British Touring Car Championship

Super Touring regulations

This weekend sees Goodwood celebrate 20 years since the introduction of Super Touring regulations which changed the shape of the British Touring Car Championship. In 1991, the BTCC dropped its multi-class rules in favour of a single category, pioneering the use of regular two-litre saloons. Many of these fondly remembered tin-tops have taken to the hill this weekend, some complete with their original pilots such as Paul Radisich in the ex-works Ford Mondeo SI and Anthony Reid in the Ray Mallock Ltd-built Nissan Primera which he last raced in 1999. Sticking with the saloon car theme, Steve ‘Soperman’ Soper has been busy exercising the BMW 320i in which he anchored victory in the Spa 24 Hours while bringing things full circle, Tom Chilton has been on tyre-frying form in the latest Team Aon Ford Focus ST. The latter-day ace admitted that the engine in this hottest of hot hatches was ‘a bit special’ for the weekend. But undoubted fan favourite in the 09 Saloon Car class at the 2011 Festival of Speed is the Skoda 130RS which claimed several 1.3-litre scalps in the European Touring Car Championship in the late ’70s.