1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:18,500 Stories from Super Touring. Hello, and welcome to this 2 00:00:18,500 --> 00:00:20,980 week's episode of Stories from Super Touring. 3 00:00:21,540 --> 00:00:24,740 I'm your host Levi Riley, and on today's episode we're diving 4 00:00:24,740 --> 00:00:27,940 into one of the most memorable championship showdowns of the 5 00:00:27,940 --> 00:00:33,940 Super Touring era, the 1998 BTCC season finale at Silverstone. 6 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,240 All season long, the title fight built towards a straight jewel 7 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,760 between Nissan's Anthony Reed driving the all conquering 8 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:47,480 Premiera and Volvo's Ricard Rydell in the striking S42. 9 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:51,040 Drivers at the peak of their form, 2 dominant manufacturers 10 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,720 with everything on the line and a final weekend at Silverstone 11 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,560 that delivered tension, drama and A championship conclusion 12 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,400 still talked about today. We're also excited to welcome a 13 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,200 debut guest to the podcast as we look back at this season finale, 14 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,840 The race's editor in chief and the voice behind the brilliant 15 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,440 Bring Back the 10s podcast. Glenn Freeman. 16 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,360 Glenn, first of all, welcome to you and welcome to the podcast. 17 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:19,880 Thanks for agreeing to join us on the show today. 18 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,000 First question, what is it about super tourists that made them so 19 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,440 special for you? Well, firstly, thanks, thanks 20 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:29,480 for the invite. It's it's, it's great to be on. 21 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,200 I've I'm an avid listener to the show and I know you guys say 22 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,360 lots of nice things about bring back V 10's and I can assure you 23 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:37,360 I feel the same way about your show. 24 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:40,320 What is it about Super Tours and Super Touring? 25 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,720 I think it's just the general like prestige of it all. 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,560 You know, manufacturers, superstar drivers, brilliant 27 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,960 angry looking cars that sounded great, incredible, incredible 28 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,440 deliveries. Like everyone had an identity. 29 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:59,160 It was just so vibrant and I was trying to work out how to 30 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,360 summarise it. It was kind of an era, if you 31 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,880 consider it pretty much a 10 year period, an era where in 32 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,480 motorsport terms you caught lightning in a bottle. 33 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,400 And manufacturing involvement, I mentioned at the start can so 34 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,320 often end up being a bad thing for for motorsport 35 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:16,360 championships. And that's kind of what happened 36 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,480 here in the end. But we got such a long period 37 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,040 before that happened and that's what makes it so great. 38 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:23,360 This wasn't a flash in a pan, you know? 39 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,400 This was a decade of something brilliant that still resonates 40 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,000 today. Yeah, and, and we'll stick with 41 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,440 you, Gunn, for our usual open question as well. 42 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,640 What first comes to mind when you first think about this 43 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:38,520 season finale from 1998? I'll keep it brief. 44 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:42,840 It's Alan Menu versus both Vauxhalls, as I know we're going 45 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,120 to talk about it later, but I'm pretty sure there's a kind of 46 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,800 unseen, almost unseen resolution to that battle that involves 47 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,520 Derek Warwick getting incredibly robust. 48 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,640 And I just love that the moment Alex mentioned to me the 49 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:58,800 possibility of doing that race, this race, that was the thing 50 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,120 that come to mind because the first time someone pointed out 51 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,200 to me what Derek did, that's amazing. 52 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,120 Yes, yeah, we'll definitely get on to that because I think it's 53 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,880 our face is all lit up when you mention it because I think we've 54 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,760 seen it as well. Adam coming to you, what about 55 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,880 Yeasticks in the Mind from this season finale? 56 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,400 I think it's just the fact that it's just a finale. 57 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,000 Like what what's the answer? What's going to happen? 58 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:26,800 Who's got the crystal ball? What do we think is going to 59 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:28,600 happen? Different scenarios, Who's going 60 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,760 to play fair, who's not? You know, there's always the and 61 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,680 obviously with with Reedy being as unpredictable as he could be 62 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:37,720 with a can opener, you know, you don't know if that's going to 63 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,480 come into play at at some point, but I just think that's that's 64 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:43,800 again, it's just why I love the Super Touring era. 65 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,040 Really. It was just an era of the 66 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,680 unpredictable ways of racing where you just didn't know what 67 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,720 you were going to get. Yeah, I just loved it, 68 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:55,720 Absolutely loved it. But it's just, yeah, it's just 69 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,240 exciting to know that it's the finale to find out who's going 70 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:00,320 to be crown champion. But also you always have that 71 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:01,880 disappointing where there's a bit of a low where you've got to 72 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:03,440 wait till the beginning part of the next season. 73 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,240 I wasn't there, but yeah, I think it's just the the what 74 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,480 ifs, you know what's going to happen, Who knows? 75 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,800 And finally, Alex, what are your memories from this Silverstone 76 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:17,079 weekend? Alan Then you just falling out 77 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:19,200 with everyone but that. But. 78 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,280 That was standard for him. Knowing me and what he's 79 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:27,280 scathing, telling off basically for parking a perfectly good 80 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:31,800 motor car in the pits after he'd had such a Strop in the second 81 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,560 race. He argued with John Cleland. 82 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,520 He argued with Peter Cox, He argued with Derek Warwick. 83 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,400 He argued with his car. He argued with Will Holley 84 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:44,640 argued. With himself, yeah. 85 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,000 Probably. And and then obviously the the 86 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:49,880 radio, yeah, with his team over the radio. 87 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,760 Did you not hear me? I'm retiring, you know, and, and 88 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:59,880 also that post race showdown in the pits, in the pits garages 89 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,000 with John Cleland where they both had to be pulled apart. 90 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:08,440 And I've, I've recently been given, and I can't really reveal 91 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:13,080 my source where it's from that I've been given the uncut John 92 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:18,680 Cleland interview that BHP had. And my goodness, does he go in 93 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:22,360 on our menu. Half of it could not be 94 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:29,480 broadcast but it is a brilliant, brilliant bit of footage and I 95 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:31,280 wish I could put it out but I can't. 96 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:32,840 Paddock Club. Paddock Club, yes. 97 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:34,760 Great idea. Great idea. 98 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,120 As always, we've also asked our faithful listeners what they 99 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,920 thought of this race meeting. And starting off, Rowland Hill 100 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,160 remembers that Nigel Mansell was pretty forgettable in this race 101 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:47,280 meeting. And I guess that can be summed 102 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:51,480 up by the fact that we've got, what was it, 5-10 minutes in and 103 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,000 we've not mentioned that Nigel Mansell was at this race 104 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,440 meeting. He was pretty anonymous, but I 105 00:05:57,600 --> 00:05:58,400 think. That's why I'd be able to 106 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,960 mention it. We'll, we'll get into a bit 107 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:03,560 more. That probably actually was was 108 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:05,680 quite a nice thing for Nigel particularly. 109 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,800 Meanwhile, Imogen Fict has said that as much as she loves Reedy, 110 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,440 he did kind of bottle the season finale in her opinion with this 111 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,360 his rash move on James Thompson. As we'll get on to, lots of you 112 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,080 are remembering the memorable incident that we've already 113 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,880 brought up between Alan Menu and John Cleland, with the likes of 114 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,720 Paul Moore and Dennis Knight recalling this sort of memory 115 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,400 from the meeting. And talking of Menu, as we've 116 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,320 already done quite a lot of in this meeting, we will continue 117 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,880 to do so. I'm sure Paul Wilson remembers 118 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,320 him getting more and more irate to some meeting developed whilst 119 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,800 Aaron Collins remembers what he's scathing response with 120 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,080 antics as Alex has already mentioned. 121 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,120 He argued with Tommy Richtad as well. 122 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:58,840 I just remembered another. 1 Aside from the Reed versus 123 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:01,760 Rydell title battle, the rest of the Build Up Sea event was 124 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,280 focused on if Nigel Mansell would be making his final 125 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:09,160 appearance in the Ford Mondeo. After his difficult ouncing at 126 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,560 Bransach, Nigel was unsure whether he even wanted to return 127 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,280 for the Silverstone finale. Having crashed out of both races 128 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,640 and what he described as a disastrous weekend, he admitted 129 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:21,480 a hope. I race at Silverstone. 130 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,440 I'll wait and see. I'm just pleased to be in one 131 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,680 piece to be honest with you. He didn't hold back on his 132 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,280 criticism of the Mondeo either, suggesting Ford's focus has 133 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:36,920 shifted towards it's high profile 1999 programme, which 97 134 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:39,440 Champion Hour Menu had recently signed up for. 135 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,800 The car's just not competitive and there's no smokescreen to 136 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:48,480 disguise it, he said. Adam, can you understand Nigel's 137 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,240 concerns going into the meeting that perhaps it might not be 138 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:56,000 best for him to turn up? He can, but this is Nigel, isn't 139 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:57,360 it? You know he loves the story and 140 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,560 loves, loves the drama and you know thing to say that he's 141 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,040 happy to be in one piece. You know, this is a man that has 142 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,360 has done some seriously dangerous things in in single 143 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,320 seaters and had some mega shunts and lucky to be alive, to be 144 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:12,080 honest, so to say. He's been one piece. 145 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:16,240 He's just, you know, create in the the drama and you know, he's 146 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,720 got an ego to protect and and everything else to go with it. 147 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,600 But as you all know, I'm a Nigel Mansell fan so he's always 148 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,600 forgiven and everything is fine. But yeah, I can understand him. 149 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:26,240 What? Yeah, to a point, what you're 150 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,360 saying, But you know he's not. If he's not, you can't really 151 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,760 hide the fact that he's got such a big spotlight on him because 152 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:36,640 of his name and what he's achieved and a hero and a legend 153 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:41,240 to many to then be in this environment that he isn't really 154 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,080 that familiar with. But. 155 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,320 Yeah, it was just a tough one for him. 156 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,880 Wasn't to have such a high at one point like Donnington and 157 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:53,080 then all of a sudden he's had a bit of a bit of a stinker, you 158 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:57,200 know, it's yeah, wasn't the best best for him at that time. 159 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:01,120 Was it in the in the Mundare? We, we saw the very best of 160 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,240 Mansell at Donington and we saw the very worst of Mansell at 161 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,560 Brands Hatch. And I often think that it 162 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:11,200 actually worked out quite nicely because you had one real 163 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,320 barnstorming event at Donington, a real stinker as you say, at 164 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:16,760 Brands. And then this one was just 165 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:22,600 middle of the road, kept it on the track, did OK in what was an 166 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:24,920 uncompetitive car. Yeah, and then Donnington just 167 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,040 fell right for him, didn't it, with the weather conditions and 168 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,400 everything that went with it. And it was brilliant, absolutely 169 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:30,120 brilliant. Yeah. 170 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,880 What a what a hero story. But all of a sudden when when 171 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,040 the chips are down and and the conditions are more equal and 172 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:38,920 you get to really see what the competitiveness. 173 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,120 That's why I was used to love obviously the wet conditions 174 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,480 because I wasn't throughout my career, I wasn't always in the 175 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,520 fastest car, but I used to pray for a bit of rain at times. 176 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:51,040 And I loved the changing conditions because it just that 177 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:55,320 allowed me to be competitive. His main contribution to the 178 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:57,600 Brands weekend was, was it, he said. 179 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,560 I think it was Knox when that's the only thing he didn't know 180 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:03,880 that weekend other than being constantly fired off. 181 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:05,880 And then you had what is cheesy joke. 182 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:11,080 Well, I think he knocks you off. Meanwhile, there was a minor 183 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,160 dispute over whether Nigel should run an onboard camera in 184 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,720 his Mondeira for the final race. He was reportedly unhappy with 185 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,160 the TV coverage from Brands Hatch, particularly the radio 186 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,800 link broadcast, when he initially refused to serve a 187 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,480 drive free penalty for speeding in the pit lane. 188 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,800 He even requested a written apology from the TV production 189 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,920 company. As a result, Toca fitted the 190 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,120 camera to Wilhoi's sister car instead. 191 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,240 Alan Gown later clarified the situation, saying he didn't 192 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:44,160 refuse to have a camera but did prefer not to have one. 193 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,000 We'll have more of a chance of being in the thick of the 194 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,240 action. If we had been resolute about 195 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:51,640 Nigel carrying one, they would have had to comply. 196 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:55,880 Glad an interesting call is about Will being in the thick of 197 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,840 the action there, as I'll let you read between the lines on 198 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,400 that one. But do you think this is a Much 199 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,000 Ado About Nothing or was there more to this story? 200 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:08,680 I mean, it's classic Mansell, isn't it? 201 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:10,240 The fact that this is even a story. 202 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,360 Drama, drama. Yeah, exactly. 203 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,440 Obviously if this was on Bring Back V 10s for your listeners 204 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:17,480 who listen to our show as well, this would be a question I would 205 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,760 put to Matt Beer. I did try and bait him this 206 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,480 morning with this question and I got a very diplomatic answer 207 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:27,040 that just sung Derek Warwick's praises for what he did to Nigel 208 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:33,760 this weekend. I think Nigel's reluctance to 209 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:38,000 have a camera and obviously what was it, was it Gal said and he 210 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,960 didn't refuse, but he would prefer not to have one, I 211 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,520 suspect so it was probably just a reflection of the fact he 212 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,040 thought he thought he was going to have another crack weekend 213 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,120 and didn't really want any extra focus on him. 214 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,320 I did love the other Gal line of kind of going fine, we'll stick 215 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,480 a camera in the Ford that's going to be racing other cars. 216 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,840 I also wondered though partly if this was Nigel coming from an 217 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:04,200 era where racing drivers didn't have to be over sharers. 218 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:06,920 You know, not every move you made was caught by an on board 219 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,920 camera, not everything you said was broadcast on radio. 220 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,760 The radio appearing in BTCC broadcast was pretty 221 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,720 revolutionary in the 90s. Modern day drivers just know 222 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:18,160 it's part of the game and they don't care. 223 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,000 You know, they'll say whatever they want to on the radio. 224 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:22,840 Whereas in Nigel's day it wasn't like that. 225 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,040 So maybe he found all of that quite intrusive. 226 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,320 But yeah, just just overall, it's needless grumpiness, isn't 227 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,280 it? But you know, Full disclosure, 228 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,680 either I'm a Mansell fan as well, so I was kind of here for 229 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:34,880 it. You're right though about the 230 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:36,240 radios. I never really thought of it 231 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,760 like that because Donnington, where he was brilliant, was a 232 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,120 live race and they didn't have the technology to be able to do 233 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:44,440 live pit comms really in that way. 234 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,320 Obviously brands was, was edited highlights where they had the, 235 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:53,200 the, the availability of taking all the, all the comms back and 236 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,080 forth the team. And it was it was the really 237 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,640 the, the, the, the, the bit that he wasn't happy with is 238 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,040 basically telling Toker to get stuffed over. 239 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:03,640 He was. A he was a pit to car radio 240 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:06,600 conversation that when when in the pit lane and there was 241 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,120 moaning coming in, you know, he didn't. 242 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,560 It just it's because he it shone a light on him in a negative 243 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:13,360 way. Yeah. 244 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,320 It's. And he doesn't like that. 245 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,720 He got he got called in for a drive through because he was 246 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,680 speeding on his pit exit. Yeah, and he said. 247 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,840 I only saw 64 once and then the just the two supply was well 60 248 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,120 twos the limit. And it's like it's made, not 249 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:30,880 stupid. Didn't it? 250 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,280 Exactly. And I can, you know, I you know, 251 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,120 we all know Nigel's very protective of his ego and and 252 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:39,640 yeah, he wouldn't have liked that. 253 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,360 And I think that's what really probably was the worst bit of it 254 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:44,640 for him. No one briefed him beforehand, 255 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:45,880 by the way. No. 256 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,000 As, as Glenn says, he wouldn't have been used to that sort of 257 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:50,320 thing. He wouldn't have expected it in 258 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:55,200 any in any way. 1980F1 champion Alan Jones was linked with a 259 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:59,320 guest driver Renault for the BTCC season finale as another 260 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,640 challenger to Mansell. Jones drove for the Williams 261 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:07,320 Touring car Engineering team at Bathurst in 1997, so he was 9 to 262 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,520 the team Alex. It didn't happen in the end, but 263 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:13,040 it would have been an interesting story had it 264 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,480 happened, surely. There was talk all the way 265 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:20,320 through 98 that people were going to jump in and challenge 266 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,360 and they had all these. Jodie Schechter was going to be 267 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,440 in a Nissan at one point at Donnington, Alan Jones was going 268 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,760 to be in a Renault at some point and it it it flared up again at 269 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:35,280 the finale and Renault if in the end gave the third car to 270 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,600 Rushdad instead of Alan Jones. He did do the Bathurst as you 271 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:43,200 said in 97 where admittedly it's a long track isn't it? 272 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:47,200 But he was 4 seconds off Alan Menu, who in fairness is 273 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:49,920 probably the greatest Super Touring driver in the world at 274 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:54,160 that point in the greatest Super Touring car in 97, the end of 275 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,960 the end of 97, that Renault was obviously dominant, wasn't it? 276 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:00,600 So I don't know what you can judge. 277 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:02,760 I mean, he was closer. I'm looking at the the the the 278 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,560 top 10 runoff now. He was only a second off John 279 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,320 Cleland in a Vectra. Brad Jones. 280 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:09,680 He was only a second and a half Auster. 281 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:12,800 He'd have been competitive. He would have, he, he, he 282 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:17,360 probably would have been racing near, near Nigel and, and, and 283 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:21,120 Derek Warwick and, and, and, and getting involved in all that 284 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:23,720 stuff. So I don't think he'd have been, 285 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,400 you know, embarrassing himself or anything, but it would have 286 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,760 been an it would have been an unusual decision to have put him 287 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:33,480 in the car. But yeah, it will. 288 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:35,600 Why not? Why not another, another F1 289 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,920 driver in the, in the at this point, this was the peak of 290 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:40,920 Super Touring. This was the peak of the British 291 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:45,480 Touring Car Championship. And only the BTCC could pull 292 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:51,160 names like Alan Jones, Alan Nigel Mansell out of the hats 293 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,000 and, and, and do these things. So it wasn't impossible. 294 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,080 But yeah, I, I don't think we missed out. 295 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:58,560 Should we say that he didn't do it? 296 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,520 I don't think there's anything that's like, oh God, we could 297 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,000 have had a real a real classic on our hands. 298 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,000 I don't think that was the case. Elsewhere in the paddock, there 299 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,360 was speculation that the late hot form of a Van Miller had 300 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,600 made ALDI reconsider their expected withdrawal at the end 301 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:16,240 of the season. ALDI Sport chief Wolfgang Ulrich 302 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,920 told Auto Sport this decision will not be made until all the 303 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,560 companies and marketing departments come together and 304 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:24,960 meet. This will not happen until all 305 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,960 the championships have finished. We now know that they ended up 306 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,800 withdrawing in the end Glen, once all the championships 307 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,920 finished and these things took place in a very German style. 308 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,320 But could you see a competitive Audi if they had remained in 309 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:42,440 1999? I would have loved to see them 310 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,120 continue. I remember being really excited 311 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,960 when they, when we found out they were going to go to 2 wheel 312 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:49,960 drive for 98. And I thought, this is great. 313 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:51,840 We're going to see Audi on a level playing field. 314 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:55,520 And I actually thought they would do a better job than they 315 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:58,760 did because I, I thought they were sometimes unfairly, it was 316 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,280 assumed that all the advantage was purely 4 wheel drive. 317 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:02,600 And I was thinking, actually, this is Audi. 318 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,920 They're, they're doing a good job as well. 319 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:07,560 So I would have liked to see them persist because as you say, 320 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,480 that did appear to be an upturn in form towards the end of the 321 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,079 year. So it's like, OK, you've plugged 322 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:16,359 through the really difficult part you're getting there. 323 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,079 Let's let's see what we can do in in 99. 324 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:22,359 I mean, I do wonder if some of that uptick in form was also 325 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,000 Muller getting used to the championship as well and 326 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,880 settling. So obviously he went on to even 327 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:31,160 in 99 when he moved to Vauxhall, he looked much more comfortable 328 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,400 there straight away. So I think there was a bit of 329 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,040 that going on as well. But I would have really just 330 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:40,000 liked to see if that momentum or how that Audi late 98 momentum 331 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,360 would have fit in the 99 picture. 332 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:45,960 And obviously it would have been great to to not lose another 333 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:48,880 manufacturer. I was interested in the Ulrich 334 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,120 quote that you guys kind of chuckled out there. 335 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,560 I dealt with him a lot covering the DTM and going to the modern 336 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,040 year after year for a while and had quite a good relationship 337 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:00,000 with him. And I remember a colleague 338 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,880 telling me they said he's one of those guys who he will never 339 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:08,120 tell you an outright lie, but he's very good being very 340 00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:12,920 economical with the truth. So looking at that quote, he's 341 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,080 basic, you know, there's there's some truth in there, but the 342 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,680 truth is probably that the announcement will be made once 343 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:21,840 all the seasons are finished and once we've had all of our 344 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:23,840 marketing meetings. And basically that's when we 345 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,840 take the bit of paper that says BTCC on it and RIP it in half. 346 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,240 But I think, you know, the decision had been made and I 347 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,040 doubt there was any any reversing it, you know, even if 348 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:34,640 Muller had had won a race. But yeah, real shame. 349 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:38,920 I think Audi getting the hang of 2 wheel drive in 99, they're not 350 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:40,760 going to be fighting for the championship again. 351 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:42,640 But it would have been fun. It would have been fun to see. 352 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,520 Yeah, Muller's, the second-half of the season was very strong. 353 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,160 He got a good couple of podiums in all sorts of different tracks 354 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:54,200 and conditions. I'm thinking Knock Hill where he 355 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,320 was flying, especially in that feature race and he was just 356 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:59,840 passing everyone into the last, into the last corner. 357 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:04,880 I I think they would have. I did try and find out. 358 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,480 I can't remember where the Mueller had signed for Vauxhall 359 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,800 before the end of that year, and I don't think he did. 360 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,400 Happy to be corrected. So I couldn't find anything when 361 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,920 I was researching, but I'm pretty sure he didn't sign for 362 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:23,400 Vauxhall until late in 1998, after this decision had been 363 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:26,480 made. And I just wonder, yeah, had 364 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,360 they been able to retain Mueller, I think Audi probably 365 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:32,040 would have been. Don't get me wrong, they 366 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,480 wouldn't have been up there with Nissan in 99, but they probably 367 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:39,320 would have got a fair few podiums and been reasonably 368 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:41,200 competitive. It was just a shame to see 369 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:48,200 Binkliff just really struggling with that car because he, you 370 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:53,320 know, he did OK against against Beeler and it was just a real, 371 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,760 it was a real enigma that year. He just didn't seem to to get it 372 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,640 going at all. Whereas Muller, as Glenn said, 373 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,360 was new to the championship and and already had a couple of 374 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:07,080 podiums by the end of the year. So yeah, I always thought 375 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,080 Binkliff was a bit of a bit of a strange one in 98. 376 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:12,880 But yeah, it would have been good to see how they stay on 377 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,640 just for the the car. I loved the car. 378 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,040 The car was a beautiful car, wasn't a beautiful delivery. 379 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,080 They made a massive impact coming into the Championship, 380 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:21,280 didn't they? But also, I think if they had 381 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,200 gone that if they did stay on, they certainly would have had 382 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,840 the resources to to do what needed to be done. 383 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:30,680 You know, they would they certainly would have would have 384 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,040 gone at it properly. But it's a crystal ball moment 385 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:34,960 again, isn't it? What if? 386 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:40,200 I guess we had the dual Le Mans projects looming as well over. 387 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,760 This year. Audi UK ran one of those cars 388 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,160 they were on. The one with the roof? 389 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,840 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's true. 390 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,440 That was their aim, wasn't it? They were looking at that. 391 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:53,920 They weren't looking at touring cars. 392 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:55,800 They they'd felt they'd done that. 393 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:58,160 Yeah, been there, done that, you know. 394 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,880 Ricard Riedel was easily the happiest man after qualifying, 395 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:09,840 securing a pole and a fifth place grid slot, whilst title 396 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,840 rival Anthony Reid managed only 4th and 3rd. 397 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,240 Nissan did take one pole, but David Leslie's fastest time in 398 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:21,120 the half hour session felt very much like a consolation prize 399 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:24,680 for Reid. Typically, Volvo's Swedish style 400 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,680 kept his feet firmly on the ground, though he admitted it 401 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,480 had been a strong day. Reflecting on his one shot 402 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:34,120 qualifying lap, he said it was a good lap, not perfect, but they 403 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:36,320 never are. I'm happy that we are back to 404 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,920 competitive form after Alton Park, Adam. 405 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,800 It must have been a relief of Rydell and Volvo after he was so 406 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:45,880 poor at Alton Park just the weekend before. 407 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,280 Yeah, Dossier dropping a lot of points at Olson. 408 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:52,440 So I think as a driver, you, you just you think, Oh no, have we 409 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,320 lost it? You know, is this all going 410 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,800 South really quickly? So I think from the fact that it 411 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,040 was just competitive again, would have been a massive relief 412 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:01,280 to him. You know, he's got a 413 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,160 championship to go for, but also where he qualified. 414 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,520 Because the last place you want to be qualifying is like third 415 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,200 row, 4th row, 5th row, and you're in amongst it because no 416 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,440 one's going to give a crap about you and your championship. 417 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,520 But then sometimes if you're overprotective and you're trying 418 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,440 to drive a bit cautious, then you just get in a whole world of 419 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,960 shit really, because you just end up being, instead of going 420 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,720 at it, you're too cautious over it and then you end up being in 421 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:29,760 the wrong place, the wrong time moment. 422 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:31,920 So I think the fact that he qualified at the front, he knew 423 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,800 if he could just get a good start, that's all you need to 424 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,400 let the chaos commence behind me and I'm out of the way because 425 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,160 that's just what he wanted. So I think that probably would 426 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,560 have been the most important qualifying of his of his season. 427 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:45,080 Yeah. To just be at the front because 428 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:46,760 it was also a difficult place to overtake. 429 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:48,600 Really. There wasn't, you know, it was 430 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,560 quite a fast flowing circuit, really sort of medium to high 431 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:53,880 speed corners. So there wasn't a tonne of 432 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,360 overtaking opportunities, but yeah, I think he would have been 433 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:02,160 massively relieved with that. I love Silverstone International 434 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,600 Circuit, whilst we're talking about it, one of the best 435 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,760 circuits on the calendar and it's a shame that obviously 436 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,760 bridge isn't, isn't, you know, doesn't exist anymore. 437 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,720 What a corner, What a corner. But it just doing. 438 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:17,520 The GT car was immense, like so good. 439 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:18,280 Imagine. Yeah. 440 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,960 But it just, it was such a brilliant layout for touring 441 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:22,840 cars. It just said everything. 442 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,760 It was brilliant. Earlier in the session Leslie 443 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,400 had timed his effort perfectly on a drying track, capitalising 444 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:33,080 whilst many others rude bolting on their final sticks too early 445 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,360 or having their laps compromised by mistakes or traffic. 446 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,040 In the damp session, Reed had been on the right tyres at the 447 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,040 right moment and felt like he was on a strong lap before 448 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:45,280 locking up into Abby as the flag came out. 449 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,720 I was probably a bit too tight in the car, he explained, not 450 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,240 letting it flow. But the 4th of my teammate on 451 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,520 pole is good. Did he feel the pressure has 452 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:59,280 shifted onto him from Rydell? Reed insisted otherwise. 453 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,320 I don't feel so. I'm not in my fifth season with 454 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,440 the same manufacturer without winning it. 455 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:07,080 I'll have plenty more opportunities. 456 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,320 Alex Reed sounded frustrated with his lapse, especially with 457 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:14,560 the errors. He admitted to As much as he 458 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,400 assured otherwise and that Ricard needed to get the job 459 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,040 done finally with OLVO. Do you think that was the 460 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,000 pressure starting to creep in? That's the sassiest I've known, 461 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,000 Anthony. That's I don't think so. 462 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,880 I'm not in my fifth season. Yeah, I love that light. 463 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:34,440 It's brilliant. When I read it, I thought that 464 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,120 was absolutely brilliant. But yeah, he'd have been feeling 465 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:40,320 the pressure. Absolutely would have been 466 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,720 feeling the pressure. He had a real shot at it. 467 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,680 And yeah, it wasn't the perfect qualifying, and this from 468 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:51,120 somebody who was grabbing pole positions for fun in the 469 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:56,280 second-half of the season. So yeah, it he would definitely 470 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,760 have been feeling the pressure, despite the fact that he'd have 471 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:00,880 denied it. And he said he'd have plenty 472 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,960 more opportunities. I'm not so sure he thought that 473 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:08,520 really, because he'd already accepted a contract with Ford in 474 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,800 1999. He already knew that he wasn't 475 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,680 going to be in what he, and he's told us since many times, that 476 00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:19,240 he knew that car was going to be a rocket for 99 because he knew 477 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:20,480 what they were doing with the car. 478 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,960 I don't think he did think that he had plenty more 479 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:29,280 opportunities. So, yeah, I it was his. 480 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:31,480 I mean, in the end, it wasn't his only chance of winning it. 481 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,280 But yeah, he'd have been feeling the pressure. 482 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:40,160 And there I see it. I think it showed on track that 483 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,960 he was feeling the pressure. It's a it's a rare situation 484 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,320 where the the guy doing the chasing was kind of the one 485 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:49,400 under pressure because he had all the momentum. 486 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,520 So there was more expectation than you'd normally have as the 487 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,880 guy coming in second in points because everyone's looking to 488 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,200 you, as you say, like the qualifying performances that he 489 00:25:58,200 --> 00:25:59,880 had. So everyone's thinking, well, 490 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,240 yeah, Reed could potentially clear up here. 491 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,280 And that's going to be up to Rydell to get enough points to 492 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:07,440 hold him off, which is quite a rare dynamic. 493 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,080 Yeah, yeah. I thought going into it, I 494 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:11,240 thought Reed was going to win it. 495 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,120 At the time I thought Reed was going to do it, but in in my 496 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:18,880 head Rydell was terrible to start, so he would, he bought a 497 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:22,280 start as usual. Reed had go flying in there and 498 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:24,680 he'd take it and he'd win. And I thought Ricard would be 499 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:26,960 the one that would feel the pressure. 500 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,080 But no, it it turned out that it wasn't that case at all. 501 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,280 Especially with with Ricard's performance and how things went. 502 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,840 Alton, yes, he just, he just was not going in his fact for us 503 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:38,360 all, was he? So I think that's why everyone 504 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:40,680 thought that way. Yeah, this he does a couple of 505 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,880 stinkers he had, he had a poor Knock Hill, he had a poor Alton 506 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:48,520 Park really was winning pretty much all the time. 507 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:53,160 Obviously there was that Contra tone that Brands Hatch, which 508 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,440 made me think that re that Rydell was feeling the pressure 509 00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:01,040 because of the way he behaved. So yeah, it's, it's, it's a very 510 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,680 interesting dynamic. I thought really would be the 511 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:09,800 one to, to, to snatch it. But yeah, he he really, really 512 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,560 showed that he was struggling with the pressure. 513 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:16,840 Reed's one shot lap wasn't flawless either, admitting to 514 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,520 small errors at most corners. He also felt that trying a 515 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,920 different damper set up had been, on reflection, the wrong 516 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,240 thing to do. Even so, the lap was good enough 517 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,520 for 3rd. Leslie's pole brought relief 518 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,400 after engine problems had heavily disrupted his test day. 519 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:36,960 I waited till the right time and then did it, he said. 520 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,840 But his one shot lap didn't match that standard with testing 521 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,080 issues, meaning it was effectively his first proper 522 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,240 fire in the dry. The car was all over the place, 523 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,880 he admitted. Elsewhere, Aldi's Evan Miller 524 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,400 and Honda's James Thompson both enjoyed strong runs, each 525 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,520 earning 1 front row slot and one second row start. 526 00:27:57,320 --> 00:27:59,800 Miller might have even snatched the damp session poll from 527 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,160 Leslie had he not encountered Paula Cook's Honda just at the 528 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:06,440 wrong moment. Even so, he remained positive, 529 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,520 saying maybe these conditions are good for alcohol, having 530 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:13,680 equalled his best dry testing time in the damp Glen. 531 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,200 Van and James both delivered strong, consistent performances 532 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:19,080 in both qualifying sessions there. 533 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,680 Do you think if you're read and write L, he'd have been worried 534 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,760 about them potentially playing spoiler in the title fight on 535 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,880 Sunday? I think if you're going for a 536 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:31,880 championship in this era of BTCC, you're worried about 537 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,640 anyone who might end up near you with the way the racing goes. 538 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,240 And as Adam mentioned earlier, when you're if you're trying to 539 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,320 see out a championship, you just want to be left alone and 540 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:42,800 everybody knows that you want to be left alone. 541 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:44,320 So they try and take advantage of that. 542 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,400 I suspect that we've, we've just talked up how Muller was 543 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,800 finishing the season. I suspect they probably looked 544 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:54,120 at Muller and thought that's a A1 lap hustle from him that 545 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,400 probably wouldn't sustain over a race distance. 546 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,880 But you'd definitely be worried about Thompson in that Honda. 547 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:03,480 He had plenty of potential to mess with their day, as it 548 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,080 proved. So yeah, you'd be looking around 549 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,040 you wherever you were. You'd be glad that you're not 550 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:09,760 down in the pack as Adam said earlier. 551 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:11,480 But wherever you are, you're going to be looking over your 552 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,160 shoulder, looking left and right and thinking who's going to 553 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,800 cause me trouble? Because this isn't the type of 554 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:18,360 racing where people are going to stay. 555 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:20,320 Oh everyone, give the championship contenders a bit of 556 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:22,760 space and let them sort it out amongst themselves. 557 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,320 And we've qualified and wrapped up in the grid finally taking 558 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,360 shape. All that was left was a small 559 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,200 matter of race day. And this was where the real 560 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:35,760 pressure kicked in. The tides on the line, 561 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,880 manufacturers of everything to gain or lose, and a Silverstone 562 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,840 crowned ready for a showdown. The guys I'm curious heading 563 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,440 into race day, whose position would you rather be in? 564 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:51,600 Rydells or Reeds? So when you say race you mean 565 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:55,720 pre weekend or after qualifying? After qualifying. 566 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:00,360 Ryder. Yeah, looking at the grid, you'd 567 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:02,280 you'd want to be Ryder, wouldn't you? 568 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,080 You've already got the points advantage. 569 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:07,720 You've got the better positions. Yeah, Reedy. 570 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,000 Reedy was looking, was staring up at Ricard. 571 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:15,320 Definitely at that point. I think even before qualifying, 572 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:19,960 once you get to a title decider, points in the bank means so much 573 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:21,520 more. You know, if, if you're in the 574 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,920 running and you're being caught, you can say, OK, I want to be 575 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:26,920 the the hunter rather than the haunted. 576 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:31,440 But once it's all on the line for one final race day, I want, 577 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,200 I want the points buffer. And then even as I said earlier, 578 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,240 if Reed's going to win both the races, leave it to me to try and 579 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,120 just get enough points to to hold him off. 580 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:43,240 That advantage weighs so much more in the finale than it does 581 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,120 save 3 weekends from home, where you feel like there's plenty of 582 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:47,680 time for the guy to keep eating in. 583 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,080 Yeah, yeah. So yeah, right down the way. 584 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:52,920 Because you need things, you need other things to go in your 585 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:54,760 favour and not just your performance. 586 00:30:54,960 --> 00:31:00,120 You know, if if Rydell, if Reedy had won the races, then he's 587 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:02,560 reliant upon where Rydell finishes. 588 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,720 Yeah, in his own hands, is it? Yeah, absolutely. 589 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,320 And that's what Glenn says. You know, you, you, you just 590 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:09,840 want that advantage because it means more now than ever. 591 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:18,440 Pole position Rydell out dragged Thompson's Honda into cops, with 592 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:20,520 Reed slotting in behind the Accord. 593 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:24,440 Knowing that he had to get past Thompson quickly, Reed dived up 594 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:27,080 the inside of him at Priory at the end of that one. 595 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:29,720 Now on board with Anthony Reed ahead of us is James Thompson 596 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,600 and the man he desperately needs to get in touch with is right 597 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:34,800 ahead of us again and he's through. 598 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:36,640 Is he through? Yes, he is side by side with 599 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:39,720 James Thompson, Anthony Reed, him and this end is through and 600 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,640 that's what he needed. Get Thompson out of the way and 601 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,720 get him out of the way. And that's the the pivotal move 602 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,400 from Reed early on in this race. And it seemed to set him up 603 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,320 pretty well, didn't it? It did. 604 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:50,600 He needed to do it. You know, he's got a 605 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,040 championship to chase. But also from Thompson's 606 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:55,520 perspective, scene really coming up the inside, it's a bit like 607 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:57,120 Verstappen going up the inside here, isn't he? 608 00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,960 If you see that he's, he's gone up there like you're letting him 609 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:02,720 through because whether you're there or not, he's going to make 610 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,080 room to come through. And like we've seen at Monza 611 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:08,240 with Verstappen, he ends up on top of Hamilton like it'll do 612 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,320 whatever he's got to do. I think really was very much 613 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:13,360 like that where if Brady is showing a wheel at the inside of 614 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,480 you, there's no point trying to keep him away. 615 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,200 So but really had to do it. You know, he had to do it. 616 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:21,480 This is it now. This is, you know, this is the 617 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:23,280 finale. This is where the way need, like 618 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:25,040 we just said, he's, you know, he's chasing points, he's 619 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,800 chasing the championship. He's got to he's got to just go 620 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,000 with the momentum that he'd taken into that weekend and just 621 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,240 keep going. But yeah, he he knew he had to 622 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:34,720 make. He wouldn't want to have seen 623 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:36,480 Rydell on pole. That's the last thing he wanted. 624 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,040 So he knew he had to make an impact soon as the lights went 625 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,320 out. After dispatching, Thompson 626 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:45,640 reset after Rydell and quickly got close to the Volvo, making 627 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,280 his move into cops at the start of lap three. 628 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,240 It proved to be too close for comfort, according to read. 629 00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,440 I just caught some of the bad air and had to ease off the 630 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:59,040 fossil, he explained. That slight lift gave Thompson 631 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,680 the opening he needed. Thompson drew alongside as they 632 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:06,160 powered up towards Becketts, but Reid forced him to take the long 633 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:09,240 way around. The Honda driver refused to give 634 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:12,720 in and after running side by side through Becketts and into 635 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,200 the first part of the Island essays, Reid finally had to 636 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:18,920 concede the position. And getting ahead of Anthony 637 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:20,480 Reid is what James Thompson's trying to do. 638 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,480 Side by side through Maggots and Becketts, James Thompson is 639 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:27,160 absolutely nailing Anthony Read. They're heading down to the 640 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:28,760 islands again. They can't get through there. 641 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,960 Two by two and he's back in front of him. 642 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,400 Amazing stuff. Reef was challenging right now. 643 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:35,160 Thompson's now back in front of him. 644 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,280 He shot the fox. Alex some fight back from 645 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:41,120 Thompson there he we wasn't letting cover second easily, was 646 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:43,800 he? This is one of my favourite 647 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:48,600 overtakes from the era. It's an incredible move and 648 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:54,000 Thompson knew that Reedy would not be able he he would not be 649 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:59,120 able to risk ADNF. So Thompson absolutely nails 650 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:00,840 him. It's an incredible overtake. 651 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:04,080 It's one of my favourites and the other one, the other one of 652 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,480 my favourites is again, Jimmy T, funnily enough, on on, on 653 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,520 Anthony Reed again down at Graham Hill Bend in a brand's 654 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:13,560 hatch. And what annoys me where that 655 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:15,280 one is it doesn't get covered in the season review. 656 00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:20,320 But anyway, this is an incredible move and they're just 657 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:24,320 so close together and Thompson knows he's like I've got you 658 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,440 here, you're just going to have to back off mate. 659 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,239 And if you don't back off, we're making contact and your 660 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,000 championship is over. That's it. 661 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:32,320 Really had to allow it to happen. 662 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,280 Once it was that there are certain once the wheels there, 663 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:35,639 that's it. You've got an income flow. 664 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:39,440 Because through that island chicane, yeah, if, if, if, if 665 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:43,280 really didn't back off either. Been off in the wall, out of the 666 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:48,520 race, whatever damaged, yeah, so incredible, incredible move by 667 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:53,040 Thompson and as we know now, one of his favourite overtakes as 668 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:56,120 well. Seconds later, Reed came back 669 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,400 for another attack, believing Thompson had left the door open 670 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:02,320 at Abbey. This time, the move didn't work. 671 00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:06,000 The two made contact, sending them tumbling down the order to 672 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,000 7th and 8th respectively. Strong pass by James Thompson. 673 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,720 He took the initiative. He forced Anthony Reid to stay 674 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:14,080 out. No, Reid, don't. 675 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:18,080 Onions went bang into the back of the Honda and that was simply 676 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,200 Mission Impossible by the championship contender Anthony 677 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:23,600 Reid. Out front, Rydell was now 678 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,920 comfortably clear with Ivan Miller's ALDI giving chase. 679 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:30,120 Glen, what were your faults on Reid's move there? 680 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,560 It seemed a little robust, perhaps didn't a little little 681 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:35,480 little bit of panicking setting in. 682 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:42,200 It's hilariously bad when I was when you watch this back, if you 683 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:46,560 pause the onboard footage from Reed's car when Thompson brakes, 684 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:50,400 they're barely in the same post code so that the move was never 685 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:51,240 on. It's not you. 686 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,800 There wasn't even a well executed lunge to be done. 687 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:57,800 He's so far back. But you watch it. 688 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:00,520 If you showed someone a freeze frame and kind of did what 689 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:03,280 happens next, you don't, you wouldn't. 690 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,440 You wouldn't think to guess, oh, he's about to basically hit him 691 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:08,120 in the right rear because he's so far back. 692 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:11,840 You think he wouldn't get there. I I can understand. 693 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,200 I think you're right. He got flustered by by the 694 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:17,280 brilliant move from Thompson a couple of corners before. 695 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:21,440 And as, as Alex outlined there, Thompson knows what he's doing. 696 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:26,800 He knows that the guy he's up against can't afford to maybe 697 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:29,640 defend as robustly as Anthony Reid normally would. 698 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,600 So he's exploited that. But that that's what you're 699 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:34,520 there to do, particularly when you're a driver, a front running 700 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:37,000 driver up against the championship contenders. 701 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,360 You know, it's very rare that you're going to give give them 702 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:42,880 that extra inch in that situation. 703 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,560 So I can see why Reid got a bit flustered by that. 704 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:49,120 But he's then got to remember on that straight down to the Abbey 705 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:51,560 hairpin. He's got to remember you're in a 706 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,680 well sorted Nissan Premieri, you're on the in the best car on 707 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,000 the grid. You've got time. 708 00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:59,120 Get him back, take a breath and reset. 709 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,280 Obviously that is easier said than done, certainly from my 710 00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:08,160 from my position. So I guess I it look, I think 711 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,880 Reed could feel it was all getting away from him and 712 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:16,040 decided that he needed to fix it immediately rather than let it 713 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:18,640 all come back to him. But it was never going to work. 714 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,120 He's miles back. And that's why I said it's 715 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:22,440 hilarious. It really. 716 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:24,640 Because it's, yeah, it's outrageous. 717 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,360 Very much really there wasn't like I know we've joked in the 718 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,040 past, Alex about the can opening move, but particularly at 719 00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:33,680 brands. I mean, this was this was far 720 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:37,240 from a canopy move. This was like, you know, the 721 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:39,080 like he's just pulled the pin, hasn't he? 722 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:42,800 Like this was quite part of his character really where he's just 723 00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,640 pulled the pin and immediately like on the attack and and 724 00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:48,360 didn't not quite the finesse needed for it. 725 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:50,280 It was like panic stations, really. 726 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:52,880 Yeah, it's opening a can with a sledgehammer. 727 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:54,920 He just smashed it as they. Yeah. 728 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:57,240 He's used a flat blade screwdriver and a hammer over. 729 00:37:57,240 --> 00:37:59,160 He's getting into a tin of things. 730 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,080 Yeah, this isn't this is. Yeah. 731 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:02,640 This was the desperation measures. 732 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:04,480 Now this is like last round of the championship. 733 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,040 I've got to do it. But yeah, I think he knew it was 734 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:12,800 slipping away from him. What he should have done, and I 735 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,240 thought like telling Anthony Reed what to do, but. 736 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:16,480 You are Alex. I am. 737 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:17,480 Yeah, I am. I am. 738 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:20,680 Are you listening, Mr Reed? He is, he normally does to be 739 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:24,680 fair, blessed, but what he should have done is probably 740 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:27,600 noticed. Wow, Tommy was quick in the 741 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:31,280 street isn't he? Let him go at Ricard and 742 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:34,880 followed him stuck on his bumper and said right, go on. 743 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:36,880 You go after Ricard then I'll stick on you. 744 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:39,080 You get past record. Yeah, exactly. 745 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:42,760 You get past Ricard and I'll then deal with Ricard once 746 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,160 you've got you've got past him but you but you but. 747 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:46,720 You imagine the heat of the moment. 748 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,520 Of course not. That he's that he's a tough, 749 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:52,160 tough decision to make. Absolutely, yeah. 750 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:54,320 And, and and in the heat of the moment, you're not making, 751 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:56,080 you're not having those rational thoughts. 752 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:58,920 I get that. But I mean, as you said, Adam, 753 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:04,640 his whole persona on track was very much elbows out aggressive 754 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:06,120 racer. He always has been. 755 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:10,760 He always will be. And I often say in 2000 as well, 756 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:13,640 when he had the championship beside of that year, he went too 757 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:17,400 much the other way and he was too cautious and it went wrong 758 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:20,880 for him that time as well. So yeah, he can't, he can't 759 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:23,840 catch a break, can he? Bless him, but no awful, awful 760 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,800 move. I I showed that to someone 761 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:29,080 recently who who'd never seen the move before. 762 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:33,400 And I said, what do you think of that is like, what do you do 763 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:38,160 that for? I was never expected. 764 00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:41,880 What a silly thing to do. And it, it was daft in the fight 765 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:43,960 of the, in the, in the heat of the battle. 766 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:46,560 It was a silly thing to do. And ultimately it cost him his 767 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:49,640 championship battle, championship trance, because he 768 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:53,600 damaged the car. He, he, he broke a track rod and 769 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:58,400 he, he damaged the splitter. And yeah, just silly, silly. 770 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:02,480 After further contact with Menu, Thompson found himself down in 771 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,120 7th place. We've read a place behind and 772 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:11,440 Ryder was now way clear, chased by Vamela's Audi, Adam Reed's 773 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:13,840 champions to chances. They looked pretty bleak, didn't 774 00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:15,720 they off that leave? Yeah. 775 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:17,440 And I think we've just hit the nail on the head with what we've 776 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:21,240 just spoke about really. I think it's it pulled the pin, 777 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,240 not the panic pin really like the button had been pressed. 778 00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:30,160 And yeah, it just, he, I think he knew deep down like the 779 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,080 position, the difference in position and the point was just 780 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:34,640 too big. It wasn't like he was in second 781 00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:37,080 place and Rydell was in first and did the next race. 782 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:39,200 And hopefully Rydell has mechanical value or he could 783 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:42,880 have a go at him and but he wasn't close enough to make the 784 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:45,880 fight with Rydell. And yeah, he just knew he was in 785 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:49,960 a whole world of storm really. I think deep down just wasn't 786 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:54,040 wasn't going well for him. Just as things looked to settle 787 00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:58,280 down, Rob Gravitz Honda engine blue, leaving a big pool of oil 788 00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:01,480 at Becketts. The top few moved through safely 789 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:05,480 but several others spun off, including Leslie Island after 790 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:09,640 making contact with Cox, meaning the safety car was scrambled but 791 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:12,240 not before Thompson got past menu at Abbey. 792 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:17,040 That but paid to a not so happy Rydell's lead and when the race 793 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,240 restarted he was immediately under pressure from Miller and 794 00:41:20,240 --> 00:41:23,880 the recovering Thompson. Miller was soon dispatched by 795 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:27,600 the Honda at the restart and he soon started chasing after Idel. 796 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:32,000 Meanwhile, further back, Alimenu and Peter Cox were once again 797 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:35,120 clashing, this time leaving the Doctrine's Honda limping. 798 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,120 Into Abbey Corner, that's Peter Cox and the Honda having a look 799 00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:40,320 down the inside of LMNU. Having more than a look. 800 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:43,440 Take that, Peter Cox gives LMNU a punch in the air. 801 00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:51,120 I meant you're having an absolute tantrum over that. 802 00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:53,880 He's furious of Peter Cox is mortally wounded, looking at 803 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:57,160 limping around. Menu was not happy at all, 804 00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:00,160 angrily reporting back to the team on the radio. 805 00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:05,560 Alex, this is the first couple of multiple adventures that Alan 806 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:09,040 Menu was having in the last round of his title defence, the 807 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:10,760 last round of his running career. 808 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:15,680 This one was particularly nasty. Back and forth, wasn't it? 809 00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:17,600 I mean, what were your thoughts on these two? 810 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:25,040 This is the first of two bits of contact between Peter Cox and 811 00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:32,080 and Ala menu and and yeah, Peter Cox just just just wallops him, 812 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:35,120 doesn't he? Just, you know, it's I'm trying 813 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:37,320 to think which one is worse, but obviously the second one must be 814 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:42,240 worse because it Rex Cox's Honda. 815 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:47,800 But yeah, it was just the the ranting on the radio that again 816 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,400 we talk about, you know, it was revolutionary. 817 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:54,920 You didn't hear, you didn't hear that in any other form of of 818 00:42:55,240 --> 00:42:57,080 any. I'm trying to think of any sport 819 00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:00,360 actually at this point. And you didn't have it in F1. 820 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:04,000 And obviously, again, due to the nature of it being edited 821 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:09,400 highlights rather than than live content, but yeah, menus, rants, 822 00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:17,720 yeah, just absolutely hilarious. And Cox, Cox's interview after 823 00:43:17,720 --> 00:43:22,560 this race is is gold as well. Again, possibly lots of people 824 00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:25,680 haven't seen it before, but it's basically he was saying, well, 825 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:27,640 I've had this all season, so I'm dishing it out. 826 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:34,160 It's just, yeah, it was just end of term stuff, I guess, wasn't 827 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:35,920 it? It was like, I've had enough, 828 00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:39,520 I'm going to get my own back, I'm going to settle a few 829 00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:41,080 scores. He helped his teammate as well. 830 00:43:41,080 --> 00:43:42,760 Because obviously, Tom, we've got three straight through as 831 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:47,480 well. So, yeah, the start of a very, 832 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:51,920 very unhappy Allan menu for Stroppy Allan, as I refer to 833 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:56,480 several times in the past, yeah. Onto the next lap and Thompson 834 00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:00,040 was all over the back of Ricard Rydell pulling the same move he 835 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:03,840 made on Reed and Miller to take the lead of the race and 1. 836 00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:07,360 He wouldn't relinquish as. We rejoined James Thompson and 837 00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:09,040 dead ahead of us as Ricard Rydell. 838 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:12,760 Thompson is absolutely clawed his way back up, holding a tight 839 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:15,120 line there through Love Field and at the run back over the 840 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:17,400 pitch straight. Astonishing recovery from James 841 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:19,000 Thompson. He's all over the back of Ricard 842 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:20,720 Rydell. Rydell must be thinking now, 843 00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:22,400 what do I do? I got a championship on the 844 00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:24,280 plate. I've got this guy all over the 845 00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:26,280 back of me, what do I do? Thompson looks to the left. 846 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:29,000 Rydell still driving defensively, doesn't pull out of 847 00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:30,680 the way, holds a tight line through pops. 848 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:33,240 That's not going to help him. Back on board now with James 849 00:44:33,240 --> 00:44:36,240 Thompson trying to find a way past side by side over the top 850 00:44:36,240 --> 00:44:39,120 of the hill, Absolutely nail binding stuff and he's screw. 851 00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:40,520 James Thompson has toughed it out. 852 00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:43,360 The car's grinding like his. No red. 853 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:46,520 Throw rockers on board Glen. We need to just remember this is 854 00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:50,840 the Sprint race as well. He hasn't had 30 old laps to 855 00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:53,720 recover this. It's quite a stunning recovery 856 00:44:53,720 --> 00:44:55,680 from Thompson isn't it? From down in 7th. 857 00:44:56,600 --> 00:45:00,640 It's unbelievable really as Alex just mentioned it. 858 00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:03,480 I mean, it helps Cox was a little bit of the battering ram, 859 00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:06,160 which I think in separate incidents took kind of took care 860 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:10,320 of Leslie and menu just for the safety car and then of a safety 861 00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:13,200 car closes things up. But for me it's not so much 862 00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:15,320 where he comes from position wise. 863 00:45:15,720 --> 00:45:19,160 The miracle really is that he basically had two massive 864 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:21,880 accidents in this race and still came through. 865 00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:25,320 So when it, I mean, we talked about the read here, I'm amazed 866 00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,880 his car carried on after that. It must have it must have been 867 00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:32,400 such a hit in the rear that it didn't catch the wheel and 868 00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:35,040 damage any suspension or anything like that. 869 00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:38,120 But then obviously off the back of that, Thompson kind of 870 00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:41,440 doesn't read himself and tries to make up all the difference in 871 00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:44,920 the following break in zone with a lounge, I think on Menu 872 00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:47,720 Priory. Obviously Alan Menu is in no 873 00:45:47,720 --> 00:45:49,280 mood to let anybody overtake him. 874 00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:52,480 So he just turns in. That's another big, big hit and 875 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:56,480 costs Thompson moral ground. So yeah, the thing that amazes 876 00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:59,880 me really is you can have two shunts that big and still still 877 00:45:59,880 --> 00:46:02,600 come back to win. And it's not just that it looked 878 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:05,440 dramatic from the outside and the in the coverage behind the 879 00:46:05,440 --> 00:46:08,640 safety car, he says to the guys on the radio doesn't he says, 880 00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:10,080 I'm going to slow down and pass the pit. 881 00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:11,800 Wolf, can you check the car for David? 882 00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:14,720 So he's obviously sitting there thinking, I've had two big hits 883 00:46:14,720 --> 00:46:16,480 here. Like I don't know what this car 884 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:20,000 looks like from the outside. I'd forgotten about the Cox and 885 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,920 Leslie thing as well at the Island Chicane, which reminds me 886 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:27,000 of, not that I go on about Charlie Cox very much. 887 00:46:27,240 --> 00:46:30,720 It reminds me of when when Leslie comes into the pits and 888 00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:32,920 he's like, there's something wrong, it's steering from the 889 00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:35,560 rear, there's something wrong and he's arguing with his team. 890 00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:39,880 Cox just says you couldn't find reverse mate, don't argue with 891 00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:42,960 us. Miller stayed close to Rydell 892 00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:45,640 but never quite close enough to make a real move. 893 00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:50,040 As he later put it, he always had a one car advantage and in 894 00:46:50,040 --> 00:46:53,640 that situation it is not possible to pass without risk. 895 00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:57,120 Before long, the Frenchman found himself focusing more on 896 00:46:57,120 --> 00:47:01,240 defending from Jason Plato than challenging the champion elect. 897 00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:04,760 Plato was charging hard having carved his way through the 898 00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:08,680 traffic and chaos after starting 10th on the opening lap, but 899 00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:11,680 Mueller held him off to secure another valuable podium for 900 00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:14,480 ALDI. Reed recovered to 5th place 901 00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:17,880 despite damage to both spacer and a track rod, whilst Paul 902 00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:20,760 Ranasich once again maximised everything he had in the 903 00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:23,000 Peugeot, bringing it home in 6th. 904 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:27,520 Adam Paul Gio in the Peugeot doesn't get mentioned much on 905 00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:31,320 the pod and there's a lot of competitive news reasons behind 906 00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:35,520 that with that Peugeot in 98 especially, but that's a great 907 00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:38,840 showing from the Kiwi and what turned out to be his final BTCC 908 00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:41,880 meeting. He was, and I think Paul's, I 909 00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:43,960 think he was quite a loved racer, really. 910 00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:45,760 I think he was just the nice guy, wasn't he? 911 00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:47,320 In every. He had such a good following, I 912 00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,640 think. Did he have that killer instinct 913 00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:52,960 as a driver like you see from some of the greats? 914 00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:58,080 Probably not. But I think he was quick on his 915 00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:00,360 day. But but from the Peugeot 916 00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:03,680 perspective, it just, I think we all sort of wheeled it on to try 917 00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:06,200 and do better than it did. And I think it's one of the best 918 00:48:06,200 --> 00:48:08,920 looking cars out there with the when he had the green and the 919 00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:10,640 gold livery. And obviously we've seen that, 920 00:48:10,760 --> 00:48:13,720 you know, recently at Brands Hatch when the cars have been on 921 00:48:13,720 --> 00:48:17,800 display and, you know, at the Super Touring power weekends 922 00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:19,240 and, you know, such a great looking car. 923 00:48:19,240 --> 00:48:22,600 And I think it would have been so good to see on a podium and 924 00:48:22,600 --> 00:48:25,960 and and race for victories. But he just never quite got 925 00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:27,640 there. And obviously in previous parts 926 00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:30,760 we've we've spoken about, you know, for some of the reasons as 927 00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:32,680 to why he didn't because he just didn't have the support. 928 00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:34,560 But it was it was a shame for them. 929 00:48:34,560 --> 00:48:37,600 We probably haven't spoken enough about it, but I think 930 00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:39,680 it's yeah, I think it was. It's a tough one. 931 00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:42,480 I just you just wish that had just had an injection of cash 932 00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:44,080 into that team and development, don't you? 933 00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,720 Just to just to push it that little bit further. 934 00:48:47,240 --> 00:48:49,920 So it was a front runner, so it was on the podium and then he 935 00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:53,440 did get spoken about more, but it just wasn't quite too big for 936 00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:58,680 that team, was it? All BTCC and touring car career 937 00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:02,880 was quite strange one because he came in one almost immediately 938 00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:07,920 in the Mondeo, fought for the title on 2 occasions, the World 939 00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:09,520 Cups, you know. Did one as well. 940 00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:14,000 Did the double of the World Cups at Monza and Donington and then 941 00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:16,520 it seemed to just drop off a Cliff like his last win was in 942 00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:19,720 95. Whilst Thompson was taking the 943 00:49:19,720 --> 00:49:22,680 win and Riedel and Reed were locked into their title fight, 944 00:49:23,040 --> 00:49:26,160 the supporting car seemed more intent and contesting who would 945 00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:27,960 collect the money spent? Body panels. 946 00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:32,720 As Derek Porritt put it, it was like a destruction Derby and 947 00:49:32,720 --> 00:49:35,560 when it comes to on track scrapping and the verbal 948 00:49:35,560 --> 00:49:38,800 exchanges that follow, few deliver quite like a pair of 949 00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:42,360 former BTCC champions. Step forward. 950 00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:46,480 Representing Switzerland Ala Menu and representing Scotland 951 00:49:46,720 --> 00:49:50,040 John Clalland. After a strong start, Menu had 952 00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:52,840 been shuffled down the order and found himself stuck behind 953 00:49:52,840 --> 00:49:55,560 Clalland. His attempts to repast Vauxhall 954 00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:59,760 were firmly and his and in his view, unfairly resisted. 955 00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:03,360 Now here's this battle still going on with John Clallon and 956 00:50:03,360 --> 00:50:06,280 Alan menu, menu absolutely sideways trying to tuck in 957 00:50:06,280 --> 00:50:09,040 behind that oil line. And as we go back across the 958 00:50:09,120 --> 00:50:12,400 islands, came souvenir hanging from the front of Menu's car. 959 00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:14,000 I don't know if he's taking a shortcut somewhere. 960 00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:16,400 I'll pick up a bit of more. The deli's to breathe, but he's 961 00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:18,120 sandwiched between these two Vauxhall's. 962 00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:21,080 It's Clowan dead ahead and he's hit him, he's bumped him 963 00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:25,040 straight off LM Menu gives John Clowan the two ward up the 964 00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:27,040 backside, drives him down the fairway. 965 00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:31,400 Menu didn't hold back, the guy just tried to have me off. 966 00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:36,240 He said really he is past it and should go home and stay there. 967 00:50:37,240 --> 00:50:39,160 Clowan's response is every bit as blunt. 968 00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:41,280 The man's a fool. He fired back. 969 00:50:41,520 --> 00:50:43,400 He just can't race in the midfield. 970 00:50:43,720 --> 00:50:46,160 He thinks he can walk on water, but he can't. 971 00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:48,520 There's plenty out there better than him. 972 00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:52,240 Guys, I'd love to hear what you think on of this one. 973 00:50:53,040 --> 00:50:56,440 Both about whether menus move on Cleddon does fair or found, but 974 00:50:57,040 --> 00:50:59,600 perhaps almost more interestingly, about who won the 975 00:50:59,600 --> 00:51:03,200 war of words that followed. Was this before or after the 976 00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:04,760 fight? In the in the paddock? 977 00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:06,040 That's why. Yes. 978 00:51:09,160 --> 00:51:12,200 The move was awful. It was clearly a very frustrated 979 00:51:12,200 --> 00:51:15,400 Alan Menu who had had enough of being beaten up all day. 980 00:51:15,640 --> 00:51:19,960 He's had three rounds of Peter Cox had this stinking race and I 981 00:51:19,960 --> 00:51:21,480 think he was just he's had enough. 982 00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:26,120 These two are never best friends either, so I don't think that 983 00:51:26,120 --> 00:51:31,160 that really helped matters. But yeah, awful move, absolutely 984 00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:36,280 blatant push off the track and as the war words, I think they 985 00:51:36,280 --> 00:51:38,200 both gave it as good as it as it got. 986 00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:43,760 It's brilliant, isn't it? It's he's the PR trained drivers 987 00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:45,680 of today could just never do this. 988 00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:49,640 It's just brilliant. And possibly that's why I look 989 00:51:49,640 --> 00:51:53,560 back at back at the the these these years so fondly. 990 00:51:53,800 --> 00:51:57,120 That was say what you think. As we know, John has told us 991 00:51:57,120 --> 00:52:00,280 many times some of the things that he's got into trouble for 992 00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:04,240 saying, you know, accusing clerks of the course of being on 993 00:52:04,240 --> 00:52:06,160 drugs and all this sort of stuff. 994 00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:10,120 Yeah, this one, it's just brilliant because they're both 995 00:52:10,120 --> 00:52:11,880 clearly just fed up with each other. 996 00:52:12,200 --> 00:52:14,880 And you know, the the guy just tried to have me off. 997 00:52:14,880 --> 00:52:17,000 He's passed it and should go home and stay there. 998 00:52:17,440 --> 00:52:19,960 The man's a fool. He can't race in midfield. 999 00:52:19,960 --> 00:52:23,840 He thinks he can walk on water. And these are the ones that were 1000 00:52:23,840 --> 00:52:26,520 publishable. Yeah, I like that we got 1001 00:52:26,520 --> 00:52:29,240 another. The man's A from John Cleland. 1002 00:52:29,320 --> 00:52:30,440 He had a few. More of. 1003 00:52:30,440 --> 00:52:32,160 Those the man's and I don't know, Yeah. 1004 00:52:33,560 --> 00:52:38,080 The the move from venue, it's just like crude and Route 1, 1005 00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:40,040 isn't it? I'm just going to bump into you 1006 00:52:40,040 --> 00:52:42,680 from from behind. It's obviously not as outrageous 1007 00:52:42,680 --> 00:52:45,720 as what Reid did earlier, but it's not, it's not the move of 1008 00:52:45,720 --> 00:52:49,080 somebody who's as as kind of as Clinton said, has spent a long 1009 00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:51,280 time racing in the midfield, perfecting that sort of 1010 00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:53,560 racecraft. It is just frustration. 1011 00:52:53,560 --> 00:52:56,840 It's not, It's not I'm trying to make this look like a legitimate 1012 00:52:56,840 --> 00:52:58,240 move. I'm going to nerf you off in the 1013 00:52:58,240 --> 00:52:59,800 process. I'm just going to drive into the 1014 00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:02,440 back of you, you know? Yeah. 1015 00:53:02,440 --> 00:53:07,480 Not, not kind of a finessed touring car move, I would say I, 1016 00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:12,840 I did find it strange in a way to see men who have such a head 1017 00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:15,600 loss over the course of both races. 1018 00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:18,400 You know, for him to be doing stupid things like this on 1019 00:53:18,400 --> 00:53:20,760 track. All the arm waving, you know, 1020 00:53:20,920 --> 00:53:24,120 being annoyed when Tommy Rustat had the kind of nerve to try and 1021 00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:26,440 overtake him when they're battling for about 9th place or 1022 00:53:26,440 --> 00:53:28,560 something. All the moaning on the radio for 1023 00:53:28,560 --> 00:53:32,280 it all to be happening at once. It, it just kind of erupted and 1024 00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:34,880 it really did feel like I've had enough of this season. 1025 00:53:35,040 --> 00:53:40,520 I've got my eyes on Ford. It was, I know obviously we're 1026 00:53:40,520 --> 00:53:42,720 talking about the Sprint race here, but it was a shame in the 1027 00:53:42,720 --> 00:53:45,600 end, as you mentioned earlier, for it to end really with 1028 00:53:45,720 --> 00:53:48,680 parking a healthy car and just saying, do you not hear me say 1029 00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:51,560 I'm done with this? It's like Menu and Renault, such 1030 00:53:51,560 --> 00:53:55,160 an iconic partnership and it shouldn't have ended like that. 1031 00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:58,040 But I guess is this where we can I, I saw you all nodding at the 1032 00:53:58,040 --> 00:53:59,480 start. Can we confirm that Derek 1033 00:53:59,480 --> 00:54:01,360 Warwick definitely has him off after? 1034 00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:06,040 I just love that it's kind of in the corner of Clayland's on 1035 00:54:06,040 --> 00:54:07,400 board and you go, what's that, Laguna? 1036 00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:12,240 Doing over there it's. Mad because it's it's as we've 1037 00:54:12,240 --> 00:54:15,000 already said, it's edited highlights, so surely someone 1038 00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:17,800 must have seen it and gone or we could put that unless they just 1039 00:54:17,800 --> 00:54:19,920 didn't have a camera on it, they didn't have any coverage of it. 1040 00:54:20,240 --> 00:54:24,600 But then what Cox would have been at the race, it normally 1041 00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:27,240 worked out that Charlie Cox would have been at the track on 1042 00:54:27,240 --> 00:54:31,600 the race weekend and Watty would have come along in the week and 1043 00:54:31,600 --> 00:54:33,680 added his commentary alongside Charlie. 1044 00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:36,800 But someone would have been there to see that. 1045 00:54:37,120 --> 00:54:38,480 Yeah. Yeah. 1046 00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:41,520 Very, very, very unusual that that wasn't picked up at all. 1047 00:54:41,520 --> 00:54:44,560 But yeah, Derek Warwick does. Just say don't do that to my 1048 00:54:44,560 --> 00:54:48,680 mate or you'll get it back. It's it's for me, it's the wide 1049 00:54:48,680 --> 00:54:51,720 shot where you just suddenly see for no reason and then you take 1050 00:54:51,720 --> 00:54:53,280 the Grand Prix. Yeah. 1051 00:54:53,720 --> 00:54:55,240 He's in the chicane, isn't he? Yeah. 1052 00:54:56,520 --> 00:54:59,720 Just just on his own. It was just just something for 1053 00:54:59,720 --> 00:55:01,720 some certain drivers there. It was just a soddy. 1054 00:55:01,720 --> 00:55:02,920 It's the last round of the championship. 1055 00:55:02,920 --> 00:55:06,240 I don't care anymore. Like, I just don't care anymore. 1056 00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:08,840 You're having it. In fact, you're going to have 1057 00:55:08,840 --> 00:55:10,480 it. And while I'm at it, you're 1058 00:55:10,480 --> 00:55:13,280 having it as well. Stuff. 1059 00:55:13,560 --> 00:55:14,960 Yeah. It's like getting the term, like 1060 00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:17,280 just giving people a slap before you leave in school or 1061 00:55:17,280 --> 00:55:18,600 something. It's just like you're having, 1062 00:55:18,600 --> 00:55:20,280 you remember that time pissed me off in maths. 1063 00:55:20,280 --> 00:55:23,200 You're having it. It's just like, it was just 1064 00:55:23,200 --> 00:55:24,840 revenge, wasn't it? It was just like, sod it, 1065 00:55:24,840 --> 00:55:27,160 especially as a menu changing teams, like what the hell? 1066 00:55:27,440 --> 00:55:29,840 So. But he was very much one of 1067 00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:31,800 those guys where his head would go, wouldn't it? 1068 00:55:32,440 --> 00:55:34,120 Yeah. A bit like really a time where 1069 00:55:34,320 --> 00:55:36,480 once the head's gone, that's it. There's no coming back from him. 1070 00:55:38,800 --> 00:55:42,160 Menu and clients squared up at the back of the pit complex post 1071 00:55:42,160 --> 00:55:45,200 race, with the pair having to be pulled away by their team 1072 00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:49,000 mechanics. Alex, he's kind of hard friend 1073 00:55:49,000 --> 00:55:51,320 of all of that action. That was a Sprint race. 1074 00:55:52,240 --> 00:55:54,440 That was one of the wildest of the era, wasn't it? 1075 00:55:54,920 --> 00:55:56,520 Yeah. What was that, 16 laps, 1076 00:55:56,520 --> 00:56:00,640 something like that? Yeah, it was absolutely crazy. 1077 00:56:00,640 --> 00:56:04,800 It was all action and, and we've not covered it all. 1078 00:56:05,200 --> 00:56:09,000 You know, you had Johnny Moby Daily, which was a rolling 1079 00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:10,360 wreck. You had, you know, bumper 1080 00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:15,840 hanging off Will Hoy had a bit of a bit of a bit of fun with 1081 00:56:15,840 --> 00:56:19,040 him. Nigel Mansell had a bit of a bit 1082 00:56:19,040 --> 00:56:22,480 of drama with somebody, not much, but he his car was clearly 1083 00:56:22,480 --> 00:56:25,760 damaged. Obviously, as I said earlier, 1084 00:56:25,760 --> 00:56:30,360 Leslie and Leslie and Cox came into grief at the island 1085 00:56:30,360 --> 00:56:31,760 chicane. You had all that oil. 1086 00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:34,640 You had people going deep, running the spinning off. 1087 00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:37,720 Yeah, it was it was absolute chaos. 1088 00:56:38,240 --> 00:56:40,360 But. That's what we looked about BTC. 1089 00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:41,920 It wasn't. You didn't know what you were 1090 00:56:41,920 --> 00:56:44,720 going to get and that's what had this, the massive following you 1091 00:56:44,720 --> 00:56:45,800 just like I said earlier, you didn't. 1092 00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:48,840 Yeah, crystal ball. Just a great and as I said 1093 00:56:48,840 --> 00:56:52,720 earlier, I just loved that track and if I was on a menu, my 1094 00:56:52,720 --> 00:56:55,800 excuse would be I always used to do that on Toka Touring Cars. 1095 00:56:55,800 --> 00:56:58,080 I always used to miss that as well. 1096 00:56:58,400 --> 00:57:00,560 I always ran deep. I always went off. 1097 00:57:00,560 --> 00:57:02,560 So that would have been my excuse anyway. 1098 00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:08,600 Go ahead, Race One's result confirmed that Ricard Rydell was 1099 00:57:08,600 --> 00:57:10,560 the champion amidst all of the chaos. 1100 00:57:11,320 --> 00:57:12,880 A well deserved win for the Swede. 1101 00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:15,800 It was a well craft season from him, wasn't it? 1102 00:57:16,600 --> 00:57:20,240 Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, I was an am a Rydell 1103 00:57:20,360 --> 00:57:23,960 fan, but I loved that line earlier from Reed about, you 1104 00:57:23,960 --> 00:57:25,840 know, Rydell's the one who's been trying to win the title for 1105 00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:27,480 years with the same manufacturer. 1106 00:57:27,560 --> 00:57:30,960 Brilliantly spicy, but I think that was part of it. 1107 00:57:30,960 --> 00:57:34,600 Rydell had been for so long, the nearly man of the BTCC. 1108 00:57:34,600 --> 00:57:36,160 That was one of the reasons I really liked him. 1109 00:57:36,160 --> 00:57:38,280 I kind of like the fact there's this guy, I'm like he's clearly 1110 00:57:38,280 --> 00:57:40,440 really good. He's mega fast, like incredible 1111 00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:43,280 number of pole positions and it's just never quite worked 1112 00:57:43,280 --> 00:57:45,840 out. Volvo haven't really given him 1113 00:57:45,840 --> 00:57:48,800 the machinery and then this time he had it. 1114 00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:52,160 And the reason I think, yeah, you said a well crafted season. 1115 00:57:52,560 --> 00:57:56,000 That's the thing. Across the whole season, he was 1116 00:57:56,480 --> 00:57:59,240 the championship contender. He was the guy driving for a 1117 00:57:59,240 --> 00:58:02,160 championship from Race 1. He made the impression straight 1118 00:58:02,160 --> 00:58:05,440 away at Thruxton, the incredible qualifying performance you guys 1119 00:58:05,440 --> 00:58:11,400 have talked about in the past. He's there all season and as I 1120 00:58:11,400 --> 00:58:15,680 said, Reid, Reid's kind of the guy coming up the track at the 1121 00:58:15,720 --> 00:58:19,360 end with incredible, an incredible amount of form and 1122 00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:21,840 momentum. But I've been watching back the 1123 00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:24,320 98 season because obviously you guys are going to do it in your 1124 00:58:24,440 --> 00:58:26,200 Paddock Club series where you're going to go through the whole 1125 00:58:26,200 --> 00:58:28,600 thing, which I can't wait for. So I've been watching all the 1126 00:58:28,600 --> 00:58:31,320 rounds and you get like halfway through the season and you're 1127 00:58:31,320 --> 00:58:33,920 going, where's Reed? Like when is he going to turn up 1128 00:58:33,960 --> 00:58:35,760 and start fighting for this championship? 1129 00:58:36,080 --> 00:58:39,040 Obviously when it clicks, it really clicks. 1130 00:58:39,320 --> 00:58:41,400 But I think, yeah, Rydell deserved it because he's in the 1131 00:58:41,400 --> 00:58:45,640 mix the whole time. Yeah, exactly. 1132 00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:48,560 I prefer to see a championship won that way. 1133 00:58:48,560 --> 00:58:51,120 Not you're not, not plodding, not like sort of 4th places all 1134 00:58:51,120 --> 00:58:53,840 the way and and don't get your wins done when there's a chance. 1135 00:58:53,840 --> 00:58:58,120 But yeah, he he was, he was out there kind of leading the charge 1136 00:58:58,160 --> 00:59:00,520 the whole time. I prefer that rather than 1137 00:59:00,520 --> 00:59:02,800 someone perhaps winning a championship off the back of a 1138 00:59:02,880 --> 00:59:06,920 sort of late season hot streak. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was a big 1139 00:59:06,920 --> 00:59:10,120 Reed fan. But I, I think it's, I think 1140 00:59:10,120 --> 00:59:12,600 it's right to say that Ricard was the deserving champion that 1141 00:59:12,600 --> 00:59:14,560 year. Throughout the throughout the 1142 00:59:14,880 --> 00:59:17,800 course of the whole season, as Blender said he would, he did 1143 00:59:17,800 --> 00:59:20,520 the better job. He banked points at the start. 1144 00:59:20,520 --> 00:59:25,560 He started well, He only had a slight wobble towards the end, 1145 00:59:25,560 --> 00:59:28,960 but I don't think that was just him either. 1146 00:59:29,360 --> 00:59:31,280 You know, he had a bit of bad luck. 1147 00:59:32,640 --> 00:59:35,440 Yeah, he was the deserving champion without a doubt. 1148 00:59:35,440 --> 00:59:40,360 That car was there or thereabouts pretty much every 1149 00:59:40,360 --> 00:59:42,920 weekend. He was one of the top drivers. 1150 00:59:42,960 --> 00:59:46,600 He'd nailed his starts all year. He was just yeah, it was it was 1151 00:59:46,600 --> 00:59:50,640 a sublime year from Ricard. And I don't think anybody can 1152 00:59:50,640 --> 00:59:54,080 argue that he that he didn't deserve to to to win the title 1153 00:59:54,080 --> 00:59:54,480 life. Yeah, it. 1154 00:59:55,280 --> 01:00:01,000 Was his time. Yeah, after all the chaos of the 1155 01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:04,000 Sprint race, the feature inevitably felt like something 1156 01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:07,600 of an anticlimax. Pullman David Leslie controlled 1157 01:00:07,600 --> 01:00:10,800 the early laps, pulling clear of Miller, Thompson and Reed. 1158 01:00:11,600 --> 01:00:15,000 On lap 4, Miller pushed his dramatic oversteering approach 1159 01:00:15,000 --> 01:00:17,160 to Beckett's just attached too far. 1160 01:00:17,800 --> 01:00:20,840 The rear stepped onto the grass, costing him momentum and 1161 01:00:20,960 --> 01:00:24,440 allowing Thompson, Reed and Peter Cox's Honda to slip 1162 01:00:24,440 --> 01:00:27,680 through. One lap later, Reed made a clean 1163 01:00:27,680 --> 01:00:31,160 move on Thompson and Abbey, putting both Nissans into first 1164 01:00:31,160 --> 01:00:34,360 and 2nd. Adam, I've only really could 1165 01:00:34,360 --> 01:00:36,360 have pulled that move on him in the last race. 1166 01:00:36,440 --> 01:00:40,000 Is it, is it almost the pressures off again and we're 1167 01:00:40,000 --> 01:00:42,880 back to, to normal, Anthony? Yeah. 1168 01:00:42,880 --> 01:00:45,560 In reality, it was done. I think if the pressure has 1169 01:00:45,560 --> 01:00:47,160 still been on, would it have been that clay? 1170 01:00:47,280 --> 01:00:51,520 Probably not. It was done, wasn't it? 1171 01:00:51,720 --> 01:00:53,280 It was done. In hindsight, it's a wonderful 1172 01:00:53,280 --> 01:00:55,560 thing. You know, what could have been 1173 01:00:55,560 --> 01:00:57,560 and what should have been and could have done this, could have 1174 01:00:57,560 --> 01:01:00,520 done that. And yeah, Rydell did what he 1175 01:01:00,520 --> 01:01:02,080 needed to do and fair play to him. 1176 01:01:02,080 --> 01:01:06,240 But in terms of Rady and pulling the move off, he was just, yeah, 1177 01:01:06,240 --> 01:01:07,560 the championship was done, wasn't it? 1178 01:01:08,200 --> 01:01:11,920 It was done. And the chaos, you know, that we 1179 01:01:11,960 --> 01:01:15,080 that we were witnessing, the first one was, you know, it 1180 01:01:15,080 --> 01:01:16,880 doesn't get more chaotic than that. 1181 01:01:17,160 --> 01:01:19,400 So I think it'd be enough to. It would have been a really bad 1182 01:01:19,400 --> 01:01:21,760 race if we'd have if they'd have topped Trump, that one. 1183 01:01:21,760 --> 01:01:26,280 But yeah, what a what a first race of the weekend really to to 1184 01:01:26,280 --> 01:01:27,600 witness. But then to go through that one 1185 01:01:27,600 --> 01:01:29,400 over the edge is almost like business as usual, isn't it? 1186 01:01:29,400 --> 01:01:32,120 Just pulling normal moves off. But I think there's a lot of 1187 01:01:33,400 --> 01:01:35,360 heart rates would have been slightly higher in the first one 1188 01:01:35,360 --> 01:01:37,040 from certain drivers. Like really, when there's a, 1189 01:01:37,480 --> 01:01:39,560 when there's a championship to go for and you're making 1190 01:01:39,560 --> 01:01:41,280 slightly different decisions because you're not thinking in 1191 01:01:41,280 --> 01:01:42,520 the same way as you normally would. 1192 01:01:42,520 --> 01:01:46,880 And yeah, I think it was just a lot more calmer second time 1193 01:01:46,880 --> 01:01:51,080 around. Further back, Menu was slipping 1194 01:01:51,080 --> 01:01:54,800 behind his teammate Jason Plato, as well as Rydell and Hoy, 1195 01:01:55,160 --> 01:01:57,720 losing ground as the race settled into its rhythm. 1196 01:01:58,400 --> 01:02:01,200 It wasn't long before Menu was in the pits, telling his 1197 01:02:01,200 --> 01:02:04,200 mechanics that he was retiring what seemed to be a perfectly 1198 01:02:04,200 --> 01:02:06,440 healthy car. Menu comes into the pits. 1199 01:02:19,600 --> 01:02:21,240 Yeah, can't fix this car. It's bent. 1200 01:02:21,680 --> 01:02:24,720 That's the working menu. Well, no doubt his exasperation 1201 01:02:24,720 --> 01:02:26,320 has overcome any desire to continue. 1202 01:02:26,320 --> 01:02:28,640 The team still, of course, will change the tyres. 1203 01:02:28,640 --> 01:02:31,440 They're required to do that now. The car comes down to the jacks. 1204 01:02:34,240 --> 01:02:35,080 There, you've heard it. What's? 1205 01:02:36,040 --> 01:02:39,120 Wrong with the car. He's retiring. 1206 01:02:39,360 --> 01:02:43,360 He's decided, he's had enough. Alan Menu has decided the way to 1207 01:02:43,400 --> 01:02:46,600 end the 98 championship is to throw the toys out of the pram 1208 01:02:46,600 --> 01:02:52,520 and walk away. Well, that won't be the way he 1209 01:02:52,520 --> 01:02:53,880 wanted to finish, but he's not happy. 1210 01:02:53,880 --> 01:02:56,680 He complained during the race about the car having no power 1211 01:02:56,680 --> 01:02:58,200 down the street. He was speculating it was 1212 01:02:58,200 --> 01:03:01,080 exhaust maybe. Well, the cool and calculating 1213 01:03:01,080 --> 01:03:04,400 Alan menu, we've seen him in 97 dominate, but when he's in the 1214 01:03:04,400 --> 01:03:08,560 midfield of a race, well, he's. Pretty combative Alex. 1215 01:03:08,560 --> 01:03:11,080 I mean we've already said men, you didn't really do himself any 1216 01:03:11,080 --> 01:03:14,040 favours this weekend. And as Ken mentioned earlier, it 1217 01:03:14,040 --> 01:03:17,680 was it was quite a sad way for one of the strongest, if not the 1218 01:03:17,720 --> 01:03:20,640 strongest driver team combination to end with his time 1219 01:03:20,640 --> 01:03:23,480 at Renault. Yeah, it actually really was. 1220 01:03:23,480 --> 01:03:25,680 And I'd never really thought about it like that before until 1221 01:03:25,680 --> 01:03:28,600 Glenn mentioned it earlier. It really was because that 1222 01:03:28,600 --> 01:03:34,000 driver car combo is, as far as I'm aware, probably the most 1223 01:03:34,000 --> 01:03:37,680 dominant in a season ever. Iconic. 1224 01:03:37,840 --> 01:03:40,560 Yeah, he won the won the title by Schnatton in July. 1225 01:03:41,720 --> 01:03:46,880 You know, it's it's wild that car and Alan were they were just 1226 01:03:46,880 --> 01:03:49,800 synonymous. You know, it was like Colin 1227 01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:52,720 McRae and Subaru sort of thing. You know, it was just. 1228 01:03:53,840 --> 01:03:55,920 And it's a beautiful colour. So I love that, Lucas. 1229 01:03:55,920 --> 01:03:58,440 I know, Lee, but I know you're a big fan of that lagoon as well. 1230 01:03:58,440 --> 01:04:02,200 But the colour combinations, the the, it was just such a 1231 01:04:02,200 --> 01:04:05,160 brilliant package. And it was just such a shame 1232 01:04:05,520 --> 01:04:08,680 that it was ending on such a sad note. 1233 01:04:09,040 --> 01:04:12,880 And it was unusual from Alan to be as. 1234 01:04:14,480 --> 01:04:16,960 Yeah, just. He just seemed rattled by 1235 01:04:17,000 --> 01:04:19,560 everything. Peter Cox really wound him up, 1236 01:04:19,560 --> 01:04:21,680 you know, and he's driving me crazy. 1237 01:04:21,680 --> 01:04:24,440 He's waving his arm one way and then this is happening and we'll 1238 01:04:24,440 --> 01:04:28,440 Hoyen and he's waving him that way and you know, you know it. 1239 01:04:28,480 --> 01:04:31,160 It was very unusual. Rushdad has overtaken me. 1240 01:04:31,200 --> 01:04:34,240 What do you think you're doing? Like, you know, it it was very 1241 01:04:34,240 --> 01:04:38,400 unusual from him and he clearly it's just had enough at this 1242 01:04:38,400 --> 01:04:42,640 point. And yeah, just told the told, 1243 01:04:42,640 --> 01:04:44,640 you know, that basically came into the pits. 1244 01:04:45,280 --> 01:04:49,200 They serviced the car expecting him to pull back out and then he 1245 01:04:49,200 --> 01:04:52,000 didn't and they're like, why are you going? 1246 01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:53,760 Basically he's like, did you not hear me? 1247 01:04:53,760 --> 01:04:56,640 I'm parking the car through the. Sounding good and proper, didn't 1248 01:04:56,640 --> 01:04:57,680 they? Yeah, he really did. 1249 01:04:57,680 --> 01:05:00,680 He really, really did. Clearly John Cleland, obviously 1250 01:05:00,680 --> 01:05:04,160 a bet as well, had a massive falling out with him, you know 1251 01:05:04,160 --> 01:05:06,720 that that obviously was added to it all. 1252 01:05:07,120 --> 01:05:09,920 He was probably really pissed off with Derek Warwick as well. 1253 01:05:11,000 --> 01:05:15,640 Yeah, just I think he was a very frustrated man that year though, 1254 01:05:15,640 --> 01:05:22,800 because he'd gone from winning such a dominant championship and 1255 01:05:22,800 --> 01:05:25,640 even before that he was always competing 95. 1256 01:05:25,640 --> 01:05:30,440 He was in the title fight right till the near end, even 9496 as 1257 01:05:30,440 --> 01:05:32,520 well. He finished second, admittedly 1258 01:05:32,520 --> 01:05:37,240 not not as nowhere near as as close as the other two years to 1259 01:05:37,240 --> 01:05:39,840 Beeler as he was to Cleland and and Tarquini. 1260 01:05:39,840 --> 01:05:45,920 But yeah, he he just went from a dominant package, which he could 1261 01:05:45,920 --> 01:05:50,120 really do something with, to a car that seemed to only be quick 1262 01:05:50,120 --> 01:05:53,760 at certain points. He was dealing with Jason Plato, 1263 01:05:53,760 --> 01:05:55,400 who was getting quicker and quicker. 1264 01:05:56,280 --> 01:05:59,720 Yeah, it just, it's amazing. It's like you couldn't wait to 1265 01:05:59,720 --> 01:06:02,240 leave, could I? Yeah, it was almost like, yeah, 1266 01:06:02,240 --> 01:06:03,760 like you're right. He's like, I've signed my deal 1267 01:06:03,760 --> 01:06:06,560 with Ford, my megabucks deal with Ford. 1268 01:06:06,840 --> 01:06:08,920 I'm out of here. I've and he's checked out 1269 01:06:08,920 --> 01:06:10,200 already. Yeah. 1270 01:06:11,320 --> 01:06:15,080 Toy, sporting a blue moustache for the occasion, came out on 1271 01:06:15,080 --> 01:06:18,440 top in a bruising battle with Tommy Rushdad in the third 1272 01:06:18,440 --> 01:06:22,000 Williams run, Rene Laguna signing off his Ford career with 1273 01:06:22,000 --> 01:06:25,440 a solid run to 8th place across the weekend. 1274 01:06:25,440 --> 01:06:28,680 Hoy had also shown he was more than a match for his celebrity 1275 01:06:28,680 --> 01:06:33,440 teammate Nigel Mansell. The 1992 World Champion endured 1276 01:06:33,440 --> 01:06:37,400 a fairly uneventful weekend overall, though as always, he 1277 01:06:37,400 --> 01:06:41,520 seemed to be enjoying himself. Mansell finished 14th in the 1278 01:06:41,520 --> 01:06:44,480 Sprint race, his progress Hanford by suspension damage 1279 01:06:44,640 --> 01:06:47,280 from an early clash. In the feature race, he almost 1280 01:06:47,280 --> 01:06:50,520 scraped into the points of 10th until he was tipped into a spin 1281 01:06:50,760 --> 01:06:53,720 by fellow former Grand Prix driver Derek Warwick. 1282 01:06:54,680 --> 01:06:57,840 I thought he was quick enough to get past cleanly, Mansell said 1283 01:06:57,840 --> 01:07:00,640 afterwards. Still, it's been a lot of fun. 1284 01:07:00,720 --> 01:07:04,160 I've enjoyed it. Ford's choice to write off the 1285 01:07:04,160 --> 01:07:07,640 latter half of the season in favour of it's 1999 development 1286 01:07:07,640 --> 01:07:11,680 push had understandably tested his patience, but he was quick 1287 01:07:11,680 --> 01:07:14,160 to point out that the frustration had been shared. 1288 01:07:14,880 --> 01:07:16,800 It's been tough for the whole team, he said. 1289 01:07:17,200 --> 01:07:21,440 I'd like to congratulate WSR, Will and Craig Baird on the job 1290 01:07:21,440 --> 01:07:24,960 they've done. Glenn Nigel very much took a 1291 01:07:24,960 --> 01:07:28,400 back seat at this meeting, but he clearly seemed to be enjoying 1292 01:07:28,400 --> 01:07:30,600 himself a lot more than he did at Brands Hatch. 1293 01:07:31,840 --> 01:07:36,600 Maybe he's glad it was over. Yeah. 1294 01:07:36,680 --> 01:07:39,000 Yeah. I think this was the sort of 1295 01:07:39,000 --> 01:07:43,000 performance I expected when the deal had been announced at the 1296 01:07:43,000 --> 01:07:45,200 start of the year. Just one of those kind of 1297 01:07:45,200 --> 01:07:51,080 anonymous, not embarrassing kind of respectable weekend for a 1298 01:07:51,080 --> 01:07:54,000 driver dropping in. As you guys said earlier, we had 1299 01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:56,720 the ridiculous high that nobody could have predicted of 1300 01:07:56,720 --> 01:08:00,840 Donnington, the crazy lows of Brands Hatch and then yeah, 1301 01:08:00,840 --> 01:08:04,680 Silverstone was just standard guest driver does BTCC and 1302 01:08:04,680 --> 01:08:08,480 doesn't disgrace himself, but doesn't really get noticed kind 1303 01:08:08,480 --> 01:08:11,960 kind of weekend. Until I watched it back, I had 1304 01:08:11,960 --> 01:08:15,400 no recollection of anything happening to Nigel or even 1305 01:08:15,400 --> 01:08:17,920 appearing on on the footage. I knew who's there because I 1306 01:08:17,920 --> 01:08:21,760 knew you had a free race deal. But in terms of before watching 1307 01:08:21,760 --> 01:08:24,760 it back, you know, I had more, much more recollection of and 1308 01:08:24,760 --> 01:08:28,000 was more excited about Tommy Rustadt in a third green Renault 1309 01:08:28,000 --> 01:08:31,080 Laguna than than Oh yeah, Mansell's here again. 1310 01:08:31,560 --> 01:08:35,520 It was just, yeah, just weirdly, weirdly anonymous and and kind 1311 01:08:35,520 --> 01:08:40,200 of kind of forgettable, really. I'm glad Nigel pointed out that 1312 01:08:40,399 --> 01:08:46,080 the frustration was not just from him because obviously Ford 1313 01:08:46,080 --> 01:08:52,000 had put a lot of money and a lot of the, the, the push was on 99. 1314 01:08:52,000 --> 01:08:56,240 They'd hired the 1st £1,000,000 touring car pairing with Anthony 1315 01:08:56,240 --> 01:09:01,319 Reed and, and, and our menu. Westbury Racing already knew 1316 01:09:01,319 --> 01:09:03,200 that they weren't going to be running the Mondeo. 1317 01:09:03,200 --> 01:09:06,720 So it wasn't just Nigel that was feeling this. 1318 01:09:07,479 --> 01:09:10,200 You know, we've got really got nothing to do Ford. 1319 01:09:10,399 --> 01:09:12,080 I'm interested in what we're doing anymore. 1320 01:09:12,200 --> 01:09:14,399 Westbury Racing, we're going through that as well because 1321 01:09:14,880 --> 01:09:18,279 they didn't have the the contract for the following year. 1322 01:09:18,279 --> 01:09:20,560 So they were treading water almost as well. 1323 01:09:21,000 --> 01:09:25,800 So I'm, I'm glad that that was noticed because I thought it was 1324 01:09:25,800 --> 01:09:28,960 quite unfair because pro driver announced for the deal and 1325 01:09:28,960 --> 01:09:32,640 literally Ford took one of the Mondeo's away from W Surrey and 1326 01:09:32,640 --> 01:09:36,760 went here you go pro drives. And it's like, and, and 1327 01:09:36,760 --> 01:09:40,279 ultimately that's why Beardo didn't race at Alton Park, why 1328 01:09:40,279 --> 01:09:47,040 they only ran one car. So, yeah, it's, it's a real, 1329 01:09:47,040 --> 01:09:54,000 it's a real shame that the that the, that the pairing didn't do 1330 01:09:54,120 --> 01:09:57,640 a little bit more. I mean, yes, Donnington was 1331 01:09:57,640 --> 01:10:02,280 incredible, but a developed Ford might have done a bit better. 1332 01:10:02,280 --> 01:10:04,040 I don't know. We, we don't know at the end of 1333 01:10:04,040 --> 01:10:06,920 the day, do we? But, you know, what I think was 1334 01:10:06,920 --> 01:10:09,600 more impressive is how close he was to Holly this weekend. 1335 01:10:10,080 --> 01:10:13,840 Yeah. So, you know, it's, it was and 1336 01:10:13,840 --> 01:10:16,320 you could, yeah, yeah, I'm glad that he enjoyed it because 1337 01:10:16,880 --> 01:10:20,240 nobody really wants to see Nigel Mansell as he was at Brands 1338 01:10:20,240 --> 01:10:22,000 Hatch. It's just not great for anyone, 1339 01:10:22,000 --> 01:10:22,680 is it really? And. 1340 01:10:22,960 --> 01:10:24,720 You've got to understand as well, it's completely and I've 1341 01:10:24,720 --> 01:10:26,920 said this before, it's a completely different discipline 1342 01:10:27,400 --> 01:10:30,200 in terms in terms of, you know, you drive driving a tin top, 1343 01:10:30,960 --> 01:10:34,200 you're enclosed it left. Was it right hand drive at the 1344 01:10:34,200 --> 01:10:37,600 but it's like front windows, front wheel, you know, front 1345 01:10:37,600 --> 01:10:41,400 wheel drive and like so different the speed 1346 01:10:41,600 --> 01:10:44,520 differentials, like a downforce, everything that he's gone 1347 01:10:44,520 --> 01:10:46,520 through his career in and then all of a sudden you're just 1348 01:10:46,520 --> 01:10:48,120 putting him into a hire car almost. 1349 01:10:49,280 --> 01:10:51,760 You know, that's that, that that's what it would have felt 1350 01:10:51,760 --> 01:10:53,840 like to him. Sorry, it's a good point that 1351 01:10:54,080 --> 01:10:56,680 you know, he, he wasn't completely off the back. 1352 01:10:56,960 --> 01:10:59,480 So when you lay out those challenges and how difficult it 1353 01:10:59,480 --> 01:11:02,560 is to drive those sort of cars, especially how specialist 1354 01:11:02,560 --> 01:11:06,320 they've become this late in the era as well, and the fact that, 1355 01:11:06,320 --> 01:11:08,480 yeah, there's a few camera shots where it's like there's Will 1356 01:11:08,480 --> 01:11:10,280 Hoy. Oh, there's there's Nigel's kind 1357 01:11:10,280 --> 01:11:12,760 of behind him. And as you know, as we said, as 1358 01:11:12,760 --> 01:11:15,240 Levi outlined, you know, there there could have been a points 1359 01:11:15,240 --> 01:11:18,000 finish to be had. So, yeah, when I said it was 1360 01:11:18,000 --> 01:11:21,320 kind of anonymous and quiet, I, I guess I sort of meant that in 1361 01:11:21,320 --> 01:11:22,680 a slightly positive way, you know? 1362 01:11:22,680 --> 01:11:26,640 And that made me He certainly. I think it's good that it ended 1363 01:11:26,640 --> 01:11:29,520 on a weekend where, yeah, as I say, it just looked like a 1364 01:11:29,520 --> 01:11:32,600 normal guy doing a guest drive. You don't come away from that 1365 01:11:32,600 --> 01:11:34,960 weekend going, Oh well, Nigel was a bit embarrassing this 1366 01:11:34,960 --> 01:11:37,120 weekend, Yeah. And and it was never going to 1367 01:11:37,120 --> 01:11:39,000 put in three Donnington performances, was it? 1368 01:11:39,120 --> 01:11:41,240 No, no. It was never going to go that 1369 01:11:41,240 --> 01:11:43,560 way as much as the Mansell fans would have wanted that. 1370 01:11:43,560 --> 01:11:46,880 I think they've we certainly got spoiled Donnington, but you 1371 01:11:46,880 --> 01:11:48,440 know, like I said, just completely different discipline 1372 01:11:48,440 --> 01:11:50,680 and the fact that he did what he did, I think is because he had 1373 01:11:50,680 --> 01:11:53,320 that high, he reached the expectations and then all of a 1374 01:11:53,320 --> 01:11:56,600 sudden raised, aren't they for the for those remaining races 1375 01:11:56,600 --> 01:11:57,880 that you did. But in reality, it would have 1376 01:11:57,880 --> 01:12:00,640 been nice to do the other way around, be a load of crap for 1377 01:12:00,640 --> 01:12:02,800 the first couple and then finished finished like 1378 01:12:02,800 --> 01:12:05,280 Burlington at the end. But but, you know, that's, 1379 01:12:05,280 --> 01:12:07,640 that's fairy tale stuff and, you know, doesn't always work out 1380 01:12:07,640 --> 01:12:10,080 like that. You talk about how famous he was 1381 01:12:10,080 --> 01:12:13,000 and Ford did pay him a lot of money and kind of had him for 1382 01:12:13,000 --> 01:12:15,240 the whole year because I remember it must have been this 1383 01:12:15,320 --> 01:12:19,880 year at the British Grand Prix. He basically joined the back of 1384 01:12:19,880 --> 01:12:23,200 the drivers parade hanging out of like a Ford Cougar or 1385 01:12:23,200 --> 01:12:24,960 something, whatever was new that year. 1386 01:12:24,960 --> 01:12:28,720 So you know that that was and that was a big deal. 1387 01:12:28,720 --> 01:12:31,480 Like the crowd at Silverstone, 100,000 people or. 1388 01:12:31,880 --> 01:12:32,920 Whatever. Exactly. 1389 01:12:33,000 --> 01:12:35,960 Even a few years after he's finished, was still really 1390 01:12:35,960 --> 01:12:37,280 excited. There's Nigel Madsall at the 1391 01:12:37,280 --> 01:12:40,520 back of the drivers parade. Yeah, he was still a massive 1392 01:12:40,520 --> 01:12:43,040 deal at this at this point, you can't underestimate that at all. 1393 01:12:43,480 --> 01:12:46,280 Yeah, it was only six years since he'd won the F1 title. 1394 01:12:46,280 --> 01:12:49,320 So when you look at it that way, it's like it's like Lewis 1395 01:12:49,320 --> 01:12:53,760 Hamilton going to join Nick on the on the BTCC grid now talking 1396 01:12:53,760 --> 01:12:56,520 about lap time. So with Mansell, I'm looking at 1397 01:12:56,520 --> 01:13:01,000 the the results now I've got them on the screen and Nigel's 1398 01:13:01,640 --> 01:13:05,680 best lap time in both races is only 2/10 off will always in 1399 01:13:05,680 --> 01:13:07,800 both races. So that's very, very good. 1400 01:13:08,120 --> 01:13:10,800 And he's quicker than Morbedelli, who'd had a full 1401 01:13:10,800 --> 01:13:13,000 year in the car. He's quicker than John Binkliff, 1402 01:13:13,000 --> 01:13:14,480 who'd had a full year in the car. 1403 01:13:14,800 --> 01:13:18,240 He's quicker than Tim Harvey. You know, Peter Cox. 1404 01:13:18,280 --> 01:13:21,040 Sorry, no, not Cox. Yeah, Tim Harvey. 1405 01:13:21,560 --> 01:13:23,800 He's done really, really well. Actually. 1406 01:13:24,120 --> 01:13:28,120 His his lap times were competitive and he was really 1407 01:13:28,120 --> 01:13:32,440 showing that had he done a full season he probably would have 1408 01:13:32,440 --> 01:13:39,160 got some decent finishes. And that brings us to the end of 1409 01:13:39,160 --> 01:13:44,320 this week's deep dive into the 1998 BTCC season finale at 1410 01:13:44,320 --> 01:13:47,280 Silverstone. A weekend saw Richard Rydell 1411 01:13:47,280 --> 01:13:50,000 take the win and the championship battle go down to 1412 01:13:50,000 --> 01:13:52,640 the wire. From Rydell and Reed's 10th 1413 01:13:52,640 --> 01:13:56,000 jewel to the dramas further down the grid, it was a weekend full 1414 01:13:56,000 --> 01:14:00,480 of classic Super Touring action crashes, bold overtakes and 1415 01:14:00,480 --> 01:14:03,320 unforgettable moments that still resonate with fans today. 1416 01:14:04,280 --> 01:14:07,080 A big shout out to Glenn Freewin for joining us and making his 1417 01:14:07,080 --> 01:14:10,800 podcast debut with us today. Glenn, it's been fantastic 1418 01:14:10,800 --> 01:14:13,880 having you to share your take on the drama, the battles and the 1419 01:14:13,880 --> 01:14:17,200 key moments from Silverstone 98, and we'd love to have you back 1420 01:14:17,200 --> 01:14:19,880 for another episode at some point again soon. 1421 01:14:21,040 --> 01:14:23,520 I'm, you know, chuffed and honoured that you asked me to 1422 01:14:23,520 --> 01:14:25,360 come on once. I'd, I've, I've loved it. 1423 01:14:25,400 --> 01:14:27,760 I'd love to come back again. And I've got a couple of 1424 01:14:27,760 --> 01:14:30,280 colleagues at the race who may like to do the same at some 1425 01:14:30,280 --> 01:14:32,240 point as well. But yeah, would be delighted to 1426 01:14:32,240 --> 01:14:34,240 come back. The show's great. 1427 01:14:34,240 --> 01:14:36,080 The way you guys have developed it is great. 1428 01:14:36,080 --> 01:14:38,600 The mix of interviews and race reviews and everything you do is 1429 01:14:38,880 --> 01:14:41,200 is superb. So yeah, I'm really, really 1430 01:14:41,200 --> 01:14:42,760 pleased. I've got to be a part of 1 and 1431 01:14:42,760 --> 01:14:46,200 would happily come back again. And as always, thank you to 1432 01:14:46,200 --> 01:14:49,080 everyone for listening and supporting stories from Super 1433 01:14:49,080 --> 01:14:51,160 Touring. If you've enjoyed this episode, 1434 01:14:51,160 --> 01:14:53,920 make sure you subscribe so you never miss a new deep dive 1435 01:14:53,920 --> 01:14:57,960 interview or race day rewind. And if you want even more bonus 1436 01:14:57,960 --> 01:15:01,400 content, extended cuts and exclusive behind the scenes 1437 01:15:01,400 --> 01:15:04,600 features, remember you can now join us over in the Paddock 1438 01:15:04,600 --> 01:15:06,760 Club, where the stories get even deeper. 1439 01:15:07,520 --> 01:15:10,120 We'll be back next week with another trip into the frilling 1440 01:15:10,120 --> 01:15:13,280 world of Super Touring, revisiting more classic races, 1441 01:15:13,280 --> 01:15:15,680 iconic battles and legendary drivers. 1442 01:15:15,880 --> 01:15:19,320 Until then, take care and we'll see you next time on Stories 1443 01:15:19,320 --> 01:15:21,080 from Super Touring. Goodbye.