1983 British Saloon Car Championship

The 1983 RAC Trimoco 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

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1982

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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 and drivers

Team Car No. Drivers Rounds Class 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 29 Brian Chatfield 10–11 Class 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 Class 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 Jenny Birrell Toyota Corolla GT 95 Jenny Birrell 11 GTI Engineering Volkswagen Golf GTI 100 Richard Lloyd 11 Notes: 1.^  – Win Percy was ineligible for points at round 4. Calendar and 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 SIL 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 Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold - Pole in class Italics - Fastest lap in class References "1983 Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship - Discussion & Results - Page 5 - TenTenths Motorsport Forum". tentenths.com. Retrieved 2021-12-24. "RAC British Saloon Car Championship - 1983". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 2021-12-24. Adams, Keith (2011-08-05). "Rover SD1 in motor sport". AROnline. Retrieved 2021-12-24. External links Touring Car Racing History – 1983 BSCC