BTCC 2000 - Knockhill - Race 1
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00:00British Touring Car Championships. Going into Knock Hill, Switzerland's Alain Meunier had started the
00:06season very well. He was leading the driver's standings by six points. Let's catch up with
00:10the action now in Scotland as we join Charlie Cox. Round seven and eight of the Auto Trader
00:17British Touring Car Championship find us at the Knock Hill circuit in Scotland. It's a strange
00:22sort of scalelectric set of a track. The drivers absolutely relish it, but for Vauxhall's Ivan
00:27Muller and Jason Plato, well, they'll have mixed feelings about it because on the one hand, well,
00:32rumour has it, team orders have been shelled and they'll get to race each other again,
00:36but on the other side they're going to have to do the racing with a boot full of lead.
00:39Success ballast. And I can tell you, with a circuit with this many hills on it, it is the last place
00:44you want to be hauling around any extra weight. All that ballast is the result of a great weekend
00:50for Vauxhall at Thruxton, but also a controversial one. Team orders decreeing that Jason Plato
00:56had to give up a certain feature race win in deference to Ivan Muller. But hey, the good news
01:02for us lot watching is that even though tactics may still play a part in the future, Vauxhall's
01:07drivers won't just be puppets on a string from now on. Obviously Vauxhall and Triple Eight Race
01:16Engineering want to win the British Touring Car Championship this year, and we have a team of
01:20three drivers all working together to do that. I think it's also fair to say that whilst we don't
01:24like talking about numbers one, two and three, that Ivan has been with us a long time now,
01:29he's our lead driver and he's deserved that position, and the others have agreed they
01:33will support him in every way. Having said that, I think perhaps in hindsight, if you look at the
01:39situation that there was at Thruxton, perhaps it wasn't the wisest decision we ever made. And that's
01:43not a criticism of anybody, you have to think quickly and think on your feet, and with the
01:47championship in view that's what we did. But in hindsight maybe it wasn't the best of moves.
01:53And for the future, well, you can't write down 250 scenarios and say this is number one, nine,
01:58seven, what do we do? Do we get so-and-so to give way? We'll just have to think on our feet
02:04and try and make a wise decision at the time. Ford lead the drivers and manufacturers points
02:11at the moment, and they're pretty clear on the old team orders issue. The philosophy at Ford Team
02:17Mondeo is we let the drivers race openly. There's only one instruction we request and that is that
02:24they don't take each other off. Now that no-contact stipulation has already been flaunted,
02:30but points leader Alain Meunier seems comfortable with the rules as they stand.
02:35Ford decided that that's what they want to do, then I would not complain, I guess.
02:38But I think it's too early. You know, come maybe for the second half of the season, if one of us
02:42three at Ford has got an advantage, then the other two should have. I think that's fair,
02:47but not from the beginning. Okay, a quick recap on the ballast. Menus on 20, reeds on 30,
02:54and top of the shop are Muller and Plato, 40 kilos each. So word has it that the team orders are
03:01on ice for the weekend. How does that affect your game plan? It doesn't really affect it at all,
03:06because I'll continue to do even what I was doing at Thruxton, and that's drive as best as I can and
03:12get the maximum from the back truck. It'd be funny if you take each other off, though, now
03:16that you haven't got team orders. Even though we don't have, or the team orders have been relaxed
03:21a little bit for this weekend, we'd never be allowed to take each other off, and there's no
03:25desire to do that. Have you ever thought this circuit is so hilly that if you took the hills
03:31away and flattened it out, how long it would be? We'd probably be on pole. Yeah, I mean,
03:36this is monster. This is the first time I've actually stood down here and had a look, and
03:40yeah, no wonder we're struggling a little bit today. It's a big, big old hill. It's lucky you
03:44got a pilot's license, really, because you actually change altitude here more than you go along
03:49straight. Yeah, you know, with the 40 kilos, I think this is probably going to be the worst circuit
03:53for anyone to carry any weight. I think there's a fair chance we'll be losing the success ballast
03:58after the weekend. I'm not predicting, certainly not predicting a win. So, hairpins, hills and
04:03success ballast. They all equal a potentially difficult weekend. Let's have a look at qualifying.
04:08Bad news for Jason, I'm afraid. With only a ninth and a tenth on the grid,
04:14team-mate Vincent Rademacher fared a little better, taking eighth for the sprint. And
04:18Ivan Muller, well, despite taking it to the limit and well beyond, seventh and eighth was hardly
04:25sensational. Very unusual. Indy King Matt Neil took a pair of fifths and kept it on the black
04:32stuff, unlike Anthony Reid. I think we should have a look at that second lap. It did go on.
04:39Reid's hairpin faux pas aside, it was quite a good day at the office for Ford. The Blue Oval
04:44steamroll of the sprint race grid, Alain Menu heading a one, two, three.
04:48And Menu backed that up with a front row slot for the feature race.
04:52Okay, Vauxhall going through the championship like a yo-yo. Up the back of the field one minute,
05:08then pole position for Thruxton, powered down the back of the field again. Well,
05:12I can deal with that, but Honda, the performance of Honda. Have a look at this, it's weird.
05:18BTCC new boy Tom Christensen had his strongest qualifying to date, while that old trooper
05:24Gabriele Tarquini took his first ever knock hill pole in feature qualifying. But why the sudden
05:30Honda Renaissance? Very strange season, because in every track there is one good car. We see that
05:39in Thruxton, I think Oval was faster than everybody. And in Donington, I think Honda
05:48especially Ford was the quickest car. And here is the turn of Honda. So I'm happy because I
05:54took my third pole position of the season. And after his opening round shunt at Brands Hatch,
06:01a fully fit James Thompson was finally back and instantly competitive,
06:05taking third on the grid for the feature.
06:12So James Thompson's fit for the battle again. Well, that's great,
06:15but he's only got five points in the can, so he's hardly in the front line, is he?
06:19So what's the point? And more importantly, what's the plan from here?
06:23My aim this year, get some good results for Honda, you know, show that the car
06:27is as competitive as we believe it is, and mix it with them. And that's what I'm hoping to do.
06:33And we just see what happens after that. At the end of the day, we just charge hard and win some
06:38races. Despite wanting to get out and prove a point ASAP, Thompson went with doctor's orders.
06:45I enjoy driving, and it's not something that I think, oh, god, I've got to go to work and
06:50drive. You know, I enjoy driving. I live for driving. So it doesn't make any difference to
06:54me. But, you know, also the bigger picture is at the end of the day, you've got a life to lead.
06:58And there's no point coming back and being stupid about it. You know, you've got to listen to the
07:04people. They're the experts in their field. And if they don't feel you're ready to come back and
07:07drive, then there's nothing you can do about it, really. But it's nice to be back anyway.
07:12Just put it behind me and just get on with the job.
07:20As we know, there are no team orders as such at Ford. But they have got one cardinal rule.
07:25Do not knock each other off. Simple as that. Well, that rule is going to be tested to the
07:29max this afternoon, because look behind me. We've got three Fords, Menuh, Rydell and Reed,
07:33in positions one, two and three, all jammed together. And on top of that,
07:37right ahead of us, Duffer's Dip, by any measure, the most challenging first corner in British
07:41touring car racing. Now, I actually don't remember a time when the cars have all got
07:45through Duffer's cleanly on the opening lap. Always a little bit of contact. Now, the Fords
07:50are going to come under some pretty big pressure this afternoon as well, because on the second
07:53row of the grid in the Honda is Gabriele Tarquini. Now, Gabriele is really, really hot this weekend.
07:59He's actually the pole man for the feature race this afternoon. So he's got a lot at stake,
08:03needs to keep these opening Fords under real pressure. And, Watty, have a look. Who's up
08:07with him? Matt Neal, the lead independent in the Nissan, really good qualifier for him. He
08:11absolutely needs to bank it. Thanks, Charlie. Well, we've got that Ford one, two, three on the
08:17grid for 20 laps of this 1.3 mile knock hill circuit. Good to see Gabriele Tarquini on the
08:22second row. That's his best Honda performance so far this year. And another personal best,
08:27Matt Neal, back on form in the third row, alongside a very welcome returnee,
08:32James Thompson, in the second Honda. The Vauxhalls, all carrying 40 kilograms in the fourth
08:37row, and row five's independent Colin Blair and class B runner Mark Lemmer. Christensen,
08:42Rademacher and Morrison had technical infringements, and Kay is in an Integra R, is a cored blue arm.
08:49Rebs are up, ready for a start. Menu on the left-hand side of your screen. Rydell on the
08:53right. Reid through the middle. They're up and racing. Everyone away cleanly. Rydell off like
08:58a rocket. Side by side down the hill. Rydell on the right. Menu on the left. And Rydell,
09:03Rydell is through from position two. Down into Duffer's tip. He's slid through. That's Tarquini.
09:08Gabriele Tarquini in the Honda is off. Into the right-hander. Tarquini is still off. That
09:13accident has been happening all the way down the hill. Finally come to a rest.
09:21Everybody else pretty much smoothly through that. Rydell still in the lead.
09:25Fantastic start from him. There's Matt Neill right behind the three work sports. That's
09:30Anthony Reid dead ahead of him. Bit of damage on the back of Reid's car. I don't know if that's
09:34related to the Tarquini incident. Down the back straight for the first time and into the hairpin.
09:40Reid, Neill, Rydell and Menu have already opened up a little bit of a gap. Rydell still holding
09:46that lead on board with him now. What a record start. Well I haven't seen as good a start from
09:51Rydell in a very long time but the safety car's back out to remove Tarquini's car from the circuit.
09:57Yeah he stopped right at the bottom of the hill which is a problem now. Here's another look at
10:01the start. We're on board with Tarquini. And just look Rydell on the left of screen. He gets
10:06traction. Menu hesitates momentarily. Enough for Rydell to jump into the lead as they dive down
10:11into Duffer's. Now Tarquini goes straight ahead and that was Anthony Reid. Yeah contact left rear
10:17on the Ford. Right front on the Honda. Tarquini unfortunately goes off track. Tries to get back on.
10:23Finds himself back in the gravel. It's a very long accident for him. Unfolding all the way down the
10:28hill. Now here's our restart. Getting ready. And did you hear that? Menu actually had to lift a
10:34little bit. He was trying to get a flying rolling start on Rydell but a little bit too close and had
10:38to lift just at the wrong moment. They're away again and it's Rydell in the lead. Menu trying
10:42to catch up. Reid right behind him. A little bit of movement back in the midfield there. One of the
10:47Vauxhalls trying to slide around. That was Muller having a look around the outside. Kicking up the
10:51dust everywhere. Busy as you like. Back on board with Menu. On the boot lid of Rydell. Nice. Okay
10:59what a ridiculous corner. These cars get launched across the top of that. Ford, Ford and Ford. Rydell
11:06first. Through Park and onto the back straight. Railway straight. Kicking up the dust. Really
11:10coming under some pressure. Remember their tires did not get up to full temperature. They are
11:15flying once again. Down into the hairpin. This is a braking opportunity. Can they make it stick?
11:20No. Rydell is just too far ahead of Menu to make that work. Streaming through one after the other
11:27and back up the hill. And what a climb. And it's not insignificant that it's light is first. Heavy
11:32is just third place. That's the way the ballasts have worked out this weekend at the very twisty
11:37and hilly Knock Hill. James Thompson having a look down the inside of Ivan Muller as we go.
11:42Down into Duffer's Dip. Can't find a way past Muller. Meantime is really pressuring Matt Neil
11:46in the Nissan. And this guy Alain Menu is pressuring Ricard Rydell also into Ford. There are Fords right
11:52at the front. Rydell really loses a little bit of ground to Menu as he goes over that chicane.
11:59And he's trying to line him up. He's trying to line him up but what he's also doing is trying
12:02to distract Rydell. Look running wide. That's Ivan Muller having lots of fun with James Thompson.
12:08And that's Jason Plato sliding through as well. Muller got a bit of a tank slapper up there for
12:13Clark. Thompson is through now. It's side by side. Plato on the inside. Muller on the outside. This
12:18is the view of Tom Christiansen and he is examining very closely the build quality.
12:23I overtook Reed from outside. He just pushed me off sideways. I don't know if he was pushed by
12:33somebody else on the on the back but little damage. The car don't have any any big damage.
12:39It's just to replace the front right suspension and try again. Tarquini and Reed touched twice
12:46in Duffers but inevitably the car on the outside is the one that's going to come off the worst.
12:50And this time Tarquini had to accept that you know if you can't get round you're going to have
12:54to concede. And he did accept as well. Remarkably pragmatic driver the Al Gabrielli. This isn't
13:00pragmatic though. This is Tom Christiansen climbing all over the boot lid of Jason Plato's
13:04Vauxhall. He's worked his way past Rademacher as you can see. That's Plato in the second Vauxhall.
13:10Now there he is just to the right of us on board with Christiansen. Getting car sick. Coming down
13:15into Duffers. Trying to find a way past. That's where Tarquini went off in the Honda a lap ago.
13:21Now Christiansen's coming under pressure again from Rademacher in the third of the Vauxhalls.
13:25He's actually slipped back a little bit from Plato I guess. Concentrating on the back of Plato's car
13:29and then he loses sight of the guy behind him. It's so difficult to run this close
13:33right of circuit that is so tight. And of course there's also a factor of weight.
13:37On board now with James Thompson in the lead Honda. Here at the front ahead of us is Matt
13:42Neal. The lead independent and he is in fourth place outright. Three works forwards ahead of him.
13:48He's holding up James Thompson. A much better performance from Matt.
13:50Well they did a bit of work here on Friday. They tried some different shock absorbers and it's
13:54certainly paying dividends. But really can you imagine being the factory Honda driver
13:58behind an independent Nissan? There's got to be a red mist coming on very soon. Well it's a red car
14:04and he is trying to hold up that Honda. But he's coming under some big pressure. Now James Thompson
14:09has a little bit of a faint to the left into the hairpin. Then moves wide. Trying to get a better
14:13run out of that corner. Class B runners Morrison and Lemmer. They've been in the lead for a while.
14:18Class B runners Morrison and Lemmer. They've been all over each other so far this race. Morrison
14:23really bringing Lemmer under some big pressure. On board with Mark now. And these two cars seem
14:27much closer than we've seen so far this season. Lemmer in the Integra R only 1800cc. Morrison
14:33in the Peugeot GTI 2000cc. A lot more poke I think in that Peugeot. But Lemmer's car seems to be doing
14:41better in the handling division. And also Mark Lemmer seems to be making better use of this
14:46knock hill circuit than Alan Morrison doing in the Peugeot. Well this is interesting. Side by side
14:51around the hairpin. That's not supposed to work. Side by side back up the hill again.
14:56Now let's have a look at the horsepower differential. Mark Lemmer in the Honda on the
14:59left. Morrison in the Peugeot on the right. And there's the view from Mark Lemmer's car. Yeah it's
15:03pretty clear that extra 200cc makes a big difference climbing up the hill. And as they come under brakes
15:09should be no problem for Morrison. Look at Lemmer now really starting to gather him up. Into the
15:15right hander. Lemmer stuck it back through again. Unbelievable. He hasn't made it stick. Morrison
15:20runs wide and Mark Lemmer takes the spot back. Well it looks rather strange. It's as if Morrison
15:25thought I've passed Lemmer. He's not going to pass me again. Well he got that one wrong.
15:29Nice bit of driving from Mark Lemmer. Now James Thompson is going to try the same trick. But
15:33Matt Neal is wise to it. James Thompson is going to help Matt Neal through the clouds of dust down
15:38there. Everybody's hop skipping and jumping all over the place. Thompson on the boot lid trying
15:44to get a big run down the back straight. There's a kink coming up here. Running a bit wide Matt Neal.
15:50Well Neal of course under a lot of pressure from Thompson. But it looks to me as if Matt Neal
15:54is not as consistent lap on lap as James Thompson who's giving him all that pressure is.
16:01Now back into the hairpin. Same maneuver as before. James running deeper on the brakes
16:05to the left hand side of Neal's car. Neal holds a more defensive line. Thompson moves to the inside
16:10of the track. Matt Neal moves to cover. There's not a Honda width between Matt Neal and the edge
16:15of the circuit. So Thompson moves to the other side as we're getting down into Duffer Skip.
16:19This is that first corner we were talking about after the start line. That's where Tarquini went
16:23off. This is where Thompson is putting Matt Neal under maximum pressure. And there again you can
16:28see in McIntyre Matt Neal not getting the front of the Nissan right over the kerb. He's losing
16:33tenths of seconds to Thompson all the time. He's got it over the kerb there all right. Matt Neal
16:37putting all four wheels across the kerb as they went across the chicane. But once again
16:43James Thompson starting to reel him in through Clark. Thompson runs a little bit wider there
16:47but seems to have carried a bit more speed on the exit. Down the back straight. The railway straight.
16:51Here's the view on board with James Thompson. Looks down the inside. Into the hairpin. Gives him a touch.
16:59Push push. Kissy face. Matt Neal hangs onto it. That's as close as you want. Yeah you couldn't do much
17:04more than that. But at least Matt Neal had the advantage as they came into the hairpin bend.
17:07Denied James Thompson the chance to stick the nose up the inside of the Nissan and take that position
17:12away. Now look at this Waddy. There may be trouble ahead. Here we've got two Class B cars and this
17:17entire rock is descending upon them. Down through Duffer's Dip into McIntyre. Matt Neal slithers
17:22through. James Thompson slithers through. No tears so far but that's very close. While Morrison really
17:28just pulled right off to the left hand side of the track. Has let six cars go through and lost
17:33contact completely with Lemmer. That battle for Class B victory. Well Mark Lemmer his eyes on
17:39springs as everybody slides through. Matt Neal's clear. Now James Thompson lurches to the left.
17:43Then there's Ivan Muller and Tom Christensen in the Vauxhall and the Honda respectively.
17:49Now we're on board with Tom Christensen. That's Muller ahead of us. Sliding down into the chicane.
17:54A bit of a wet and dry rubdown. Side by side. Swapping paint and panels. Lucky both the cars
17:59are red and white. Back up the hill. Christensen through. He is. He's going to make this one stick
18:04side by side but he's got the legs. Yeah he did a very very good job. Not just going into the
18:11Hammond van but getting the power down and took that place away. Look at Muller. He's furious.
18:16He's lost a place. Oh never rains but it pours. Just picked up a spot. Problems now sunshine.
18:23You've got three marauding Vauxhalls behind you. This has got to give sooner or later this
18:31Thompson-Neal battle. They are so close together. Now Christensen with the Vauxhalls behind him
18:36can get up and join. Matt Neal and James Thompson in the very hyperactive Honda and the second Honda
18:49is Tom Christensen who's really up there in this battle for really fourth place. Back up the hill.
18:54Neal's car's got plenty of squirt. Muller's thinking to himself. I don't need lap boards
18:59guys. I can see where they all are. They keep running into me. Down the hill again into Duffers.
19:04Matt Neal clearly has got the speed. We're at concert now. That's on the straight bits.
19:07He loses out down through the twiddly bits but he holds up the rest. The biggest lunge that James
19:11Thompson has had so far and now James Thompson looks as though he's going to have to start
19:15dealing with his teammate. In the meantime that looks like all over for Morrison. Yeah I mean you
19:19can just smell when something goes wrong in a racing car. I don't know whether he'll be rejoining.
19:25Matt Neal has got a real procession behind him now. He's like a caravan tower in the fast lane.
19:30Not making himself popular but doing a fabulous job of defensive driving.
19:33Once more defensive line and moves to the outside to try to cover. He really is losing himself some
19:49time doing that. He's just well he realizes that the points in the track where he's going to be
19:53defensive are at the end of the straight and coming down here into the hairpin bend. The rest of the
19:57track he can pretty much handle. What a great scrap. Now Christens has got his lights on so he's
20:02obviously getting a head of steam up as well. Nice tight line there from Matt in through the hairpin.
20:08Bit defensive but covers it off well. Moves to the right hand side of the track as we haul back up
20:12the hill to make sure no one tries to slither past in there. Plenty of power in that Nissan.
20:16Well I think the power is the result of getting the car handling a lot better. You can use the
20:20power you have more often. Now Rydell, Menuhin, Reid the four drivers are still leading this race
20:25up the front. Neal, Thompson and Christensen four, five and six. You don't need us to tell you that.
20:29You can see it. They are that close together. Muller, Plato and Rademacher forming up the rest of this
20:35incredibly close battle. Race long. All jammed in behind Matt Neal. Now Morrison, well he's going to
20:41have another run. Yeah it's good to send the car out just to ensure that by the time we get to the
20:45feature race later this afternoon everything is back to normal. Now here he is out of the pits.
20:52He's actually driving as though he's trying to find a place to park. I think the problem is
20:55they haven't solved the problem. Yeah bad luck for Morrison because he was leading and looking to
21:00pick up valuable class B points. James Thompson is looking meantime to valuably pick up a place
21:05if he possibly can. He needs to get past Matt Neal to try to... Alex Morrison very focusing moment
21:11for him. As I was saying Thompson needs to get past Matt Neal to try to have a run at those forwards.
21:15That's the lead one there Rydell but it's all going to be too late because they are on the
21:19last lap. Ricard Rydell in the lead. Menuhin still right behind him and Anthony Reid in touch as well.
21:25But for Rydell this has just been copybook stuff as he takes his last turn. And this race was one of
21:30the start. Rydell did a great job. A win I thought might have come sooner this season.
21:36Well done Ricard. Ford team moved to congratulate him and congratulations to Ford as well. Their
21:41second one, two, three of the season. This battle hasn't ended there. That's Christensen, that's
21:46Thompson and that's his teammate Christensen. They're side by side. Matt Neal's ahead of us
21:49heading up to the start finish line and Thompson has lost the place. Christensen, his teammate,
21:56pips him at the post on the last corner. Well Thompson wouldn't certainly say that was team
22:00orders but Christensen is the number one son in Honda right now. What a race. Fabulous result for
22:06Ford, Rydell, Menuhin and Reid. There is the confirmation they did so well. We didn't see
22:11much of them. Matt Neal in fourth place holding off a race-long challenge from James Thompson in
22:15the Honda only to be pipped at the post by his teammate Tom Christensen who gets up onto the top
22:21five leaderboard. There's James in sixth position. Great drive mate. Muller seventh, Plato eighth,
22:26Rademacher ninth. Formation finish for them and Blair running well in the top ten. So Rydell
22:32sprays the champagne from the top step for the first time as a Ford man and all down to that start.
22:38Yeah, I got away really good off the line. There's a little bit less grip here at No Kill and I don't
22:42know what happened to Alan but it was just enough to get from behind him to just in front of him
22:47and after that it was really just controlling where Alan was all the time. I was pushing quite
22:52hard of course and when we passed a couple of the class B cars he caught up once or twice so
22:58it was a little bit close but after that no problem. Obviously today was Dunnington Park
23:03in reverse and Rick had a very good start. Mine was okay but I got a little bit of wheel spin
23:09so he got into the first corner first and then I was out. I mean we've got the same car, I've got
23:1220 kilos more than he does so exiting all the corners he was pulling away a bit. So really I
23:18was, it was only once when we overtook a class B car where I just showed my nose going into the
23:23airplane but really I was not in a position to really have a go. I mean he's my teammate after
23:27all so I had to be a bit careful. And what about that class B scrap? It's a shame that the Accord
23:34has had problems this weekend because it would have been very strong but we knew that the Persia
23:37would be good. It's good up the hairpin, it's good up the hill and I was confident of getting
23:42ahead, getting a good start which we did. The safety car cancelled that out a little bit but
23:49when things settled down it meant I was going to have to dig in and defend and had to use everything
23:53I knew to keep him behind.