Tag: Classic Touring Car Championship

Jason Hughes’ long association with touring car racing was never part of the original plan. In fact, his motorsport career began far from the saloon cars he is now best known for.

Hughes started racing motorcycles at the age of 10 and continued into his early twenties, but injuries brought that chapter to an end.

“I raced bikes from 10, right up to 20 or 22,” he explains. “I damaged my leg with the bike racing, and then after that I had a bad car accident.” With his time on two wheels over, Hughes found himself searching for a new challenge.

That search led him into car racing in the mid-1990s, thanks to connections forged through motocross. Introduced to Jason Minshaw at Demon Tweeks, Hughes made his competitive debut in Fiesta racing in 1995, competing as part of the TOCA support package. The move proved to be a natural fit, and after several seasons learning his craft, success followed.

“In ’99, I won the Fiestas,” Hughes recalls. That title opened the door to the next rung on the touring car ladder, with a move into the V6 Super Coupe category in a Vauxhall Vectra. Further experience came in Production Touring Cars with an ex-works Nissan Primera, although the programme was ultimately short-lived. “We only did four or five meetings in 2003,” Hughes says. “It was unreliable, and then they scrapped the production class.”

The turning point came later that year when two MG ZS touring cars became available. Hughes purchased one from West Surrey Racing at the end of 2003, a decision that would define the next phase of his racing career. “That was it, basically,” he explains. “We went into the BTCC with the MG and stayed there until about 2009, until the car went out of date.”

Although the MG’s competitive lifespan was limited, its popularity was anything but. The car attracted one of the most passionate fanbases of the era, something Hughes remembers fondly. “There was a massive following,” he says. “All the MG fans, the X-Power lot – it was brilliant. You’d go to Brands Hatch and there’d be 50 or maybe 100 of them all camped out together, and it was nice to have that support even as a privateer at the end of the cars life.”

Two decades on, those memories still resonate. When Hughes returned to Brands Hatch in 2025 for the Super Touring Power event, he was reunited with familiar faces from the MG faithful. “One of the lads, Jerry, who was one of the main MG supporters back in the day, was there. It was really good to see him again. You don’t realise it’s 20 years ago until you think about it. It only feels like five or six years not 20!”

The MG’s return to action in the Classic Touring Car Racing Series also allowed Hughes to share the car with a driver who has a deep personal connection to the marque – Colin Turkington. “I’ve known Colin since the Fiesta days,” Hughes explains. “The MG was his first touring car, and he’s still got his original one at home with the V6 engine in it.”

Allowing Turkington to drive the car was an easy decision. “It’s a big part of his history,” Hughes says. “And he can drive, can’t he?” he adds with a smile.
Alongside the MG, Hughes has also fulfilled a lifelong ambition by owning and racing a Super Touring car. In 2018, he acquired a Triple Eight Vauxhall Vectra – a life long held moment finally arrived. The chance to experience the pinnacle machinery of the era he grew up watching. “From when I started in ’95, Super Tourers were the ultimate,” he says. “That was always the dream.”

The experience has lived up to expectations. “They’re just totally different cars,” Hughes explains. “They’re actually easier to drive than the MG, but they’re so much quicker. Around the full Silverstone circuit, the Vectra is seven seconds a lap quicker can you believe!.”

Even today, the Super Touring car remains remarkably competitive. “We’ve matched times that Plato did back in the day,” Hughes says. “So it’s still on the ball and has plenty of life.”

With Jason Plato’s name also adorning the side of the car, the idea of seeing another BTCC legend back behind the wheel has been discussed. “We’ve talked about it,” Hughes admits. “He’s always been mega busy, but never say never.”

From his early days on bikes to his enduring presence in historic touring car racing, Jason Hughes’ story is one of perseverance, passion and a deep-rooted love for classic touring cars – one of many stories continuing to unfold in the BARC paddock.

We meet Andy Foyle who has turned his boyhood dream into automotive reality

One of the joys of perusing around the British Automobile Racing Club paddocks, is stumbling across a gem of a story. The chatter from the owner, unearthing fabled and feel good stories that makes the BARC community so very special. And there are so many of them!

Whether it’s telling us about their own motor racing history, how they obtained their pride and joy, meeting their idols, a milestone completed or bucket list item ticked, or the strenuous hurdles of getting to the grid.

All of the above can be used to sum-up Andy Foyle – who made his first foray onto the Classic Touring Car Racing Club grid at Silverstone this season, using the home of British motorsport as a test event in his head-turning Audi 80.

Ahead of that early October race meeting at Silverstone, the entry list showed a new name and more intriguingly a new car. An Audi 80 – racing in this country again… surely not? Well on the Pre ‘83 grid, the German saloon was down in writing – we had to go and find out more.

To read the full article, members can find the interview in the latest edition of the Apex Magazine.

To become a member of the BARC and to receive a copy of the magazine, head to https://www.barc.net/membership/ today to join the ever growing motorsport community.

The Classic Touring Car Racing Club is set to make a triumphant return to the support bill of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship in 2026, with the Pre-83 Group 1 Touring Cars competing at Oulton Park on June 6/7.

Following on from the successful appearance of the Pre-66 Touring Cars contingent on the BTCC package at Croft in 2024, the Pre-83 Group 1 ranks – which has seen bumper grid numbers this year – will now take centre stage alongside the UK’s premier motorsport series.

“We’re thrilled to have secured another guest slot on the British Touring Car bill,” said Stuart Caie, Classic Touring Car Racing Club Chairman. “This is testament to the fantastic show our Pre-’66 Touring Cars put on at Croft last year, and the hard work of all our club members and volunteers.

“It’s only fair that we share around the opportunities to race at such a high-profile event. This time it’s the Group 1 Touring Cars that have a chance to race in front of the BTCC crowd at Oulton Park and we just know they’ll provide superb entertainment.”

At least one race from the series will be broadcast live on ITV4 and ITVX over the course of the event, making it a landmark outing for the popular multi-class category.

It’s not everyday we get to see somebody’s last ever motor race. At Silverstone earlier this month, we got to see just that. New Zealander Allan Scott who at 75 years young brought down the curtain on his time behind the wheel, and has hung up his helmet for good – electing a British Automobile Racing Club event to take his final laps.

The Kiwi is the current custodian of the fabled – lesser spotted Mazda 323F Super Tourer. The halcyon days of Super Touring will be perhaps remembered with the examples from Ford, Vauxhall, Renault – maybe even Volvo and Nissan. Mazda was there and played a part in the mystique of the era. Patrick Watts campaigned the early Shell-backed 323F before Ian Cantwell took it into private hands in ‘93.

In that same season Watts was tasked to develop the ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ coloured Xedos which included a maiden pole position at Snetterton. While Watts was drafted into the Peugeot fold for 1994, David Leslie and Matt Neal stepped up to drive for the Japanese manufactuer, but the project folded halfway through the season. Ex F1 driver and ABBA drummer Slim Borgudd was lined up to race the new compact Mazda 323F in the BTCC 1995 – but the car never raced in Britain despite lapping at the media preview day.

Fast forward 30 years, the car with its current owner was taking to the track – for a special occasion as Allan’s family travelled from different places around the world to watch him take part in his final race weekend. We sat down with Allan to talk about the car and his fascinating career in motor racing.

Let’s go back to the beginning. Where did it start?

“Well, I’m from New Zealand, so we were basically special stage rallying. Then I came to the UK thinking I would do some rallying but I decided maybe it was better to actually work in this situation! I ended up staying in the UK for 16 years and I was involved in engine design and I worked for a company called TWR and helped set-up their engine division. So I did all of the Jaguar Group A and Group C engines. The last thing I did here was the first year of the Volvo in the BTCC, and then I returned to New Zealand.”

You come back across to compete in events here?

“I came over for Brands Hatch in June and now back for my final motor race at Silverstone. This was going to be the last race I ever do and then I am going to sell the car. I’m 75, the cars are quite a handful, as far as they’re quite physical – but it was something I wanted to own and drive and wanted to just enjoy it all in 2025. I’ve owned a few cars back in New Zealand. I’ve owned two of the factory Rovers. and I bought this about seven years ago and made some friends over here many years ago and they helped me run the car. I’ve got three grandchildren now and my youngest daughter has a business in Cambodia. She’s come over for the race. This is the first time she’s seen me race – so it’s all come full circle!”

Was there a particular reason which drew you to the Mazda 323 – because it’s got quite an interesting history hasn’t it?

“I knew Roger Dowson from Roger Dowson Engineering who built the car, he actually was a weekend warrior at TWR. The car came up for sale, I thought, yeah, okay – I’ll buy it. I’d owned two Rovers before, one remains in New Zealand and I sold one that came back to the UK. So it was just one of those things you do and the connection with Roger and it’s a lovely wee car, I love it.

“It was built at the end of 1994. I think it was the last Mazda that Roger built. It was built for Slim Borgudd, the ex F1 driver and session drummer at ABBA. And then something happened, the money never turned up. So the car sat for a long time. I think there was a court case over it, unfortunately. Bills not being paid, etc. Then it’s been raced probably by three or four other people in historic racing over the time. And I’ve owned it for seven years.”

You mentioned your time at TWR. You must have had some great experiences with Jaguar in Group C and the like. What was that like to be a part of that project?

“It was obviously tough at the beginning, but then the rewards came at the end. TWR was a company that grew rapidly. I started in 1979 when they were racing one car. So Tom was always probably one year ahead of where you felt you were even uncomfortable with doing something! Group C was quite a challenge because there was a fuel formula, there were a lot of differing opinions on how and where to go. I really wasn’t supportive of the V12 engine to start with, but we didn’t have many options either. Tom had someone else in Europe working on a turbo six cylinder but that never actually saw the light of day and by that time I’d been working with Zytec, and when we got to 1985 we had a fairly advanced engine management system and I think that was the key to turning the V12 into a decent engine. It was definitely the right thing because people think about and talk about the V12 to this day. It is quite the iconic engine… and sound!”

It’s an honour for the British Automobile Racing Club to have you compete in our events, especially your last one. What was the feeling, what’s the emotional state like now?

“Well, truly, I mean, six years ago, I was going through the right hander at the end of the Hamilton straight in fifth gear, and I started the weekend going through fourth. So that says it all perhaps! By the end of the race I was just about having the confidence to grab fifth however!

“I said to my friends at the beginning of the year, I never thought that I would ever, as a 75 year old, come to Britain to race at Brands Hatch and race at Silverstone and that’s the way I’ve decided to sign my racing life off. It mightn’t be very fast, but not many people can say they’ve driven one of these amazing cars at these circuits. Silverstone means more to me than say Buckingham Palace in terms of iconic British locations. I’m lucky to be able to do this with friends and family.

A new collaboration between the British Automobile Racing Club, MotorSport Vision and the Classic Touring Car Racing Club has been announced for 2026 in the shape of ‘Touring Car Rewind’.

Building on the hugely successfully Super Touring Power events that have taken centre stage at Brands Hatch over the past three years, this new spectacle expands on those foundations by bringing retro tin top fever to a wider group of fans across the country.

Touring Car Rewind: South will ensure that Brands Hatch visitors are once again treated to a nostalgic weekend of saloon car competition whilst Touring Car Rewind: North brings a dedicated tin top festival to Oulton Park in Cheshire for the first time.

The full programme at both events will include Super Touring machinery from the British Touring Car Championship’s popular ‘90s period as part of an extensive race, demo and display line-up.

As opposed to Super Touring Power, which firmly shone the headline attention on one generation of retro tin top, Touring Car Rewind will celebrate the motorsport discipline more broadly; meaning more than six decades of touring car racing will be in attendance.

Circuit action at both events will be overseen by the British Automobile Racing Club.

“Following three hugely successful years of Super Touring Power, we always wanted to continue to do something special in 2026,” said Stuart Caie, Classic Touring Car Racing Club Chairman.

“However there have been countless calls for us to bring the show to another part of the country, and that’s what we’re doing with Touring Car Rewind: North at Oulton Park alongside a Brands Hatch edition.

“Beyond that, we’ve rebranded what we’re doing slightly to better outline what this event is actually about – all classic touring cars! The Super Tourers will once again play a key role at both events, but there is so much else that’s special in amidst the CTCRC grids.

“We’re excited to work with David Willey and the MSV team once again, and we’re very much looking forward to hosting all of out competitors at these two special events.”

The Classic Touring Car Racing Club helped celebrate a golden era of tin top racing at Brands Hatch this past weekend (June 28/29) as its roster of championships took centre stage at Super Touring Power 3.

Running a third year in succession, the two-day event delivered unmissable nostalgia on both the Grand Prix and Indy layouts of the Kent circuit – with a special focus on machinery from the British Touring Car Championship’s popular ‘90s period.

Touring car heritage featured across the plethora of displays, demonstrations and guest appearances off-track however it was the action on circuit that had everyone captivated over the course of the weekend.

Three Super Tourer races were the undoubted headline acts of the meeting and on Saturday it was Michael Lyons that reigned supreme as he claimed bragging rights on the world-famous Grand Prix layout.

Driving a Honda Accord that had been shipped from New Zealand especially to contest the weekend’s races, Lyons got the better of four-time BTCC champion Colin Turkington – driving a Vauxhall Vectra – off the line however he didn’t have it for long.

Turkington would fight his way back into the lead soon after and then set about pulling clear of the chasing pack. Sadly though a mechanical issue would bring the Northern Irishman to a halt and gift Lyons the lead, which he duly converted into victory.

The Vectra would bounce back on Sunday around the Indy circuit however with Turkington switching to an MG ZR, former BTCC racer Jason Hughes got behind the wheel and charged to an impressive brace of race wins in the striking red and white machine.

Elsewhere another BTCC racer from recent years, Sam Tordoff, underlined his credentials as he guided his immaculately prepared Ford Mustang to four wins from four races in the Everard Pre-66 Touring Cars.

The Classic Thunder Saloons and Blue Oval Saloon Series staged a handful of races together, with the spoils being shared between Adrian Bradley and Alex Sidwell. Jonatan Corker meanwhile was flawless when it came to the Burty Pre-1983 Touring Cars.

One of the biggest grids of the weekend was found when the Group 1, Pre-93 and Pre-03 contingents amalgamated together. More than 40 cars battled for supremacy but in the end victory fell the way of Paul Mensley in his Ford Sierra RS500.

To view the full classification of results from all sessions at Brands Hatch, CLICK HERE.

The Everard Pre-66 Touring Car Championship, along with a fine roster for British Automobile Club supported Classic Touring Car Racing Club series’ will take over at Brands Hatch this weekend.

The Pre-66 grid is one of the most talked about tin-top classes wherever it goes – with its fantastic door-to-door racing, cult cars and brilliant drivers behind the wheel. One of the drivers to always get the crowd going is Grant Williams. If you haven’t seen this man behind the wheel. Where have you been! Google or YouTube Grant Williams, Jaguar and fall down the well full of drifts, burnouts, donuts and overtakes in big cat saloons!

But that’s what we see now. But where did the love affair with the Jaguar brand come from? We have to wind the clock back to when the Mk1 and Mk2 Jags were new in period – as Grant Williams himself explains.

“It started in about 1947 or 1948. Grandad wanted to start racing and did bits and pieces in the late forties and then in the fifties starting racing the Jaguar Mk1s. This is a story now… my grandfather, two uncles and my Dad would all go racing at Silverstone on one race licence! They would turn up and sign on under one race licence and all race the same car. You couldn’t do that now!

“They used the Mk1 and back in those days the cars had drum brakes so they would have buckets of water waiting, and every time they would come into the pits, they would throw on some water and go out again. It all started from that for us!”

From the sharing of a race licence – the Williams family cattery was to grow over time and this is where we find out about one of the most iconic cars in British motorsport.

“They would go on to have their own cars. The car known as ‘BUY 1’ came up for sale in 1962 and Grandad trotted up to the factory, bought it and started to race it. The original reg on the car was ‘287 JPK’, and that was a famous registration in its day as well. The factory only made seven of the MK1s and they came with aluminium doors, straight port head, lightened bonnet, lightened chassis, triple carburetors and disc brakes which were only on C and D Types, and that was perceived as mega at the time. The continuation from that car was ‘JAG 400’ which I am racing this season.

The iconic grey ‘BUY 1’ can now be seen at BARC events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed or Revival – but in recent times, the dark blue Mk2 Jaguar with ‘JAG 400’ can be seen fighting at the very front of Historic saloon car races.

“We have had it since 1975 – it had been rolled and the deal was that we could never sell it and it was to be a family car, and we started to race it a couple of years ago for the Goodwood Revival. We started rebuilding it years and years ago, but we stopped because of the rules for the Revival, and with the car being quite big wouldn’t have been competitive – but they changed the rules which meant we could keep building it which is great as we now have a home for the car there and at BARC events.

Any other projects on the go then Grant?

“We’re not done yet in the Williams family. My brother has started racing – and he is using a red MK1 and that was my father’s first car which we have recently resurrected.”

One of the things we discussed with Grant was the perception perhaps that historic racing was old cars for for old boys – something which he is seeing a big shift from – with the younger generation engaging with a bygone era.

“People come along and see these cars racing and we are respectful. Also having the current generation of drivers get behind the wheel perhaps helps with the profile. Our aim of the game is to have fun, enjoy ourselves and put on a show with a straight car at the end of the day. People can relate to cars immensely – they are motoring icons.

“With the BARC paddocks, it’s very open and people come and have a chat. I have been signing Hot Wheels and Scalextric Cars the last couple of years and it’s from the younger generation having seen stuff on YouTube or Instagram or what have you. I am an old dinosaur in that sense and I thank my wife for helping me with that. Social Media has really helped connect historic racing, by bringing the older and younger generations together. Everyone has a story with these cars and racing is about making memories, enjoying hearing the stories and everyone will remember these classic cars and family moments forever.

“My passion is racing. I love racing and will do it as long as I can. I would race a wheelbarrow – anything with wheels and a story to tell and I am there!”

That’s something we would pay to see in the future! In the meantime… Grant Williams and ‘JAG 400’ are set to join the Everard Pre-66 Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend as it supports the Super Touring Power 3 event.