1983 British Saloon Car Championship

The 1983 Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship was the 26th season of the championship. Steve Soper driving a works Rover SD1 built by TWR was initially champion, but after he and the team was disqualified on a technicality, Andy Rouse won his second drivers title in an Alfa Romeo GTV6.

1983 British Saloon Car Championship
Previous: 1982 Next: 1984

Season overview

The sporting regulations changed to FIA sanctioned Group A specification, and three different classes competed for honours. TWR expanded their team and ran a trio of Rover Vitesses for Pete Lovett, Jeff Allam and Steve Soper. Austin Rover would also back Roger Dowson Engineering who ran Turbo Metros in Class B whilst Ford supported a semi-works Ford Escort outfit in Class C. GM/Opel entered a single Opel Monza for Tony Lanfranchi. Reigning champion Win Percy would once again drive for Toyota, this time at the wheel of a Supra Turbo. Meanwhile, Frank Sytner raced for the works BMW team.[1]

TWR dominated the season, winning all 11 races. The drivers had the races pretty much their own way until Sytner, who had fallen out with Walkinshaw and left TWR the previous season, protested the legality of the Rover cars to the governing body. In response, Walkinshaw protested Sytner's BMW which led to extended legal wrangling which would drag on until long after the season was over.[2]

Soper beat his more experienced team mates and won the outright championship, while Andy Rouse who had taken over the Alfa Romeo GTV6 run by Pete Hall won Class B after a season long dice with the Metros. In Class C, Alan Minshaw took the class honours in his Volkswagen Golf, seeing off the Ford challenge.

However, six months after the championship was over, Sytner's protest was heard by a Tribunal of Enquiry, chaired by veteran legal counsel Lord Hartley Shawcross. The result was the RAC disqualified the Rover team entirely over bodywork irregularities and engine installation issues, handing the title to Rouse. In response, Austin Rover withdrew from the BSCC immediately as a works outfit to concentrate on competing in Europe, and would not return until 2001 under the guise of MG Rover.[3]

Teams & Drivers
Team Car No. Drivers Rounds
Group A
Hughes of Beaconsfield/Toyota GB Toyota Celica Supra 1 Win Percy1 4–5, 8–11
Team Sanyo Racing with Esso
Hepolite Glacier Racing with Esso		 Rover Vitesse 2 Jeff Allam All
3 Pete Lovett All
4 Steve Soper 1–4, 6–11
Gordon Spice Racing Rover Vitesse 5 Gordon Spice 6, 8–10
Dennis Leech Rover Vitesse 6 Dennis Leech 4–8
Burlington Wallcoverings Ltd. Ford Capri III 3.0S 9 Mike Newman 1–2, 7–10
Equipe Esso/Daily Mirror Rover Vitesse 10 Charles Sawyer-Hoare All
GM Dealer Sport Opel Monza 3.0E 11 Tony Lanfranchi 1–3, 5–11
Graham Goode Racing Ford Capri III 3.0S 12 Graham Goode 1, 5, 7–8
Mark Hales Ford Capri III 3.0S 16 Mark Hales 8
Team Colt Cars Mid-West Mitsubishi Starion Turbo 18 Dave Brodie 6–11
Grace International Racing BMW 635CSi 19 Frank Sytner 6–9, 11
Cheylesmore BMW Motorsport BMW 635CSi 20 Hans-Joachim Stuck 8–10
Jonathan Palmer 11
Brian Chatfield Ford Capri III 3.0S ? Brian Chatfield 10–11
Group B
Hamish Irvine Mazda RX-7 30 Hamish Irvine 1–5, 7–11
Napolina Alfa Romeo Dealer Team
Napolina Alfa Romeo Dealer Team
with Hampshires of Dorking		 Alfa Romeo GTV6 31 Jon Dooley All
Terry Nightingale Mazda RX-7 32 Terry Nightingale 8
Industrial Control Services Ltd. Alfa Romeo GTV6 34 Pete Hall 1–3
Andy Rouse 4–11
Unipart with Daily Express MG Metro Turbo 35 Tony Pond 4–11
36 Patrick Watts 8–11
37 Martin Brundle 11
Tom Dodd-Noble Mazda RX-7 ? Tom Dodd-Noble 4
Group C
Volkswagen Sport Volkswagen Scirocco GTI 60 John Morris All
Royal Mail Datapost Ford Escort RS1600i 66 Alan Curnow All
77 Richard Longman All
Ordibel UK Ltd. Volkswagen Golf GTI 67 Alan Greenhalgh 1–5, 7–8, 10
Brooklyn Motorsport Ford Escort RS1600i 69 Chris Hodgetts All
Julian May Racing Ford Fiesta XR2 70 Jock Robertson 1–4
Ford Escort RS1600i 6–9, 11
Lloyds of Stafford Ford Escort RS1600i 72 Rob Hall All
Lionel Abbott Ford Escort RS1600i 74 Lionel Abbott 2–5, 7
Unipart with Daily Express MG Metro 78 Patrick Watts 2–7
Hughes of Beaconsfield/Toyota GB Toyota Corolla GT 80 Win Percy1 1
Tony Crudgington Ford Fiesta XR2 82 Tony Crudgington 8
Napolina Alfa Romeo Dealer Team
Napolina Alfa Romeo Dealer Team
with Hampshires of Dorking		 Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti 83 Rob Kirby All
84 Andrew Thorpe All
Demon Tweeks Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI 86 Alan Minshaw All
RZ Racing Toyota Corolla GT 87 Andy Driver 3
Tony Crudgington 5
Geoff Kimber-Smith 6–11
Terry Watts Talbot Sunbeam Ti 88 Terry Watts 8–9
GTI Engineering Volkswagen Golf GTI 100 Richard Lloyd 11
Jenny Birrell Toyota Corolla GT ? Jenny Birrell 11

Notes:

1.^  – Win Percy was ineligible for points at round 4.

Calendar & Winners

Overall winners in bold.

Round Circuit Date Class A Winner Class B Winner Class C Winner
1 Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire 20 March Steve Soper Hamish Irvine Win Percy
2 Oulton Park, Cheshire 1 April Jeff Allam Jon Dooley John Morris
3 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 4 April Pete Lovett Jon Dooley Alan Greenhalgh
4 Brands Hatch, Kent 10 April Steve Soper Andy Rouse Alan Curnow
5 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 30 May Pete Lovett Andy Rouse Alan Curnow
6 Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire 12 June Steve Soper Andy Rouse Chris Hodgetts
7 Donington Park, Leicestershire 25 June Pete Lovett Andy Rouse John Morris
8 Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire 16 July Steve Soper Jon Dooley Richard Longman
9 Donington Park, Leicestershire 14 August Steve Soper Tony Pond Alan Minshaw
10 Brands Hatch, Kent 29 August Pete Lovett Andy Rouse Chris Hodgetts
11 Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire 2 October Jeff Allam Andy Rouse Chris Hodgetts

Championship Standings

Drivers' Championship

Points were awarded on a 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the top six finishers in each class, with one bonus point for the fastest lap in each class. In races where a class had less than four starters, points would be awarded to the top two finishers (6 & 4 respectively) with one point for the fastest lap. A driver's best nine scores counted towards the championship, dropped scores are shown in brackets. Positions are shown as overall/class.

Pos Driver Class SIL OUL THR BRA THR SIL DON SIL DON BRA SIL2 Pts
DSQ Steve Soper A 1/1 3/3 7/5 1/1 1/1 Ret 1/1 1/1 2/2 2/2 68
DSQ Pete Lovett A 3/3 2/2 1/1 Ret 1/1 2/2 1/1 2/2 Ret 1/1 4/4 63
1 Andy Rouse B 3/1 4/1 5/1 4/1 Ret 7/2 8/1 7/1 61
DSQ Jeff Allam A 2/2 1/1 2/2 2/2 2/2 Ret Ret 3/3 Ret 4/4 1/1 53
2 Alan Minshaw C (11/5) 12/4 11/3 10/2 11/3 9/3 12/3 12/2 8/1 14/4 (Ret) 45
3 Chris Hodgetts C 13/7 14/6 13/5 Ret 12/4 7/1 Ret 13/3 9/2 11/1 10/1 43
4 Alan Curnow C 9/3 ?/? Ret 9/1 8/1 Ret 13/4 14/4 12/4 13/3 11/2 42
5 Hamish Irvine B 8/1 6/2 5/2 5/2 7/3 6/3 20/2 Ret 9/2 Ret 42
6 Jon Dooley B Ret 4/1 4/1 6/3 Ret Ret Ret 10/1 Ret 18/3 9/2 36
7 Richard Longman C 14/8 9/2 16/8 13/5 10/2 Ret Ret 11/1 11/3 16/6 12/3 35
8 John Morris C Ret 8/1 15/7 11/3 Ret 8/2 10/1 Ret Ret 17/7 16/7 31
9 Tony Pond B Ret 6/2 Ret 5/2 25/5 6/1 Ret 17/3 31
10 Rob Hall C 10/4 10/3 Ret Ret Ret Ret 11/2 15/5 Ret 12/2 Ret 22
11 Rob Kirby C Ret 13/5 10/2 12/4 DNS 11/5 14/5 17/6 13/5 Ret Ret 18
12 Alan Greenhalgh C 7/2 ?/? 9/1 15/7 15/7 17/7 Ret 15/5 17
13 Tony Lanfranchi A Ret 5/4 6/4 9/5 6/5 3/3 7/7 10/6 6/6 6/6 17
14 Charles Sawyer-Hoare A 4/4 DNS 3/3 Ret 3/3 4/4 8/5 8/8 Ret 7/7 Ret 16
15 Hans-Joachim Stuck A 5/5 2/2 3/3 12
16 Frank Sytner A 3/3 2/2 DSQ Ret Ret 10
17 Win Percy C 6/1 9
18 Patrick Watts C ?/? 12/4 14/6 13/5 10/4 Ret 9
19 Mike Newman A 5/5 11/5 7/4 9/9 5/5 DNS 9
20 Patrick Watts B 21/3 Ret Ret 18/4 7
21 Win Percy A 8/4 DNS 6/6 3/3 Ret Ret 5
22 Dennis Leech A 4/3 Ret Ret 9/6 Ret 5
23 Andrew Thorpe C NC ?/? 14/6 16/8 Ret 12/6 Ret 18/7 14/6 Ret 14/5 5
24 Gordon Spice A Ret 23/12 4/4 5/5 5
25 Dave Brodie A Ret 16/7 16/10 Ret Ret 3/3 4
26 Graham Goode A Ret 5/4 Ret Ret 3
27 Tom Dodd-Noble B 7/4 3
28 Richard Lloyd C 13/4 3
29 Terry Nightingale B 22/4 3
30 Jonathan Palmer A 5/5 2
31 Martin Brundle B 19/5 2
32 Jock Robertson C 12/6 ?/? Ret Ret WD DNS Ret Ret 15/6 2
33 Lionel Abbott C DNS Ret DNS 14/6 15/6 2
34 Pete Hall B Ret 7/3 8/3 0
35 Geoff Kimber-Smith C 13/7 18/8 DNS 15/7 Ret Ret 0
36 Brian Chatfield A 10/8 8/7 0
37 Terry Watts C 24/8 Ret 0
38 Mark Hales A 19/11 0
NC Tony Crudgington C Ret Ret 0
NC Andy Driver C DNS 0
NC Jenny Birrell C DNS 0
Pos Driver Class SIL OUL THR BRA THR SIL DON SIL DON BRA SIL Pts
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate (DNP)
Excluded (EX)

Bold - Pole in class
Italics - Fastest lap in class

Notes:

1.^  – Pole positions for round 11 are unknown.

References

  1. http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2942561
  2. http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/1983%20BSCC.html
  3. http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/rover/rover-sd1/rover-sd1-in-motor-sport/
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