Super Touring cars were amazingly sophisticated and expensive, which helps to explain why getting a consistently strong grid of them for a historic championship has always been a challenge. But it is possible to relive one of the true heydays of tin-top competition, as last weekend’s Brands Hatch Super Touring Power Event proved.
A fine field of 20 cars qualified for the first race on the Grand Prix layout on Saturday and 15 lined up for the fourth and final contest on the Indy circuit on Saturday. The races were short and sharp – sensible given the exotic machinery – but long enough to make the right sights and sounds, and evoke many memories.
The celebration went far beyond that, with displays and on-track demonstrations that included more Super Tourers and other impressive tin-tops. Seeing Alain Menu’s 1997 British Touring Car Championship-winning Renault Laguna on-track with Ash Sutton’s current NGTC Ford Focus and a 2008 Holden Commodore driven (quickly) by Greg Murphy was a highlight even though they weren’t racing. And then there were the myriad other attractions, including the chance to play the original TOCA and TOCA 2 computer games that so helped increase the profile of the BTCC in the late 1990s.
But perhaps the biggest draw was the period stars, who were swamped for autographs. Menu found himself signing five of his old overalls owned by one fan and twice joined Autosport on the Super Touring Power stand to reminisce about a golden era of touring cars. Jeff Allam, Tim Harvey, Murphy, Paul Radisich, Anthony Reid, Steven Richards, Andy Rouse, Steve Soper and Patrick Watts did likewise over the two days, while Jake Hill – who showed his class on-track by winning all four races in the ex-Laurent Aiello Nissan Primera – also joined in. All seemed to enjoy it, with Menu even staging a minor invasion of our interview with his former team-mate and sparring partner Reid…
Reid said the weekend “exceeded expectations” and that summed up the general feeling. There were certainly plenty of fans – official figures weren’t put out but it’s safe to say it was closer to a contemporary BTCC crowd than to a ‘normal’ clubbie.
It provided a feel-good factor for MSV group motorsport event manager David Willey, who worked closely with Classic Touring Car Racing Club chairman Stuart Caie, Peter Still and MSV’s Tom Arron to make it happen.
Source: Autosport