1999 FIA Winter Touring Car Trophy Season Review

Many Spectators Gather Around For The Last Touring Car Race Of 1999, The FIA Winter Touring Car Trophy, Held Once Again At Donington Park In The West Midlands On The 19th Of December.
There Are Alot Of Teams, Drivers And Manufactuers From Around The World Who Compete At Every Touring Car Championship, And This Would A Packed Touring Car Race Before Christmas.
Let’s See Who’s Entered In The Winter Touring Car Trophy.
Jason Plato Is Fresh From Winning The 1999 Imaginary British Touring Car Championship At The Final Round At Silverstone, And He’s Back On Track Once Again, Renault Have Entered A Pair Of Lagunas With Plato And Former F1 Test Driver Jean Christophe Boullion, They Will Also Run A Pair Of Megane Sedans With F3000 Rookie Jenson Button, Who Will Be Driving For Williams In Formula 1 Next Year And Former Williams F1 Test Allan McNish From Scotland.
Volvo Are Also On The Grid, 1999 IBTCC Runner Rickard Rydell Is Partnered With Belgian Vincent Radermacker, While They’ll Be Also Using A Pair Of S40 Estates With Tim Harvey And Kelvin Burt, They Have Decided To Race A Station Wagon, They Still Raced The Sedan Version Of The S40 In 1999, And They Will Race With The S40 Sedan Again In The IBTCC For 2000, It’s The First Time That Volvo Have Raced In An Estate Since 1994, They’ve Also Entered International Drivers, Jan Nilsson And Jens Edman From Sweden, Jim Richards, Mark Williamson And Mark Adderton From Australia.
And Then We See Ford, Alain Menu And Anthony Reid Will Race With The Mondeo, And Also Ford Have Entered A Pair Of Focus Sedans With 1992 F1 Champion Nigel Mansell And The Kiwi Craig Baird.
Vauxhall Are Also On The Grid, Yvan Muller And John Cleland Driving A Vectra, And They’ve Also Entered A Pair Of Astra B Sedans With Jeff Allam And 4 Times British Touring Car Champion Andy Rouse Who Returns Racing For The First Time Since 1994.
Honda Are Runned By Team Redstone, And They’ve Entered A Trio Of Accords With James Thompson, 1994 BTCC Champion Gabriele Tarquini And The Dutchman Peter Kox, They’ll Also Be Running A Single Civic With Frenchman Fabrice Walfisch At The Wheel.
And Another Civic Is Ran By Castrol Mugen Honda With The Japanese Driver Osamu Nakako At The Wheel.
Fellow Japanese Car Brand Nissan Have Also Been Entered, Current BTCC Champion Laurent Aiello And David Leslie Are Driving In A Pair Of Primeras, While Tiff Needell Will Be Driving An Only Works Almera Sedan On The Grid.
And Then We See Nismo Who Are Running A Pair Of Nissan Sunnys With Akira Lida And Toshio Suzuki At The Wheel.
Audi Have Entered Not Just 3, But 6 A4s With 1997 IBTCC Champion John Bintcliffe, 1996 BTCC Champion Frank Biela, Former Ford And Peugeot Driver And Two Times World Touring Car Cup Champion Paul Radisich, Terry Moss From South Africa, And From Australia, Brad Jones And Matthew Coleman.
And Then We Have Peugeot, Patrick Watts And Eugene O Brien Driving The 406, And Ian Flux And Richard Kaye Driving The 306 Sedan, And Then We See Peugeot Team Ireland, With Current Irish Touring Car Championship Helmut Holfeld Been Paired Up With John McCluskey And Former Ferrari F1 Driver Eddie Irvine Who Of Course Be Driving For The New Jaguar Team In Formula 1 Next Year, But He Would Also Compete In Some Rounds In The Irish Touring Car Championship Also Next Year, Peugeot Esso Have An All German Driver Line Up With Michael Bartels And Jorg Van Ommen Driving In Their 406, Frenchman Yannick Dalmas Is Also Driving A Peugeot 406 Driving For Peugeot Sport Italia, And Jacky Ickx Is Also Driving In A 406 For Peugeot Team Belgium.
BMW Are Running 5 320i’s, Former IBTCC Champion Joachim Winkelhock Been Paired Up With Roberto Ravaglia, Johnny Cecotto And Fellow Country Man Leopold Prinz Von Bayern, While BMW South Africa Have Entered A Single 320i With Shaun Van Der Linde At The Wheel.
It’s Also Good Seeing Alfa Romeo On The Grid, 3 156s Will Be Driven By Derek Warwick, Nicola Larini And Fabrizio Giovinardi.
And Also Their Sister Car Company Fiat, Entering A Pair Of Mareas With Gianni Morbidelli And Jordi Gene, While Pedro De La Rosa Will Also Be Driving A Marea For Fiat Team Spain.
Toyota Are The Next Brand On The Grid, Tom Kristensen, Julian Bailey And Tim Sugden Driving The Corolla Sedan, While The Pair Of Corolla Liftbacks Will Be Driven By Gary Ayles And Bobby Verdon Roe, And Then We See Toyota Team Ireland, Who Are Also Running A Pair Of Corolla Liftbacks, Former Irish Champion Austin McHale And Ulsterman Owen McAuley Are At The Wheel, They Have Competed In A Corolla Estate For A Few Rounds In The 1999 IBTCC Before Switching Back To The Corolla Liftback Which They Have Raced In The Irish Touring Car Championship.
A Single Chrysler Stratus Is Driven By The Swede Tomas Engstrom For The Chrysler Team.
And Then We See Mercedes, They Have Entered A Trio Of E Classes With 1993 IBTCC Champion Bernd Schneider, Darren Turner And Peter Dumbreck.
Skoda Have Entered A Pair Of Octavias With Josef Kopecky And Jan Lammers At The Wheel.
Then Citroen, Who Have Entered A Pair Of Xsaras With Philippe Gache And Alan Cudini.
Hyundai Have Entered A Pair Of Lantra J2s With Ric Shaw From Australia And Former IBTCC Production Class Champion Phil Dowsett.
Seat Are Next, And They Have Entered A Pair Of Cordobas With Minardi F1 Driver Marc Gene And Luis Villamil, While Luis Perez Sala Will Also Be Driving A Seat Cordoba For Seat Team Spain.
And Then We See Malaysian Car Maker Proton, Who Have Entered A Pair Of Wiras With Karamjit Singh And Ian Heward.
Jaguar Are Back In Touring Car Racing, And They Are Demonstrating Their New X Type That They Will Race In The IBTCC Next Year, And They Have Entered Ray Bellam And Andy Wallace As Their Drivers, Jaguar Are Of Course Joining Formula One Next Year.
And Then We See Opel, Eric Helary, Uwe Alzen, Jan Brunstedt, Mike Briggs And Rob Gibson Who Are Driving In A Vectra, While Norman Beggs Is Driving In An Astra B Sedan.
And Now We See Volkswagen, They Have Entered 4 Cars, With Steve Robertson And Kris Nissen Driving In A Passat, While Austrian Benetton Formula 1 Driver Alexander Wurz And Italian Amanto Ferrari Are Driving In A Pair Of Polo Sedans.
Next We See Mazda, They Have Also Entered A Separated 4 Car Team, With Slim Borgudd And Ian Cantwell Driving The Familias, While Former Touring Car Champion And Former Mercedes Driver Mike Smith And German Markus Oestreich Will Drive In The 626.
Subaru Have Entered A Pair Of Impreza Station Wagons With Former Modified Saloon Champion Geoff Steel And Scotsman Hamish Irvine.
Fellow Japanese Car Brand Mitsubishi Have Also Entered A Pair Of Their Cars, With Mark Hales And David Pinkney Driving The Carismas.
Swedish Ace Saab Have Entered A Pair Of 9-3s With Per Eklund And Kenneth Hansen At The Wheel.
Korean Car Brand Daewoo Are Also On The Grid, James Weaver And Win Percy Are At The Wheel Of Their Lanos Saloon.
And Finally We See Rover, They’ve Enter A Pair Of 45s With Jeff Wilson And Alex Portman.
Now Let’s Turn Our Attention To The Independents.
Current Independent Champion Matt Neal Has Been Paired Up With Swedish Driver Kari Makinen At Team Dynamics, Who Use A Pair Of Nissan Primeras.
Pro Motorsport Are Also Running A Pair Nissan Primeras With Scotsman Colin Blair And Italian Sandro Sardelli.
Mark Blair Is Once Again Racing In His ADR Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra.
And Then We See Arena International, Who Are Running A Trio Of Renault Lagunas With Will Hoy, And The Spence Pairing, Russell And Jamie.
DC Cook Motorsport Have Entered 2 Cars, With Paula Cook In A Honda Accord, And Nigel Albon At The Wheel Of Tommy Rustad’s 1998 BTCC Independent Winning Renault Laguna.
Brookes Motorsport Are Once Again Racing In A Pair Of Honda Accords With 2 Former Independent Champions Robb Gravett And Lee Brookes.
Current IBTCC Production Car Champion Alan Morrison Will Be Driving In A Touring Car Next Year, He’s Paired Up At VIP Racing Club By Dan Eaves, Lee Linford And Finnish Driver Toni Ruokonen In 4 Peugeot 406s.
Barwell Motorsport Are Another Team Racing From The 1999 Imaginary British Touring Car Championship In The Production Class, They Have Entered A Pair Of Honda Accords With Mark Lemmer And James Kaye.
GR Motorsport Are Another Joining From That Class, They’re Racing A Pair Of Accords With Annie Templeton And Simon Harrison, And A Ford Mondeo Zetec Driven By Nick Leeson.
Christian Abt Is The Only Driver Racing At Abt Sportsline In An Audi A4.
While Audi Sport Italia Have Entered A Trio Of A4s With Emmanuel Pirro, Rinaldo Capello And Former Sauber Grand Prix Driver Karl Wendlinger From Austria.
BMW Dealer Team Have Entered A Pair Of 320i’s With Fredrik Ekblom And Niklas Danielsson Driving For Them.
And Then We See ABG Motorsport Who Are Running A Pair Of Lexus GS300s With Kurt Luby And Car Magazine Author Steve Sutcliffe.
There Are A Variety Of Entries In The Independent Class.
Colin Gallie Is Driving In His Team DCRS BMW 318i.
Jamie Wall Has Entered In His Mint Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier.
Norwegian Driver Roger Moen Is Driving In His Mardi Gras Motorsport Honda Accord.
And Then We See A Pair Of Ford Mondeos Entered By 2 Drivers From Ireland, Dermot Carnegie For JW Carnegie And Lawrence Gibson For Team P&O.
And That’s Not All, We Also Have Some Teams From Formula One On The Grid.
West McLaren Racing Have Entered A Pair Of Mercedes E Classes With Twice F1 Champion Mika Hakkinen And David Coulthard.
Prost Racing Have Entered A Pair Of Peugeot 406s With Olivier Panis And Jarno Trulli.
And Finally We HSBC Stewart, Who Have Entered 4 Ford Mondeos With Rubens Barrichello, Johnny Herbert, Jan Magnussen And Jos Verstappen.
And So With All The Entries Lined Up, It’s Now Time To Get Into The Action, And Starting With Qualifying.
Laurent Aiello Was The Fastest During The Qualifying Session, To Line His Nissan On Pole Position,  Jens Edman Will Start On The Front Role Next To Him In The First Of The Volvos, With Team Mate Rydell Lining Up 3rd Ahead With Fabrice Walfisch’s Honda Civic.
Race 1.
The Morning Rain Has Cleared, But The Track Is Still Damp, At The Start Aiello Leads Going Into Redgate While Rydell Makes A Lightning Start Into 2nd Ahead Of His Team Mate Edman, Going Pass The Craner Curves And Aiello Still Leads, Rydell Is In 2nd, With Edman 3rd, Walfisch Is 4th, Ahead Of Jon Bintcliffe’s Audi In 5th, Helmut Holfeld’s Peugeot In 6th, Tim Harvey In 7th In The First  Of The S40 Estates, Followed By Jan Nilsson In 3rd Of The Swedish Volvos In 8th, Fabrizio Giovanardi Is 9th In The First Of The Alfa Romeos, And Jason Plato, The Champion Of The 1999 IBTCC Down In 10th After A Dreadful Qualifying Session For Renault, And Then It Gets Worse For The Team When Peter Kox’s Brakes Late Going Into The Esses And Hitting The Back Of Jean Christophe Boullion’s Sister Laguna, Both Drivers Were Out, Aiello Still Leads The Way With Rydell’s Volvo In 2nd Place, While The Battle For 3rd Continues As Jens Edman Fends It Off From Fabrice Walfisch, The Honda French Driver Tries To Go Around At The Harpin, But Edman Still Keeps His Position, Meanwhile There’s Fight For 6th Between Holfeld And Giovanardi, But They Both Make Contact  Going Wide At The Esses, They Rejoined The Track Still In Their Positions, Walfisch Is Still Battling For 3rd With Edman, The Frenchman Dives Around The Swede At McLeans, But Jens Denies It, He Stays In 3rd, And Would Hopefully Stay There For The End Of The Race, But At The Front, Aiello Is Heading, And It’s Also His First Career Win In The Winter Touring Car Trophy, The 1999 BTCC Champion Finished Ahead Of Rickard Rydell, With Team Mate Jens Edman Finishing 3rd And Fending Off Fabrice Walfisch.
In The Independent Class, Robb Gravett Takes The Victory In His Brookes Motorsport Honda Accord, Ahead Of Current IBTCC Production Class Champion Alan Morrison In His VIP Racing Club Peugeot 406, With Christian Abt Finishing 3rd In His Abt Sportsline Audi A4.
Race 1 Results.
1 Laurent Aïello, Vodafone Nissan Racing, Nissan Primera GT
2 Rickard Rydell, Volvo S40 Racing, Volvo S40
3  Jens Edman,  Volvo S40 Racing, Volvo S40
Independents.
1 Robb Gravett, Brookes Motorsport, Honda Accord.
2 Alan Morrison, VIP Racing Club, Peugeot 406
3  Christian Abt, Abt Sportsline, Audi A4
Race 2.
Aiello Is Once Again On Pole, And At The Start Gates Away Well, With Rydell Keeping His Position In 2nd, The Cars Pass Redgate, Not One Of Those Is Giampiero Simoni, Who Gets Spun Out At Redgate In His Simoni Racing Seat Cordoba, And Would Resume In Last Place, At The Front, It’s Still Aiello Leading With Rydell 2nd, Walfisch 3rd, Menu 4th, Edman 5th, Harvey 6th, Bintcliffe 7th, Larini And Giovanardi 8th And 9th, And Frank Biela Completing The Top 10 For Audi, But At The Dunlop Straight, It Was Chaos As The Hondas Of James Thompson And Gabriele Tarquini, Vincent Radermacker’s Volvo, Anthony Reid’s Ford And Fredrik Ekblom's Independent BMW All Collide, Some More Cars Were Also Involved In The Collision, Including The Vauxhalls Of Muller And Cleland, Dumbreck’s Mercedes And Ravaglia’s BMW As Well As Lawrence Gibson’s P&O Team Ford Mondeo, Cleland’s Race Ends When He Stops At The Craner Curves, Muller Is Back In The Pits To Get His Bonnet Fixed, And He Would Rejoin The Race Far Back, While Johnny Cecotto’s Race Ends With A Roll At The Esses After A Collision With Tomas Engstrom’s Chrysler, When The Swede Went On The Brakes Too Late, Slamming Into Cecotto’s BMW And Sending It Into A Serious Of Barrell Rolls, The Safety Car Came Out For A Few Laps While The Track Is Cleared, And At The Restart, Aiello Continues To Lead The Way With Rydell’s Volvo In 2nd Now Under Pressure From Fabrice Walfisch’s Team Redstone Honda Civic, Walfisch Is Looking To Pass The 1998 BTCC Champion’s Volvo With Only 8 Laps To Go, While Behind Them Alain Menu Is In 4th Place, And Would Be A Best Result For Ford, Rydell Is Struggling To Stay Ahead Of Walfisch, The Frenchman Is Racing Him Down To Goddards, And Then Finally The Honda Gets Ahead Of The Volvo And Into 2nd Place To The Delight Of Team Redstone, But Sadly They’ve Lost James Thompson, As A Blown Engine Forces Him To Retire With Only 4 Laps To Go, But At The Front, Aiello Is About To Take His 2nd Win In The FIA Winter Touring Car, As They Approach, With Fabrice Walfisch Finishing 2nd For Honda, With Rickard Rydell In 3rd For Volvo,  Aiello Was Now  Won Both Races Of The 1999 FIA Winter Touring Car Trophy, Sweden Have Won The Nations Cup, Thanks To Rydell, Edman And Nilsson Finishing In The Race For Volvo Who Are Also From Sweden, They Finish Ahead Of France In 2nd And Italy In 3rd.
In The Independent Class, It Was An All Audi Podium With Emmanuel Pirro Winning The Race, Ahead Of Christian Abt Who Finished 2nd In His Abt Motorsport Audi, And Roberto Colciago Finishing 3rd In His AGS Motorsport Audi A4.
Race 2 Results.
1 Laurent Aïello, Vodafone Nissan Racing, Nissan Primera GT
2 Fabrice Walfisch, Team Redstone, Honda Accord
3 Rickard Rydell, Volvo S40 Racing, Volvo S40
Independents.
1 Emmanuel Pirro, Audi Sport Italia, Audi A4
2 Christian Abt, Abt Sportsline, Audi A4
3 Roberto Colciago, AGS Motorsport, Audi A4
=== Drivers' standings ===
In The Drivers Standings, Aiello Wins With 80 Points, Rydell In 2nd With 54 Points, And Walfisch In 3rd With 33 Points.
1 Laurent Aiello, 80 Pts.
2 Rickard Rydell, 54 Pts.
3 Fabrice Walfisch, 33 Pts.
Independents.
In The Independent Standings, Pirro Wins With 80 Points, Abt In 2nd With 54 Points, And Colciago In 3rd With 33 Points.
1 Emmanuel Pirro, 80 Pts.
2 Christian Abt, 54 Pts.
3 Roberto Colciago, 33 Pts.
=== Nations' standings ===
In The Nations Standings, Sweden Wins With 86 Points, France In 2nd With 86 Points, And Italy In 3rd With 80 Points.
1 Sweden, 86 Pts.
2 France, 86 Pts.
3 Italy, 80 Pts.
And So What A Way To Finish The Millennium With Laurent Aiello Not Only Winning The 1999 British Touring Car Championship, But Also Winning The FIA Winter Touring Car, Jason Plato Was Disappointed To Not Win The Touring Car Trophy After Taking The Title In The 1999 Imaginary British Touring Car Championship, He Finished Race 1 10th, But Retired In Race 2 With Accident Damage.
And So We Head To The New Millennium, And The Imaginary British Touring Car Championship Will Start All Again At Brands Hatch In March At The Start Of The 2000 Season, See You There.