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Post by Jamie on Apr 6, 2018 18:51:58 GMT
Quite a promising start for the new F2 cars I thought. Apart from the disgusting Halo, the cars look pretty good and it was a great session and quite tense at the end. Let’s see how they race.
As a Brit it was quite nice to see we have some promising drivers at the sharp end, indeed finishing 1,2,3. Norris, Russel and Albon 👍
I would love to see Albon do well as I was a mechanic on the Renault 19 his father raced in the BTCC back in 1994; Nigel was a very nice guy and I believe Alexander is to so I’m rooting for him,
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Post by chrisb on Apr 7, 2018 6:06:22 GMT
sadly Jamie i cannot get to watch F2 these days as murdoch's minions have scuppered that
Jamie! this is a very small world, incidentally extremely impressed [if i may say] about being a mechanic in BTCC in 94 as it was a pretty good series then, i was working for Valvoline with a hideous sales manager and we were sponsoring the Mondeo's around that time, so we would have been in the same vicinity - good days!
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Post by Jamie on Apr 7, 2018 7:50:30 GMT
BTCC was brilliant then, this was the year of the Alfa’s which were stunning machines. I’ll try and post some pictures of the car I worked on with a bit of it’s history later, at the same time I worked on John Bintcliffe’s Clio which ran in the support series,...he ended up doing rather well.
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Post by chrisb on Apr 7, 2018 11:42:11 GMT
be great to hear these stories Jamie
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Post by René on Apr 9, 2018 14:49:18 GMT
I was a mechanic on the Renault 19 his father raced in the BTCC back in 1994. Jamie, I read in your profile previously that you were a mechanic in the BTCC but somehow reading it here makes a bigger impression!  That is very cool and also explains why you are so good with tinkering on your own car project. The BTCC in the early 90's as well as the DTM were all very good. I loved the Alfa's the most but all cars were cool. I must see if I can find the pictures I made of the DTM races at Zolder in the early 90's... |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 9, 2018 16:14:16 GMT
Just to add here that for me the peak of Touring Car racing was mid 1980's with the ETC being an amazing championship which developed in to a World Touring Car series which like Group C was scuppered by the "poison sisters". I covered the Spa 24 Hour race in 1986 and that was one of my motor sport event highlights; an amazing event and series.
Not only did it have huge factory representation (Rover; Volvo; BMW; Ford & Holden in the big class) but the drivers present were legendary. Privileged to see at long last Peter Brock; Alan Moffat; Alan Grice etc from down under, as well as all of the European stars.
The BTCC and GTC at that time and for the following 10 years or so was at its very best, amazing racing.
Here is a clip from Spa 1986:-
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Post by charleselan on Apr 9, 2018 22:33:13 GMT
Without wishing to hijack Jamie's F2 thread (well he himself did bring in touring cars  ) this is a much longer film of the 1986 Spa 24 Hours and features some excellent driver interviews at the beginning. It seems almost surreal seeing how young looking Gerhard Berger; Steve Soper and Emanuelle Pirro appear back then. The start of the race was pretty hectic with Tom Walkinshaw (he was one heck of a competitive driver in his day) and Pirro running side by side down to Eau Rouge. I was taking photos from the outside of the rise up from the bend and have a photo of Tom putting his hand up to acknowledge Emanuelle for giving him room with no contact, which can be seen in the film. |
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Post by chrisb on Apr 10, 2018 4:47:27 GMT
they were great days, not the bumper cars they became, the European championships were worth attending not just watching and the TWR Jags vs the Bmw's vs the Volvo's etc were just halcyon times
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Post by charleselan on Apr 10, 2018 11:56:52 GMT
they were great days, not the bumper cars they became, the European championships were worth attending not just watching and the TWR Jags vs the Bmw's vs the Volvo's etc were just halcyon times This leads me to believe that the 1980's were the last really great decade in motor sport; thinking about it almost brings tears to my eyes. Grand Prix were just that back then, one of the greatest seasons of all must have been 1985; Group C throughout the decade; ETC/WTC and GTC (fantastic when they came over to Donington for a round each year); F2/F3000; BTCC and of course who will ever forget the World Rally Cars. With regard to the ETC/WTC isn't it amazing how such an apparently mundane car like the Rover SD1 Vitesse could become such an iconic race car. I just loved that car from the Andy Rouse ICS car, right through all of the TWR variants. It sounded good also with that alloy block V8. |
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Post by Jamie on Apr 10, 2018 14:25:56 GMT
The ETC was brilliant wasn't it..... I loved those Bastos Rovers. However motorsports zenith for me was the 80's into the mid-late 90's. The 90's being 'my' decade would see me say that however.....  Everything was good then.....racing, music, women, beer..........I've officially become my Dad.... |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 10, 2018 15:10:33 GMT
Jamie, I loved the Rover's so much that i commissioned one of the best model pattern makers to produce a 1/43rd scale kit of it for me, which I then product-ionised with a friend of mine, we also did the Eggenberger Ford Sierra XRTi. Sadly we got screwed by several UK model shops who refused to pay us for the kits which more or less finished our business thanks to lack of cash flow. We then leased the Rover master pattern to another scum bag called Briggs who then refused to give it back, or claimed some other excuse. I wasn't involved with the commercial side unfortunately, but rest assured he would have given it back to me  . We did all the Bastos cars; plus Andy Rouse's ICS version, and the earlier TWR cars as well as Jean-Louis Schlesser's French Championship Marlboro car. John |
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Post by René on Apr 10, 2018 15:35:35 GMT
Jamie, I loved the Rover's so much that i commissioned one of the best model pattern makers to produce a 1/43rd scale kit of it for me, which I then product-ionised with a friend of mine, we also did the Eggenberger Ford Sierra XRTi. Sadly we got screwed by several UK model shops who refused to pay us for the kits which more or less finished our business thanks to lack of cash flow. We then leased the Rover master pattern to another scum bag called Briggs who then refused to give it back, or claimed some other excuse. I wasn't involved with the commercial side unfortunately, but rest assured he would have given it back to me . We did all the Bastos cars; plus Andy Rouse's ICS version, and the earlier TWR cars as well as Jean-Louis Schlesser's French Championship Marlboro car. John Wow, what a story! Not all happiness in model car land... Have you saved a few kits for yourself? |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 10, 2018 16:00:54 GMT
Jamie, I loved the Rover's so much that i commissioned one of the best model pattern makers to produce a 1/43rd scale kit of it for me, which I then product-ionised with a friend of mine, we also did the Eggenberger Ford Sierra XRTi. Sadly we got screwed by several UK model shops who refused to pay us for the kits which more or less finished our business thanks to lack of cash flow. We then leased the Rover master pattern to another scum bag called Briggs who then refused to give it back, or claimed some other excuse. I wasn't involved with the commercial side unfortunately, but rest assured he would have given it back to me . We did all the Bastos cars; plus Andy Rouse's ICS version, and the earlier TWR cars as well as Jean-Louis Schlesser's French Championship Marlboro car. John Wow, what a story! Not all happiness in model car land... Have you saved a few kits for yourself? Oh! Yes René and loads of decal sheets. In fact with what is available today I could relatively easily cast some resin kits from the white metal kits I have spare. There were a lot of very dubious individuals in the model car business back then, particularly in the UK. The good side was that we were commissioned to build some kits up for race teams like Andy Rouse; Tom Walkinshaw (who had them on his office desk) and we also did a run for Tim Harvey who raced production Rover. So not all bad  . |
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Post by Jamie on Apr 10, 2018 16:06:21 GMT
Jamie, I loved the Rover's so much that i commissioned one of the best model pattern makers to produce a 1/43rd scale kit of it for me, which I then product-ionised with a friend of mine, we also did the Eggenberger Ford Sierra XRTi. Sadly we got screwed by several UK model shops who refused to pay us for the kits which more or less finished our business thanks to lack of cash flow. We then leased the Rover master pattern to another scum bag called Briggs who then refused to give it back, or claimed some other excuse. I wasn't involved with the commercial side unfortunately, but rest assured he would have given it back to me . We did all the Bastos cars; plus Andy Rouse's ICS version, and the earlier TWR cars as well as Jean-Louis Schlesser's French Championship Marlboro car. John Wow, that’s unfortunate John. Sounds like unscrupulous scumbags abounded back then........shame. |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 10, 2018 16:13:58 GMT
We live and learn Jamie!
There were some very unsavoury characters about in the model business back then, and why is it that it is always the British that seem to be that way inclined. Probably too much of a somewhat bitter generalisation, but it left a nasty taste in the mouth, and ruined what could have been a decent little enterprise.
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) this is a much longer film of the 1986 Spa 24 Hours and features some excellent driver interviews at the beginning. It seems almost surreal seeing how young looking Gerhard Berger; Steve Soper and Emanuelle Pirro appear back then.
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