SUPER TOURING SPECIAL

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hances are, if you Anthony Reid think of Anthony Reid in Super ‘It feels exactly Touring, you picture him in a white the same. I felt Primera or a yellow-and-blue . familiar with it Certainly, all nine of his British CTouring Car wins in that era came and pressed on’ in those two cars, but he was also successful in a third tin-top. “I did a test at Pembrey in 1993 Reid’s first experiences of Super and they seemed to like what I did Touring, or Class 2 as it was so I had a contract for 1994 and ’95 widely known outside the UK, in ,” recalls Reid. “It was my came in the All-Japan Touring Car introduction to Super Touring.” Championship in a Vauxhall He thus takes little persuading Cavalier. He took four wins and when an opportunity to drive an fourth in the 1994 standings and example of the front-wheel-drive followed that up with three more machine at for and another fourth place overall AUTOSPORT comes up. the following year. REID REUNITED The car Reid is set to pedal is the RML-built Cavalier raced by Jeff Allam on his way to 10th in the points in the 1994 BTCC. It then went to Australia and ended up competing at Bathurst and Macau before going into hibernation for over a decade. Bob and Mark Jones bought it for the 2012 season, as Super Touring returned as a historic category (see page 96). Mark, who started in grass-track racing and now races in historics with the The Jones’s Cavalier Cavalier and a Lotus Cortina, is the ex-Jeff Allam reckons it didn’t need a lot of machine that raced in the 1994 work. “We’ve not really had to do British Touring Car anything with it, just a bit of TLC, championship and we’ve put it back in its original livery,” he says. and the Cavalier soon passes the the unusual thing with that car Although the Cavalier now pits making that familiar scream. was that, to change up, you has the wings the car sprouted Despite lots of traffic, the pushed the gearstick forward,” in 1995, it is still on its original Cavalier’s lap times come down continues Reid. “Normally you engine. At the time the four- and down as the session pull. I thought, ‘oh my god I’m cylinder unit was quoted as progresses. Reid is clearly enjoying going to blow the engine up’, but having 290bhp but Bob admits himself out there. actually, when I got into it, I only it “doesn’t give that now”. “That was really good fun. had to think about it a bit because Reid reacquaints himself with Absolutely as I remember,” are I drove the car like that in period. the sparse cockpit of the Cavalier his first words as he climbs out, “It feels exactly the same and I before heading out on a cold before immediately making set-up felt familiar with it and was able morning at Donington. It doesn’t suggestions to Mark Jones. to press on.” Veteran Reid was keen to drive the Cavalier again take him long to get up to speed “I was really concerned because One thing that has changed

44 AUTOSPORT.COM AUGUST 15 2013 REID’S CAVALIER ATTITUDE l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ll l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l

CAVALIER WINNERS IN THE BTCC John Cleland 15 Jeff Allam 2 David Leslie 1 James Thompson 1

since the 1990s is the tyres. Reid CAVALIER CLASS “I think that was the benchmark the racing was fantastic with is running on a hard trackday The Cavalier had a long life, first of the period. It did not feel like a lots of overtaking and Dunlop, as opposed to the myriad appearing in GSi form in 1990 and front-wheel-drive car. It almost slipstreaming,” he enthuses. number of different compounds going through RSi iterations that behaved like a rear-wheel-drive “But a year later, with the major teams ended up running ended with the bewinged machine car because with fresh tyres you wings on, the car felt even better back in the day. of 1995 in which John Cleland hardly got any understeer; but the racing was more “I had to do a few laps to get took the BTCC crown. oversteer was the issue, even processional. It was harder to heat into the tyres, they felt hard,” Reid is in little doubt about under power.” overtake. Even at Fuji, with the confirms the 54-year-old. “In the what made the car successful, Reid also remembers the impact very long pit straight, for some old days you could get heat into both in Britain and Japan. “It just that the splitters and wings, reason when you got behind the rears in one lap. Sometimes we feels like a great bit of kit,” he pioneered by Alfa Romeo and its another car I think the wings used to have three compounds and says. “Nothing complicated, but 155s in 1994, had on the cars. threw the air up so there wasn’t run different ones at each corner!” everything does what it should do. “In 1994 we had no aero kit and so much of a hole behind.”

AUGUST 15 2013 AUTOSPORT.COM 45 SUPER TOURING SPECIAL

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Ex-Allam Cavalier from 1994 now wears the splitter and wings introduced for ’95. Reid reckons they improved the car but created less exciting racing thanks to increased difficulty in overtaking

GOING TO THE EXTREME driveshafts through the V in the Having raced in Japan, Reid V6,” says Reid. “You almost had a headed to Germany with Nissan in 50-50 weight balance. 1996 before arriving in the BTCC “The aerodynamics improved the following season. He would dramatically – that was the almost win the title with the RML difference. You can feel some Primera in 1998 and narrowly downforce in the Cavalier but not missed out again with a a great deal, whereas the Mondeo Ford in 2000. just had a tremendous amount of Reid’s memories of the Mondeo, grip. It really was an aero car.” arguably the most sophisticated With more downforce being Super Tourer, demonstrate just produced by the front splitter how far things went after the than the rear wing, the Mondeo Cavalier’s heyday. was nevertheless not an easy car “Everything became extreme, to hussle compared with the more right down to having water-cooled benign Cavalier. brake callipers – and remember “The Ford was a bit more that the engine on the Ford tricky to drive, especially in Mondeo was set so far back and quick corners, because you had an so low they could actually run the aero imbalance,” adds Reid, who reckons Prodrive’s 1999 car was Anthony Reid particularly challenging. “It didn’t have power steering and there was torque steer, all ‘The Cavalier is sorts of issues you expect with a completely new car.” just beautifully With Vauxhall well into its Vectra programme and Nissan engineered ruling the roost with the Primera, Prodrive took the engine build Reid gave Mark Cross a few set-up pointers after his re-aquaintance run at Donington Park – nothing trick’ programme in-house for 2000 46 AUTOSPORT.COM AUGUST 15 2013 REID’S CAVALIER ATTITUDE l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ll l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l

Original Swindon-built two-litre doesn’t produce the 290bhp it used to, according to the car’s owners Reid went on a charge at Fuji, taking second from the back in race one and winning race two REID: THE BRAVE CAVALIER IN JAPAN It may not have got much coverage attained in a highly competitive in the UK, but the All-Japan Touring first year of Class 2 racing”. Car Championship was competitive. Soper charged from the back in And big. both races, but was forced out of One of Reid’s best racing the first with fuel-pump failure. memories comes from the 1994 Kristensen clashed with Aguri season finale double-header, at Fuji, Suzuki in race two and Soper’s while driving the Vauxhall. second charge looked set to bring “It was a big race, Japan’s Tourist him the title. But the efort had Trophy,” says Reid. taken too much from his tyres and “I won from the back of the grid he fell back. Despite spinning on a because we’d had a problem in warm-up lap and non-starting race qualifying. I overtook 30-odd cars one, Sekiya’s third place in the by slipstreaming in one of Ray finale was enough for the crown. Mallock’s Cavaliers. It was a huge But Reid was well down the road. slipstreaming battle. I’ve got the “It was a class field of all the major Lord Mayor’s trophy on my cabinet.” Japanese manufacturers, BMW and Reid familiarises himself again with the sparse cockpit of the Cavalier, a car he raced in the mid-’90s Reid charged from 31st to second some great drivers: Winkelhock, in the first part, before comfortably Soper, Hoshino, Hasemi,” he adds. and, with Reid partnering Alain like Formula 1 on a smaller scale. winning the second encounter from “We had enough power to Menu and , no The Ford budget for that season Jo Winkelhock. slipstream and pass people down expense was spared securing the was in excess of £10million. Behind raged a tight battle for the the straight – at that time the title in the BTCC’s final Super “The BTC cars were like title between the Carinas of Cavalier really was a very Touring season. production club-level, so Masanori Sekiya and competitive package. “Prodrive did a phenomenal job unsophisticated by comparison. and the BMW of in a “Ray Mallock used to make the and built the most advanced Super You weren’t allowed to move the field that AUTOSPORT’s Adam trip over for the Japanese races – Touring car I’ve ever driven, and it engine so there was much more Cooper described as “a marvellous they were very important and it had more power than any of the weight on the front wheels and tribute to the strength the JTCC has was a big championship.” others,” reckons Reid. “But I never there was no downforce to speak felt that car talked to me the same of. You had less grip and the way as the did, engine power was a lot less. It was understandably because you had a culture shock!” three big names with all their own You can’t help get the feeling ideas. Alain and Rickard seemed that the cars of the mid-1990s, of to like the car more the way it which the Cavalier remains a fine was than I did. I have to have a example, slot sensibly between the rear end that is very compliant less spectacular cars of the 2000s and predictable.” and the exotic money pits of the late Super Touring era. THE MOVE TO BTC REGS “There’s nothing very trick and The cost of Super Touring had, by fancy about the Cavalier but it’s 2000, become unsustainable. New just beautifully built and BTC regulations were introduced engineered,” says Reid. “If you for 2001 to reduce costs. were running one as a privateer it Reid would taste success with was a great car, and not too MG, winning six races in 2001- expensive to run. ’04, but the cars were something “That’s what Ray Mallock and of a come down. “I could see the his team have always been very writing on the wall,” he good at doing. He set the remembers. “In 2000 it became benchmark with the Cavalier.” Prodrive-built Ford Mondeo was the most spectacular Super Tourer. Reid recalls it was “tricky to drive”

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