Pole position:
Fastest lap: Soper in 1.40,53 = 168,98 kmh
Distance: Lovett in 1.40,26
Average speed: 167,05 kmh
Weather: Hot
Ruleset: Group A
Car info: 1983 Cars
In the glorious sunshine which was a hallmark of the Grand Prix weekend as a whole, Steve Soper's Rover took its fourth win in this year's Trimoco Group A series last Saturday, the eighth round of the championship. Overcoming a sluggish start, Soper needed just half a lap to pass team mate and poleman Peter Lovett for the lead, never being remotely troubled thereafter as he cruised to a five second victory over the 20 laps. Sadly, the race was not the sort of classic confrontation one might have expected, with Jeff Allam's third works Rover suffering from a down-on-power engine, which kept him down in third place. Neither BMW 635 CSi ever looked on a par with the Rovers, although Hans Stuck and Frank Sytner probably stole most of the limelight with a dice lasting for several laps. Stuck, suffering from understeer, eventually lost out to Sytner, and the two were followed home at a respectful distance by Win Percy's improved Toyota Supra. Class winners lower down the field were Jon Dooley and Richard Longman, the latter emerging on top of Class C only after an exciting last lap effort by Alan Minshaw failed to come off. With 33 cars entered, this was the best-supported Group A race yet, and there was some entertaining midfield action to compensate the Rover procession up front. One note of warning to the works Rovers came from Gordon Spice, who put his privateer car on the front row and ran strongly until delayed by a puncture. Sadly, a bout of late-night Rover v BMW protesting threatened to leave things very much in doubt... (MN) |
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Touring Cars class A-C
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| Pos | Pos in class | # | Team / Entrant Car- Engine |
Drivers, Nationality | Engine vol. (cc) |
Engine Type |
Group | Distance, time |
Qualifying position | Qualifying time | Fastest lap | Reason out, remarks |
| DSQ | 1 | 4 | Hepolite Glacier Racing with Esso Rover Vitesse |
Steve Soper, GB |
3532 | V8 | A | 20 laps, 33.53,73 | 2 | 1.40,40 | 1.40,53 | Disq: Technical infringements |
| DSQ | 2 | 3 | Team Sanyo Racing with Esso Rover Vitesse |
Pete Lovett, GB |
3532 | V8 | A | 20 laps, 33.58,95 | 1 | 1.40,26 | Disq: Technical infringements | |
| DSQ | 3 | 2 | Team Sanyo Racing with Esso Rover Vitesse |
Jeff Allam, GB |
3532 | V8 | A | 20 laps, 34.04,79 | 4 | 1.40,93 | Disq: Technical infringements | |
| DSQ | - | 19 | Grace International Racing BMW 635 CSi |
Frank Sytner, GB |
3475 | L6 | A | 20 laps, 34.24,44 | 7 | 1.42,23 | Technical infringements | |
| 5 | 5 | 20 | Cheylesmore BMW Motorsport BMW 635 CSi |
Hans-Joachim Stuck, D |
3475 | L6 | A | 20 laps, 34.28,43 | 6 | 1.41,91 | ||
| 6 | 6 | 1 | Hughes of Beaconsfield/Toyota GB Toyota Celica Supra MA61 |
Win Percy, GB |
2759 | L6 | A | 20 laps, 34.49,89 | 8 | 1.42,42 | ||
| 7 | 7 | 11 | GM Dealer Sport Opel Monza 3.0E |
Tony Lanfranchi, GB |
2998 | L6 | A | 20 laps, 35.04,64 | 14 | 1.44,47 | ||
| 8 | 8 | 10 | Equipe Esso / Daily Mirror Rover Vitesse |
Charles Sawyer-Hoare, GB |
3532 | V8 | A | 20 laps, 36.34,03 | 12 | 1.44,06 | 10 sec penalty (missing chicane) | |
| 9 | 9 | 9 | Burlington Wallcoverings Ltd. Ford Capri III 3.0S |
Mike Newman, GB |
2993 | V6 | A | 19 | 11 | 1.43,89 | ||
| 10 | 1 | 31 | Napolina Alfa Romeo Dealer Team Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV/6 |
Jon Dooley, GB |
2491 | V6 | B | 19 | 16 | 1.45,22 | ||
| 11 | 1 | 77 | Royal Mail Datapost Ford Escort RS 1600i |
Richard Longman, GB |
1598 | L4 | C | 19 | 20 | 1.48,28 | ||
| 12 | 2 | 86 | Demon Tweeks Racing VW Golf GTI |
Alan Minshaw, GB |
1588 | L4 | C | 19 | 23 | 1.48,99 | 1.47,91 | |
| 13 | 3 | 69 | Brooklyn Motorsport Ford Escort RS 1600i |
Chris Hodgetts, GB |
1598 | L4 | C | 19 | 18 | 1.47,71 | ||
| 14 | 4 | 66 | Royal Mail Datapost Ford Escort RS 1600i |
Alan Curnow, GB |
1598 | L4 | C | 19 | 25 | 1.49,30 | ||
| 15 | 5 | 72 | LLoyds of Stafford Ford Escort RS 1600i |
Rob Hall, GB |
1598 | L4 | C | 19 | 26 | 1.50,70 | ||
| 16 | 10 | 18 | Team Colt Cars Mid-West Mitsubishi Starion Turbo A183 |
Dave Brodie, GB |
1998 tc | L4 | A | 19 | 19 | 1.47,79 | Pit stop (accident damage) | |
| 17 | 6 | 83 | Napolina Alfa Romeo Dealer Team Alfa Romeo Alfasud TI 1.5 |
Rob Kirby, GB |
1498 | B4 | C | 19 | 28 | 1.51,48 | ||
| 18 | 7 | 84 | Napolina Alfa Romeo Dealer Team with Hampshires of Dorking Alfa Romeo Alfasud TI 1.5 |
Andrew Thorpe, GB |
1498 | B4 | C | 18 | 30 | 1.53,74 | ||
| 19 | 11 | 16 | Ford Capri III 3.0S |
Mark Hales, GB |
2993 | V6 | A | 18 | 17 | 1.46,79 | Pit stop (engine check) | |
| 20 | 2 | 30 | Mazda RX-7 |
Hamish Irvine, GB |
2 x 573 | R2 | B | 18 | 24 | 1.49,11 | Pit stop (fuel pump) | |
| 21 | 3 | 36 | Unipart with Daily Express MG Metro Turbo |
Patrick Watts, GB |
1275 tc | L4 | B | 17 | 9 | 1.43,54 | Pit stop (tires) | |
| 22 | 4 | 32 | Mazda RX-7 |
Terry Nightingale, GB |
2 x 573 | R2 | B | 17 | 22 | 1.48,82 | Pit stop (overheating) | |
| 23 | 12 | 5 | Rover Vitesse |
Gordon Spice, GB |
3532 | V8 | A | 17 | 3 | 1.40,92 | Pit stop (puncture) | |
| 24 | 8 | 88 | Talbot Sunbeam TI |
Terry Watts, GB |
1598 | L4 | C | 15 | 33 | no time | 10 sec/10 yards penalty for non-qualifying; pit stop | |
| 25 | 5 | 35 | Unipart with Daily Express MG Metro Turbo |
Tony Pond, GB |
1275 tc | L4 | B | 14 | 15 | 1.45,15 | 1.44,45 | Pit stops (engine) |
| DNF | 6 | Rover Vitesse |
Dennis Leech, GB |
3532 | V8 | A | 5 | 1.41,79 | Puncture, accident | |||
| DNF | 34 | Industrial Control Services Ltd. Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV/6 |
Andy Rouse, GB |
2491 | V6 | B | 13 | 1.44,25 | Driveshaft | |||
| DNF | 70 | Julian May Racing Ford Escort RS 1600i |
Jock Robertson, GB |
1598 | L4 | C | 32 | 2.07,97 | ||||
| DNF | 12 | Graham Goode Racing Ford Capri III 3.0S |
Graham Goode, GB |
2993 | V6 | A | 5 | 10 | 1.43,63 | Fuel vaporisation | ||
| DNF | 82 | Ford Fiesta XR2 |
Tony Crudgington, GB |
1599 | L4 | C | 2 | 31 | 1.54,84 | Fuel vaporisation | ||
| DNF | 60 | Volkswagen Sport VW Scirocco GTI |
John Morris, GB |
1588 | L4 | C | 6 | 21 | 1.48,52 | Fan belt, overheating | ||
| DNF | 67 | Ordibell UK Ltd. VW Golf GTI |
Alan Greenhalgh, GB |
1588 | L4 | C | ca. 11 | 27 | 1.51,27 | Driveshaft | ||
| DNS | 87 | RZ Racing Toyota Corolla GT |
Geoff Kimber-Smith, GB |
1588 | L4 | C | 29 | 1.52,69 | Accident in practice | |||