1990 British Touring Car Championship

The 1990 Esso RAC British Touring Car Championship season was the 33rd British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season and marked the last year of the Group A era. It was also the final year of the multi-class format.

Changes for 1990

Classes changed from four to two. Group A cars now ran alongside the all new 2 litre Touring Car Formula, with a view to a single class formula for 1991. This was to encourage new manufacturers to enter the series, with a more even field of cars and cheaper running costs. BMW and Vauxhall already entered works teams this year, with other manufacturers showing interest for future seasons.
One hour endurance races increased from one to two.

Season summary

The first race was won by Andy Rouse in his Ford Sierra RS500. He also won the first 1 Hour endurance race at Donington Park GP with David Sears. The next race at Thruxton was won by Robb Gravett. Gravett also won the next six races including the second 1 Hour endurance race at Brands Hatch with Mike Smith. Rouse won the Birmingham Superprix. This would be best remembered for the last lap accident between Frank Sytner and John Cleland. It would be the last time that the BTCC would race on the track. Gravett then won at Donington. The last two races, at Thruxton and Silverstone, were won by Rouse and Gravett. It was Gravett who won the championship, despite the team's struggle to run through the season on a low budget with no main sponsor.

Teams and drivers

Team	Car	No.	Drivers	Rounds	Endurance Drivers
Class A
ICS plc	Ford Sierra RS500	1	Andy Rouse	All	David Sears^D† Gary Ayles^B†
Labatt's Team	Ford Sierra RS500	3	Tim Harvey	All	Slim Borgudd^†
Labatt's Team	Ford Sierra RS500	10	Laurence Bristow	All	Tomas Mezera^D† Paul Radisich^B†
FAI Auto Parts	Ford Sierra RS500	4	Sean Walker	All	Ian Flux^†
Listerine Racing Team	Ford Sierra RS500	5	Mike Newman	1, 3–6, 10–11, 13
		5	Andy Middlehurst	9
		15	Graham Goode	All	Mike Newman^D† Dave Brodie^B†
Trakstar Motorsport	Ford Sierra RS500	11	Robb Gravett	All	Stig Blomqvist^D† Mike Smith^B†
		12	Mike Smith	1, 6, 13
		14	Graham Hathaway	2	Mike Smith^D†
Hathaway Racing	Ford Sierra RS500	14	Graham Hathaway	3–7, 9	Vince Woodman^B†
Brodie-Brittain Racing	Ford Sierra RS500	20	Dave Brodie	8, 11–12
Stuart Donnan Racing	Ford Sierra RS500	21	Stuart Donnan	10, 13
Judge Developments	Ford Sierra RS500	22	Dennis Leech	4–6, 9–12
Crypton Engineering	Ford Sierra RS500	24	Amato Ferrari	9–10
Class B
Vauxhall Motorsport	Vauxhall Cavalier	50	John Cleland	All	Chris Hodgetts^†
		70	Chris Hodgetts	5–8, 10	Bob Berridge^B†
			David Coulthard	9
			Bob Berridge	11
			Markus Oestreich	12–13
Hawaiian Tropic	Ford Sierra Sapphire	51	Ray Bellm	1–4, 6, 11	James Shead^D†
Hawaiian Tropic	Ford Sierra Sapphire	51	Chris Hodgetts	12–13	James Shead^D†
Ecosse Motorsport	BMW M3	52	Ian Forrest	All	Bernard Hunter^D† Tony Bridge^B†
		53	Hugh Chalmers	1–2, 4–5, 7, 10	Jimmy McRae^†
			Jimmy McRae	3, 6
			John Llewellyn	8
			Karl Jones	9
			Jim McGaughay	11, 13
			Chuck Nicholson	12
BMW Team Finance	BMW M3	55	Frank Sytner	All	Kurt Luby^†
		56	Kelvin Burt	1, 13	Kelvin Burt^†
			Kurt Luby	2–3, 6, 9–10, 12
			Tim Sugden	4–5, 7–8, 11
Techspeed Motorsport	BMW 318is	57	Nick Baird	1–6, 8, 10–13	David Carvell^D† Nigel Corry^B†
Techspeed Motorsport	BMW 318is	57	Robin Brundle	7	David Carvell^D† Nigel Corry^B†
HWR Motorsport	Vauxhall Belmont	58	Jeff Wilson	11–13
BRR Motorsport	BMW M3	59	Ian Flux	12–13
John Maguire Racing	Mitsubishi Starion	60	Mark Hales	All	Graham Scarborough^†
Pyramid Motorsport	BMW M3	66	Nick Whale	1–3, 5–13	Gerrit van Kouwen^†
		77	Godfrey Hall	1–12	David Leslie^†
		88	John Clark	1, 3–11, 13	David Leslie^B†
		88	David Leslie	12	David Leslie^B†
Arquati Racing Team	BMW M3	69	Jerry Mahony	1–6, 8	Robbie Stirling^D†
BMW Team Sweden	BMW M3	90	Nettan Lindgren	1–2, 5–7, 9–13	Peggen Andersson^†
Vic Lee Motorsport	BMW M3	99	Jeff Allam	3–13	Vic Lee^B†
PG Tags Racing	Honda Civic	100	Ray Armes	1–7, 9–13	Jeremy Rossiter^†

^†Not eligible for points.
^DDonington Park only.
^BBrands Hatch only.

Calendar

All races were held in the United Kingdom. Overall winners in bold.

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Class A Winner	Class B Winner
1	Oulton Park (International), Cheshire	13 April	Robb Gravett	Tim Harvey	Andy Rouse	Kelvin Burt
2*	Donington Park (Grand Prix), Leicestershire	29 April	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	Andy Rouse David Sears	Frank Sytner Kurt Luby
3	Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire	28 May	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	John Cleland
4	Silverstone Circuit (National), Northamptonshire	10 June	Andy Rouse	Tim Harvey	Robb Gravett	Frank Sytner
5	Oulton Park (International), Cheshire	1 July	Mike Newman	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	Frank Sytner
6	Silverstone Circuit (Grand Prix), Northamptonshire	15 July	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	Kurt Luby
7*	Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent	22 July	Robb Gravett	Andy Rouse	Robb Gravett Mike Smith	Frank Sytner Kurt Luby
8	Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, Norfolk	5 August	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	John Cleland
9	Brands Hatch (Grand Prix), Kent	19 August	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	John Cleland
10	Birmingham Superprix, Birmingham	27 August	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	Andy Rouse	Kurt Luby
11	Donington Park (Grand Prix), Leicestershire	16 September	Andy Rouse	Andy Rouse	Robb Gravett	Frank Sytner
12	Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire	23 September	Robb Gravett	Robb Gravett	Andy Rouse	Nettan Lindgren
13	Silverstone Circuit (National), Northamptonshire	7 October	Tim Harvey	Andy Rouse	Robb Gravett	John Cleland

* 1 hour endurance races.

Driver Standings/Results

Overall DC	Class Pos	Driver	Class	OUL	DON	THR	SIL	OUL	SIL	BRH	SNE	BRH	BIR	DON	THR	SIL	Pts
1	1	Robb Gravett	A	12	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	Ret	1	3	1	207
2	1	Frank Sytner	B	6	6	9	6	8	Ret	4	7	8	Ret	7	10	8	180
3	2	Andy Rouse	A	1	1	10	3	2	2	Ret	16	2	1	2	1	2	173
4	3	Tim Harvey	A	4	Ret	2	Ret	3	3	2	2	3	4	3	2	15	132
5	2	John Cleland	B	7	Ret	7	7	Ret	9	Ret	6	7	Ret	12	Ret	7	128
6	3	Jeff Allam	B			8	8	11	10	8	10	9	7	9	11	9	124
7	4	Sean Walker	A	Ret	4	5	2	4	Ret	3	4	4	2	6	Ret	Ret	96
8	4	Godfrey Hall	B	DNS	7	12	10	12	11	6	15	12	9	11	12		92
9	5	Laurence Bristow	A	3	3	4	4	5	4	Ret	3	5	DNS	Ret	Ret	6	88
10	5	Nettan Lindgren	B	8	9			Ret	13	7		11	10	10	5	Ret	82
11	6	Graham Goode	A	Ret	5	6	Ret	7	5	Ret	5	6	DNS	4	4	3	72
12	6	Tim Sugden	B				9	9		5	8			8			67
13	7	Kurt Luby	B		Ret	11			8			10	6		16		60
14	7	Mike Newman	A	2		Ret	11	17	Ret				3	5		4	53
15	8	Ian Forrest	B	9	Ret	14	13	18	Ret	10	Ret	14	14	Ret	8	10	47
16	9	Chris Hodgetts	B					15	12	Ret	11		8		7	13	46
17	10	Nick Whale	B	DSQ	8	13		14	14	13	Ret	16	11	13	Ret	14	43
18	11	Mark Hales	B	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	16	17	9	9	15	12	15	17	Ret	28
19	12	Kelvin Burt	B	5												12	26
=	8	Graham Hathaway	A		Ret	3	5	6	DNP	Ret		DNS					26
21	13	Hugh Chalmers	B	Ret	10		14	13		11			15				23
22	14	Nick Baird	B	11	NC	15	15	Ret	15		14		DNS	16	18	17	16
=	15	Jerry Mahony	B	Ret	11	Ret	12	Ret	18		12		DNA				16
24	16	Markus Oestreich	B												6	Ret	15
25	9	Mike Smith	A	Ret					6							5	14
26	10	Dennis Leech	A				DNP	10	7			19	DNS	Ret	DNS		11
27	17	John Clark	B	DNS		NC	Ret	Ret	Ret	NC	Ret	17	13	14		16	10
28	12	Amato Ferrari	A									Ret	5				8
=	11	Dave Brodie	A								DNS			Ret	9		8
30	18	Ian Flux	B												Ret	11	8
31	19	Ray Armes	B	Ret	12	16	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret		18	16	17	14	Ret	7
32	20	Ray Bellm	B	10	Ret	DNS	DNS		DNP				DNA	DNS			6
33	21	David Coulthard	B									13					4
34	22	John Llewellyn	B								13						3
=	23	Chuck Nicholson	B												13		3
36	24	Robin Brundle	B							12							2
=	25	Jimmy McRae	B			Ret			16								2
38	26	David Leslie	B												15		1
		Jeff Wilson	B											DNS	Ret	Ret	0
		Stuart Donnan	A										Ret			Ret	0
		Jim McGaughay	B											Ret		Ret	0
		Andy Middlehurst	A									Ret					0
		Bob Berridge	B											Ret			0
		Karl Jones	B									DNP					0
Overall DC	Class Pos	Driver	Class	OUL	DON	THR	SIL	OUL	SIL	BRH	SNE	BRH	BIR	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)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Excluded (EX)

Note: bold signifies pole position in class, italics signifies fastest lap in class.

Endurance drivers results

Driver	Class	DON	BHI
Kurt Luby	B	6	4
Mike Smith	A	Ret	1
David Sears	A	1
David Leslie	B	7	6/NC
Slim Borgudd	A	Ret	2
Kelvin Burt	B	Ret	5
Stig Blomqvist	A	2
Ian Flux	A	4	3
Gerritt van Kouwen	B	8	13
Tomas Mezera	A	3
Peggen Andersson	B	9	7
Mike Newman	A	5
Vic Lee	B		8
Graham Scarborough	B	Ret	9
Jimmy McRae	B	10	11
Tony Bridge	B		10
Robbie Stirling	B	11
Jeremy Rossiter	B	12	Ret
Nigel Corry	B		12
David Carvell	B	NC
Chris Hodgetts	B	Ret	Ret
James Shead	B	Ret
Bernard Hunter	B	Ret
Dave Brodie	A		Ret
Gary Ayles	A		Ret
Vince Woodman	A		Ret
Paul Radisich	A		Ret
Bob Berridge	B		Ret
Driver	Class	DON	BHI

Note: All endurance drivers were ineligible to score points.

References

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