Fans of the British Touring Car Championship were taken on a trip down memory lane this past weekend (July 1/2) as Brands Hatch blasted back to the 90s to celebrate one of the series’ most fondly remembered eras at Super Touring Power.
The two-day event, which was running for the first-ever time, transported those in attendance at the Kent venue to a much-loved period of national saloon car competition, with races, demonstrations and displays.
One of the many highlights across the weekend were the blockbuster races from the Classic Touring Car Racing Club, in particular the quartet from the Laser Tools Super Tourers which featured a strong field of 20 cars.
Included on the entry list were legendary Super Touring stars such as Paul Radisich (Ford Mondeo), Anthony Reid (Nissan Primera), Greg Murphy (Nissan Primera) and Steven Richards (Volvo S40) however, none of them could stop current BTCC star Jake Hill who claimed a clean sweep of victories at the wheel of an ex-Laurent Aiello Nissan Primera.
Hill was wheel-perfect as he led home the ex-Tom Kristensen Honda Accord of Stewart Whyte in the first three races before then reigning supreme ahead of former BTCC driver Jason Hughes and his Vauxhall Vectra in the finale.
In addition to the nostalgic racing, the weekend also saw demonstration runs which included the iconic 1997 Williams Renault Laguna of Alain Menu, who was in attendance as a guest, Steve Soper in a Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 and Ash Sutton in his 2023 Ford Focus ST – to name but a few.
Around the venue, cars such as Rickard Rydell’s 1998 title-winning Volvo S40 and Joachim Winkelhock’s BMW, amongst many others, were on display for all to see with stars such as Menu, Radisich, Andy Rouse, Tim Harvey and Patrick Watts also featuring on the Autosport Interview Stage.
Elsewhere, bumper grids featured throughout the remaining Classic Touring Car Racing Club categories shared the spotlight in front of the huge crowds that had flocked trackside to soak up the vintage tin top action, starting on the Grand Prix layout on Saturday.
Charles Rainford – who can usually be found competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB – swapped his 911 for a Ford Capri and didn’t put a wheel wrong as he won two highly entertaining Poutltec Pre-66 Touring Cars and Orange Aero Pre-83 Touring Cars races.
More than 40 cars went bumper-to-bumper in a pair of entertaining amalgamated Laser Tools Pre-93 Touring Cars, Burty Haulage Pre-03 Touring Cars and Burton Power Blue Oval Saloon Series races, with Paul Mensley and Martin Reynolds claiming a win apiece.
Samuel Wilson and Alex Sidwell rounded out the list of winners on the legendary 2.433-mile circuit as they each made it onto the top step of the podium in the Edmundson Electrical Classic Thunder and Berkshire Jag Components Jaguar Challenge races.
Switching to the more compact Indy circuit on Sunday, Grant Williams narrowly held off Ian Curley to claim a brace of Pre-66 race wins whilst Stuart Waite emerged as the driver to beat in the merged Pre-83 and Pre-93 contests.
Mensley and Reynolds continued to be the cream of the crop in the combined Pre-03 and Blue Oval Saloon Series bouts, with Mensley charging to a double triumph whilst Wilson and Nick Vaughan shared the spoils in the Classic Thunder and Jaguar Challenge races.
To view the full classification of results from Super Touring Power at Brands Hatch, CLICK HERE.
Those wanting to watch back the action from Sunday can do so by visiting the Classic Touring Car Racing Club YouTube channel HERE.