# 1991 British Touring Car Championship

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

## Changes for 1991

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

## Season summary

Group A had towards the end of its existence been dominated by Ford and their Sierra RS500. Super Tourers had first appeared in 1990, and with BMW and Vauxhall running their cars in that category they effectively had a years head start on their opposition for 1991. BMW also had the numerical advantage, the factory Prodrive team entering two cars and the semi-factory Vic Lee Motorsport team entering four. Vauxhall had two cars, as had Toyota, while Ford only appeared with a single car for Robb Gravett's Trakstar team. Nissan missed the start of the season but then ran a single-car effort for Keith O'Dor driving a 2.0 Primera entered by Janspeed, and was joined by ex-Formula One driver Julian Bailey towards the end of the season and Mitsubishi was back, engineered by BTCC stalwart John McGuire Racing, fielding a one car team for Mark Hales, the team elected to run the Lancer GTI at the beginning of the season but was replaced by the larger Galant mid season.
The privateer entries would consist mainly of BMW M3s with the odd Ford Sierra entry, the most notable being Andy Middlehurst, and the odd appearance of Jeff Wilson in a Vauxhall Belmont.
Rover and Peugeot would also be represented briefly by privateers Grahame Davis and Andrew McKenzie while possible entries from Audi, Honda, Renault and Lancia were mooted but never materialised.
The championship battle would stand between Will Hoy and John Cleland. Hoy won the first two races of the season and kept scoring consistently, but as the season progressed it was Cleland who came out on top more often than not. Hoy's consistency however put him in a position to claim the championship at the penultimate round at Thruxton, provided he scored a good enough result. Indeed, Hoy took the lead of the race thanks to BMW team tactics, but soon thereafter he was controversially tapped into a spin by works BMW driver Jonathan Palmer. Hoy dropped down the field and later retired after contact with Cleland. Cleland would go on to finish 8th with a damaged car, taking the championship to the final race. There Hoy was able to finish ahead of Cleland, and thus claiming the first Super Touring championship win. Andy Rouse finished third for Toyota, and Steve Soper ended up fourth overall despite missing several races due to clashing commitments in the German DTM championship.
The 7th meeting of the season at Silverstone would be notable for the debut of future 3-time Champion Matt Neal in a Pyramid Motorsport-run BMW M3, finishing 13th out of 17 finishers.

## Teams and drivers

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

## Race calendar and winners

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

## Championship results
### Drivers Championship

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

### Manufacturers Championship

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