Stories from Super Touring.

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of Stories from Super Touring.

I'm your host Levi Riley, and on today's episode we're diving into one of the most memorable championship showdowns of the Super Touring era, the 1998 BTCC season finale at Silverstone.

All season long, the title fight built towards a straight jewel between Nissan's Anthony Reed driving the all conquering Premiera and Volvo's Ricard Rydell in the striking S42.

Drivers at the peak of their form, 2 dominant manufacturers with everything on the line and a final weekend at Silverstone that delivered tension, drama and A championship conclusion still talked about today.

We're also excited to welcome a debut guest to the podcast as we look back at this season finale, The race's editor in chief and the voice behind the brilliant Bring Back the 10s podcast.

Glenn Freeman.

Glenn, first of all, welcome to you and welcome to the podcast.

Thanks for agreeing to join us on the show today.

First question, what is it about super tourists that made them so special for you?

Well, firstly, thanks, thanks for the invite.

It's it's, it's great to be on.

I've I'm an avid listener to the show and I know you guys say lots of nice things about bring back V 10's and I can assure you I feel the same way about your show.

What is it about Super Tours and Super Touring?

I think it's just the general like prestige of it all.

You know, manufacturers, superstar drivers, brilliant angry looking cars that sounded great, incredible, incredible deliveries.

Like everyone had an identity.

It was just so vibrant and I was trying to work out how to summarise it.

It was kind of an era, if you consider it pretty much a 10 year period, an era where in motorsport terms you caught lightning in a bottle.

And manufacturing involvement, I mentioned at the start can so often end up being a bad thing for for motorsport championships.

And that's kind of what happened here in the end.

But we got such a long period before that happened and that's what makes it so great.

This wasn't a flash in a pan, you know?

This was a decade of something brilliant that still resonates today.

Yeah, and, and we'll stick with you, Gunn, for our usual open question as well.

What first comes to mind when you first think about this season finale from 1998?

I'll keep it brief.

It's Alan Menu versus both Vauxhalls, as I know we're going to talk about it later, but I'm pretty sure there's a kind of unseen, almost unseen resolution to that battle that involves Derek Warwick getting incredibly robust.

And I just love that the moment Alex mentioned to me the possibility of doing that race, this race, that was the thing that come to mind because the first time someone pointed out to me what Derek did, that's amazing.

Yes, yeah, we'll definitely get on to that because I think it's our face is all lit up when you mention it because I think we've seen it as well.

Adam coming to you, what about Yeasticks in the Mind from this season finale?

I think it's just the fact that it's just a finale.

Like what what's the answer?

What's going to happen?

Who's got the crystal ball?

What do we think is going to happen?

Different scenarios, Who's going to play fair, who's not?

You know, there's always the and obviously with with Reedy being as unpredictable as he could be with a can opener, you know, you don't know if that's going to come into play at at some point, but I just think that's that's again, it's just why I love the Super Touring era.

Really.

It was just an era of the unpredictable ways of racing where you just didn't know what you were going to get.

Yeah, I just loved it, Absolutely loved it.

But it's just, yeah, it's just exciting to know that it's the finale to find out who's going to be crown champion.

But also you always have that disappointing where there's a bit of a low where you've got to wait till the beginning part of the next season.

I wasn't there, but yeah, I think it's just the the what ifs, you know what's going to happen, Who knows?

And finally, Alex, what are your memories from this Silverstone weekend?

Alan Then you just falling out with everyone but that.

But.

That was standard for him.

Knowing me and what he's scathing, telling off basically for parking a perfectly good motor car in the pits after he'd had such a Strop in the second race.

He argued with John Cleland.

He argued with Peter Cox, He argued with Derek Warwick.

He argued with his car.

He argued with Will Holley argued.

With himself, yeah.

Probably.

And and then obviously the the radio, yeah, with his team over the radio.

Did you not hear me?

I'm retiring, you know, and, and also that post race showdown in the pits, in the pits garages with John Cleland where they both had to be pulled apart.

And I've, I've recently been given, and I can't really reveal my source where it's from that I've been given the uncut John Cleland interview that BHP had.

And my goodness, does he go in on our menu.

Half of it could not be broadcast but it is a brilliant, brilliant bit of footage and I wish I could put it out but I can't.

Paddock Club.

Paddock Club, yes.

Great idea.

Great idea.

As always, we've also asked our faithful listeners what they thought of this race meeting.

And starting off, Rowland Hill remembers that Nigel Mansell was pretty forgettable in this race meeting.

And I guess that can be summed up by the fact that we've got, what was it, 5-10 minutes in and we've not mentioned that Nigel Mansell was at this race meeting.

He was pretty anonymous, but I think.

That's why I'd be able to mention it.

We'll, we'll get into a bit more.

That probably actually was was quite a nice thing for Nigel particularly.

Meanwhile, Imogen Fict has said that as much as she loves Reedy, he did kind of bottle the season finale in her opinion with this his rash move on James Thompson.

As we'll get on to, lots of you are remembering the memorable incident that we've already brought up between Alan Menu and John Cleland, with the likes of Paul Moore and Dennis Knight recalling this sort of memory from the meeting.

And talking of Menu, as we've already done quite a lot of in this meeting, we will continue to do so.

I'm sure Paul Wilson remembers him getting more and more irate to some meeting developed whilst Aaron Collins remembers what he's scathing response with antics as Alex has already mentioned.

He argued with Tommy Richtad as well.

I just remembered another.

1 Aside from the Reed versus Rydell title battle, the rest of the Build Up Sea event was focused on if Nigel Mansell would be making his final appearance in the Ford Mondeo.

After his difficult ouncing at Bransach, Nigel was unsure whether he even wanted to return for the Silverstone finale.

Having crashed out of both races and what he described as a disastrous weekend, he admitted a hope.

I race at Silverstone.

I'll wait and see.

I'm just pleased to be in one piece to be honest with you.

He didn't hold back on his criticism of the Mondeo either, suggesting Ford's focus has shifted towards it's high profile 1999 programme, which 97 Champion Hour Menu had recently signed up for.

The car's just not competitive and there's no smokescreen to disguise it, he said.

Adam, can you understand Nigel's concerns going into the meeting that perhaps it might not be best for him to turn up?

He can, but this is Nigel, isn't it?

You know he loves the story and loves, loves the drama and you know thing to say that he's happy to be in one piece.

You know, this is a man that has has done some seriously dangerous things in in single seaters and had some mega shunts and lucky to be alive, to be honest, so to say.

He's been one piece.

He's just, you know, create in the the drama and you know, he's got an ego to protect and and everything else to go with it.

But as you all know, I'm a Nigel Mansell fan so he's always forgiven and everything is fine.

But yeah, I can understand him.

What?

Yeah, to a point, what you're saying, But you know he's not.

If he's not, you can't really hide the fact that he's got such a big spotlight on him because of his name and what he's achieved and a hero and a legend to many to then be in this environment that he isn't really that familiar with.

But.

Yeah, it was just a tough one for him.

Wasn't to have such a high at one point like Donnington and then all of a sudden he's had a bit of a bit of a stinker, you know, it's yeah, wasn't the best best for him at that time.

Was it in the in the Mundare?

We, we saw the very best of Mansell at Donington and we saw the very worst of Mansell at Brands Hatch.

And I often think that it actually worked out quite nicely because you had one real barnstorming event at Donington, a real stinker as you say, at Brands.

And then this one was just middle of the road, kept it on the track, did OK in what was an uncompetitive car.

Yeah, and then Donnington just fell right for him, didn't it, with the weather conditions and everything that went with it.

And it was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

Yeah.

What a what a hero story.

But all of a sudden when when the chips are down and and the conditions are more equal and you get to really see what the competitiveness.

That's why I was used to love obviously the wet conditions because I wasn't throughout my career, I wasn't always in the fastest car, but I used to pray for a bit of rain at times.

And I loved the changing conditions because it just that allowed me to be competitive.

His main contribution to the Brands weekend was, was it, he said.

I think it was Knox when that's the only thing he didn't know that weekend other than being constantly fired off.

And then you had what is cheesy joke.

Well, I think he knocks you off.

Meanwhile, there was a minor dispute over whether Nigel should run an onboard camera in his Mondeira for the final race.

He was reportedly unhappy with the TV coverage from Brands Hatch, particularly the radio link broadcast, when he initially refused to serve a drive free penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

He even requested a written apology from the TV production company.

As a result, Toca fitted the camera to Wilhoi's sister car instead.

Alan Gown later clarified the situation, saying he didn't refuse to have a camera but did prefer not to have one.

We'll have more of a chance of being in the thick of the action.

If we had been resolute about Nigel carrying one, they would have had to comply.

Glad an interesting call is about Will being in the thick of the action there, as I'll let you read between the lines on that one.

But do you think this is a Much Ado About Nothing or was there more to this story?

I mean, it's classic Mansell, isn't it?

The fact that this is even a story.

Drama, drama.

Yeah, exactly.

Obviously if this was on Bring Back V 10s for your listeners who listen to our show as well, this would be a question I would put to Matt Beer.

I did try and bait him this morning with this question and I got a very diplomatic answer that just sung Derek Warwick's praises for what he did to Nigel this weekend.

I think Nigel's reluctance to have a camera and obviously what was it, was it Gal said and he didn't refuse, but he would prefer not to have one, I suspect so it was probably just a reflection of the fact he thought he thought he was going to have another crack weekend and didn't really want any extra focus on him.

I did love the other Gal line of kind of going fine, we'll stick a camera in the Ford that's going to be racing other cars.

I also wondered though partly if this was Nigel coming from an era where racing drivers didn't have to be over sharers.

You know, not every move you made was caught by an on board camera, not everything you said was broadcast on radio.

The radio appearing in BTCC broadcast was pretty revolutionary in the 90s.

Modern day drivers just know it's part of the game and they don't care.

You know, they'll say whatever they want to on the radio.

Whereas in Nigel's day it wasn't like that.

So maybe he found all of that quite intrusive.

But yeah, just just overall, it's needless grumpiness, isn't it?

But you know, Full disclosure, either I'm a Mansell fan as well, so I was kind of here for it.

You're right though about the radios.

I never really thought of it like that because Donnington, where he was brilliant, was a live race and they didn't have the technology to be able to do live pit comms really in that way.

Obviously brands was, was edited highlights where they had the, the, the availability of taking all the, all the comms back and forth the team.

And it was it was the really the, the, the, the, the bit that he wasn't happy with is basically telling Toker to get stuffed over.

He was.

A he was a pit to car radio conversation that when when in the pit lane and there was moaning coming in, you know, he didn't.

It just it's because he it shone a light on him in a negative way.

Yeah.

It's.

And he doesn't like that.

He got he got called in for a drive through because he was speeding on his pit exit.

Yeah, and he said.

I only saw 64 once and then the just the two supply was well 60 twos the limit.

And it's like it's made, not stupid.

Didn't it?

Exactly.

And I can, you know, I you know, we all know Nigel's very protective of his ego and and yeah, he wouldn't have liked that.

And I think that's what really probably was the worst bit of it for him.

No one briefed him beforehand, by the way.

No.

As, as Glenn says, he wouldn't have been used to that sort of thing.

He wouldn't have expected it in any in any way.

1980F1 champion Alan Jones was linked with a guest driver Renault for the BTCC season finale as another challenger to Mansell.

Jones drove for the Williams Touring car Engineering team at Bathurst in 1997, so he was 9 to the team Alex.

It didn't happen in the end, but it would have been an interesting story had it happened, surely.

There was talk all the way through 98 that people were going to jump in and challenge and they had all these.

Jodie Schechter was going to be in a Nissan at one point at Donnington, Alan Jones was going to be in a Renault at some point and it it it flared up again at the finale and Renault if in the end gave the third car to Rushdad instead of Alan Jones.

He did do the Bathurst as you said in 97 where admittedly it's a long track isn't it?

But he was 4 seconds off Alan Menu, who in fairness is probably the greatest Super Touring driver in the world at that point in the greatest Super Touring car in 97, the end of the end of 97, that Renault was obviously dominant, wasn't it?

So I don't know what you can judge.

I mean, he was closer.

I'm looking at the the the the top 10 runoff now.

He was only a second off John Cleland in a Vectra.

Brad Jones.

He was only a second and a half Auster.

He'd have been competitive.

He would have, he, he, he probably would have been racing near, near Nigel and, and, and Derek Warwick and, and, and, and getting involved in all that stuff.

So I don't think he'd have been, you know, embarrassing himself or anything, but it would have been an it would have been an unusual decision to have put him in the car.

But yeah, it will.

Why not?

Why not another, another F1 driver in the, in the at this point, this was the peak of Super Touring.

This was the peak of the British Touring Car Championship.

And only the BTCC could pull names like Alan Jones, Alan Nigel Mansell out of the hats and, and, and do these things.

So it wasn't impossible.

But yeah, I, I don't think we missed out.

Should we say that he didn't do it?

I don't think there's anything that's like, oh God, we could have had a real a real classic on our hands.

I don't think that was the case.

Elsewhere in the paddock, there was speculation that the late hot form of a Van Miller had made ALDI reconsider their expected withdrawal at the end of the season.

ALDI Sport chief Wolfgang Ulrich told Auto Sport this decision will not be made until all the companies and marketing departments come together and meet.

This will not happen until all the championships have finished.

We now know that they ended up withdrawing in the end Glen, once all the championships finished and these things took place in a very German style.

But could you see a competitive Audi if they had remained in 1999?

I would have loved to see them continue.

I remember being really excited when they, when we found out they were going to go to 2 wheel drive for 98.

And I thought, this is great.

We're going to see Audi on a level playing field.

And I actually thought they would do a better job than they did because I, I thought they were sometimes unfairly, it was assumed that all the advantage was purely 4 wheel drive.

And I was thinking, actually, this is Audi.

They're, they're doing a good job as well.

So I would have liked to see them persist because as you say, that did appear to be an upturn in form towards the end of the year.

So it's like, OK, you've plugged through the really difficult part you're getting there.

Let's let's see what we can do in in 99.

I mean, I do wonder if some of that uptick in form was also Muller getting used to the championship as well and settling.

So obviously he went on to even in 99 when he moved to Vauxhall, he looked much more comfortable there straight away.

So I think there was a bit of that going on as well.

But I would have really just liked to see if that momentum or how that Audi late 98 momentum would have fit in the 99 picture.

And obviously it would have been great to to not lose another manufacturer.

I was interested in the Ulrich quote that you guys kind of chuckled out there.

I dealt with him a lot covering the DTM and going to the modern year after year for a while and had quite a good relationship with him.

And I remember a colleague telling me they said he's one of those guys who he will never tell you an outright lie, but he's very good being very economical with the truth.

So looking at that quote, he's basic, you know, there's there's some truth in there, but the truth is probably that the announcement will be made once all the seasons are finished and once we've had all of our marketing meetings.

And basically that's when we take the bit of paper that says BTCC on it and RIP it in half.

But I think, you know, the decision had been made and I doubt there was any any reversing it, you know, even if Muller had had won a race.

But yeah, real shame.

I think Audi getting the hang of 2 wheel drive in 99, they're not going to be fighting for the championship again.

But it would have been fun.

It would have been fun to see.

Yeah, Muller's, the second-half of the season was very strong.

He got a good couple of podiums in all sorts of different tracks and conditions.

I'm thinking Knock Hill where he was flying, especially in that feature race and he was just passing everyone into the last, into the last corner.

I I think they would have.

I did try and find out.

I can't remember where the Mueller had signed for Vauxhall before the end of that year, and I don't think he did.

Happy to be corrected.

So I couldn't find anything when I was researching, but I'm pretty sure he didn't sign for Vauxhall until late in 1998, after this decision had been made.

And I just wonder, yeah, had they been able to retain Mueller, I think Audi probably would have been.

Don't get me wrong, they wouldn't have been up there with Nissan in 99, but they probably would have got a fair few podiums and been reasonably competitive.

It was just a shame to see Binkliff just really struggling with that car because he, you know, he did OK against against Beeler and it was just a real, it was a real enigma that year.

He just didn't seem to to get it going at all.

Whereas Muller, as Glenn said, was new to the championship and and already had a couple of podiums by the end of the year.

So yeah, I always thought Binkliff was a bit of a bit of a strange one in 98.

But yeah, it would have been good to see how they stay on just for the the car.

I loved the car.

The car was a beautiful car, wasn't a beautiful delivery.

They made a massive impact coming into the Championship, didn't they?

But also, I think if they had gone that if they did stay on, they certainly would have had the resources to to do what needed to be done.

You know, they would they certainly would have would have gone at it properly.

But it's a crystal ball moment again, isn't it?

What if?

I guess we had the dual Le Mans projects looming as well over.

This year.

Audi UK ran one of those cars they were on.

The one with the roof?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, that's true.

That was their aim, wasn't it?

They were looking at that.

They weren't looking at touring cars.

They they'd felt they'd done that.

Yeah, been there, done that, you know.

Ricard Riedel was easily the happiest man after qualifying, securing a pole and a fifth place grid slot, whilst title rival Anthony Reid managed only 4th and 3rd.

Nissan did take one pole, but David Leslie's fastest time in the half hour session felt very much like a consolation prize for Reid.

Typically, Volvo's Swedish style kept his feet firmly on the ground, though he admitted it had been a strong day.

Reflecting on his one shot qualifying lap, he said it was a good lap, not perfect, but they never are.

I'm happy that we are back to competitive form after Alton Park, Adam.

It must have been a relief of Rydell and Volvo after he was so poor at Alton Park just the weekend before.

Yeah, Dossier dropping a lot of points at Olson.

So I think as a driver, you, you just you think, Oh no, have we lost it?

You know, is this all going South really quickly?

So I think from the fact that it was just competitive again, would have been a massive relief to him.

You know, he's got a championship to go for, but also where he qualified.

Because the last place you want to be qualifying is like third row, 4th row, 5th row, and you're in amongst it because no one's going to give a crap about you and your championship.

But then sometimes if you're overprotective and you're trying to drive a bit cautious, then you just get in a whole world of shit really, because you just end up being, instead of going at it, you're too cautious over it and then you end up being in the wrong place, the wrong time moment.

So I think the fact that he qualified at the front, he knew if he could just get a good start, that's all you need to let the chaos commence behind me and I'm out of the way because that's just what he wanted.

So I think that probably would have been the most important qualifying of his of his season.

Yeah.

To just be at the front because it was also a difficult place to overtake.

Really.

There wasn't, you know, it was quite a fast flowing circuit, really sort of medium to high speed corners.

So there wasn't a tonne of overtaking opportunities, but yeah, I think he would have been massively relieved with that.

I love Silverstone International Circuit, whilst we're talking about it, one of the best circuits on the calendar and it's a shame that obviously bridge isn't, isn't, you know, doesn't exist anymore.

What a corner, What a corner.

But it just doing.

The GT car was immense, like so good.

Imagine.

Yeah.

But it just, it was such a brilliant layout for touring cars.

It just said everything.

It was brilliant.

Earlier in the session Leslie had timed his effort perfectly on a drying track, capitalising whilst many others rude bolting on their final sticks too early or having their laps compromised by mistakes or traffic.

In the damp session, Reed had been on the right tyres at the right moment and felt like he was on a strong lap before locking up into Abby as the flag came out.

I was probably a bit too tight in the car, he explained, not letting it flow.

But the 4th of my teammate on pole is good.

Did he feel the pressure has shifted onto him from Rydell?

Reed insisted otherwise.

I don't feel so.

I'm not in my fifth season with the same manufacturer without winning it.

I'll have plenty more opportunities.

Alex Reed sounded frustrated with his lapse, especially with the errors.

He admitted to As much as he assured otherwise and that Ricard needed to get the job done finally with OLVO.

Do you think that was the pressure starting to creep in?

That's the sassiest I've known, Anthony.

That's I don't think so.

I'm not in my fifth season.

Yeah, I love that light.

It's brilliant.

When I read it, I thought that was absolutely brilliant.

But yeah, he'd have been feeling the pressure.

Absolutely would have been feeling the pressure.

He had a real shot at it.

And yeah, it wasn't the perfect qualifying, and this from somebody who was grabbing pole positions for fun in the second-half of the season.

So yeah, it he would definitely have been feeling the pressure, despite the fact that he'd have denied it.

And he said he'd have plenty more opportunities.

I'm not so sure he thought that really, because he'd already accepted a contract with Ford in 1999.

He already knew that he wasn't going to be in what he, and he's told us since many times, that he knew that car was going to be a rocket for 99 because he knew what they were doing with the car.

I don't think he did think that he had plenty more opportunities.

So, yeah, I it was his.

I mean, in the end, it wasn't his only chance of winning it.

But yeah, he'd have been feeling the pressure.

And there I see it.

I think it showed on track that he was feeling the pressure.

It's a it's a rare situation where the the guy doing the chasing was kind of the one under pressure because he had all the momentum.

So there was more expectation than you'd normally have as the guy coming in second in points because everyone's looking to you, as you say, like the qualifying performances that he had.

So everyone's thinking, well, yeah, Reed could potentially clear up here.

And that's going to be up to Rydell to get enough points to hold him off, which is quite a rare dynamic.

Yeah, yeah.

I thought going into it, I thought Reed was going to win it.

At the time I thought Reed was going to do it, but in in my head Rydell was terrible to start, so he would, he bought a start as usual.

Reed had go flying in there and he'd take it and he'd win.

And I thought Ricard would be the one that would feel the pressure.

But no, it it turned out that it wasn't that case at all.

Especially with with Ricard's performance and how things went.

Alton, yes, he just, he just was not going in his fact for us all, was he?

So I think that's why everyone thought that way.

Yeah, this he does a couple of stinkers he had, he had a poor Knock Hill, he had a poor Alton Park really was winning pretty much all the time.

Obviously there was that Contra tone that Brands Hatch, which made me think that re that Rydell was feeling the pressure because of the way he behaved.

So yeah, it's, it's, it's a very interesting dynamic.

I thought really would be the one to, to, to snatch it.

But yeah, he he really, really showed that he was struggling with the pressure.

Reed's one shot lap wasn't flawless either, admitting to small errors at most corners.

He also felt that trying a different damper set up had been, on reflection, the wrong thing to do.

Even so, the lap was good enough for 3rd.

Leslie's pole brought relief after engine problems had heavily disrupted his test day.

I waited till the right time and then did it, he said.

But his one shot lap didn't match that standard with testing issues, meaning it was effectively his first proper fire in the dry.

The car was all over the place, he admitted.

Elsewhere, Aldi's Evan Miller and Honda's James Thompson both enjoyed strong runs, each earning 1 front row slot and one second row start.

Miller might have even snatched the damp session poll from Leslie had he not encountered Paula Cook's Honda just at the wrong moment.

Even so, he remained positive, saying maybe these conditions are good for alcohol, having equalled his best dry testing time in the damp Glen.

Van and James both delivered strong, consistent performances in both qualifying sessions there.

Do you think if you're read and write L, he'd have been worried about them potentially playing spoiler in the title fight on Sunday?

I think if you're going for a championship in this era of BTCC, you're worried about anyone who might end up near you with the way the racing goes.

And as Adam mentioned earlier, when you're if you're trying to see out a championship, you just want to be left alone and everybody knows that you want to be left alone.

So they try and take advantage of that.

I suspect that we've, we've just talked up how Muller was finishing the season.

I suspect they probably looked at Muller and thought that's a A1 lap hustle from him that probably wouldn't sustain over a race distance.

But you'd definitely be worried about Thompson in that Honda.

He had plenty of potential to mess with their day, as it proved.

So yeah, you'd be looking around you wherever you were.

You'd be glad that you're not down in the pack as Adam said earlier.

But wherever you are, you're going to be looking over your shoulder, looking left and right and thinking who's going to cause me trouble?

Because this isn't the type of racing where people are going to stay.

Oh everyone, give the championship contenders a bit of space and let them sort it out amongst themselves.

And we've qualified and wrapped up in the grid finally taking shape.

All that was left was a small matter of race day.

And this was where the real pressure kicked in.

The tides on the line, manufacturers of everything to gain or lose, and a Silverstone crowned ready for a showdown.

The guys I'm curious heading into race day, whose position would you rather be in?

Rydells or Reeds?

So when you say race you mean pre weekend or after qualifying?

After qualifying.

Ryder.

Yeah, looking at the grid, you'd you'd want to be Ryder, wouldn't you?

You've already got the points advantage.

You've got the better positions.

Yeah, Reedy.

Reedy was looking, was staring up at Ricard.

Definitely at that point.

I think even before qualifying, once you get to a title decider, points in the bank means so much more.

You know, if, if you're in the running and you're being caught, you can say, OK, I want to be the the hunter rather than the haunted.

But once it's all on the line for one final race day, I want, I want the points buffer.

And then even as I said earlier, if Reed's going to win both the races, leave it to me to try and just get enough points to to hold him off.

That advantage weighs so much more in the finale than it does save 3 weekends from home, where you feel like there's plenty of time for the guy to keep eating in.

Yeah, yeah.

So yeah, right down the way.

Because you need things, you need other things to go in your favour and not just your performance.

You know, if if Rydell, if Reedy had won the races, then he's reliant upon where Rydell finishes.

Yeah, in his own hands, is it?

Yeah, absolutely.

And that's what Glenn says.

You know, you, you, you just want that advantage because it means more now than ever.

Pole position Rydell out dragged Thompson's Honda into cops, with Reed slotting in behind the Accord.

Knowing that he had to get past Thompson quickly, Reed dived up the inside of him at Priory at the end of that one.

Now on board with Anthony Reed ahead of us is James Thompson and the man he desperately needs to get in touch with is right ahead of us again and he's through.

Is he through?

Yes, he is side by side with James Thompson, Anthony Reed, him and this end is through and that's what he needed.

Get Thompson out of the way and get him out of the way.

And that's the the pivotal move from Reed early on in this race.

And it seemed to set him up pretty well, didn't it?

It did.

He needed to do it.

You know, he's got a championship to chase.

But also from Thompson's perspective, scene really coming up the inside, it's a bit like Verstappen going up the inside here, isn't he?

If you see that he's, he's gone up there like you're letting him through because whether you're there or not, he's going to make room to come through.

And like we've seen at Monza with Verstappen, he ends up on top of Hamilton like it'll do whatever he's got to do.

I think really was very much like that where if Brady is showing a wheel at the inside of you, there's no point trying to keep him away.

So but really had to do it.

You know, he had to do it.

This is it now.

This is, you know, this is the finale.

This is where the way need, like we just said, he's, you know, he's chasing points, he's chasing the championship.

He's got to he's got to just go with the momentum that he'd taken into that weekend and just keep going.

But yeah, he he knew he had to make.

He wouldn't want to have seen Rydell on pole.

That's the last thing he wanted.

So he knew he had to make an impact soon as the lights went out.

After dispatching, Thompson reset after Rydell and quickly got close to the Volvo, making his move into cops at the start of lap three.

It proved to be too close for comfort, according to read.

I just caught some of the bad air and had to ease off the fossil, he explained.

That slight lift gave Thompson the opening he needed.

Thompson drew alongside as they powered up towards Becketts, but Reid forced him to take the long way around.

The Honda driver refused to give in and after running side by side through Becketts and into the first part of the Island essays, Reid finally had to concede the position.

And getting ahead of Anthony Reid is what James Thompson's trying to do.

Side by side through Maggots and Becketts, James Thompson is absolutely nailing Anthony Read.

They're heading down to the islands again.

They can't get through there.

Two by two and he's back in front of him.

Amazing stuff.

Reef was challenging right now.

Thompson's now back in front of him.

He shot the fox.

Alex some fight back from Thompson there he we wasn't letting cover second easily, was he?

This is one of my favourite overtakes from the era.

It's an incredible move and Thompson knew that Reedy would not be able he he would not be able to risk ADNF.

So Thompson absolutely nails him.

It's an incredible overtake.

It's one of my favourites and the other one, the other one of my favourites is again, Jimmy T, funnily enough, on on, on Anthony Reed again down at Graham Hill Bend in a brand's hatch.

And what annoys me where that one is it doesn't get covered in the season review.

But anyway, this is an incredible move and they're just so close together and Thompson knows he's like I've got you here, you're just going to have to back off mate.

And if you don't back off, we're making contact and your championship is over.

That's it.

Really had to allow it to happen.

Once it was that there are certain once the wheels there, that's it.

You've got an income flow.

Because through that island chicane, yeah, if, if, if, if really didn't back off either.

Been off in the wall, out of the race, whatever damaged, yeah, so incredible, incredible move by Thompson and as we know now, one of his favourite overtakes as well.

Seconds later, Reed came back for another attack, believing Thompson had left the door open at Abbey.

This time, the move didn't work.

The two made contact, sending them tumbling down the order to 7th and 8th respectively.

Strong pass by James Thompson.

He took the initiative.

He forced Anthony Reid to stay out.

No, Reid, don't.

Onions went bang into the back of the Honda and that was simply Mission Impossible by the championship contender Anthony Reid.

Out front, Rydell was now comfortably clear with Ivan Miller's ALDI giving chase.

Glen, what were your faults on Reid's move there?

It seemed a little robust, perhaps didn't a little little little bit of panicking setting in.

It's hilariously bad when I was when you watch this back, if you pause the onboard footage from Reed's car when Thompson brakes, they're barely in the same post code so that the move was never on.

It's not you.

There wasn't even a well executed lunge to be done.

He's so far back.

But you watch it.

If you showed someone a freeze frame and kind of did what happens next, you don't, you wouldn't.

You wouldn't think to guess, oh, he's about to basically hit him in the right rear because he's so far back.

You think he wouldn't get there.

I I can understand.

I think you're right.

He got flustered by by the brilliant move from Thompson a couple of corners before.

And as, as Alex outlined there, Thompson knows what he's doing.

He knows that the guy he's up against can't afford to maybe defend as robustly as Anthony Reid normally would.

So he's exploited that.

But that that's what you're there to do, particularly when you're a driver, a front running driver up against the championship contenders.

You know, it's very rare that you're going to give give them that extra inch in that situation.

So I can see why Reid got a bit flustered by that.

But he's then got to remember on that straight down to the Abbey hairpin.

He's got to remember you're in a well sorted Nissan Premieri, you're on the in the best car on the grid.

You've got time.

Get him back, take a breath and reset.

Obviously that is easier said than done, certainly from my from my position.

So I guess I it look, I think Reed could feel it was all getting away from him and decided that he needed to fix it immediately rather than let it all come back to him.

But it was never going to work.

He's miles back.

And that's why I said it's hilarious.

It really.

Because it's, yeah, it's outrageous.

Very much really there wasn't like I know we've joked in the past, Alex about the can opening move, but particularly at brands.

I mean, this was this was far from a canopy move.

This was like, you know, the like he's just pulled the pin, hasn't he?

Like this was quite part of his character really where he's just pulled the pin and immediately like on the attack and and didn't not quite the finesse needed for it.

It was like panic stations, really.

Yeah, it's opening a can with a sledgehammer.

He just smashed it as they.

Yeah.

He's used a flat blade screwdriver and a hammer over.

He's getting into a tin of things.

Yeah, this isn't this is.

Yeah.

This was the desperation measures.

Now this is like last round of the championship.

I've got to do it.

But yeah, I think he knew it was slipping away from him.

What he should have done, and I thought like telling Anthony Reed what to do, but.

You are Alex.

I am.

Yeah, I am.

I am.

Are you listening, Mr Reed?

He is, he normally does to be fair, blessed, but what he should have done is probably noticed.

Wow, Tommy was quick in the street isn't he?

Let him go at Ricard and followed him stuck on his bumper and said right, go on.

You go after Ricard then I'll stick on you.

You get past record.

Yeah, exactly.

You get past Ricard and I'll then deal with Ricard once you've got you've got past him but you but you but.

You imagine the heat of the moment.

Of course not.

That he's that he's a tough, tough decision to make.

Absolutely, yeah.

And, and and in the heat of the moment, you're not making, you're not having those rational thoughts.

I get that.

But I mean, as you said, Adam, his whole persona on track was very much elbows out aggressive racer.

He always has been.

He always will be.

And I often say in 2000 as well, when he had the championship beside of that year, he went too much the other way and he was too cautious and it went wrong for him that time as well.

So yeah, he can't, he can't catch a break, can he?

Bless him, but no awful, awful move.

I I showed that to someone recently who who'd never seen the move before.

And I said, what do you think of that is like, what do you do that for?

I was never expected.

What a silly thing to do.

And it, it was daft in the fight of the, in the, in the heat of the battle.

It was a silly thing to do.

And ultimately it cost him his championship battle, championship trance, because he damaged the car.

He, he, he broke a track rod and he, he damaged the splitter.

And yeah, just silly, silly.

After further contact with Menu, Thompson found himself down in 7th place.

We've read a place behind and Ryder was now way clear, chased by Vamela's Audi, Adam Reed's champions to chances.

They looked pretty bleak, didn't they off that leave?

Yeah.

And I think we've just hit the nail on the head with what we've just spoke about really.

I think it's it pulled the pin, not the panic pin really like the button had been pressed.

And yeah, it just, he, I think he knew deep down like the position, the difference in position and the point was just too big.

It wasn't like he was in second place and Rydell was in first and did the next race.

And hopefully Rydell has mechanical value or he could have a go at him and but he wasn't close enough to make the fight with Rydell.

And yeah, he just knew he was in a whole world of storm really.

I think deep down just wasn't wasn't going well for him.

Just as things looked to settle down, Rob Gravitz Honda engine blue, leaving a big pool of oil at Becketts.

The top few moved through safely but several others spun off, including Leslie Island after making contact with Cox, meaning the safety car was scrambled but not before Thompson got past menu at Abbey.

That but paid to a not so happy Rydell's lead and when the race restarted he was immediately under pressure from Miller and the recovering Thompson.

Miller was soon dispatched by the Honda at the restart and he soon started chasing after Idel.

Meanwhile, further back, Alimenu and Peter Cox were once again clashing, this time leaving the Doctrine's Honda limping.

Into Abbey Corner, that's Peter Cox and the Honda having a look down the inside of LMNU.

Having more than a look.

Take that, Peter Cox gives LMNU a punch in the air.

I meant you're having an absolute tantrum over that.

He's furious of Peter Cox is mortally wounded, looking at limping around.

Menu was not happy at all, angrily reporting back to the team on the radio.

Alex, this is the first couple of multiple adventures that Alan Menu was having in the last round of his title defence, the last round of his running career.

This one was particularly nasty.

Back and forth, wasn't it?

I mean, what were your thoughts on these two?

This is the first of two bits of contact between Peter Cox and and Ala menu and and yeah, Peter Cox just just just wallops him, doesn't he?

Just, you know, it's I'm trying to think which one is worse, but obviously the second one must be worse because it Rex Cox's Honda.

But yeah, it was just the the ranting on the radio that again we talk about, you know, it was revolutionary.

You didn't hear, you didn't hear that in any other form of of any.

I'm trying to think of any sport actually at this point.

And you didn't have it in F1.

And obviously, again, due to the nature of it being edited highlights rather than than live content, but yeah, menus, rants, yeah, just absolutely hilarious.

And Cox, Cox's interview after this race is is gold as well.

Again, possibly lots of people haven't seen it before, but it's basically he was saying, well, I've had this all season, so I'm dishing it out.

It's just, yeah, it was just end of term stuff, I guess, wasn't it?

It was like, I've had enough, I'm going to get my own back, I'm going to settle a few scores.

He helped his teammate as well.

Because obviously, Tom, we've got three straight through as well.

So, yeah, the start of a very, very unhappy Allan menu for Stroppy Allan, as I refer to several times in the past, yeah.

Onto the next lap and Thompson was all over the back of Ricard Rydell pulling the same move he made on Reed and Miller to take the lead of the race and 1.

He wouldn't relinquish as.

We rejoined James Thompson and dead ahead of us as Ricard Rydell.

Thompson is absolutely clawed his way back up, holding a tight line there through Love Field and at the run back over the pitch straight.

Astonishing recovery from James Thompson.

He's all over the back of Ricard Rydell.

Rydell must be thinking now, what do I do?

I got a championship on the plate.

I've got this guy all over the back of me, what do I do?

Thompson looks to the left.

Rydell still driving defensively, doesn't pull out of the way, holds a tight line through pops.

That's not going to help him.

Back on board now with James Thompson trying to find a way past side by side over the top of the hill, Absolutely nail binding stuff and he's screw.

James Thompson has toughed it out.

The car's grinding like his.

No red.

Throw rockers on board Glen.

We need to just remember this is the Sprint race as well.

He hasn't had 30 old laps to recover this.

It's quite a stunning recovery from Thompson isn't it?

From down in 7th.

It's unbelievable really as Alex just mentioned it.

I mean, it helps Cox was a little bit of the battering ram, which I think in separate incidents took kind of took care of Leslie and menu just for the safety car and then of a safety car closes things up.

But for me it's not so much where he comes from position wise.

The miracle really is that he basically had two massive accidents in this race and still came through.

So when it, I mean, we talked about the read here, I'm amazed his car carried on after that.

It must have it must have been such a hit in the rear that it didn't catch the wheel and damage any suspension or anything like that.

But then obviously off the back of that, Thompson kind of doesn't read himself and tries to make up all the difference in the following break in zone with a lounge, I think on Menu Priory.

Obviously Alan Menu is in no mood to let anybody overtake him.

So he just turns in.

That's another big, big hit and costs Thompson moral ground.

So yeah, the thing that amazes me really is you can have two shunts that big and still still come back to win.

And it's not just that it looked dramatic from the outside and the in the coverage behind the safety car, he says to the guys on the radio doesn't he says, I'm going to slow down and pass the pit.

Wolf, can you check the car for David?

So he's obviously sitting there thinking, I've had two big hits here.

Like I don't know what this car looks like from the outside.

I'd forgotten about the Cox and Leslie thing as well at the Island Chicane, which reminds me of, not that I go on about Charlie Cox very much.

It reminds me of when when Leslie comes into the pits and he's like, there's something wrong, it's steering from the rear, there's something wrong and he's arguing with his team.

Cox just says you couldn't find reverse mate, don't argue with us.

Miller stayed close to Rydell but never quite close enough to make a real move.

As he later put it, he always had a one car advantage and in that situation it is not possible to pass without risk.

Before long, the Frenchman found himself focusing more on defending from Jason Plato than challenging the champion elect.

Plato was charging hard having carved his way through the traffic and chaos after starting 10th on the opening lap, but Mueller held him off to secure another valuable podium for ALDI.

Reed recovered to 5th place despite damage to both spacer and a track rod, whilst Paul Ranasich once again maximised everything he had in the Peugeot, bringing it home in 6th.

Adam Paul Gio in the Peugeot doesn't get mentioned much on the pod and there's a lot of competitive news reasons behind that with that Peugeot in 98 especially, but that's a great showing from the Kiwi and what turned out to be his final BTCC meeting.

He was, and I think Paul's, I think he was quite a loved racer, really.

I think he was just the nice guy, wasn't he?

In every.

He had such a good following, I think.

Did he have that killer instinct as a driver like you see from some of the greats?

Probably not.

But I think he was quick on his day.

But but from the Peugeot perspective, it just, I think we all sort of wheeled it on to try and do better than it did.

And I think it's one of the best looking cars out there with the when he had the green and the gold livery.

And obviously we've seen that, you know, recently at Brands Hatch when the cars have been on display and, you know, at the Super Touring power weekends and, you know, such a great looking car.

And I think it would have been so good to see on a podium and and and race for victories.

But he just never quite got there.

And obviously in previous parts we've we've spoken about, you know, for some of the reasons as to why he didn't because he just didn't have the support.

But it was it was a shame for them.

We probably haven't spoken enough about it, but I think it's yeah, I think it was.

It's a tough one.

I just you just wish that had just had an injection of cash into that team and development, don't you?

Just to just to push it that little bit further.

So it was a front runner, so it was on the podium and then he did get spoken about more, but it just wasn't quite too big for that team, was it?

All BTCC and touring car career was quite strange one because he came in one almost immediately in the Mondeo, fought for the title on 2 occasions, the World Cups, you know.

Did one as well.

Did the double of the World Cups at Monza and Donington and then it seemed to just drop off a Cliff like his last win was in 95.

Whilst Thompson was taking the win and Riedel and Reed were locked into their title fight, the supporting car seemed more intent and contesting who would collect the money spent?

Body panels.

As Derek Porritt put it, it was like a destruction Derby and when it comes to on track scrapping and the verbal exchanges that follow, few deliver quite like a pair of former BTCC champions.

Step forward.

Representing Switzerland Ala Menu and representing Scotland John Clalland.

After a strong start, Menu had been shuffled down the order and found himself stuck behind Clalland.

His attempts to repast Vauxhall were firmly and his and in his view, unfairly resisted.

Now here's this battle still going on with John Clallon and Alan menu, menu absolutely sideways trying to tuck in behind that oil line.

And as we go back across the islands, came souvenir hanging from the front of Menu's car.

I don't know if he's taking a shortcut somewhere.

I'll pick up a bit of more.

The deli's to breathe, but he's sandwiched between these two Vauxhall's.

It's Clowan dead ahead and he's hit him, he's bumped him straight off LM Menu gives John Clowan the two ward up the backside, drives him down the fairway.

Menu didn't hold back, the guy just tried to have me off.

He said really he is past it and should go home and stay there.

Clowan's response is every bit as blunt.

The man's a fool.

He fired back.

He just can't race in the midfield.

He thinks he can walk on water, but he can't.

There's plenty out there better than him.

Guys, I'd love to hear what you think on of this one.

Both about whether menus move on Cleddon does fair or found, but perhaps almost more interestingly, about who won the war of words that followed.

Was this before or after the fight?

In the in the paddock?

That's why.

Yes.

The move was awful.

It was clearly a very frustrated Alan Menu who had had enough of being beaten up all day.

He's had three rounds of Peter Cox had this stinking race and I think he was just he's had enough.

These two are never best friends either, so I don't think that that really helped matters.

But yeah, awful move, absolutely blatant push off the track and as the war words, I think they both gave it as good as it as it got.

It's brilliant, isn't it?

It's he's the PR trained drivers of today could just never do this.

It's just brilliant.

And possibly that's why I look back at back at the the these these years so fondly.

That was say what you think.

As we know, John has told us many times some of the things that he's got into trouble for saying, you know, accusing clerks of the course of being on drugs and all this sort of stuff.

Yeah, this one, it's just brilliant because they're both clearly just fed up with each other.

And you know, the the guy just tried to have me off.

He's passed it and should go home and stay there.

The man's a fool.

He can't race in midfield.

He thinks he can walk on water.

And these are the ones that were publishable.

Yeah, I like that we got another.

The man's A from John Cleland.

He had a few.

More of.

Those the man's and I don't know, Yeah.

The the move from venue, it's just like crude and Route 1, isn't it?

I'm just going to bump into you from from behind.

It's obviously not as outrageous as what Reid did earlier, but it's not, it's not the move of somebody who's as as kind of as Clinton said, has spent a long time racing in the midfield, perfecting that sort of racecraft.

It is just frustration.

It's not, It's not I'm trying to make this look like a legitimate move.

I'm going to nerf you off in the process.

I'm just going to drive into the back of you, you know?

Yeah.

Not, not kind of a finessed touring car move, I would say I, I did find it strange in a way to see men who have such a head loss over the course of both races.

You know, for him to be doing stupid things like this on track.

All the arm waving, you know, being annoyed when Tommy Rustat had the kind of nerve to try and overtake him when they're battling for about 9th place or something.

All the moaning on the radio for it all to be happening at once.

It, it just kind of erupted and it really did feel like I've had enough of this season.

I've got my eyes on Ford.

It was, I know obviously we're talking about the Sprint race here, but it was a shame in the end, as you mentioned earlier, for it to end really with parking a healthy car and just saying, do you not hear me say I'm done with this?

It's like Menu and Renault, such an iconic partnership and it shouldn't have ended like that.

But I guess is this where we can I, I saw you all nodding at the start.

Can we confirm that Derek Warwick definitely has him off after?

I just love that it's kind of in the corner of Clayland's on board and you go, what's that, Laguna?

Doing over there it's.

Mad because it's it's as we've already said, it's edited highlights, so surely someone must have seen it and gone or we could put that unless they just didn't have a camera on it, they didn't have any coverage of it.

But then what Cox would have been at the race, it normally worked out that Charlie Cox would have been at the track on the race weekend and Watty would have come along in the week and added his commentary alongside Charlie.

But someone would have been there to see that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Very, very, very unusual that that wasn't picked up at all.

But yeah, Derek Warwick does.

Just say don't do that to my mate or you'll get it back.

It's it's for me, it's the wide shot where you just suddenly see for no reason and then you take the Grand Prix.

Yeah.

He's in the chicane, isn't he?

Yeah.

Just just on his own.

It was just just something for some certain drivers there.

It was just a soddy.

It's the last round of the championship.

I don't care anymore.

Like, I just don't care anymore.

You're having it.

In fact, you're going to have it.

And while I'm at it, you're having it as well.

Stuff.

Yeah.

It's like getting the term, like just giving people a slap before you leave in school or something.

It's just like you're having, you remember that time pissed me off in maths.

You're having it.

It's just like, it was just revenge, wasn't it?

It was just like, sod it, especially as a menu changing teams, like what the hell?

So.

But he was very much one of those guys where his head would go, wouldn't it?

Yeah.

A bit like really a time where once the head's gone, that's it.

There's no coming back from him.

Menu and clients squared up at the back of the pit complex post race, with the pair having to be pulled away by their team mechanics.

Alex, he's kind of hard friend of all of that action.

That was a Sprint race.

That was one of the wildest of the era, wasn't it?

Yeah.

What was that, 16 laps, something like that?

Yeah, it was absolutely crazy.

It was all action and, and we've not covered it all.

You know, you had Johnny Moby Daily, which was a rolling wreck.

You had, you know, bumper hanging off Will Hoy had a bit of a bit of a bit of fun with him.

Nigel Mansell had a bit of a bit of drama with somebody, not much, but he his car was clearly damaged.

Obviously, as I said earlier, Leslie and Leslie and Cox came into grief at the island chicane.

You had all that oil.

You had people going deep, running the spinning off.

Yeah, it was it was absolute chaos.

But.

That's what we looked about BTC.

It wasn't.

You didn't know what you were going to get and that's what had this, the massive following you just like I said earlier, you didn't.

Yeah, crystal ball.

Just a great and as I said earlier, I just loved that track and if I was on a menu, my excuse would be I always used to do that on Toka Touring Cars.

I always used to miss that as well.

I always ran deep.

I always went off.

So that would have been my excuse anyway.

Go ahead, Race One's result confirmed that Ricard Rydell was the champion amidst all of the chaos.

A well deserved win for the Swede.

It was a well craft season from him, wasn't it?

Yeah, that's the thing.

I mean, I was an am a Rydell fan, but I loved that line earlier from Reed about, you know, Rydell's the one who's been trying to win the title for years with the same manufacturer.

Brilliantly spicy, but I think that was part of it.

Rydell had been for so long, the nearly man of the BTCC.

That was one of the reasons I really liked him.

I kind of like the fact there's this guy, I'm like he's clearly really good.

He's mega fast, like incredible number of pole positions and it's just never quite worked out.

Volvo haven't really given him the machinery and then this time he had it.

And the reason I think, yeah, you said a well crafted season.

That's the thing.

Across the whole season, he was the championship contender.

He was the guy driving for a championship from Race 1.

He made the impression straight away at Thruxton, the incredible qualifying performance you guys have talked about in the past.

He's there all season and as I said, Reid, Reid's kind of the guy coming up the track at the end with incredible, an incredible amount of form and momentum.

But I've been watching back the 98 season because obviously you guys are going to do it in your Paddock Club series where you're going to go through the whole thing, which I can't wait for.

So I've been watching all the rounds and you get like halfway through the season and you're going, where's Reed?

Like when is he going to turn up and start fighting for this championship?

Obviously when it clicks, it really clicks.

But I think, yeah, Rydell deserved it because he's in the mix the whole time.

Yeah, exactly.

I prefer to see a championship won that way.

Not you're not, not plodding, not like sort of 4th places all the way and and don't get your wins done when there's a chance.

But yeah, he he was, he was out there kind of leading the charge the whole time.

I prefer that rather than someone perhaps winning a championship off the back of a sort of late season hot streak.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was a big Reed fan.

But I, I think it's, I think it's right to say that Ricard was the deserving champion that year.

Throughout the throughout the course of the whole season, as Blender said he would, he did the better job.

He banked points at the start.

He started well, He only had a slight wobble towards the end, but I don't think that was just him either.

You know, he had a bit of bad luck.

Yeah, he was the deserving champion without a doubt.

That car was there or thereabouts pretty much every weekend.

He was one of the top drivers.

He'd nailed his starts all year.

He was just yeah, it was it was a sublime year from Ricard.

And I don't think anybody can argue that he that he didn't deserve to to to win the title life.

Yeah, it.

Was his time.

Yeah, after all the chaos of the Sprint race, the feature inevitably felt like something of an anticlimax.

Pullman David Leslie controlled the early laps, pulling clear of Miller, Thompson and Reed.

On lap 4, Miller pushed his dramatic oversteering approach to Beckett's just attached too far.

The rear stepped onto the grass, costing him momentum and allowing Thompson, Reed and Peter Cox's Honda to slip through.

One lap later, Reed made a clean move on Thompson and Abbey, putting both Nissans into first and 2nd.

Adam, I've only really could have pulled that move on him in the last race.

Is it, is it almost the pressures off again and we're back to, to normal, Anthony?

Yeah.

In reality, it was done.

I think if the pressure has still been on, would it have been that clay?

Probably not.

It was done, wasn't it?

It was done.

In hindsight, it's a wonderful thing.

You know, what could have been and what should have been and could have done this, could have done that.

And yeah, Rydell did what he needed to do and fair play to him.

But in terms of Rady and pulling the move off, he was just, yeah, the championship was done, wasn't it?

It was done.

And the chaos, you know, that we that we were witnessing, the first one was, you know, it doesn't get more chaotic than that.

So I think it'd be enough to.

It would have been a really bad race if we'd have if they'd have topped Trump, that one.

But yeah, what a what a first race of the weekend really to to witness.

But then to go through that one over the edge is almost like business as usual, isn't it?

Just pulling normal moves off.

But I think there's a lot of heart rates would have been slightly higher in the first one from certain drivers.

Like really, when there's a, when there's a championship to go for and you're making slightly different decisions because you're not thinking in the same way as you normally would.

And yeah, I think it was just a lot more calmer second time around.

Further back, Menu was slipping behind his teammate Jason Plato, as well as Rydell and Hoy, losing ground as the race settled into its rhythm.

It wasn't long before Menu was in the pits, telling his mechanics that he was retiring what seemed to be a perfectly healthy car.

Menu comes into the pits.

Yeah, can't fix this car.

It's bent.

That's the working menu.

Well, no doubt his exasperation has overcome any desire to continue.

The team still, of course, will change the tyres.

They're required to do that now.

The car comes down to the jacks.

There, you've heard it.

What's?

Wrong with the car.

He's retiring.

He's decided, he's had enough.

Alan Menu has decided the way to end the 98 championship is to throw the toys out of the pram and walk away.

Well, that won't be the way he wanted to finish, but he's not happy.

He complained during the race about the car having no power down the street.

He was speculating it was exhaust maybe.

Well, the cool and calculating Alan menu, we've seen him in 97 dominate, but when he's in the midfield of a race, well, he's.

Pretty combative Alex.

I mean we've already said men, you didn't really do himself any favours this weekend.

And as Ken mentioned earlier, it was it was quite a sad way for one of the strongest, if not the strongest driver team combination to end with his time at Renault.

Yeah, it actually really was.

And I'd never really thought about it like that before until Glenn mentioned it earlier.

It really was because that driver car combo is, as far as I'm aware, probably the most dominant in a season ever.

Iconic.

Yeah, he won the won the title by Schnatton in July.

You know, it's it's wild that car and Alan were they were just synonymous.

You know, it was like Colin McRae and Subaru sort of thing.

You know, it was just.

And it's a beautiful colour.

So I love that, Lucas.

I know, Lee, but I know you're a big fan of that lagoon as well.

But the colour combinations, the the, it was just such a brilliant package.

And it was just such a shame that it was ending on such a sad note.

And it was unusual from Alan to be as.

Yeah, just.

He just seemed rattled by everything.

Peter Cox really wound him up, you know, and he's driving me crazy.

He's waving his arm one way and then this is happening and we'll Hoyen and he's waving him that way and you know, you know it.

It was very unusual.

Rushdad has overtaken me.

What do you think you're doing?

Like, you know, it it was very unusual from him and he clearly it's just had enough at this point.

And yeah, just told the told, you know, that basically came into the pits.

They serviced the car expecting him to pull back out and then he didn't and they're like, why are you going?

Basically he's like, did you not hear me?

I'm parking the car through the.

Sounding good and proper, didn't they?

Yeah, he really did.

He really, really did.

Clearly John Cleland, obviously a bet as well, had a massive falling out with him, you know that that obviously was added to it all.

He was probably really pissed off with Derek Warwick as well.

Yeah, just I think he was a very frustrated man that year though, because he'd gone from winning such a dominant championship and even before that he was always competing 95.

He was in the title fight right till the near end, even 9496 as well.

He finished second, admittedly not not as nowhere near as as close as the other two years to Beeler as he was to Cleland and and Tarquini.

But yeah, he he just went from a dominant package, which he could really do something with, to a car that seemed to only be quick at certain points.

He was dealing with Jason Plato, who was getting quicker and quicker.

Yeah, it just, it's amazing.

It's like you couldn't wait to leave, could I?

Yeah, it was almost like, yeah, like you're right.

He's like, I've signed my deal with Ford, my megabucks deal with Ford.

I'm out of here.

I've and he's checked out already.

Yeah.

Toy, sporting a blue moustache for the occasion, came out on top in a bruising battle with Tommy Rushdad in the third Williams run, Rene Laguna signing off his Ford career with a solid run to 8th place across the weekend.

Hoy had also shown he was more than a match for his celebrity teammate Nigel Mansell.

The 1992 World Champion endured a fairly uneventful weekend overall, though as always, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

Mansell finished 14th in the Sprint race, his progress Hanford by suspension damage from an early clash.

In the feature race, he almost scraped into the points of 10th until he was tipped into a spin by fellow former Grand Prix driver Derek Warwick.

I thought he was quick enough to get past cleanly, Mansell said afterwards.

Still, it's been a lot of fun.

I've enjoyed it.

Ford's choice to write off the latter half of the season in favour of it's 1999 development push had understandably tested his patience, but he was quick to point out that the frustration had been shared.

It's been tough for the whole team, he said.

I'd like to congratulate WSR, Will and Craig Baird on the job they've done.

Glenn Nigel very much took a back seat at this meeting, but he clearly seemed to be enjoying himself a lot more than he did at Brands Hatch.

Maybe he's glad it was over.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think this was the sort of performance I expected when the deal had been announced at the start of the year.

Just one of those kind of anonymous, not embarrassing kind of respectable weekend for a driver dropping in.

As you guys said earlier, we had the ridiculous high that nobody could have predicted of Donnington, the crazy lows of Brands Hatch and then yeah, Silverstone was just standard guest driver does BTCC and doesn't disgrace himself, but doesn't really get noticed kind kind of weekend.

Until I watched it back, I had no recollection of anything happening to Nigel or even appearing on on the footage.

I knew who's there because I knew you had a free race deal.

But in terms of before watching it back, you know, I had more, much more recollection of and was more excited about Tommy Rustadt in a third green Renault Laguna than than Oh yeah, Mansell's here again.

It was just, yeah, just weirdly, weirdly anonymous and and kind of kind of forgettable, really.

I'm glad Nigel pointed out that the frustration was not just from him because obviously Ford had put a lot of money and a lot of the, the, the push was on 99.

They'd hired the 1st £1,000,000 touring car pairing with Anthony Reed and, and, and our menu.

Westbury Racing already knew that they weren't going to be running the Mondeo.

So it wasn't just Nigel that was feeling this.

You know, we've got really got nothing to do Ford.

I'm interested in what we're doing anymore.

Westbury Racing, we're going through that as well because they didn't have the the contract for the following year.

So they were treading water almost as well.

So I'm, I'm glad that that was noticed because I thought it was quite unfair because pro driver announced for the deal and literally Ford took one of the Mondeo's away from W Surrey and went here you go pro drives.

And it's like, and, and ultimately that's why Beardo didn't race at Alton Park, why they only ran one car.

So, yeah, it's, it's a real, it's a real shame that the that the, that the pairing didn't do a little bit more.

I mean, yes, Donnington was incredible, but a developed Ford might have done a bit better.

I don't know.

We, we don't know at the end of the day, do we?

But, you know, what I think was more impressive is how close he was to Holly this weekend.

Yeah.

So, you know, it's, it was and you could, yeah, yeah, I'm glad that he enjoyed it because nobody really wants to see Nigel Mansell as he was at Brands Hatch.

It's just not great for anyone, is it really?

And.

You've got to understand as well, it's completely and I've said this before, it's a completely different discipline in terms in terms of, you know, you drive driving a tin top, you're enclosed it left.

Was it right hand drive at the but it's like front windows, front wheel, you know, front wheel drive and like so different the speed differentials, like a downforce, everything that he's gone through his career in and then all of a sudden you're just putting him into a hire car almost.

You know, that's that, that that's what it would have felt like to him.

Sorry, it's a good point that you know, he, he wasn't completely off the back.

So when you lay out those challenges and how difficult it is to drive those sort of cars, especially how specialist they've become this late in the era as well, and the fact that, yeah, there's a few camera shots where it's like there's Will Hoy.

Oh, there's there's Nigel's kind of behind him.

And as you know, as we said, as Levi outlined, you know, there there could have been a points finish to be had.

So, yeah, when I said it was kind of anonymous and quiet, I, I guess I sort of meant that in a slightly positive way, you know?

And that made me He certainly.

I think it's good that it ended on a weekend where, yeah, as I say, it just looked like a normal guy doing a guest drive.

You don't come away from that weekend going, Oh well, Nigel was a bit embarrassing this weekend, Yeah.

And and it was never going to put in three Donnington performances, was it?

No, no.

It was never going to go that way as much as the Mansell fans would have wanted that.

I think they've we certainly got spoiled Donnington, but you know, like I said, just completely different discipline and the fact that he did what he did, I think is because he had that high, he reached the expectations and then all of a sudden raised, aren't they for the for those remaining races that you did.

But in reality, it would have been nice to do the other way around, be a load of crap for the first couple and then finished finished like Burlington at the end.

But but, you know, that's, that's fairy tale stuff and, you know, doesn't always work out like that.

You talk about how famous he was and Ford did pay him a lot of money and kind of had him for the whole year because I remember it must have been this year at the British Grand Prix.

He basically joined the back of the drivers parade hanging out of like a Ford Cougar or something, whatever was new that year.

So you know that that was and that was a big deal.

Like the crowd at Silverstone, 100,000 people or.

Whatever.

Exactly.

Even a few years after he's finished, was still really excited.

There's Nigel Madsall at the back of the drivers parade.

Yeah, he was still a massive deal at this at this point, you can't underestimate that at all.

Yeah, it was only six years since he'd won the F1 title.

So when you look at it that way, it's like it's like Lewis Hamilton going to join Nick on the on the BTCC grid now talking about lap time.

So with Mansell, I'm looking at the the results now I've got them on the screen and Nigel's best lap time in both races is only 2/10 off will always in both races.

So that's very, very good.

And he's quicker than Morbedelli, who'd had a full year in the car.

He's quicker than John Binkliff, who'd had a full year in the car.

He's quicker than Tim Harvey.

You know, Peter Cox.

Sorry, no, not Cox.

Yeah, Tim Harvey.

He's done really, really well.

Actually.

His his lap times were competitive and he was really showing that had he done a full season he probably would have got some decent finishes.

And that brings us to the end of this week's deep dive into the 1998 BTCC season finale at Silverstone.

A weekend saw Richard Rydell take the win and the championship battle go down to the wire.

From Rydell and Reed's 10th jewel to the dramas further down the grid, it was a weekend full of classic Super Touring action crashes, bold overtakes and unforgettable moments that still resonate with fans today.

A big shout out to Glenn Freewin for joining us and making his podcast debut with us today.

Glenn, it's been fantastic having you to share your take on the drama, the battles and the key moments from Silverstone 98, and we'd love to have you back for another episode at some point again soon.

I'm, you know, chuffed and honoured that you asked me to come on once.

I'd, I've, I've loved it.

I'd love to come back again.

And I've got a couple of colleagues at the race who may like to do the same at some point as well.

But yeah, would be delighted to come back.

The show's great.

The way you guys have developed it is great.

The mix of interviews and race reviews and everything you do is is superb.

So yeah, I'm really, really pleased.

I've got to be a part of 1 and would happily come back again.

And as always, thank you to everyone for listening and supporting stories from Super Touring.

If you've enjoyed this episode, make sure you subscribe so you never miss a new deep dive interview or race day rewind.

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We'll be back next week with another trip into the frilling world of Super Touring, revisiting more classic races, iconic battles and legendary drivers.

Until then, take care and we'll see you next time on Stories from Super Touring.

Goodbye.