The cars and stars that grabbed attention at Super Touring Power 3

Super Touring Power attracted star cars and drivers aplenty at Brands Hatch last weekend.

Heroes of the past waxing lyrical on the Autosport stage included Anthony Reid and Patrick Watts, joined by modern-day British Touring Car greats like Colin Turkington and Tom Ingram – who both also starred on track.

Tom Ingram, Ford Sierra RS500

Ingram had his first experience of Group A machinery. Ironically, the 2022 champion shared a Ford Sierra RS500 owned by a namesake of his BTCC arch-rival – but Jeremy Sutton’s crew obliged by switching the names in the Tony Longhurst tribute machine’s windows for each of Ingram’s sessions.

Ingram has become a regular in historic machinery, but the flame-spitting power of a turbocharged Cossie was all new – and took some adapting to.

“When we were [testing] on the Indy circuit, I struggled with it a bit,” he admitted. “It felt too full-on, there was a lot coming at me and so you struggle to get a bit of confidence in it.

“Then we went onto the GP loop with a new set of tyres, and suddenly it just felt fantastic. It just gave me a chunk of confidence to then be able to go at it. So that was quite nice to have that and go, ‘Oh, it’s OK actually’.”

Ingram put the car on pole position and set a blistering race pace before being slowed by fuel pressure problems that eventually led to retirement. With that fixed, Ingram was quickest in Indy circuit qualifying too only for propshaft failure to curtail his weekend.

“It was good fun,” he reflected. “I didn’t really know what to expect, if I’m honest, because I’ve been lucky enough to drive a lot at Goodwood so I’ve done ’60s and ’70s stuff and I’ve obviously done modern stuff but I’ve not really filled in the ’80s, ’90s void before.

“But they’re great, the performance really surprised me actually. The thing that everyone realises is how much power they’ve got, [but] everything about it, it’s been good fun.

“It’s a totally different driving style to what I thought it was going to be. You get used to driving the older stuff on crossply tyres. This still feels like you’re driving an old car but with all new stuff to it, it’s sort of a weird dynamic.

“To get the best out of these, that isn’t how you would drive a modern rear-wheel-drive car [or] how you would drive something a little bit older than this.”

Chris Hodgetts, Vauxhall Cavalier GSi

Two-time British Touring Car champion Chris Hodgetts was reunited for the first time with a car he raced in the series 35 years ago.

Now owned and raced by Jim Pocklington, the 1990 Cavalier was Vauxhall Sport’s development car for the new two-litre category that would come to be known as Super Touring. Rules allowed cars to run in rear-wheel-drive configuration if a four-wheel-drive road car was available and Vauxhall – like Ford later – explored this option.

PLUS: The story behind the original Super Tourer

Hodgetts led the development and raced the car in both front and rear-drive layouts before Vauxhall settled on the former. RWD handling benefits were outweighed by transmission power loss, particularly at circuits with plenty of gradient.

“I loved this car because I did so much work with it,” enthused Hodgetts, who took part in Sunday’s high-speed demonstration. “It took me two or three laps to remember what gear for which corner but the engine’s wonderful in it, sweet.

“The whole thing – I remember it as Dave Cook prepared it as a factory car. And Jim Pocklington, bless his soul, and the lads that work on it, it’s exactly the same. It’s absolutely wonderful.

“I could have kept going around but there was a red flag, which was a bit of a shame. But given the opportunity to do it again, the answer is definitely going to be 110%!”

Andrew Jordan, BMW 320i

The BMW Jordan demonstrated was victorious in three 24-hour races, making it one of the most successful ever Super Tourers

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Another BTCC luminary in high-speed demo action was 2013 title winner Andrew Jordan aboard a car that can lay claim to being the single most successful Super Touring chassis.

The 1995 BMW 320i run by Italian squad Bigazzi Motorsport won three 24-hour races in its contemporary career. Multiple champion Roberto Ravaglia teamed up with Marc Duez and Alex Burgstaller to win the Nurburgring classic first-time out. Burgstaller was then joined by Jorg Muller and Thierry Tassin for victory in the following year’s Spa twice-round-the-clock enduro. Spa success was repeated in 1997, this time with Duez, Eric Helary and Didier de Radigues.

The car was retired to Japan before being acquired in recent years by historics racer Matt Holme. Now tended by Jordan Racing Team, it remains as it left the track at Spa. A circuit map taped inside the roof is a pointer to its incredible originality.

“It does what it’s meant to, and does everything nicely,” said Jordan after his run around Brands’ fearsome Grand Prix circuit. “The damping and stuff around the back [of the circuit] was lovely. Kerb strikes compared to, say, the last modern touring car I drove, this is night and day different.

“I’m sure they spent a lot of money developing it. The kerb over at Sheene, it’s like it’s non-existent. The steering’s quite heavy – a couple of hours stint, you’d feel it. It loads up in the compression at Paddock.

“It’s one of the iconic BMWs for sure. A very special piece of kit.”

Allan Dippie, Rover Vitesse

Kiwi Dippie returned the Rover to British soil for the first time in over 30 years

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Like Paul McCarthy’s hugely popular ex-Patrick Watts Mazda Xedos, fellow Kiwi Allan Dippie’s stunning Rover Vitesse made a first return to its country of origin for 30 years.

Bedecked in hand-painted Spa 24 Hours livery, where 1967 Formula 1 world champion Denny Hulme joined Armin Hahne and Jeff Allam, the evolution model was built by works squad Tom Walkinshaw Racing for 1986. Its all-alloy twin-plenum injection 3.5-litre V8 delivers 340bhp and sounded glorious around the Kent venue’s natural amphitheatre.

“The Rover loves it around here, it really does,” said Dippie who, left behind by the RS500s, tussled with the leading Pre-’93 BMW M3s. “They were persistent little things! But they were pretty respectful actually and so we had a pretty full-on battle.

“It was marvellous to come to Brands Hatch for the first time. The circuit has a lot of history and it’s a privilege to come over and race here. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for us and it lives up to its name.”

Jimmy Pettersson and Susanne Karlsson, Volvo V70

There weren’t any Volvo 850s from the Super Touring period at Brands, but this tribute car travelled over from Sweden

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Cars from the BTCC’s Super Touring car era don’t come much more iconic than the 1994 Volvo 850 estate piloted by Rickard Rydell and Jan Lammers.

And while none of the TWR-built five-cylinder machines were in action at Brands, there was a fitting tribute from Swedish visitor Jimmy Pettersson and his mother Susanne Karlsson.

Pettersson even fitted an 850 front end to the Volvo V70 he raced in Pre-’03 Touring Cars. It is one of four similar cars he’s built for a one-marque category in their homeland.

The family car looks belie a motor with 270-plus bhp at 8000rpm and handling improved by fully-adjustable shock absorbers.

Pettersson smiled: “With all that attention TWR got with their estate racing in the BTCC, I thought if there’s any car I want to bring over, it’s the estate – because estates are cool.”