind 
Rita, muscles his way down the 

697
00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:22,840
inside and powers from the exit.
The pair banged wheels in the 

698
00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:25,840
process. 
The ALDI survivor about damage 

699
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:30,440
or the Opal was the stranded and
out of the race Andrew. 

700
00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:33,640
If Evat thought that the opals 
are out to get him, he was doing

701
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:35,600
a very good job of seeing them 
off wasn't he? 

702
00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:39,200
3 lapsed in and two of their 
leading vectors were already 

703
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:42,480
out. 
Yeah, but when I came back at 

704
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:45,600
the footage, some of the 
manoeuvres were very much on the

705
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:49,560
heavy side with AT handing out 
as much as he took. 

706
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:53,880
Yes, yeah, certainly nothing 
like it would be tolerated 

707
00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:59,320
today. 
And even in those days, I 

708
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:02,360
remember the long line of 
sheepish drivers standing 

709
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:06,520
outside the Toker bus in Britain
waiting to see the headmaster at

710
00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:10,800
the end of race meetings. 
But they got away with a lot 

711
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:14,520
more than they would today. 
But this, these German tactics, 

712
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:21,320
they yeah, they would just would
not have been allowed in even in

713
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:24,560
Britain then. 
It, it was just, it was, it was 

714
00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:28,640
banger racing, wasn't It was. 
The equivalent of the eight of 

715
00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:31,480
the Tucker bus in Germany, 
Andrew, the Adak bus or. 

716
00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:33,880
Where do they care for that 
punishment? 

717
00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,760
I don't recall seeing one, but 
then again there wasn't really a

718
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:40,880
character like Alan Gow. 
No, no. 

719
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:44,600
There will never be another Alan
Gow. 

720
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:48,000
No, no, you, you're right 
though. 

721
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:52,480
Driving like that, I know lots 
of people say that the the the 

722
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:57,320
standards are worse then 
compared to now, but they 

723
00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:01,160
certainly weren't that bad. 
They were never ever to the 

724
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,920
point where, as you said, it was
effectively banger racing. 

725
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:11,320
You know, there was very little 
racing excellence on display. 

726
00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:15,280
There was, it was just, yeah, it
was just banger racing. 

727
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:17,880
This talk of rubbing is racing. 
It was beyond rubbing. 

728
00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:21,240
It was shoving. 
And pushing it was, I mean, out,

729
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:24,600
I mean out shoulders. 
No, Reuter doesn't, let's be 

730
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:27,200
honest. 
It's it's a shove on the 

731
00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:29,680
outside. 
Yeah, absolutely. 

732
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:32,000
Yeah. 
And he feels everyone's out to 

733
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,720
get him. 
So if he's. 

734
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:36,840
Going to get them first. 
Yes, exactly. 

735
00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:40,880
Yeah, attack is the best form of
defence and as as you said Levi,

736
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,840
two of them are out. 
So not a bad start. 

737
00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:45,840
But no, in all seriousness, it 
wasn't. 

738
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:49,120
It wasn't great. 
It wasn't a good look, let's put

739
00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:51,800
it that way. 
By the lape the battle at the 

740
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:55,160
front had settled somewhat, but 
the pressure was still building.

741
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,400
Apartment was consistently 
quicker than Oz and ahead, 

742
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:01,520
whilst Christensen was laughing 
faster than both of them. 

743
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:05,760
Alex Christensen had definitely 
got to grips at the Honda Accord

744
00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,160
at this point. 
Hadn't needed it was you'd have 

745
00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:11,760
fought the time setting yourself
up for a charge in 2000. 

746
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:15,880
Yeah, he was flying in the 
second-half of of 1999 in that 

747
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:17,440
new Honda. 
It was the same model. 

748
00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:19,840
It was the same new model Honda 
that had been brought to the 

749
00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:23,800
British series. 
Unlike James Thompson, they 

750
00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:27,720
struggled with it at the start 
and it only really got to the 

751
00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:30,320
the the middle point of the 
season where it started winning.

752
00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:34,520
And Christensen was one of the 
quickest drivers from that 

753
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:36,480
middle point of the season in 
the championship. 

754
00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:39,040
He was winning races. 
He was always up there. 

755
00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:43,080
He was fighting for wins, podium
finishes, unless you're right, 

756
00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:47,000
you rightly say look strong for 
somewhere in 2000. 

757
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,120
And we know that he came to 
Britain and raced the the Accord

758
00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:56,320
in in the BTCC that season, but 
came across three extremely well

759
00:43:56,320 --> 00:44:00,360
developed and well funded Mondeo
was driven by touring car 

760
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:02,720
royalties. 
So yeah. 

761
00:44:02,720 --> 00:44:06,240
But at this point Christensen 
had won at Le Mans, hadn't he? 

762
00:44:06,240 --> 00:44:08,280
So, you know, his stock was 
high. 

763
00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:12,960
He was, you know, he was a world
class driver and showing it. 

764
00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:16,920
Meanwhile, further down the 
order, Roland Ash was handed a 

765
00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:20,960
stop go penalty for jumping the 
start, a penalty he simply chose

766
00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:23,840
to ignore as he continued 
charging around the circuit. 

767
00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:28,040
The race calmed down but on lap 
17, with the leaders bunching 

768
00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,440
back together, Christian Up made
a major mistake at the Vidal 

769
00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:34,120
chicane. 
He clattered over the tyre stack

770
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:37,160
on the inside and although he 
managed to keep going, the 

771
00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:40,560
impact left the right front tyre
rubbing heavily against the 

772
00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:44,800
front wheel arch down the start 
finish straight at violently 

773
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:48,200
jerked the steering from side to
side, trying to free the damage 

774
00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:50,920
body work. 
From the outside it looked as 

775
00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:52,920
though the tyre had let go 
completely. 

776
00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:56,680
For the next two or three laps, 
smoke continued to pour from the

777
00:44:56,680 --> 00:44:59,960
right front corner, but once 
again, and not for the first 

778
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:04,120
time that season, and AT Audi 
somehow managed to separate the 

779
00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:07,760
crumpled Fender from the tyre 
and keep the car in the fine. 

780
00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:11,280
Craig, it really looked like 
desperate times for apps, didn't

781
00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:12,560
it? 
I mean, on the pit will, they 

782
00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:16,600
were pulling their absolute hair
out in the TV coverage, weren't 

783
00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:21,120
they? 
It was really just adding to 

784
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:23,880
such a tense finale. 
Yeah, I think when you think 

785
00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:27,160
your whole season is now 
dependent on these last few laps

786
00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:29,240
and you think that there's a 
chance that you might blow a 

787
00:45:29,240 --> 00:45:32,280
tie, you'll, you'll do 
absolutely everything to try and

788
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:35,400
to try and save it. 
So yeah, I'm, I'm sure he tried 

789
00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:38,240
many, many things that were not 
what you'd normally do. 

790
00:45:38,240 --> 00:45:39,640
But yeah, he had no other 
choice. 

791
00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:43,080
He couldn't go into the pits but
clearly lose his position. 

792
00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:47,440
So he was a do or do or die 
situation I guess. 

793
00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:52,360
The completion of the 
championship fight changed once 

794
00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:55,880
again when Tom Christensen 
finally found a way past at 

795
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:59,840
Still Smoking Audi. 
In an instant Abd lost control 

796
00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:03,400
of his own destiny and 
everything hung on the battle 

797
00:46:03,400 --> 00:46:05,720
ahead. 
If Christensen could also 

798
00:46:05,720 --> 00:46:10,480
overtake Outson, the title would
have swung back in AB Saver, but

799
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:13,920
if Outson held on to the lead 
whilst and limb Homan third, the

800
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:16,520
championship would belong to 
Opal instead. 

801
00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:19,800
Traffic only added to the 
tension. 

802
00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:23,280
When Apartment called Olaf 
Pfluger, the very man who had 

803
00:46:23,280 --> 00:46:26,320
wiped him out at Hockenheim in 
the last meeting, there was a 

804
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:28,920
collective sense of dread on the
Apartment pit wall. 

805
00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:32,760
This time, however, Pluger 
calmly moved it aside and let 

806
00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:37,280
the ALDI free without drama. 
Meanwhile, the chaos surrounding

807
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:39,920
Roland Ash's race was escalating
further. 

808
00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:43,680
Having ignored the stop go 
penalty again and again, the 

809
00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:46,320
immature driver finally was 
shown the Black Flag. 

810
00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:49,800
Remarkably, Ash refused to 
acknowledge that as well, 

811
00:46:49,880 --> 00:46:53,280
continuing to charge around the 
circuit whilst regaling in the 

812
00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:57,080
stricken Audi about corner by 
corner Andrew. 

813
00:46:57,080 --> 00:47:01,040
When Ash was repeatedly ignoring
the officials instructions and 

814
00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:06,000
continuing to race as if nothing
had happened, did you begin to 

815
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:08,240
suspect there might be foul play
on the horizon? 

816
00:47:08,240 --> 00:47:11,880
Or, or was it just a case of 
I'll keep driving and I'll fight

817
00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:15,800
my corner after the race 
possibly? 

818
00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:21,200
But if there was a plan, and it 
looked very much like there 

819
00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:24,160
could be a plan, then there was 
absolutely no excuse for it. 

820
00:47:25,240 --> 00:47:27,680
You simply can't ignore the 
decisions of the race 

821
00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:30,440
management. 
If you allowed that sort of 

822
00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:33,440
thing to carry on, motor racing 
would very quickly descend into 

823
00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:35,120
chaos because everybody would do
it. 

824
00:47:36,240 --> 00:47:39,280
I'm not sure what he got in the 
way of penalties afterwards. 

825
00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:42,640
I reckon his licence should have
been taken away for a very long 

826
00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:46,960
time because you said we can't 
do that, you know, it's just 

827
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:50,400
totally wrong. 
It's it's a bit strange as well 

828
00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:52,400
because it was totally out of 
character of Usher. 

829
00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:55,480
They would recall him and ever 
doing anything like that in his 

830
00:47:55,480 --> 00:47:58,160
previous racing. 
You know, he was a top driver 

831
00:47:58,160 --> 00:48:01,840
Mercedes in the DTM. 
He raced for Nissan in the in 

832
00:48:01,840 --> 00:48:04,720
the STW. 
Yeah, he Roland Usher was a 

833
00:48:04,720 --> 00:48:07,600
really good seasoned 
professional drive through. 

834
00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:11,080
I, I don't even call him ever 
doing anything like this in in 

835
00:48:11,080 --> 00:48:13,760
the past. 
So yeah, it was a very strange 

836
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:15,480
situation. 
He did have a. 

837
00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:19,400
Must have been a big bonus. 
He did have there wasn't wasn't 

838
00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:24,880
there a wasn't there an incident
with Nanini in the DTM in 94? 

839
00:48:25,520 --> 00:48:28,000
At the Oh yeah, they might, they
might have been here, but the 

840
00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:34,160
industrial estate circuit. 
Wasn't he, wasn't he racing? 

841
00:48:35,600 --> 00:48:40,400
And he was he, he was Nanini was
lapping Ash, Yes. 

842
00:48:40,480 --> 00:48:44,800
And Ash intentionally drove into
the side of him. 

843
00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:46,240
Yeah, yes. 
And then. 

844
00:48:46,240 --> 00:48:48,680
But then. 
But then Nanini did it back, 

845
00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:50,760
didn't he? 
He came out the piss and Toby. 

846
00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:53,360
Pole axed him. 
Yeah, he axed him. 

847
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:56,640
Kept driving and the car 
basically blew up, didn't it? 

848
00:48:56,720 --> 00:48:58,560
After that one? 
Yeah, there was. 

849
00:48:58,880 --> 00:49:00,520
A bit of a track record there 
then with. 

850
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:02,400
Roland. 
That's the only thing I can 

851
00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:05,040
think of that's vaguely similar.
But of course he hadn't done it 

852
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:08,920
yet. 
This time he was. 

853
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:11,440
If I remember rightly, he was 
complaining that his radio 

854
00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:15,320
wasn't working and that's why he
wasn't answering the calls to 

855
00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:18,200
come in for his stop and go. 
And he couldn't see the big 

856
00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:21,320
Black Flag exactly. 
Some of his eyes. 

857
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:23,840
Sit temporary blindness down the
street. 

858
00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:25,600
His eyes weren't working. 
Either. 

859
00:49:29,520 --> 00:49:33,000
As the race entered its closing 
stages, the tension was gripping

860
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:36,760
the AT Sportsline pit wall. 
The crew were readying itself 

861
00:49:36,760 --> 00:49:39,440
for a pit stop, with many 
fearing that the damage to AT's 

862
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:43,200
freight front tyre finally it 
become too severe to risk 

863
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:46,480
continuing. 
Then came an unexpected twist. 

864
00:49:46,680 --> 00:49:49,520
It was not Christian apartment 
to dive into the pits but Chris 

865
00:49:49,520 --> 00:49:52,000
Nissan, the team blade a 
puncture. 

866
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:55,560
But after a rapid stop, Nissan 
rejoined the race directly 

867
00:49:55,560 --> 00:50:00,400
behind the leading Honda of Tom 
Christensen at the front. 

868
00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:02,840
The pressure was beginning to 
tell on Outson as well. 

869
00:50:03,200 --> 00:50:06,600
Once again he out broke himself 
at the Vidal chicane and he went

870
00:50:06,600 --> 00:50:09,480
straight across the run off 
without any contact from another

871
00:50:09,480 --> 00:50:12,280
car. 
This time he collected one of 

872
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:15,480
the responsibles which wedged 
itself into the right front 

873
00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:18,360
brake cooling dock as he really 
joined the track. 

874
00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:22,800
Alex Alison was clearly feeling 
the pressure of what was 

875
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:27,040
becoming very quickly a the 
crazy and bizarre into the 

876
00:50:27,040 --> 00:50:29,440
season. 
Well, he kept taking that line 

877
00:50:29,440 --> 00:50:34,120
to the veto chicane and yeah, at
some point he was going to cause

878
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:38,760
himself a bit of problems with 
with with doing so. 

879
00:50:39,320 --> 00:50:43,120
And, and yeah, yeah, the sponsor
board attached himself to the 

880
00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:46,240
car and it blocked the the brake
duct. 

881
00:50:46,240 --> 00:50:50,680
So yeah, it was not good for. 
I mean, apartment was worrying 

882
00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:54,840
about his dramas with his tyre 
and the the wheel arch rubbing 

883
00:50:54,840 --> 00:50:56,880
and go. 
How many times have we seen that

884
00:50:56,880 --> 00:50:58,640
in Super Tory over over the 
years? 

885
00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:03,000
But and, and eventually causing 
a puncture where it's just worn 

886
00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:05,240
away the tyre so much. 
So apartment was really 

887
00:51:05,240 --> 00:51:08,760
struggling and really worrying. 
And now you've got Alson with a 

888
00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:13,600
a damaged car and not being able
to drive at its full potential 

889
00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:18,160
either. 
So it really is, I'm expecting 

890
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:21,520
Dick Dastardly and Nutley to 
appear in the in the background 

891
00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:24,920
at some point to be with some 
sort of contraption because it 

892
00:51:24,920 --> 00:51:27,280
was descending into that sort of
race. 

893
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:29,920
It was like it was a destruction
Derby. 

894
00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:31,880
It was like who's who could just
finish. 

895
00:51:32,400 --> 00:51:36,960
And yeah, it was clearly very 
tense in both camps. 

896
00:51:37,600 --> 00:51:41,520
The damage to Oz Opal began to 
take effect almost immediately. 

897
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:45,440
His breaking performance dropped
away corner by corner, and Tom 

898
00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:47,800
Christensen sensed the 
opportunity at once. 

899
00:51:48,360 --> 00:51:52,000
The Honda driver closed rapidly 
on the struggling Opal and by 

900
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:56,160
the final corner he made the 
decisive move, sweeping past and

901
00:51:56,160 --> 00:51:59,640
into the lead, a position that 
for the moment handed the 

902
00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:03,960
championship to Christian AT. 
But the drama was far from over.

903
00:52:04,440 --> 00:52:08,040
AT Sink caught the wounded Opel 
himself and slipped through as 

904
00:52:08,040 --> 00:52:10,840
outs and battled desperately 
with fading breaks. 

905
00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:14,480
For a brief moment outsense 
title hopes appeared all but 

906
00:52:14,480 --> 00:52:18,600
finished, but only two corners 
later AT made a mistake of his 

907
00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:22,360
own, skating off the circuit and
ploughing through the gravel 

908
00:52:22,360 --> 00:52:26,560
trap that allowed out some to 
regain second place without 

909
00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:29,560
dropping back to 3rd. 
But that would still be enough 

910
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:33,120
for AT to secure the 
championship ahead. 

911
00:52:33,120 --> 00:52:36,640
Christensen had begun to lack 
Chris Nisson, who'd rejoined the

912
00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:39,160
fight directly in front of outs 
in an act. 

913
00:52:39,920 --> 00:52:43,720
At the same time, the already 
disqualified Roland Nash came 

914
00:52:43,720 --> 00:52:46,400
charging back into contention at
alarming speed. 

915
00:52:47,200 --> 00:52:50,640
This meant that the battered 
Opal and the wounded ALDI were 

916
00:52:50,640 --> 00:52:52,600
no longer racing for victory 
alone. 

917
00:52:52,840 --> 00:52:55,760
They were simply trying to 
survive to the chequered flag. 

918
00:52:57,000 --> 00:52:59,800
Greg, with a few hours ago 
certainly starting to kick off, 

919
00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:00,600
wasn't it? 
It was. 

920
00:53:01,200 --> 00:53:04,680
It's a bizarre sight of of actor
announced and not wanting to win

921
00:53:04,680 --> 00:53:08,200
the title simply and throwing 
themselves off the track at any 

922
00:53:08,200 --> 00:53:10,320
given opportunity. 
Yeah, absolutely, I think. 

923
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:13,240
That you can clearly see the 
pressure was really building in 

924
00:53:13,240 --> 00:53:15,560
both of the cockpits and things 
were repeating. 

925
00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:18,760
You're not going to plan. 
And then you bring in the Roland

926
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:21,360
dash coming onto the scene and 
Chris Nissan in the yeah, 

927
00:53:21,360 --> 00:53:24,200
absolutely right. 
It was it was really beginning 

928
00:53:24,200 --> 00:53:25,760
to ramp up in terms of the 
pressure. 

929
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:29,480
And I think if you were watching
on the telly, you can see what 

930
00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:32,080
was going to happen and it it's 
all then unfolded in front of 

931
00:53:32,080 --> 00:53:36,840
our eyes. 
On the final lap, the race 

932
00:53:36,840 --> 00:53:40,240
erupted into complete chaos. 
Just three corners from the 

933
00:53:40,240 --> 00:53:44,600
finish, Chris Nissan, still 
lapped, broke on the racing line

934
00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:47,760
before the Beadle chicane and 
suddenly pulled to the right. 

935
00:53:48,240 --> 00:53:51,800
With his brakes almost entirely 
gone by this point ounston had 

936
00:53:51,800 --> 00:53:55,280
no time to react and slammed 
into the rear of the Audi, 

937
00:53:55,600 --> 00:53:57,840
breaking the front suspension on
his Oval. 

938
00:53:59,080 --> 00:54:02,920
Amid the confusion, App squeezed
past both cars whilst the 

939
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:05,600
disqualified rolling dash just 
bowled straight through the 

940
00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:08,400
chicane without hesitation, 
staying flat out. 

941
00:54:09,720 --> 00:54:12,560
Everything then came to a head 
in the final corner. 

942
00:54:13,120 --> 00:54:17,000
Ash lunged to ACT and made 
contact, sending the ALDI off 

943
00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:20,160
into the gravel trap. 
This meant that behind him, 

944
00:54:20,200 --> 00:54:23,840
Ouncesen limped across the line 
on three wheels in second place 

945
00:54:23,840 --> 00:54:27,440
behind Tom Christensen. 
ACT was recovered from the 

946
00:54:27,440 --> 00:54:31,840
gravel in classified 11th and 
therefore in the provisional 

947
00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:33,960
standings. 
Despite the chaos to the very 

948
00:54:33,960 --> 00:54:40,080
end, Eve Outsum was confirmed as
SCWS final champion in the 1999 

949
00:54:40,080 --> 00:54:43,480
season. 
Wow, deep breath guys. 

950
00:54:43,480 --> 00:54:47,240
What do we think of all that? 
That was fairly chaotic and and 

951
00:54:47,240 --> 00:54:49,640
let's go just from the TV 
coverage. 

952
00:54:49,640 --> 00:54:53,440
What did you make of that? 
That's not motor racing for me. 

953
00:54:54,240 --> 00:54:57,320
It's very simple. 
It's it's disgraceful. 

954
00:54:58,160 --> 00:55:00,760
Yeah, you mention it. 
The fact that Roland Ash 

955
00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:03,960
barreled straight through the 
the chicane on the last lap 

956
00:55:04,360 --> 00:55:07,160
meant that there was every 
intention that was the sole 

957
00:55:07,160 --> 00:55:14,400
intention was to get apartment. 
And yeah, that is a disgrace. 

958
00:55:15,800 --> 00:55:21,440
You know how, how anyone can 
justify that, how anyone would 

959
00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:24,920
want to win a title like that? 
I don't know or understand. 

960
00:55:24,920 --> 00:55:27,720
Personally, I I don't see the 
value of winning the 

961
00:55:27,720 --> 00:55:31,200
championship in such a such a a 
horrid way. 

962
00:55:31,200 --> 00:55:35,800
It it, it would always just be, 
you'd always have that asterisk 

963
00:55:35,800 --> 00:55:37,440
next to it, wouldn't you? 
Yeah. 

964
00:55:38,520 --> 00:55:40,640
It's not pleasant. 
It's not motor racing. 

965
00:55:40,640 --> 00:55:44,320
It's it's banger racing. 
And yeah. 

966
00:55:44,680 --> 00:55:46,520
That's that's the phrase that I 
was going to use. 

967
00:55:46,640 --> 00:55:51,400
Yeah, it it was horrible, 
horrible, horrible racing and it

968
00:55:51,400 --> 00:55:57,440
had no place on a racing track 
and did a disservice to a 

969
00:55:57,440 --> 00:56:00,880
championship that was actually a
very, very good championship. 

970
00:56:00,880 --> 00:56:05,520
As Greg and Andrew describe, it 
was a probably second to the 

971
00:56:05,520 --> 00:56:09,920
BTCC only in stature. 
It was a wonderful series. 

972
00:56:10,280 --> 00:56:14,920
I'm slowly getting more into it,
watching back a lot more of the 

973
00:56:14,920 --> 00:56:19,360
footage now and it was a great 
championship which didn't 

974
00:56:19,360 --> 00:56:22,600
deserve to end on such a such a 
low point. 

975
00:56:23,400 --> 00:56:26,720
Yeah, no, it was no way to 
decide a major championship. 

976
00:56:26,720 --> 00:56:30,400
Any, any championship. 
No casual fan might have thought

977
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:32,400
it was great at entertainment. 
No, it wasn't. 

978
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:34,960
It was appalling and all the 
matter. 

979
00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:37,120
The factories involved should 
have been thoroughly ashamed of 

980
00:56:37,160 --> 00:56:40,160
themselves and it's no surprise 
they all went elsewhere. 

981
00:56:40,720 --> 00:56:43,680
I think it was bizarre when you 
watch the footage, Uve Harrison,

982
00:56:43,680 --> 00:56:48,000
as you said, crawled across the 
line on three wheels and pulled 

983
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:51,480
into the end of the pit lane. 
Then he sort of sheepishly gets 

984
00:56:51,480 --> 00:56:54,760
out of the car and then stands 
on the roof of the car and 

985
00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:57,640
starts celebrating. 
They're like team, team. 

986
00:56:57,640 --> 00:57:00,920
It must have been his manager or
his dad or someone comes railing

987
00:57:00,920 --> 00:57:04,240
down the pit lane and they sort 
of hug and then the next minute 

988
00:57:04,720 --> 00:57:06,880
out was out of his car in the 
gravel. 

989
00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:09,720
And then the next thing you saw 
is he was back in his car. 

990
00:57:10,240 --> 00:57:11,800
He hadn't done his seat balance 
after. 

991
00:57:11,800 --> 00:57:14,400
If he watched the footage and 
then drove and finished across 

992
00:57:14,400 --> 00:57:17,520
the line, it's like he was just 
totally bizarre. 

993
00:57:18,320 --> 00:57:21,600
What long after the most the 
cars have finished up, then got 

994
00:57:21,600 --> 00:57:23,240
dragged out of the grave of a 
trap. 

995
00:57:23,240 --> 00:57:26,040
And then he finished the race, 
which normally, you know, 

996
00:57:26,040 --> 00:57:29,160
outside assistance would say he 
shouldn't have finished either. 

997
00:57:29,160 --> 00:57:34,760
It was just a bizarre situation.
And yeah, as a when you watch 

998
00:57:34,760 --> 00:57:37,000
the footage, right when I when I
first watched it back again and 

999
00:57:37,000 --> 00:57:39,400
I got a bit confused because 
they thought outs and had hit. 

1000
00:57:40,000 --> 00:57:43,760
But it wasn't, it was Nissan who
was, you know, backed himself up

1001
00:57:43,760 --> 00:57:47,040
into the pack. 
And then on the on the TV 

1002
00:57:47,040 --> 00:57:50,120
footage, you didn't actually see
the Roland Dash clash with 

1003
00:57:50,120 --> 00:57:51,960
without that. 
That comes later. 

1004
00:57:52,600 --> 00:57:55,680
But it was just a wholly bizarre
situation. 

1005
00:57:55,680 --> 00:57:58,760
I think I echo everything Alan 
Andrews said. 

1006
00:57:58,760 --> 00:58:02,040
It was it was a bit of a 
disgraceful end to what was a 

1007
00:58:02,040 --> 00:58:05,800
great championship. 
I would have been shamed if I'd 

1008
00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:09,200
had driven like that on Toca 2. 
Yes. 

1009
00:58:09,680 --> 00:58:13,280
Yeah, that's how bad it was. 
It really was. 

1010
00:58:16,520 --> 00:58:19,640
Unsurprisingly, Apt ALDI 
launched A protest over the 

1011
00:58:19,640 --> 00:58:24,280
events of the final lap and on 
10th of November 1999 the appeal

1012
00:58:24,280 --> 00:58:27,720
hearing was held, somewhat 
ironically, at the Nurburgring 

1013
00:58:28,920 --> 00:58:30,440
Uwe. 
Outsen expressed a blunt 

1014
00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:33,640
assessment on Opal's approach to
the hearing in an interview with

1015
00:58:33,640 --> 00:58:37,080
motorsport-total.com. 
So people messed it up 

1016
00:58:37,080 --> 00:58:39,480
themselves. 
They didn't really take it 

1017
00:58:39,480 --> 00:58:41,480
seriously. 
They didn't even bring in a 

1018
00:58:41,480 --> 00:58:44,360
proper lawyer. 
I don't know whether they simply

1019
00:58:44,360 --> 00:58:47,560
didn't expect to lose the case. 
With competent legal 

1020
00:58:47,560 --> 00:58:50,080
representation. 
We could have won, but in the 

1021
00:58:50,080 --> 00:58:52,320
end they handled it badly 
themselves. 

1022
00:58:53,840 --> 00:58:57,080
Greg, do you think any lawyer 
would be able to argue what 

1023
00:58:57,080 --> 00:59:01,120
people's case to successful 
conclusion given the evidence? 

1024
00:59:01,560 --> 00:59:02,880
Well, I think it would be very 
unlikely. 

1025
00:59:02,880 --> 00:59:06,320
The only way it would be 
possible is that you, Roland 

1026
00:59:06,320 --> 00:59:09,360
Nash, would have been thrown 
under the bus and said, oh, he 

1027
00:59:09,360 --> 00:59:11,400
was absolutely working on his 
own. 

1028
00:59:11,400 --> 00:59:14,040
He had nothing to do with us. 
He wasn't a works team. 

1029
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:16,520
How could we have any influence 
on what he did? 

1030
00:59:17,080 --> 00:59:20,160
I could only see that that would
be the only way or the only 

1031
00:59:20,160 --> 00:59:23,560
argument that they would have 
would be to distance themselves 

1032
00:59:23,560 --> 00:59:28,120
from what Roland Ash did. 
But yeah, I think it was a, it 

1033
00:59:28,120 --> 00:59:30,640
would have been a very hard one 
to to argue, I think. 

1034
00:59:32,800 --> 00:59:37,320
Hands you again out later told 
motorsport.com his team went 

1035
00:59:37,320 --> 00:59:40,400
into the hearing without knowing
anything about the crucial video

1036
00:59:40,400 --> 00:59:44,760
evidence and as it turned out, 
without much expectation of 

1037
00:59:44,760 --> 00:59:48,760
success. 
Everyone, ALDI, the FAA, the 

1038
00:59:48,760 --> 00:59:51,800
DMSB told us there was no way we
could win it. 

1039
00:59:51,880 --> 00:59:54,440
They said it simply wouldn't 
work, he recalled. 

1040
00:59:55,360 --> 00:59:58,320
Even today, he remains somewhat 
proud of how the team handled 

1041
00:59:58,320 --> 00:59:59,920
the situation at the Nerve 
agreeing. 

1042
01:00:00,720 --> 01:00:03,640
One key decision, in his view, 
was limiting the process 

1043
01:00:03,640 --> 01:00:08,000
strictly to the final lap. 
We only peeled the final lap, 

1044
01:00:08,600 --> 01:00:11,000
otherwise the case would have 
been dismissed outright by the 

1045
01:00:11,000 --> 01:00:13,640
court. 
That was a very good decision on

1046
01:00:13,640 --> 01:00:15,400
our part. 
Abt explained. 

1047
01:00:16,560 --> 01:00:19,880
He also believes Oval arrived 
well prepared, but ultimately 

1048
01:00:19,880 --> 01:00:22,040
with arguments that were 
difficult to prove. 

1049
01:00:23,080 --> 01:00:26,320
Oval said nothing had happened 
at all, that the cast spun on 

1050
01:00:26,320 --> 01:00:28,840
its own and that Roland Dash 
never made contact. 

1051
01:00:29,520 --> 01:00:32,640
They came of extensive data 
analysis and telemetry to 

1052
01:00:32,640 --> 01:00:36,200
support their case, he said. 
But as Apartment pointed out, 

1053
01:00:36,360 --> 01:00:40,040
data can often be interpreted in
different ways and the official 

1054
01:00:40,040 --> 01:00:42,160
broadcast footage was of little 
help. 

1055
01:00:42,880 --> 01:00:46,400
With only a rear facing camera 
from Christian Apskar available,

1056
01:00:46,680 --> 01:00:49,200
there was no clearview of the 
decisive moment. 

1057
01:00:50,200 --> 01:00:52,160
All the official footage was 
useless. 

1058
01:00:52,680 --> 01:00:56,880
Opal put forward 1000 theories, 
even claiming it was my driver's

1059
01:00:56,880 --> 01:01:00,200
fault. 
He noted the turning point came 

1060
01:01:00,200 --> 01:01:03,640
unexpectedly. 
In the end we played our Joker 

1061
01:01:03,640 --> 01:01:05,520
and said we still have 
something. 

1062
01:01:06,160 --> 01:01:10,040
Then we produced a fans video. 
It clearly showed Roland Dash 

1063
01:01:10,040 --> 01:01:14,760
making contact with Christian 
and pushing him off and said at 

1064
01:01:14,760 --> 01:01:18,400
the time such amateur fishing 
was extremely rare with no 

1065
01:01:18,400 --> 01:01:20,520
mobile phone cameras in the 
Internet. 

1066
01:01:20,520 --> 01:01:23,960
Still, it's in its infancy. 
Sharing video online was virtue 

1067
01:01:23,960 --> 01:01:26,600
and heard of in the 56 K modem 
era. 

1068
01:01:27,360 --> 01:01:30,080
The recording had actually been 
physically sent to app 

1069
01:01:30,080 --> 01:01:34,440
Sportsline by post, was only 
made public 25 years later. 

1070
01:01:35,080 --> 01:01:38,560
It captured the light contact 
from Ash that ultimately sent 

1071
01:01:38,560 --> 01:01:43,200
the ALDI into the gravel. 
Andrew had really struck gold 

1072
01:01:43,200 --> 01:01:45,640
receiving that home video 
footage from a fan. 

1073
01:01:45,640 --> 01:01:48,280
And it's bizarre to to watch, 
isn't it? 

1074
01:01:48,280 --> 01:01:49,680
At such a time. 
You wouldn't. 

1075
01:01:50,920 --> 01:01:52,640
You wouldn't normally see that, 
would you? 

1076
01:01:53,640 --> 01:01:57,560
No, absolutely certainly struck 
gold because all the younger 

1077
01:01:57,560 --> 01:02:00,280
fans of today will perhaps not 
appreciate this sort of thing 

1078
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:04,280
was unheard of in those days. 
Most of us had not had mobile 

1079
01:02:04,280 --> 01:02:08,680
phones for long in most times. 
And when we did have them, all 

1080
01:02:08,680 --> 01:02:12,440
they did was make phone calls. 
They didn't do anything else. 

1081
01:02:13,320 --> 01:02:18,280
So when teams were looking for 
evidence to back up appeals and 

1082
01:02:18,960 --> 01:02:22,200
against decisions, they went 
looking for anything to help 

1083
01:02:22,200 --> 01:02:26,400
their case. 
Which actually reminds me how I 

1084
01:02:26,400 --> 01:02:31,000
think it was in the same year I 
got dragged into a Malek Nissan 

1085
01:02:31,000 --> 01:02:34,520
appeal over a ride height 
penalty at Snetterson because I 

1086
01:02:34,520 --> 01:02:39,160
just happened to be standing by 
the check pad when the when the 

1087
01:02:39,240 --> 01:02:43,080
reading was taken. 
I saw the incident happen and as

1088
01:02:43,080 --> 01:02:45,800
soon as I happened to mention 
that in passing to Ray Malik, he

1089
01:02:45,800 --> 01:02:49,360
virtually frog marks me down to 
their appeal hearing. 

1090
01:02:49,720 --> 01:02:53,520
And I can tell you, sitting in 
an appeal hearing, we pick it to

1091
01:02:53,520 --> 01:02:57,440
Richie's, the Chief technical 
officer and the clerk of the 

1092
01:02:57,440 --> 01:03:00,440
Claws glaring at you over a 
table, it's not fun. 

1093
01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:06,000
So yeah, no, we didn't have 
videos and stuff like that in 

1094
01:03:06,000 --> 01:03:08,600
those days to help us. 
So yeah, that they were really 

1095
01:03:08,600 --> 01:03:11,120
lucky to get hold of this. 
Does that mean Andrew, then you 

1096
01:03:11,120 --> 01:03:13,080
also were in the queue at the 
talk of Busan? 

1097
01:03:15,560 --> 01:03:19,400
No, I was in the token bus, in 
the token bus. 

1098
01:03:19,680 --> 01:03:22,920
And as we came out and they lost
the appeal, which they should 

1099
01:03:22,920 --> 01:03:25,840
never have done because it was 
slam dunk, The flipping car 

1100
01:03:25,840 --> 01:03:27,880
wasn't parked right on the 
concrete pad. 

1101
01:03:27,880 --> 01:03:31,280
You can see it wasn't. 
But Malik still must appeal. 

1102
01:03:31,280 --> 01:03:34,120
And as we all walked out, 
Richie's was walking alongside 

1103
01:03:34,120 --> 01:03:36,440
me and he mucked into me. 
Journalist shouldn't get 

1104
01:03:36,440 --> 01:03:38,760
involved in things like this. 
And then walked off. 

1105
01:03:39,880 --> 01:03:40,800
Really is. 
Oh yeah. 

1106
01:03:41,120 --> 01:03:42,560
Oh dear. 
Happy days. 

1107
01:03:43,560 --> 01:03:46,880
To get such footage, the, the, 
the, the person who was 

1108
01:03:46,880 --> 01:03:50,400
recording must have had a 
physical camcorder on them. 

1109
01:03:50,640 --> 01:03:51,400
Yeah. 
Oh, yeah, absolutely. 

1110
01:03:51,880 --> 01:03:56,640
And they were not. 
You look at the, you look at 

1111
01:03:56,640 --> 01:04:00,160
like go pros and the Insta 360 
cameras that people have got 

1112
01:04:00,160 --> 01:04:04,080
these days, you know, they're 
smaller than than a, than a bank

1113
01:04:04,080 --> 01:04:08,240
card, but the, the, the 
camcorders in those days, almost

1114
01:04:08,600 --> 01:04:10,560
some of them would have been on 
your shoulder sometimes. 

1115
01:04:11,080 --> 01:04:13,160
You know they. 
They were big pieces of 

1116
01:04:13,160 --> 01:04:16,920
equipment. 
They were my my wife went 

1117
01:04:17,080 --> 01:04:19,560
through the racing school, the 
Browns Hatch just after I got 

1118
01:04:19,560 --> 01:04:25,120
together with her when she was 
and her dad used to video all 

1119
01:04:25,120 --> 01:04:28,640
her lessons of the Browns hatch.
So they watched him back and he 

1120
01:04:28,640 --> 01:04:30,480
had quite a big camcorder do 
this. 

1121
01:04:30,760 --> 01:04:33,160
I remember there was one really 
funny time when she got pushed 

1122
01:04:33,160 --> 01:04:37,960
off into the pit wall by another
car pushing over onto the grass.

1123
01:04:37,960 --> 01:04:41,160
And we watch about the video and
it's really funny because he 

1124
01:04:41,160 --> 01:04:44,960
follows it all the way and you 
can see the car come up the top 

1125
01:04:44,960 --> 01:04:49,120
straight and then suddenly get 
pushed onto the grass and go 

1126
01:04:49,120 --> 01:04:53,760
across the track and so gently 
hit the pit wall and the camera 

1127
01:04:53,760 --> 01:04:55,720
stays on it. 
But in the background you hear 

1128
01:04:55,800 --> 01:05:02,600
oh, shit, and in the car hits 
the pit wall and she's able to 

1129
01:05:02,600 --> 01:05:04,280
drive it back. 
And when she got it back to the 

1130
01:05:04,280 --> 01:05:06,440
pit, she found she couldn't get 
out of it because it was banana 

1131
01:05:06,440 --> 01:05:09,320
shakes. 
But and the camera, the camera 

1132
01:05:09,320 --> 01:05:12,200
stays on the car as it reverses 
out the pit wall and carries on 

1133
01:05:12,200 --> 01:05:14,880
down the top straight. 
But it's going up and down the 

1134
01:05:14,880 --> 01:05:20,000
camera because he was shaking. 
It's it's great bit of footage. 

1135
01:05:20,960 --> 01:05:24,840
Let me go different times. 
A crucial factor in the really 

1136
01:05:24,880 --> 01:05:27,920
was that Roland Dash was no 
longer officially classified in 

1137
01:05:27,920 --> 01:05:30,960
the race, having already been 
shown the Black Flag. 

1138
01:05:31,720 --> 01:05:35,040
Nevertheless, his actions still 
had a direct impact on the 

1139
01:05:35,040 --> 01:05:38,640
championship outcome. 
For that reason, the final 

1140
01:05:38,640 --> 01:05:42,520
classification for the race was 
taken from the standings after 

1141
01:05:42,520 --> 01:05:44,840
lap 32. 
Alex. 

1142
01:05:44,840 --> 01:05:47,000
Did that feel like the obvious 
choice for the outcome of the 

1143
01:05:47,000 --> 01:05:49,080
hearing? 
Yeah, I mean, that makes 

1144
01:05:49,160 --> 01:05:52,160
complete sense, doesn't it? 
You know that that there was a 

1145
01:05:52,280 --> 01:05:53,840
there was a problem on the final
lap. 

1146
01:05:54,400 --> 01:05:59,120
So you, you come back, you just 
do one lap lesson and that gives

1147
01:05:59,120 --> 01:06:03,560
what I believe to be the 
rightful result, the right 

1148
01:06:03,560 --> 01:06:08,000
result for the championship. 
It's mad to think that we're all

1149
01:06:08,000 --> 01:06:11,480
sort of criticising Roland Ash 
for, quite rightly so, for his 

1150
01:06:11,800 --> 01:06:17,440
disgraceful move and driving, 
but we've forgotten that. 

1151
01:06:17,440 --> 01:06:20,440
Well, not forgotten, but he was 
also Black Flag. 

1152
01:06:20,440 --> 01:06:22,400
He wasn't even supposed to be in
the race at this point. 

1153
01:06:22,480 --> 01:06:26,800
Yes, yeah. 
I, I don't, I, I think it was 

1154
01:06:26,800 --> 01:06:30,480
Andrew who said it. 
We're not sure what became of 

1155
01:06:30,480 --> 01:06:32,920
him penalty wise. 
I don't know. 

1156
01:06:33,560 --> 01:06:39,120
But I hope it was something very
severe because, because yeah, 

1157
01:06:39,120 --> 01:06:41,520
it's, it's appalling what he 
did. 

1158
01:06:41,800 --> 01:06:43,880
Absolutely appalling. 
But yeah, for the, for the 

1159
01:06:43,880 --> 01:06:45,400
hearing, it's the obvious 
choice. 

1160
01:06:45,760 --> 01:06:50,040
You want to, you want to reverse
the results call that's been 

1161
01:06:51,640 --> 01:06:56,000
created by the poor driving 
standards and the the the 

1162
01:06:56,000 --> 01:06:59,520
breaking of the rules. 
So you go back to the lap before

1163
01:06:59,680 --> 01:07:01,200
it happened. 
It makes sense. 

1164
01:07:01,680 --> 01:07:06,400
Complete sense. 
Uwe Ounston, however, saw things

1165
01:07:06,400 --> 01:07:09,080
differently. 
I would have preferred it to be 

1166
01:07:09,080 --> 01:07:12,760
counted after 75% of the race 
distance, he said. 

1167
01:07:13,320 --> 01:07:16,720
Oh, she was. 
Of course he would. 

1168
01:07:17,120 --> 01:07:20,600
In that scenario, he would have 
been champion with the order 

1169
01:07:20,600 --> 01:07:24,240
reading Oz and Christensen 
apartment after 25 laps. 

1170
01:07:25,160 --> 01:07:27,880
He also argued that a different 
interpretation could have been 

1171
01:07:27,880 --> 01:07:31,040
made given the involvement of 
Chris Nissan earlier in the 

1172
01:07:31,040 --> 01:07:34,000
sequence. 
You could have also said that's 

1173
01:07:34,000 --> 01:07:37,480
racing, Two team mates got 
caught up in it, one effect 

1174
01:07:37,480 --> 01:07:40,960
announcing the other rat and 
leave it at that, he said. 

1175
01:07:42,160 --> 01:07:44,800
Greg, did you feel like ouncing 
had much of A point? 

1176
01:07:45,720 --> 01:07:48,040
Well, I'm not really I think 
it's a bit of a rose tinted view

1177
01:07:48,040 --> 01:07:49,280
on it. 
It's a bit like me getting a 

1178
01:07:49,280 --> 01:07:52,400
call for speeding as to Lord Mr 
Policeman, rather than you took 

1179
01:07:52,400 --> 01:07:55,040
them by speed before I broke the
speed limit them and I've 

1180
01:07:55,040 --> 01:07:57,760
actually broken it. 
It's a bit it's a bit 

1181
01:07:57,760 --> 01:08:00,720
controlled. 
I I sort of get his point. 

1182
01:08:00,720 --> 01:08:03,560
The Christmas sun, you know, we 
shouldn't forget that apps were 

1183
01:08:03,560 --> 01:08:07,680
also playing games as well. 
You know, there is no need for 

1184
01:08:07,680 --> 01:08:11,600
Christmas sun to be there. 
You know, they clearly hold him 

1185
01:08:11,600 --> 01:08:14,640
into the pits, it would seem to 
get him back into the pack. 

1186
01:08:14,640 --> 01:08:17,359
So that there was also there was
all sorts going on. 

1187
01:08:17,359 --> 01:08:21,000
And yes, that wasn't wasn't 
necessary as well. 

1188
01:08:21,000 --> 01:08:23,200
So from that side, Alison does 
have a point. 

1189
01:08:23,200 --> 01:08:27,240
But yeah, to to make the Baums 
meet me, your requirement is is 

1190
01:08:27,240 --> 01:08:29,160
not really that in the spirit of
it. 

1191
01:08:29,160 --> 01:08:32,560
You have to accept it as it's, 
it has to be taken to the last 

1192
01:08:32,560 --> 01:08:35,319
lap, not not the lap where it 
suits you, I would say. 

1193
01:08:39,240 --> 01:08:43,520
So that wraps up our look back 
at the controversial STW title 

1194
01:08:43,520 --> 01:08:48,319
decider at the Nurburgring in 
1999 and our first foray into 

1195
01:08:48,319 --> 01:08:53,000
Europe in the STW Championship. 
A huge thank you to Greg Denton 

1196
01:08:53,000 --> 01:08:56,200
and Andrew Charming for joining 
us once again to revisit this 

1197
01:08:56,200 --> 01:08:59,439
unforgettable weekend. 
It's been brilliant hearing 

1198
01:08:59,439 --> 01:09:02,680
their memories, stories and 
insights from one of the most 

1199
01:09:02,680 --> 01:09:05,920
dramatic events of the Super 
Touring era of racing. 

1200
01:09:06,560 --> 01:09:09,399
We really hope to welcome you 
both back on Stories from Super 

1201
01:09:09,399 --> 01:09:10,760
Touring again. 
Very soon. 

1202
01:09:11,319 --> 01:09:13,240
Well, you know, you don't have 
to ask me. 

1203
01:09:15,279 --> 01:09:17,960
Even though I get very old and 
struggle to remember half of 

1204
01:09:17,960 --> 01:09:25,359
this, hopefully I've still got a
lot of memorabilia and notes and

1205
01:09:25,359 --> 01:09:29,240
books from the period so I can 
remind myself and stir up the 

1206
01:09:29,279 --> 01:09:31,200
old grey matter. 
Yeah, I think it's been great. 

1207
01:09:31,680 --> 01:09:34,359
Hopefully it's wetted the 
audience's appetite to delve 

1208
01:09:34,359 --> 01:09:37,279
into a little bit more of 
European Super Touring racing, 

1209
01:09:37,279 --> 01:09:41,000
that there were some absolute 
classics in the STW. 

1210
01:09:41,319 --> 01:09:44,520
You know, without going into all
the details, if you get a 

1211
01:09:44,520 --> 01:09:47,560
chance, watch some of the races 
of the Sobsburg Rib, you know, 

1212
01:09:47,600 --> 01:09:51,040
absolute high speed, 
slipstreaming action. 

1213
01:09:51,040 --> 01:09:53,720
So, you know, they're worth a 
watch and probably worth talking

1214
01:09:53,720 --> 01:09:56,280
about. 
So yeah, I think we can dive 

1215
01:09:56,280 --> 01:09:58,960
dive into the history of Super 
Touring in Europe and and some 

1216
01:09:58,960 --> 01:10:02,880
other gems to to talk. 
About our thanks as always goes 

1217
01:10:02,880 --> 01:10:06,040
to you for listening. 
If you enjoyed today's episode, 

1218
01:10:06,040 --> 01:10:09,400
please do leave us a review, 
give us a five star rating and 

1219
01:10:09,400 --> 01:10:12,200
subscribe to the podcast on your
wrap of choice. 

1220
01:10:12,520 --> 01:10:15,680
It really does help more touring
car fans discover the show. 

1221
01:10:16,560 --> 01:10:19,800
If you'd like even more Super 
Touring content, you can also 

1222
01:10:19,800 --> 01:10:23,320
join our Paddock Club where 
members get access to exclusive 

1223
01:10:23,320 --> 01:10:26,480
extras and bonus material. 
They're just free pound a month.

1224
01:10:27,080 --> 01:10:29,880
You can find all the details in 
the episode description. 

1225
01:10:30,720 --> 01:10:32,680
And of course, we'd love to hear
from you. 

1226
01:10:33,160 --> 01:10:36,480
If you have a comment about 
today's episode, the podcast in 

1227
01:10:36,480 --> 01:10:39,920
general, or a question or 
suggestion for a future show, 

1228
01:10:40,240 --> 01:10:44,960
please drop us an e-mail at pod 
at 1990s btcc.com. 

1229
01:10:45,760 --> 01:10:48,920
Until next time, thanks for 
listening, and we'll see you 

1230
01:10:48,920 --> 01:10:51,240
next week on Stories from Super 
Touring.