Stories from Super Touring. Tim
Harvey came agonisingly close to taking Peugeot's
maiden BTCC victory at Fruxton in 1997. With
the 1992 champion having to settle for second place,
just 0 .6 seconds behind eventual race winner
Gabriele Tarqueini. Welcome to the latest episode of
Stories from Super Touring. I'm
Leo Vairailly and on this week's episode Alex, Adam
and myself are joined by motorsport commentator Barry
Nutley who actually commentated on this very
race meeting for BBC Grandstand. Barry,
firstly, welcome to Stories from Super Touring. This
is your debut appearance on the show so thank you very
much for coming to join us on the podcast this week.
I never thought I'd be called
a podcast virgin but I am. That's
as simple as that. I'm delighted to be involved
albeit to talk about something that happened so
long ago but you know having reviewed the footage
it was good stuff back then it was fantastic
wasn't it? Very easy to get excited about.
Yes, for sure and I think we'll
stick with you as well for our usual opening question.
As we've already mentioned you
were commentating on this race for BBC so I can
imagine you've got some good first memories when
you think back to this race meet and even as you
say it being you know as long ago as it was now.
Yeah and I wasn't really dumping
at the deep end. I think if you can call a
race as Jolly Cox would say or we can call a race
down under do the commentary. It
doesn't matter whether it's cars, bikes, planes,
whatever it is. If it's motorsport you can
describe the action but the action at this particular
one was so like the stuff that I've been working on
because that was also an epic year in British
superbike with Mackenzie in the middle of his back -to
-back titles and Islop and Wittem. It
was all frenetic stuff and I brought that level of
enthusiasm to this particular weekend simply
because it was already in me. It
was great. It wasn't difficult to induce
about. Absolutely and Adam coming to you
next what jumps into your mind thinking about? Froxton
on that, Bank Holiday weekend? Rain.
Bank Holiday rain but yeah I just like I say this
all the time you know I feel like it wasn't that
long ago when it actually happened because I've just
got such vivid memories of it and when I watch some
of the footage back I just it all comes back and it
was super exciting as it always was and I just
think rain and Tim you know with his efforts, Tim
Harvey and his efforts in the second race where he
comes so close but there's so much going on you know
you watch the footage back there's so much going on
in race one, race two you know the Audi's there then
he's crashing the second race and Jason Plato had
obviously the easy issue where he didn't finish in
race one so there's so much to go through which
we can't cover absolutely everything but you know I'd
highly just recommend for any of the viewers just
watch it back and just watch the footage back
because it's so exciting and um and finally coming
to you about what are your memories of this meeting
what one of the more memorable moments from the
1997 season? Yeah this race was um was a
real cracker and um honestly the first thing I
remember when I think back to this race meeting and
and I'm not just saying it because he's here with us
tonight but it is Barry's commentary on the race.
It's literally it's um it was
different because obviously normally Murray Walker was
the commentator on BTCC that year he'd been joined
by Charlie Cox in the commentary box um but this
was the first time that Barry had commented on it
on a race meeting and um I'm not quite sure and I'm
assuming Barry it was it was arranged because Murray
must have had that was the first year ITV had taken
over the F1 coverage so assuming Murray had
commitments elsewhere and um and you were called upon?
Yes and and uh you know I had
16 years with BBC Grandstand and they they
brought me in to do bike commentary uh they were
doing trials and grass track and all sorts of
minority bike sports but bit by bit they actually
told me they would like me to be the two -wheel
commentator for BBC and move Murray permanently on
to four wheels which he was quite bristly about you
know he put his elbows out and said well I don't need
anybody you know I mean his his passion was bikes
in the first instance so he was quite protective of
it but we very quickly became friends as it were
and I tell a very quick story if I may and it and
it was at Thruxton at a bike race when Murray and
I were working together in a wood and shed and he
said oh is this Barry and I don't need anyone these
are 20 minute races I can do this on my own and
they said well we're going to bring this this lad
along you know we want him to work with you and uh
that weekend Didier Peroni was killed in a power
boating accident around the Isle of Wyn and it
happened mid -afternoon on our race day and they came
in from London said Murray there's been a tragic
accident in a power boating and we've lost Didier
Peroni we are going to come to you in 10 minutes
for a bit of Peroni's life in Formula One and the
250s were on the line and they said Barry will have
to take this race on his own because we want you to
swat up and we'll come to you in 10 minutes and
that's what they did basically in sort of 20
minutes but after that I thought what a what a man
he just reeled it off you know the uh well the
Formula One is reeling to the shock news of the
death of Didier Peroni not as you might imagine in a
car but on the water I remember those those words
so yeah that was it and I became I became the bike
man and then I think as as you say Formula One
drew Murray and that was his real love and that's
where he ended up and I stood in when when there
were gaps I've got to say as well Barry like and
anyone's listening like talk about some shoes to fill
yeah indeed if that doesn't bring any pressure then I
don't just probably think oh this is going to be a
disaster I'm not Murray people are going to extract
Murray and I'm getting some negative feedback but
honestly you did you did do a great job and that
is some massive shoes to fill well thank you it's
kind of you to say that but I you know I did my
homework obviously I got down there on Thursday and
met people I did my homework but I was
convinced and I was very firm that I was going to
bring my style from the superbike championship to
the touring cars and yeah and that I did and whether
it worked or not now it's history it doesn't matter
but if it worked then then well all well and good you
know but I wasn't going to be anyone else I was going
to be myself yeah absolutely and I think
you've come from you know commentating on an exciting
sport already coming into another exciting sport you
just had four wheels so I think the similarities were
probably there so it made that slightly easier for
you but obviously there's a lot for you to know in
terms of drivers teams you know there's a time where
you needed to do obviously prior to that so yeah some
big pressure but it helps when you've got someone
like Charlie Cox alongside you know because yeah if
it's if you're in a hole or you want an answer you
just throw to him you know and he's like a dog online
oh as we know yes I've got to say when I did
watch you back I've wrote that down I've never heard
it before and I'm never likely to hear it again
but I'll tell you what talk about so it's like a
dog online over describing a touring car basically
with slicks on in the rain he had some wonderful
expressions shot the fox was another one well that
said he shot the fox lovely but yeah I enjoyed
it you know I would have liked to have done more
but kept on doing the bikes and here I am still
doing it and you said you're still doing it now
I'm indeed yeah I've got a full season of psychomotor
cross booked up 12 rounds in 11 countries and I do
a couple of good woods and some stuff for motorcycle
news the shows and things but yeah I'm still very
busy and where time fits Euro sport British psych
races with BSB so I'm employed by euros for the
BSB as ever we have asked our faithful listeners what
they thought of this race meeting through our social
media channels we'll start off with Stephen Gaye who
got in touch to say that he was on the spectator
banking at the club chicane and says it was one of
the best touring car races he has ever seen in the
flesh he says the buzz of the crowd waiting to see
how much closer to the lead Harvey was getting
with every lap was amazing Dan Bailey also remembers
the action at the club chicane too saying he
recalls Harvey giving Clelland a tap going into
it and it was um tap punt we'll I think we'll
probably discuss that um in a little bit Pat Cranham
he says he remembers that incident too saying that
Clelland produced a miracle save to keep the Vectra
out of the barriers and then Don Bernay simply just
says one more lap whilst Thomas Knight's mentioned
Frank Bieler's unfortunate incident with two -mate John
Binkliffe on the opening lap of race two Steve
Price he remembers the slower pit stops as the
rules for the mandatory pit stops in the second race
had yet to be introduced um I think that's something
we'll probably get a bit more into yeah it was
carnage wasn't it yeah and Ken Rotherford says he
remembers Tarqueen he winning the race on slicks
and getting very little credit for what he thought
was the drive of the day which contentious, Tim
Harvey does not like that and and here's one for you
Barry Aaron Collins remembers uh he's self on
the commentary that day what the Dickens was all
that about um which was one of my favorites as
well when watching the race pack and Daniel Bart also
mentioned recording your commentary for the race two
which is obviously Al's mentioned that as well,
that incident that um that was described as what the
Dickens was all that about was one of the most
bizarre things in a touring car it was you know
switching the the the main switch off as you're going
through church is not the widest thing to do on the
fastest car on the whole calendar yeah in the wet
whilst you're on slicks but they play well done Patrick
for this series of stories from super touring we are
delighted to be teaming up with Brands Hatch to give
away two tickets to Super Touring Power 2 which is
being held at the famous circuit on the 29th and
30th of June 2024 the award -nominated event was a
smash hit last year when its debut edition
transported fans back to the 90s and this year's
event will once again celebrate one of touring
car racing's most fondly remembered eras to enter
the competition just answer the following question who
was the first ever guest to star on stories from
super touring send your answers to podd at
1990sbtcc .com and we'll announce the winner on a
later episode this series meanwhile let's get back to
the episode reigning champion Frank Bieler was
bullish heading into this bank holiday meeting
declaring Fruxton as Aldi's greatest chance of their
strongest showing yet in 1997 the German who had
blasted the championship organisers at the last
meeting at Silverstone set the four fastest time in
the official test at Fruxton with Binkliffe right
behind him in fifth Bieler slated the championship
organisers for imposing a 95 kilogram weight penalty
on the Aldi due to their four -wheel drive system
Adam from the driver's perspective can you
understand Frank's frustration of that weight
penalty going into 97 yeah from a driver's point of
view I can but the first thing you do is you don't
slay Alan Gao because you know that's only going to
make matters worse you know for every round that's
coming or any any possibilities of you know
or anything happening in the future then you want
him on your side and not the other way around yeah
because he you know we know how firm he can be
but also purely from Frank's point of view as a
driver being selfish yeah of course he's going to be
frustrated but it was only a matter of time before
this started slapping weight penalty on of course if
Bieler and Binkliffe performed well it could
have undermined their argument for removal of
some of the weight so much so that Bieler even
contemplated sang bagging at times first we have to
wait and see whether it is worth running as hard as
possible or if we should be more tactical he told
autosport if we were tactical we could end up
giving points away I'm sure we will have to go as
hard as we can to get at least one acceptable result
this season Barry coming to you can you understand why
Frank was considering quite a drastic measures and
tactics there I don't think he was considering tactics
I think he was going to go as hard as he could
anyway because that is a driver's mentality am I
right Adam you know he would have known the bigger
picture because the rules and regulations at the end
of the day would either ban the four -wheel drive
or it was only going to be a limited time that
they were allowed to go and the 95 kilos was okay
slowing them down a bit but it was still one hell
of a car and I think it would be his instinct to
say right I don't care what you've done we're
going to go bulls out and show you what we can still
do even though you've handicapped us that would
be my opinion he might be listening to this send me
a strong message saying no no no no you know we had
a point to prove we had a point to prove and I was
going to prove it but but you know I honestly believe
as a racer once the lights go out he was going to go
for it if only to prove his point that they can
still win regardless my view yeah part of the
issue with Audi's comparative lack of pace in
97 was sort of muddied even further when they had
the the week before this Thruxton meeting there was
the opening round of the stw in Germany at
Hockenheim and Audi were the only ones running
Dunlops in 97 the rest of the works teams were
running Michelins and they were running Dunlops in
Germany too and the works Audi's they were outpaced
by the apt sportline privateer Audi entries who
used Yokohamas so it muddied it even further you
know was it the weight was it with hires had others
just caught up nobody really knew for sure so it
was it was quite yeah it was quite a very it was a
very very messy situation I can understand the driver
getting personally aggravated about it but the you know
the point Adam made there are things out there bigger
than the driver the rules and the manufacturer are
the two components that give him the tool to do
the job and you know he is he is driving to the
best of his ability and if he's imposed a handicap
he's still going to drive in my opinion to the best
of his ability meanwhile rumors were surfsing of
Hyundai setting its sights on entering the BTCC for
the 1999 season it was revealed at the Korean
Motor Show that the company already had a mock -up of
the Lanter model complete with a racing engine
already in place in the Hyundai workshops ProDrive
had been heavily linked with the project with
autosport understanding that employees of Hyundai had
been visiting the firm's Bambri base ProDrive boss
Dave Richard said at the time we're contracted to
Honda at the moment but having said that our engine
division has many clients we do work for many
different people whether we are doing work for Hyundai
I can't tell you Al that's a bit of a strange
statement of a day Richard's there about future
leaks of Hyundai how would you read into that one
yeah I do think it's a pretty bizarre statement to
make um he's basically refusing to rule it out
and they've at this point in time they've only just
started up their relationship with Honda
because Honda were run by MSD until the end of 96
ProDrive who were running the Alpha program in 95
missed it missed 96 came back in 97 with Honda so
they've only just started that relationship but from
what it sounds like they're already meeting up with
Hyundai so yeah it's a bit of an odd one but um
Hyundai were always one of those manufacturers that
were linked with an entry into the touring cars but
never seemed to make it um Volkswagen and Rover being
the other two that off the top of my head that were
you know that were always constantly linked but but
never really came to anything but um yeah
obviously as we know now nothing ever came of it
but um yeah a bit of an odd one for ProDrive to
almost be inviting certainly not ruling out any sort of
link with Hyundai yeah you never denied you did I no
no when she actually literally just started a
relationship with Honda so yeah a bit of a strange
one prior to this race the BBC shared figures that 2
.94 million people watched the BBC one coverage of
the BTCC meeting at Silverstone prior to this
event which compared with the 1 .6 million that tuned
in to watch ITV's coverage of the San Marino Grand
Prix at Imola on the same weekend Barry are you
surprised at those figures or was this just another
sign of how big the championship had become at
this point? Well it certainly is an
indication of how popular the championship was but
but grandstand itself per se always attracted two and
a half to three million viewers because don't forget
they would have spread across three sports you
might have had something down at Hick's stage you
had a bit of cricket you had a bit of bike racing
or whatever so they moved around a lot and I was
always told that it could be anything up to four and
a half million if it was a wet weather day and
people were in and I remember Dave Gordon the
editor of Grandstand saying to me at one point he
said uh I like you to be urgent he said I like you
to be excitable and urgent because if um if let me
give you a scenario if mrs smith is walking from the
garden to the kitchen and your bike racing is on and
she's not a bike fan she's going to make a cup of
tea and you are saying it's unbelievable when kens
is in the lead here she might just stop and think
wow this is interesting let's let's stick with this
so he said that's what we'd like you to do and
that that's where it all came from but I also think
that touring car racing and I align it to world
superbike as opposed to motor gp it's machinery
that the public can relate to the monday's look like
the monday's the salesman drove to work and the
lagooners I mean they look like road cars and they
were road cars but a bit different a formula one car
it's it's on a different planet it's a different
world and it's got even worse in my opinion it's
so far away from reality you know so no I'm not
surprised yeah no you're right there because my mum
had a monday at that time so naturally we cheered on
the fords and yeah because that's the car literally I
can look absolutely when you know it's on my
driveway you know but but also it was the business
model and the selling model for all the manufacturers
only you know they still talk about it to this day
of what it was like you know we went on this and
they we sell on them and they did I read that there
were nine manufacturers in the 97 series yes yes
there was eight works and but there was that Colin
Galli's BMW so that would have had there so there
were so there were nine marks yeah no I think it's
I think it's amazing and that that's why I I'm not
surprised at all about the viewing figures because
people could identify relate to it and the kids on
monday said dad you're going to take me to school
at that speed you know because we've got one of
those some yes some of them did I'm sure they did
yeah it's time now for another bit of motorsport
politics our favorite subject on this podcast
with Derek Warwick coming into this meeting on the
back of a controversial rant aimed at the stewards
after they had reinstated Jason Plato in the results
of the second race at the previous meeting at
Silverstone the verdict of the BRDC officials
overturned the decision by Toca to exclude Plato after
his collision with Kelvin Burr Warwick said you can't
have one group of people disqualifying a driver and
then another group overturning it a week later
what is he going to think now when he goes down the
inside of Fred blogs you'll think that he can get away
with it again and that's going to lead to a lot of
problems um Adam I feel like I'm just coming to
you to explain right over this frustration so far
this episode but but could you understand Derek's point
there I sort of can but it was at the heat of the
moment and you know it's always a it's always great
for the tv to throw a camera and a microphone in
front of a driver in the heat at the moment but in
reality it's not going to potentially get a word it
the best that he could um but I understand what he's
saying but at the same time Jason at no point is
he going to think right that's it rub his hands
together free reigns do what I like yeah we'll get
it over we'll get it overturned on Monday no
problem like come on let's be realistic you can't just
go and t -bone somebody randomly and then get away
with it or anything like that you've still got a
race to the rules so understand what he's trying
to say but in reality it's very different to what he's
saying you know yeah a racing incident is a racing
incident and something that was potentially malicious or
dangerous or deliberate is also that so yeah you
can't just get everything overturned on a Monday you
know it's never going to be that Jason would have
had that thought either however I do see what he's
trying to say just didn't really word it very well
um but you just get on with it you know yeah it's
it's a bit like you say it's not very it's not
always the best thing to do is to stick a
microphone under the helmet of a driver once there's
been an incident and Derek Warwick was pretty good for
um controversial views straight straight out of
the car wasn't he so yeah he probably hence why the
camera and the microphone ended up going to those
places yeah Derek's want let's go over to him
exactly yes so you know it's probably I felt a bit
for Derek there he's probably taken out of
context yeah I feel I understand what he's saying
but at the same time he doesn't give Jason a free
reign or anyone else just to go and do that like
you know the stewards aren't daft and the people
involved that you know they understand what a racing
incident is and and what isn't so yeah I mean you
effectively had there all those years ago live VAR
didn't you I mean welcome to the world of football
where they look at it afterwards there the
stewards are watching the whole footage yeah panel of
them watching it you know and so I would have
thought the decision made at that time I would have
thought it should have stuck but there you go so
I'm with you Derek if you want to send me a bottle
of whiskey that'll be fine Warwick's rant gave toker
boss Alan Gow further ammunition for his panel
which includes former driver Jeff Allen to wrestle
controlled away from the meeting stewards Gow told
autosport it's difficult because you have the RAC
regulations and you cannot overturn them but an
umpire's decision should be final the usual motorsport
politics getting a bit messy this sounds like
doesn't it yeah it's I mean I I can actually see
what Gow's point to be fair but it seems a bit
over complicated doesn't it when you've got one group
of people giving out punishments and then another
group with the ability to take them away and as
Barry just said that sort of thing normally leads to
inconsistent decisions which is the grumble of fans of
pretty much all sports at the moment isn't it never
mind football and VAR and rugby with the TMO and
yeah you know this was no different so um yeah yeah
I mean it's it's it's messy isn't it but I can
see Gow's point but I can you know I see what Adam's
saying as well it's a messy one and I wouldn't
be I wouldn't want to be the one to clean it all
up I'll be honest it was to nobody's great surprise
that qualifying for bowfaces at Fruxton continued with
the reno domination from the opening two meetings of
the season the runaway points leader Alain Menu
took his third consecutive pole position which meant
that the yellow and blue machines continued their 100
% pole position record for the season Barry those
reno's were quick at most times in the era but
particularly in 1997 they really were that the car
to beat weren't they yeah they were and they were
coming I mean the 96 performance was not too
shabby was it you know they were good at Menu
what a class act you know we all know his pedigree
the only guy to to win it twice in that golden era
and just the most amazing driver and when Jason Plato
lined up with him it was a formidable pairing without
a doubt and the cars were just so well sorted they
really were and I didn't see you could you can
understand Bena's frustration you know suddenly not only
is he having a penalty slapped on him he's got
these yellow and blue missiles because that's what
they were and they couldn't put the foot wrong you
know so he was so you can understand that but yeah
they were quick they were very very quick and good
to watch as well Menu's domination of qualifying was
even bigger than usual with his race to gap of 0 .6
seconds to Tarqueenian second this was even more
impressive because the Swiss driver only took one lap
to get the job done Adam that's an incredibly
impressive gut pull on the rest of the field in
qualifying there isn't it it is and the beauty of
it was obviously he did it and he by doing that and
nobody beating it he gambled by not going out
again but he saved a set of tyres yeah you know by
doing that so he just absolutely maximized the
opportunity obviously got the tyres at the right
temperature had a clear track did what he needs to
do and come in and that's your ideal position that
you one warm -up lap one flyer come in and then he
would have been as surprised as anybody that
nobody really got close to him but you know 0 .6 of
a gap I mean that you know blink of an eye and
that's it in reality when you think about it but in
motorsport terms we know how close a lot of the
racing is and you know 0 .6 of a second you know in
in some championships and even the btcc at times
that could be the difference from first to
tenth it was a good lap so we waited to see if
anyone could beat it when you said afterwards they
didn't so I've got two new tyres for the race the car
is very good here Alex that's probably um
rightfully confident man speaking there isn't it
yeah I mean like you say he had right he was he
had reason to be um to be fair he won every race so
far that season as Barry described they they were
yellow and blue missiles because they were so quick
yeah they were class of the field and even in the
third race meeting you know for four races in he was
probably already eyeing up the championship you know I
mean you know he obviously didn't realise the the
drama that was to come on race day but um yeah yeah
it'd have been really disappointing with him that
way because I think he probably won both races
wouldn't have yeah he probably would have done
yeah but um you know you could already tell actually
not to sort of give any spoilers away but you can
tell by the way he was driving at the in the race
yeah he was already driving for points yeah you know
he he had he had his eyes on that championship already
so yeah he had good reason to be confident back on
the front row of the btc secret for the first time
since 1994 with Gabriele Tarquini who lined up
alongside our menu for race two the popular Italian was
pleased but thought that second was the maximum he
could have got out the Honda however he did feel
that the accord was light enough like its tires to
cause a problem for menu in the races Barry it was
quite a good sight to see Tarquini back at the front
of a btc secret again wasn't it absolutely we
talked at the top of the show um before we came on
air actually about the quality of the drivers who
came in and the big names and the superstars I mean
he's right up there isn't he charismatic Italian
absolutely brilliant and just such a good guy to
interview he's just fantastic in every way the
fact that I understand he earned the dubious
reputation of the man who tried to qualify on the
Formula One grid more times than anyone so he's got
the wooden spoon because he didn't make it but and
failed but there you go he certainly found his niche
in touring cars the British the European the world just
went on success after success great to have a
name like that you know and that is a you know
another another quality move into the championship that
just enhanced the profile you bring names like that
it's just getting bigger and better and better and
he was a class act meanwhile reigning champion
Frank Bealer had his most competitive showing of the
season so far with him and teammate Binkliffe in the
top six on the for both races come race day and
Bealer and Binkliffe would have been rubbing their
hands together the conditions were mixed and
the greasy conditions would surely suit their lda falls
summing up just how difficult the decisions for
setup were there for the teams charlie cox was
trackside giving his view the weather's the key part
of this afternoon's race teams are leaving it for
the very last minute to make their tire choices as
we speak it's starting to drizzle with rain there's a
huge bank of cloud building up from behind and only a
few minutes before the race goes the cars are still on
slick tires now that'll obviously be their
preference especially on such an abrasive track but
we're just going to have to wait and see what the
next few minutes brings add a mixed conditions such as
those it's almost impossible for a driver and team to
get that right isn't it basically no one has a
crystal ball in the i used to love these these
conditions i thrived on them i loved them
especially because i was always a private in i was
never in a factory team in the fastest car so there's
so many more benefits to you when you when you
don't you're not expected to win you know the
pressures on them as opposed to you with the
track damp at the start of the race it was no
surprise to see the oudies launch off into the lead
at the start with both a falls making contact with
jason playtoe off the line the englishman's laguna
suffering suspension damage from the heavier contact
from binkliffe now an unfortunate incident off the
line sort of is it free into one not going yeah i
mean i felt a bit sorry for jason actually because
he really was stuck in the middle of two oudies and
had no way to go you know he just he just went off
the line it wasn't like he swerved left or right he
just went straight and both those oudies with the with
the four -wheel drive system just launched off the grid
this you know that that is their their main advantage
isn't it especially on such a greasy track um you know
jason really had no way to go and his race was over
before allard so you know although i do find it
funny how he was very philosophical about the
whole thing when he was interviewed um because we
know later on in his career he did develop a
bit more of a sharper tongue for instance like
this um even when he was winning races if it wasn't
going his way if you remember alton park when
when he was embroiled in the turbo row you know he
was he seemed a lot more naive obviously it's he's
on his third ever meeting wasn't it and it was um
his first year so um yeah quite a quiet drayson
compared to his later career as beela took the
lead from menu it's incredible to remember that
this was the first time that anyone other than menu
had led a race in the 1997 season barry that is
a quite incredible stat isn't it especially you
remember round five and we're finally seeing uh a
car that isn't a rena lead that says a lot about
their dominance that year it says a lot about rena
dominance but it also says a lot about beela not
being tactical and going for it which we said
earlier on in the show you know he was going to go
for it that he was not sandbagging there he he
wanted it and that was his horns coming out and his
driving instinct and showing them what he could do so
i'm i'm glad we had that little conversation earlier
on about it but you cannot detract from the dominance
of the rena so we talked about just um a few
moments ago they were absolutely superb which
makes beela's achievement even greater i mean it
really was a fantastic drive to do that on the
second lap the rain started to fall more heavily with
clen and spinning on his dry tires meanwhile the
volvos were getting into a very close battle for over
a lap before bert spun off with hoian what's joining
him as the conditions worsened lat led drivers to
start coming into the pits to change tires now unlike
in formula one this is something unusual for the
btcc not really something the series had seen before
the crews really weren't used to the quick tire
changes needed to get back into the race with cables
mechanics and even a cameraman getting in the
way of voxels attempted pit stop alex especially at
this point it's unusual to see btcc drivers make pit
stops in the era it's do you think that explains the
comedy of errors that seem to take place in the pits
from what were otherwise very serious profession and
constant race teams absolutely yeah i mean
first of all though you mentioned the instant
between um uh will hoian patrick watson that is
something we we mentioned it before we started
recording but that that leads to one of my
greatest one of my favorite charlie cox lines of um
it's like a dog on lino when you're in these and
um yeah just a wonderful line but um but yeah as
it as it when it comes to the pits the pit stops i
mean for starters the the pit lane at throxing is
it's not really the biggest in the calendar is it and
i think had it had it been silverstone or
donnington with the pit garages it would have been
a lot less chaotic um but yeah you're right the teams
were simply not used to changing tyres as quickly
as this race required um and also don't forget how
hard it was getting those alloys under the wheel
arches of the super touring cars because the cars
weren't designed to have quick wheel changes and
tire changes and i think i'll if i can if i can
just comment on that i think the the frenetic
action on the track you know lap after lap after
lap the guys would have been watching that on their
monitors they were pumped up about it they were
quick quick quick we've got to do this give so all of
that enthusiasm and panic if you like spilled over
into pit lane and you know even the marshall getting
in the way i mean he was nearly torpedoed wasn't he
yeah yeah so right it's obviously john comes in and
he's sort of waving his eyes just finally drops off
the jacks um he runs over airlines air guns and
literally he he revs pretty much at the camera and you
can see how the cameraman has had to sort of dive
backwards and as charlie said there's just one angry
big angry scotsman coming through i only be in a
course he didn't warm his tires up enough and as he
got into the car he spun yeah he first spun straight
away didn't he came straight happy on the
leaders didn't he i can imagine he was so angry
because yeah that he just went for it and it just
wasn't there they weren't ready so fantastic it's
brilliant on lap 11 the leader beeler had a huge
moment at church meaning tarqueening had a great run
the german and taking the lead into the club chicane
Gabrielle tarqueening now climbing all over the back
of the Audi and that honda charlie is quick and it's
gonna be even quicker now because the Audi just had
a huge moment through church their friend was
well well sideways and tarqueening's had a fabulous
run up the inside he had the momentum beeler's lost
it and he's passed him down the back straight into
the chicane tarqueening is driving where there
effectively is no circuit he's over the curve hopping
across landing smack in front of the Audi but he's
now two lengths clear sprinting away again down
the well i can't even call it a straight because it's
a right hander the Audi is now on the wet on the
inside of the circuit because there was a dry
line developing on the racing line tarqueening is
on it beeler's now settled for second best and the
honda is going away adam that was some catch from
beeler there wasn't it yeah i mean he had to you know
it's it's very bumpy going into church but i also
look i've watched it back at the footage and he sort
of as he sort of slightly touches the brake you can
imagine the white transfer on the front but then as
it sort of turns in it's then immediately gave him
some overstair but it wasn't too big he sort of
he caught it sort of as he was going into the
corner as opposed to a front wheel drive car where
he probably would have completely gone away from
you sort of mid corner and then you've just got to
keep your towing so sort of luckily he was in the
four four wheel drive cars he didn't look overly bad
that if that'd been the same situation with the
front wheel drive car it'd have been a massive slide
but i think obviously what he did do was just he
just lost his momentum didn't he coming through
church because it is a great corner yeah so paul's
it's so good it's so quick you have to get it right
and you know i've had many a moment through there and
so once you're in you in the rhythm he sort of just
becomes the norm especially as your tyres are wearing
to long race you know it just becomes norm you're
going through there flat out um obviously about then
they were obviously touching the brake a bit before
that and obviously with the conditions even more so but
yeah it's just one of them corners where you just
didn't you just don't want to scrub off any speed
anymore than you need to because you've got you've
had to run towards it then you've got that long run
to the chicane so you know you just want to be off
the throttle for as little time as possible but yeah
that's where clelland went off hoi watts yeah they
went off yeah went off there didn't they because
when and when independent and race two went off
there as well oh jaymie wall jaymie wall yeah when
hoi and watts went off there was a white car over
on the left hand side that was sort of just gathering
itself up i think when you watch the he's hit off to
the door of the mondayo but then there was there
was one sort of getting going again on the left
hand side so and that's purely because of our bumpy
it was and no temperature in the rear tires that
move on when billa had his moment at church and
talqueenie um the the coverage cuts to in car
with talqueenie and him going through church that i
mean his arms were just constantly moving yeah it's
such it's such such a finely balanced it was so
delicate the car was twitching all over the
place it's really impressive to watch talqueenie's lead
didn't last long however as billa was soon back past
his oundies configuration suiting the conditions
better than the honda billa led from there to take the
flag and his first victory of the 1997 season by
three and a half seconds with talqueenie's honda in
second we weren't sure if it's going to rain or not
and uh i think then when it started to rain it was
perfect for us with equatro it's it's quite easy to
drive under these conditions and all the others had
more problems i think barry was that a deserved victory
for the reigning champion there absolutely absolutely
you know the the car's configuration four wheel
drive dodgy conditions okay 95 kilos extra but it's an
abrasive circuit of thruchston as we know and
uh it would have been sticking to the tarmac i
know he had a bad moment a big moment but he saved
it uh others might not a lesser mortal might not
have done uh but the car was working well and so
much for his strategy he was going to go for it i
keep coming back to it you know he had everything to
prove and he was going to go for it so it was very
much a deserved victory every inch of the way and
he drove his little cahones off didn't he good drive
as the dust settled there were a number of drivers
that were unhappy with the decision to allow the
racing to continue as the car struggled on slick
tires in the wet some drivers claimed that during
their morning briefing they were informed that in such
conditions they would be held by the safety car
allowing everyone to change onto the appropriate tires
to continue racing without losing their positions the
race was too dangerous with everyone's looks said
gabrielli tarquini after the race we have a safety car
so it's better for us to do three or four laps
behind that tarquini wasn't the only driver sharing
their views so let's hear now from tim harvey and
derrick warwick talking to bbc sport most dangerous
conditions i think driven in we all know the perils
of this circuit and okay it wasn't too damp to
start with so everyone started on slicks but then
the heavens opened and i mean trying to drive a
thousand kilo car on slick tires when it's aqua
planing and you've got no control you know i really
think the race should have been stopped at that time
and you know it's not because i'm a wimp i'll
drive in anything you know if i'd had a wheelbarrow
i'd have driven it because i like driving in the wet
as you know but you know when people aren't in
control of the cars and they're flying off
everywhere you should really stop the race and give
people a chance to put the right tires on it was the
most frightening 18 laps of my life it was just
impossible to drive and yeah i'm frustrated because
you know i was racing back with privateers and i don't
expect to be doing that in autosport tim added that he
had spoken to allen gow about this issue and that
gal made it very clear that the owners was on the
driver to make the right tire choice and not to
moan about it adam that's um characteristically strong
stuff from gal there uh and the drivers too what
what what are your thoughts on it or what would you
have wanted to have seen as a driver in that
situation i wouldn't change anything you don't see
anything you know yeah just get on with it you know
honestly it's just i wouldn't i wouldn't expect
a safety car to make wasn't absolutely monsoon
conditions was it where there's a plane and you
know that's when you'd expect a safety car where
it is unsafe adam you sound so much like michael
rutter get on with it you know you're going to live
a million miles away from me but just i know you're
the same part of the world get on with it what's he
wind you do that that's it just get on with it like
this is this is what's exciting this is what
people want to see this is it's a but it's the same
for everybody you know why do we want to pull a
safety car out just because it starts sprinkling with
rain you know you didn't see a ton of spray did
you off any of the cars no it was very it wasn't
it wasn't heavy it just created greasy conditions
and yeah and i agree with gow if if you wanted to
make if you wanted to change tires then you know
where the pits are and i know yeah absolutely you
know the pizza and it's the same for everybody but
sort of nobody wants to make the brave decision
being the first one because i'll make the first
decision and then you're that sort of guinea pig
then to disaster he's melted his wets and it's
not wet enough now but yeah this is it it's no
different than jordan's racing those conditions
created such a brilliant race weekend absolutely yeah
both races were action packed because of those
conditions and the situation they found themselves in
couldn't be processional otherwise it was yeah
everybody was expecting menu to just do it again wasn't
he's got the fastest car this is what's going to
happen you know and then all of a sudden a bit of
rain comes and you know i know tim had moaned about
it as well in from the first race but we know
what he nearly did in the second race the track had
dried for the start of race two a couple of hours
after the first race the start of the race menu
conceded the lead once again this time to
tanqueenie who was dragging his teammate along with him
the hondas were first and second heading into the
chicane with the pair of renault's behind them be
the celebrations from his victory in the first race
were soon squashed as he was nudged into the arncoat
barriers at the exit of the complex by teammate
john binkler it's a honda one two renault down in
third and fourth later had a good start and off goes
bila the first race winner bila is out bila was
johnny barry an unfortunate inter -team incident there
never never a happy garage after those where'd you
like the blame of that one well i've looked at it
several times in my var studio for me bila had it
sorted in cobby knew where he was going he moved over
he was on the line i think bincliffe lost the
back end got got it stepping left and rammed
him that's i didn't see the back of the car very
controversial that very very controversial opinion that
is well i'll look with him you know rammed him he did
he torpedoed him yeah it's getting worse i've got a
different view gordon there you just you need to come
over to the left to give you so you can stay full
throttle as you as you sort of rises up there and
then sort of dips down so you it's just momentum
coming on just don't that's the start of that's the
start of the momentum that you need out the back so
he was he was just he was moving over to the left to
get his position but it wasn't a long side bila
you know he caught his right front wheel with his
left rear wheel so it's bila's it's bila's he needs
you know he needs to position his car where he's
not in danger of being hit by the car in front it
was all pretty quick though wasn't it i mean no no
you're wrong he would have been focusing on what was
happening in front more than who was coming up the
outside yeah binkley if he's focusing completely on
the corner where he is focusing looking for the
right hand side of the front windscreen he's not
got his eye on who's to his left and whoever's on
his left it's their responsibility fine if you
want to be there be there but okay is it a racing
incident then yeah yeah completely completely yeah
it wasn't it wasn't anyone's fault but bila
should have gave a bit more room knowing that the
car is going to come out that way it's no difference
what bila's been doing for in that case the question
is quite provocative where do you lay the blame you
stitch me up guys you stitch me up yeah i i
don't it's certainly not binklips i think if
anything the honest is a bit unto bila there i
thought don't give me my dress will you i just
think you could have gave another four or two bro
you're coming one of me tractors i thought bila was
quite unlucky really because it was just at the wrong
point where there was the armcode barrier because yeah
you know had it not been there he would have been
able to rejoin the race but it was quite a quite
a hefty one hard hit wasn't it yeah the damage
on the front of the car was quite substantial
considering it was a relatively low speed
incident yeah i think if i've been in race one i
don't necessarily think i could have repaired it for
race two because no with the pillar way to hit him
and like you could have damaged the roll case my
favorite bit is where you're in car with frank
after the accident and you just hear him go john you
ah you could just feel his frustration but you know so
it was no no doubt where he thought the blame laid
with bila's al di in the wall the safety car came
out for a few laps to help the marshals clear the
car to safety but as it was out the heavens opened
and the rain started to fall once again this left
the drivers of the decision to make and sure enough as
the safety car peeled off into the pit lane to
resume the racing clelland harvey radisic and reed
followed it in this caused chaos in the pits as cars
had to run over airlines and jacks to get back out
onto the track with reed being boxed in by pergeot
and tim harvey tim boxed me in and just cut across
my nose so whilst our pit stop was quicker i had to
drive across his airline and wheel gun to get back
out onto the track he told the press out for the race
oh into the pits goes radisic and clelland's in
harvey's in everybody's got the same idea john yeah
that's okay we'll worry about it in a while as
you said we gamble that's what you play for in a
wet race whether or not to go onto group tires like
this or these guys staying on slicks hoping that the
rain is a light shower and will blow over well and
being pushed backwards out of the pit he'll spin the
wheels on that box or warm those group ties up as he
oh dear me harvey takes the pit crew with him and
the ally out goes reed and struggling to get out of
the pits first in last out called radisic he will not
be pleased for that situation a very congested
pit here alex and more carnage in the pit lane
again for this race wasn't it absolutely yeah and and
it was it was sort of it was made even more so
because there were four cars at once pitting and
yeah and i did feel for radisic because they were
at the border at the end of the pit lane but as as
all the others piled out he was ready to go and
and of course the way they were driving into the pits
it wasn't like in 98 and 99 where they had a they
pulled in horizontally they pulled in into the garage
and then had to be pushed back out and because of
this radisic had to just wait for all the other
cars to go past because they're at the end of the
pit so i did feel for them a bit on that but um
reed reckons that he would have won the race had he
not been um boxed in as it were by tim and perge
he said that you know if um if if we got out there
quicker we would have been in front of them and we
would have won the race so yeah it just shows that
these decisions can make you know race winning
choices you know the decisions can change the
outcome of the race you know back at the front
menu swiftly got past Thompson to take second
place and was quickly on the tail of tanqueenie and
challenging for the race lead the rain was getting
heavier and heavier and that meant that cleland and
harvey started to cut their way through the back
markers and at a very fast rate any chance of a
result for cleland don't was soon ended after he
and harvey tangled at the club chicane on lap seven
tim harvey number 12 tim harvey right up the inside
of john clellan a tiny nudge and that's all it
takes cleland's facing the wrong way and he ends up
but still running good driving kept it running
snatches a handful of gears and he's back on the
tarmac charlie two tough men neither of them given
it water harvey wasn't going to move there and
neither was cleland it was a typical harvey style move
the 1995 champion declared after the race he left me
absolutely no room adam do you think john has a point
there or do you think that was a bit more of a
racing incident into the club chicane um it's it's
difficult you want to see more angles but you know
like tim wasn't on the grass on the inside where
we've seen it before where the the inside car's been
squeezed but you're going down there so fast and we
know the outside line can be as quick as as the
inside line which you naturally think is the you
know it's the best it's the best line to take but
we also know that overtaking can be done on
the outside i was yes cleland was in front and
tim was slightly behind him but i just felt like john
could have just left him a little bit more room
knowing that momentum as you break in both cars
naturally you're trying to break and literally you
feel the back on the brink of losing it because you're
on the limits so much because you're turning right
but you're breaking so hard all the weights on the
front you've got belly any weight and obviously your
ears are locking on the inside as well which
doesn't help it's like someone put in the
handbrake on at times a little bit so the car
wants to go to the left so yeah i just felt that
john might be could have just knowing he was there
just maybe gave him another foot or two room thing is
there's such good friends john and tim you know it's
no um there's a couple of things it's mad how it was
the slightest touch wasn't it that just sent the car
around as you said the cars are so light at the
back yeah it was just the slightest touch and and
john they're saying he left me absolutely no room i
think it's the other way around john i mean i'm i
was i remember at the time thinking oh gleddy harvey
you know but as a big glellon fan but yeah
looking back on it now the racing incident and it's
just a shame because they're both coming from
pit stops so yeah you think that both of them
we're thinking right let's not fight each other let's
get back up yeah the field because they're just slowing
each other up fighting you know i don't know but they
yeah it's a shame it is a shame it happened and it
would have been nice to see how john would have
progressed but it wasn't to be as all that was going
on menu was making an attempt on the lead of the
race pulling up alongside our queenie heading into
the final chicane the italian held on to the
lead and menu seemingly settled for the points
barry if that was a settling for the point
situation from menu so early on in the year that
must be a sign that menu was already thinking about
the title even at the third race meeting of the
year well the keys in the word you use there
seemingly settled for the points and i think i think
no the final chicane as we all know and adam in
particular two into one doesn't go around there and
it's a question of self -preservation if you back
out of something that's common sense that doesn't
mean you're settling for points that means you want
to bring it home for a finish maybe you'll wait
your turn and have another go but i don't think yes
he was thinking of the title they're all thinking
of the title but i don't think that was reflected in
his driving i think that that backing out i think
was you know because he thought this ain't gonna
work you know if he's not going to lift off and i
don't lift off one of us is going to end up in
that grandstand or certainly across the rumble strip
yeah a bit like claren did the cover laugh for you
previously as we just discussed yeah you can't
you can't go you can't get two cars around that
chicane can you it's single fire common sense in my
opinion yeah self -preservation yeah meanwhile
patrick waltz was slowly rising through the field
and was up to seventh but coming through church on
lap nine he accidentally switched the master switch
off when switching on his headlights and he spun at
church and was out of the race alex i think we've
already mentioned with um when we were speaking about
barry's fantastic line of what the dickens was going
on there but that's got to be one of the most bizarre
incidents in a touring car race yeah it's weird isn't
it i mean patrick sort of told us about it when he
did his um his podcast with us didn't he yeah
that basically he was fumbling around for his
headlights and instead of hitting the headlights
switch he's hit the master switch and the whole thing
went out and he went off and um do you remember he
claimed that he would have won the race yes a lot of
drivers have claimed that they would win this race
um in in talking to us i know patrick listens to the
show so i'm sorry patrick but i i don't think you'd
have won this one but um yeah he's um it's it's a
bizarre incident and um one that would only happen to
patrick watts i think i think everyone knows what i
mean when i say that you know it's um he always
seemed to have the bizarre incidents always seem to be
in the wrong place at the wrong time and yeah it's
just another comedy of areas for patrick watts
bless him as watts was having his issues his
teammate on wet tires was slowly carving his way
through the field and by lap 17 the 1992 champion
was in sixth place and fast closing in on the
leaders adam this is some showing from harvey in the
pergeot isn't it getting up there with the the big
guns up top yeah i think he was i think you know
he at this point it's almost like you see tim
and that and the pergeot team was like underdogs but
you had to remind yourselves this was a
factory pergeot team you'd expect them to be up the
front being a factory team and you just you know you
imagine they've got everything in the toolbox
to get to get the job done and obviously what you
know talking to team managers that we've had in
in series three obviously we now know a lot
different but yeah um it's yeah it was exciting stuff
for to see tim potentially sort of try and get there
really um again like i said before it's almost
like if you're not the fastest car and the fastest
team this is your opportunity to to absolutely
pounce and maximize these conditions you know didn't
work out so well for um for allain you know with
the changing conditions because we felt like he
was just going to romp to victory in both if it's
dry but it then brings people like tim into the
equation where you know hasn't got the maximum
horsepower hasn't necessarily got the best handling car
however that all sort of goes out the window in
these conditions so yeah it became really close and
obviously a lot of people rooting for him to get the
job done and no one would have been more excited than
nearly getting there than him but it didn't quite
get get there but yeah as always exciting stuff by
lap 19 harvey was up into third place chasing men you
and tarqueenie and closing in on them with a handful
of laps to go there was a possibility that he could
win the race the plateaus misfortune tomsen's
misfortune and he is a man on a mission he's up to
third pass record right now is he jolly in with a
real chance of winning this race this is no kidding he
could win the reason which he's climbing through the
field the difference in the left speed a win is really
really on the cards there are still enough laps left
in this race for harvey to catch them he will deeply
love a little bit more rain because he's on the
better tires barry as you said in the commentary
there this is a real chance for harvey to take
purse for his maiden btcc victory isn't it absolutely
he was having an inspired drive and you know gating
momentum lap after lap after lap and as we saw
you know but for a tail ender it could have been a
completely different story you know going into the
final chicane it was a really really close thing
and he was on a mission there's no doubt about it
and but he was thought it and that's racing you know
one more lap and it'll be a different story i suspect
but he was definitely definitely on target for
victory and he wanted it with two laps to go harvey
passed menu and into second place tarkweanie was five
seconds down the road with harvey catching by
approximately three seconds a lap sadly for harvey he
caught up with tarkweanie at the club chicane on the
final lap with jamie wool's independent cavalier in
between them his sole ambition for the remainder
of this lap is to catch tarkweanie and how committed
is he did you hear that flat through church not
dropping a gear at a dry weather manoeuvre flat did
not lift that throttle at all now he's moving up
into the last corners jamie wool the privateer is
between harvey and tarkweanie that could be a
problem it's going to be also close rob gravid is
ahead of tarkweanie holding tarkweanie up jamie wool is
in there as well out the outside making a sprint
it's harvey but tarkweanie is on the inside land and
chicken flag goes to the italian what a brave brave
drive by tim harvey the honda people are thrilled
that's indeed i'm sure it's tarkweanie the racing in
the total cup was just as exciting with matneal taking
both victories the first for team dynamics self
-built mondayo program team dynamics had turned to
former btc star andy rouse after the silveston meeting
with rouse suggesting the team revised the suspension
and steering geometry on the mondayo the car feels
brilliant matz said after the races we headed to
pembry with andy after silveston and he's been
able to assess certain things with the setup the
car doesn't scare me as much now it's impressive
work by rouse to help get the mondayo more competitive
isn't it yeah i mean let's just start by saying that's
a very ambitious program isn't it by dynamics to
try and build their own supertora rather than do
the the usual which was find you know a cast off
from a from a works team from the previous season
you know they did that with the mondayo in 95 and
then you know they won the title at the canter but to
go their own way and build their own mondayo eventually
it worked out that it wasn't the way to go
because halfway through this season they ditched the um
they ditched the mondayo the self -built card and
they moved to the nissan and um and mat became more
competitive in a in a an older nissan premiere but
you know fair play to andy um who let's be fair i
know it was the mark two model that they were racing
but andy rouse knew his way around a mondayo didn't
he so yeah you know and uh it was it was tough
for night for andy rouse in 96 with those very old
nissan premiere as he was running on a on a semi
-work basis um so it was nice to see that he was
getting in because of of course that was his last
involvement in the championship directly um
those nissans because um yeah he he didn't have a
program for 97 so nice to see andy getting involved
and and yeah great he made the the car a race winner
um in the total cup but um yeah it's it's a shame
that eventually the program didn't continue because the
cars just weren't competitive enough you know
you had um you had some quick cars in the total
cup that year gravate in his honda yeah um uh lee
brooks lee brooks in his perjio yeah you know there
were some there were some quick cars that year and
when they switched to the nissan it um it certainly
improved things after an exciting meeting it was
great to see tarqueenie back on top of a btcc
podium his first victory in the series since 1994
because this race is so short that you you can't
change tire and i think the team harvey the shizan
was very lucky because when he came he came into the
pit for change tire he wasn't rained so was was
was completely dry so it's i think uh in the in the
three or four laps in the middle of the race was
very dangerous and for me uh was was better to put
out the safety car for three or four laps and
continue after it's now time for our question game
but sadly producer dan cannot be with us today so
this week we have producer ricky he's new to the job
so he's feeling a little shy so i'm going to read
the question out on his behalf there were four
drivers who finished both races at fraksen in the
same position three of which were manufacturer
drivers of these three who finished tenth for the last
championship point in both races i know this one paul
radisic is correct yeah paul radisic finished in
the same places would you know happen to know those
no the do you know the only reason i knew radisic
is because i watched the the race again and um
quite recently and it just noted radisic had a really
competitive qualifying he qualified seventh for one
of the races which was yes quite good for a monday at
that point so and and and then i noticed he got two
points finishes and oh look they were both tenths so
yeah it's a complete flute producer ricky chose that
yeah you know but no um i couldn't tell you any of
the others do you know them um i've been given
them by producer ricky um our menu was third in both
races yes rickard ridell was fifth and the
independent was rob gravitt he was sixteenth in both
races which resulted in a second place total cup
finish at race bottom third in race two it was it was
really bizarre that total cup that year because the
first two rounds at donnington were won by
colling alley in the bmw twice rob gravitt won both
rounds at silverstone and then matt neill won both
rounds in his forward at this round it was it was
a really close field that year that um that total
cup and jaymey war was quick in the cavalier as
well considering it was a yes 95 car yeah 95 car
your knowledge astonishes me gentlemen you must you must
have gone in short trousers on bicycles to those races
yeah i'm very excited talking about motorbikes
your knowledge will astonish us i mean for me super
touring and touring cars was was the number one
sport that was it i loved f1 but it was touring cars
for me that i loved um and i just yeah i mean i
went i went to the vast majority of the races and
i just drunk it in you know it was every single
bit of information that i could take out of it i i
took and yeah it shows it shows it's um it's
something i'm really really i'm still really really
fond of yeah i'm not happy to be the age i am but
i'm happy that i worked through a golden era uh in
two world sport and in four world sport even
albeit briefly with the touring cars but certainly
we always say don't we all the good old days but you
know it was a golden era in bike racing you know
now look at motor gp we it's basically a spanish
stroke italian championship and no americans no brits
as the old australian tinkering about around the
edges but nothing much happening and you know i
think you're you're quite right al that you know
there's a big sea change coming across the world of
motorsport full stop for this series of stories from
super touring we are delighted to be teaming up
with brand's hatch to give away two tickets to super
touring power two which is being held at the famous
circuit on the 29th and 30th of june 2024 the
award -nominated event was a smash hit last year when
its debut edition transported fans back to
the 90s and this year's event will once again
celebrate one of touring car racing's most fondly
remembered eras to enter the competition just answer
the following question who was the first ever guest
to star on stories from super touring send your
answers to podd at 1990sbtcc .com and we'll
announce the winner on a later episode this series
meanwhile let's get back to the episode this was the
closest perder ever got to taking a btcc win as tim
harvey finished right on the boot lid of gambia
lietard queenie i'd like to thank barry nutley for
joining us on stories from super touring today to look
back at this race and we hope we will see you on
stories from super touring again soon barry well thank
you all again for making me so welcome you know i
was no wrecked before we started you said you didn't
know what to expect but you made it very easy and
i enjoyed it very much looking back and i'm uh
i'm quite surprised how much the old brain cells
have retained you know going back all those years
there's a lot going on i'm doing the stuff i'm doing
now but i try not to i don't follow formula one i
don't follow motor gp because my hard drive is
full and i don't want to put loads of stuff in
there which is peripheral you know i'm kind of
focused on what i'm doing but thank you very much
for having me i've totally enjoyed it and i hope i've
been reasonable value oh no no i'm really barry thank
you so much cheers barry great to have you on oh
thanks as ever go to you guys for listening to the
show as well and if you enjoyed today's episode
please make sure to give us a review five star
rating and subscribe to the podcast feed on your
podcast app of choice you can also submit your
questions to our panel for our season finale with greg
hains so if you have a question or thought about
the super touring era of touring car racing don't
forget to email them to us using pod at 1990sbtcc .com
in the meantime we will see you next week goodbye
you