The 1991 Esso RAC British Touring Car Championship season was the 34th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season and marked the first year of the Super Touring era.

Changes for 1991

After a transitional year in 1990, the multi-class Group A regulations was fully dropped and replaced by the new Super Touring rules that had evolved out of Group A's Div. II category. Group A cars were still allowed to participate, but only as long as they were restricted to bring them down to Super Touring speeds.

Season summary

Group A had towards the end of its existence been dominated by Ford and their Sierra RS500. Super Tourers had first appeared in 1990, and with BMW and Vauxhall running their cars in that category they effectively had a years head start on their opposition for 1991. BMW also had the numerical advantage, the factory Prodrive team entering two cars and the semi-factory Vic Lee Motorsport team entering four. Vauxhall had two cars, as had Toyota, while Ford only appeared with a single car for Robb Gravett's Trakstar team. Nissan missed the start of the season but then ran a single-car effort for Keith O'Dor driving a 2.0 Primera entered by Janspeed, and was joined by ex-Formula One driver Julian Bailey towards the end of the season and Mitsubishi was back, engineered by BTCC stalwart John McGuire Racing, fielding a one car team for Mark Hales, the team elected to run the Lancer GTI at the beginning of the season but was replaced by the larger Galant mid season.

The privateer entries would consist mainly of BMW M3s with the odd Ford Sierra entry, the most notable being Andy Middlehurst, and the odd appearance of Jeff Wilson in a Vauxhall Belmont.

Rover and Peugeot would also be represented briefly by privateers Grahame Davis and Andrew McKenzie while possible entries from Audi, Honda, Renault and Lancia were mooted but never materialised.

The championship battle would stand between Will Hoy and John Cleland. Hoy won the first two races of the season and kept scoring consistently, but as the season progressed it was Cleland who came out on top more often than not. Hoy's consistency however put him in a position to claim the championship at the penultimate round at Thruxton, provided he scored a good enough result. Indeed, Hoy took the lead of the race thanks to BMW team tactics, but soon thereafter he was controversially tapped into a spin by works BMW driver Jonathan Palmer. Hoy dropped down the field and later retired after contact with Cleland. Cleland would go on to finish 8th with a damaged car, taking the championship to the final race. There Hoy was able to finish ahead of Cleland, and thus claiming the first Super Touring championship win. Andy Rouse finished third for Toyota, and Steve Soper ended up fourth overall despite missing several races due to clashing commitments in the German DTM championship.

The 7th meeting of the season at Silverstone would be notable for the debut of future 3-time Champion Matt Neal in a Pyramid Motorsport-run BMW M3, finishing 13th out of 17 finishers.

Teams and drivers

Team Car No. Drivers Rounds Manufacturer Trakstar MotorsportFord Sierra Sapphire 1 Robb Gravett All Kaliber ICS Team Toyota Toyota Carina 3 Andy Rouse All 33 Gary Ayles All BMW Team Labatt's BMW M3 4 Tim Harvey All 9 Laurence Bristow 1–11, 13 Armin Hahne 12 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier 5 John Cleland All 6 Jeff Allam All 56 Bob Berridge 12–13 BMW Team Listerine BMW M3 11 Will Hoy All 12 Ray Bellm All BMW Team Finance BMW M3 22 Jonathan Palmer All 44 Steve Soper 1, 3, 7–10, 12 Tim Sugden 2, 5–6, 11, 13 Christian Danner 4 Nissan Janspeed Racing Nissan Primera eGT 23 Kieth O'dor 2–13 24 Julian Bailey 11–13 John Maguire RacingMitsubishi Lancer 88 Mark Hales 1–5Mitsubishi Galant 8–13 Independent Pyramid Motorsport BMW M3 2 Frank Sytner 1–8, 10–11 David Leslie 13 18 Matt Neal 7 Alistair Fenwick 12 Godfrey Hall 13 Sean Walker RacingFord Sierra RS500 7 Sean Walker 2 BMW Team Sweden BMW M3 10 Nettan Lindgren 1–3, 5–6 91 Peggen Andersson 1–3, 6 R&D Motorsport BMW 318is 13 Angus MacKay 1–2 Alistair Lyall 4, 7, 13 ACE MotorsportPeugeot 405 Mi16 17 Andrew MacKenzie 7, 10 Judge DevelopmentsFord Sierra RS500 19 Dennis Leech 1–4 Moto-BuildRover 216GTi 20 Grahame Davis 1–2, 7, 10 Brodie Brittain RacingFord Sierra Sapphire 4x4 21 Dave Brodie 10–13 Drambuie RacingBMW M3 45 Ian Forrest All HWR Motorsport Vauxhall Belmont 58 Jeff Wilson 9, 11, 13 Tony Bardy 12 BRR MotorsportBMW M3 59 Ian Flux 1, 3–5, 13 Matt Neal9 Val Musetti 11 Auto Trader Techspeed Team BMW M3 66 Nick Whale 1–5, 8–9, 11–13 David Leslie 7 John Llewellyn 10 77 Nick Baird 1–5, 7–8, 12–13 Matt Neal 11 Graham Goode RacingFord Sierra RS Cosworth 99 Andy Middlehurst All

Race calendar and winners All races were held in the United Kingdom. Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 R1 Silverstone Circuit (National) 1 April Steve Soper Will Hoy Will Hoy BMW Team Listerine 2 R2 Snetterton Circuit 14 April John Cleland Will Hoy Will Hoy BMW Team Listerine 3 R3 Donington Park (Grand Prix) 28 April Steve Soper John Cleland Steve Soper BMW Team Finance 4 R4 Thruxton 27 May Will Hoy Will Hoy John Cleland Vauxhall Sport 5 R5 Silverstone Circuit (National) 9 June Tim Sugden Andy Rouse John Cleland Vauxhall Sport 6 R6 Brands Hatch (Indy) 30 June Tim Sugden Will Hoy Tim Sugden BMW Team Finance 7 R7 Silverstone Circuit (Grand Prix) 14 July Steve Soper Steve Soper Steve Soper BMW Team Finance 8 R8 Donington Park (National) 28 July John Cleland Andy Rouse Andy Rouse Kaliber ICS Team Toyota R9 Ray Bellm Andy Rouse Kaliber ICS Team Toyota 9 R10 Oulton Park (International) 11 August John Cleland Gary Ayles John Cleland Vauxhall Sport 10 R11 Brands Hatch (Indy) 26 August Andy Rouse Andy Rouse Andy Rouse Kaliber ICS Team Toyota R12 Ray Bellm Will Hoy BMW Team Listerine 11 R13 Donington Park (Grand Prix) 15 September John Cleland John Cleland John Cleland Vauxhall Sport 12 R14 Thruxton 22 September Jonathan Palmer Tim Harvey Steve Soper BMW Team Finance 13 R15 Silverstone Circuit (Grand Prix) 6 October Andy Rouse Tim Harvey Tim Harvey BMW Team Labatt's  – Race was stopped after 10 laps due to heavy rain. The race was not restarted and no points were awarded.

Championship results

Drivers Championship

Pos Driver SIL SNE DON THR SIL† BRH SIL DON OUL BRH DON THR SIL Pts 1 Will Hoy 1 1 Ret 3 3 2 2 Ret DNS 2 2 1 3 Ret 5 155 2 John Cleland 3 9 2 1 1 12 6 3 10 1 4 3 1 8 9 132 3 Andy Rouse 5 3 9 8 4 3 7 1 1 4 1 Ret Ret 4 2 115 4 Steve Soper 18 1 1 2 Ret 3 6 Ret 1 96 5 Ray Bellm 6 2 6 7 5 7 4 6 2 6 14 Ret 4 5 6 90 6 Jeff Allam 2 4 5 2 2 5 8 5 Ret Ret 8 Ret 6 10 8 80 7 Jonathan Palmer 7 Ret Ret 6 11 6 5 4 3 5 7 6 Ret 2 21 66 8 Tim Harvey 10 7 DSQ 4 7 4 3 Ret 6 7 Ret 5 2 Ret 1 42 9 Andy Middlehurst 4 Ret 13 Ret 10 Ret 16 7 7 8 11 4 8 7 3 41 10 Tim Sugden Ret 12 1 5 Ret 32 11 Robb Gravett 20 13 Ret 14 18 9 Ret 9 4 9 5 2 7 9 13 28 12 Frank Sytner DNS 5 3 Ret 6 8 10 Ret DNS 9 7 Ret 26 13 Laurence Bristow Ret 6 7 12 16 10 11 8 5 Ret Ret DNS Ret 7 20 14 Gary Ayles 9 DSQ 4 Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret DNS Ret 3 DNS 14 Ret 10 19 15 Armin Hahne 3 12 16 David Leslie 9 4 12 17 Kieth O'dor Ret Ret 11 13 15 Ret 10 8 10 Ret Ret 9 6 11 10 18 Christian Danner 5 8 19 Peggen Andersson 8 8 12 11 6 20 Dennis Leech 16 14 8 Ret 3 21 Nick Baird 11 Ret 15 9 14 12 12 9 DNS 17 2 22 Ian Flux 13 Ret 10 9 14 1 23 Mark Hales 17 10 16 16 DNS 14 Ret 14 13 Ret Ret 11 Ret 1 24 Nettan Lindgren 19 Ret 10 13 14 1 25 Nick Whale 14 12 14 13 17 11 Ret 11 10 12 19 1 26 John Llewellyn 10 Ret 0 27 Ian Forrest 12 11 11 15 15 14 15 13 NC 12 12 Ret 12 13 22 0 28 Jeff Wilson 13 11 Ret 0 29 Julian Bailey Ret Ret 12 0 30 Matt Neal 13 Ret DNS 0 31 Valentino Musetti 13 0 32 Angus MacKay 15 15 0 33 Dave Brodie Ret DNS DNS Ret 15 0 34 Bob Berridge Ret 16 0 35 Andrew MacKenzie 17 DNS DNS 0 36 Alistair Lyall DNS Ret 18 0 37 Godfrey Hall 20 0 — Grahame Davis DNS DNS DNS Ret DNS 0 — Sean Walker DNS 0 — Tony Bardy DNS 0 — Alistair Fenwick DNS 0 Pos Driver SIL SNE DON THR SIL† BRH SIL DON OUL BRH DON THR SIL Pts Note: bold signifies pole position, italics signifies fastest lap.  – Tim Harvey was docked 48 points in round 3 for not keeping within the limits of noise regulations. † Race was stopped early due to heavy rain, and no points were awarded. Note: Most fastest laps are unknown.

Manufacturers Championship

Pos Manufacturer SIL SNE DON THR SIL† BRH SIL DON OUL BRH DON THR SIL Pts 1 BMW / BMW Team Listerine/BMW Team Labatt's/BMW Team Finance 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 134 2 Vauxhall / Vauxhall Sport 2 4 2 1 1 5 6 3 10 1 4 3 1 8 8 116 3 Toyota / Kaliber ICS Team Toyota 5 3 4 8 4 3 7 1 1 4 1 Ret 14 4 2 111 4 Ford / Trakstar Motorsport 4 13 8 14 10 9 16 7 4 8 5 2 7 7 3 102 5 Nissan / Nissan Janspeed Racing Ret Ret 11 13 15 Ret 10 8 10 Ret Ret 9 6 11 53 6 Mitsubishi / John Maguire Racing 17 10 16 16 DNS 14 Ret 14 13 Ret Ret 11 Ret 45 Pos Manufacturer SIL SNE DON THR SIL† BRH SIL DON OUL BRH DON THR SIL Pts

References