1982 Tricentrol RAC British Saloon Car Championship - Discussion & Results

[Jesper OH]

1982 Tricentrol RAC British Saloon Car Championship
Round 1, Silverstone, 21 March, 20 laps

27 starters

Pos.

Cl.

#

Driver

Team

Cl.

Car

Grid

Time

FL

Laps

Time

Points

Notes

1.

1.

2

Jeff Allam

TWR/Sanyo+Esso

A

Rover 3500 V8

1.

1:40.20

1:41.88

20

34:29.89

10

FL

2.

2.

9

Andy Rouse

Gordon Spice Racing

A

Ford Capri 3.0S

4.

1:41.29

20

34:47.14

6

3.

3.

3

Vince Woodman

CC/Esso

A

Ford Capri 3.0S

2.

1:40.43

20

34:47.37

4

4.

4.

5

Rad Dougall

Patrick MotorSport

A

Rover 3500 V8

3.

1:40.81

20

34:47.76

3

5.

5.

8

Gordon Spice

Gordon Spice Racing

A

Ford Capri 3.0S

5.

1:41.60

20

34:55.52

2

6.

6.

12

Dennis Leech

Dennis Leech

A

Rover 3500 V8

9.

1:45.80

19

1

7.

1.

40

Win Percy

Team Toyota GB

C

Toyota Corolla GT

8.

1:44.83

1:44.20

19

10

FL

8.

1.

30

Terry Nightingale

Terry Nightingale

B

Mazda RX-7

11.

1:46.58

1:47.81

19

10

FL

9.

2.

35

John Morris

Morris Vulcan/Tri-Ang Toys

C

VW Golf GTI

10.

1:45.98

19

6

10.

1.

77

Richard Longman

Longman/Datapost+Esso

C

Austin Metro

13.

1:49.47

19

9

DNF

22?

Frank Sytner

TWR/Sanyo+Esso

A

Rover 3500 V8

6.

1:42.89

0

Engine/running #19?

DNF

20

Charles Sawyer-Hoare

Charles Sawyer-Hoare

A

Ford Capri 3.0S

7.

1:44.12

1

0

Engine

2.

27

Mike Buckley

Mike Buckley

B

Ford Escort RS2000

27.

1:56.47

6

3.?

26

James Burrows

James Burrows

B

Toyota Celica

19.

1:52.46

4?

DNF

25

Jon Dooley

Napolina ARDT

B

Alfa Romeo GTV6 2.5

18.

1:52.14

0

Spin

DNF

31

Hamish Irvine

Hamish Irvine

B

Triumph Dolomite Sprint

17.

1:50.89

0

Snapped tie-bar

DNF

34

Gordon Bruce

R & C Developments

B

Mazda RX-7

14.

1:49.62

0

Ignition

DNA

33

Tony Dickinson

Tony Dickinson

B

Ford Escort RS2000

0

Car not ready

3.

36

Tony Lanfranchi

Tony Lanfranchi

C

VW Scirocco GTI

12.

1:47.36

4

4.

44

Jock Robertson

Pegasus Racing

C

Ford Fiesta XR2

24.

1:53.09

18?

3

DNF-engine

5.

52

Andrew Thorpe

Napolina ARDT

C

Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce

22.

1:52.91

2

6.

68

John Spiller

Stanfield & White

C

Talbot Sunbeam ti

23.

1:53.07

1

7?

50

John Tait

John Tait

C

Toyota Corolla

26.

1:54.91

0

DNS

51

Alan Greenhalgh

Race Time Marketing Ltd

C

VW Golf GTI

21.

1:52.86

0

Accident

DNS

37

Robin Brundle

Robin Brundle

C

Audi 80 GLE

no time

0

Engine

2.

71

Alan Curnow

Longman/Datapost+Esso

D

Austin Metro

16.

1:50.57

1:49.53

7

FL/incl. 10 seconds for missing chikane

3.

74

Steve Soper

Hepolite Glacier Racing

D

Austin Metro

15.

1:50.43

4

4.

73

Neil McGrath

Linden/Everest Double Glazing

D

Austin Metro

20.

1:52.79

3

5.

72

Roger Saunders

Wadham Stringer+Castrol

D

Austin Metro

25.

1:53.62

2

DNF

75

Stewart Fowler

Stewart Fowler

D

Ford Fiesta

28.

2:04.30

0

DNA

82

Rob Kirby

Napolina ARDT

D

Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti

0

Car not ready

Weather described as wet track with drizzle on the last four laps.

Tyres being an issue:
TWR contracted to Avon: Jeff Allam running Avon slicks, Frank Sytner on Michelin intermediates!
Gordon Spice Racing contracted to Goodyear: Gordon Spice on grooved Goodyear slicks, Andy Rouse on Dunlop slicks. Decided with a toss of the coin, Rouse borrowing the Dunlop from Charles Sawyer-Hoare.

Class A:
Jeff Allam winning a start-to-finish victory with Vince Woodman initially giving chase before dropping to third with failing oil pressure. Rad Dougall, Gordon Spice and Andy Rouse fought over third in the early going with Rouse winning, before setting off for Woodman and an eventual second. Spice held the advantage in fourth, but on lap 9 Dougall got by on held on to fourth. Dennis Leech had had little driving in his new acquisition before the race and took it easy in sixth.

Class B:
Terry Nightingale qualifying almost 3 seconds in front of fellow Mazda RX-7 driver Gordon Bruce. Nightingale quickly lost his advantage as he had difficulty locating the windscreen wiper contact for the early race spray! Bruce retired soon with ignition fault while Hamish Irvine broke a rear tie-rod, leaving Jon Dooley in a very standard GTV6 in second. Late in the race he spun off at Becketts and was unable to get traction on the muddy grass and was stuck, feeling it might have saved him from a seized transmission. Mike Buckley finally inherited second in his Escort while James Burrows in what was described as his ”painfully slow Celica” was final finisher.

Class C:
Win Percy, who had considering retirement before the season, dominated class C through out the weekend winning convinsingly in the new Corolla. John Morris suffered from a misfire in the early laps leaving it to fellow VW man Tony Lanfranchi to try and keep up with Percy. As the race progressed Morris' misfire cured itself while Lanfranchi felt the effects of a recent engine damage during a pre-season test, deciding second in favour of Morris. Lanfranchi was even passed by the Fiesta of Jock Robertson, only for Robertson to retire on the last lap with engine failure.
The Martin Brundle Audi dropped a valve almost as soon as the car was unloaded sending the team packing up again, while Alan Greenhalgh delayed his BSCC debut by shunting his Golf during qualifying.

Class D:
Steve Soper dominated the first half of the Metro class but lost his clutch and had no chance against the tag-teaming Richard Longman and Alan Curnow. Curnow missed the Woodcote chikane and was docked 10 seconds but still held on to second in class. Neil McGrath finished fourth and his entrant Linden Racing protested the Longman and Soper cars for running a dry coil and damper rear suspension, while Curnow and McGrath run's a Hydragas system. Rob Kirby should have been a starter in this class, but the Napolina team simply ran out of time trying to prepare three cars for the event.

Jesper