It’s wintertime, and the recent festive period has left Motorsport News in reflective mood. We put our thinking caps on to come up with a list of our most missed motor racing championship from UK tracks.
From single-seaters, sportscars and saloons, there have been a raft of initiatives that have thrilled us trackside and shaped generations but have sadly fallen by the wayside for a number of different reasons.
We are after your help to establish which category is the most missed and we have drawn up a shortlist. Let us know your favourites by voting here.
Motorsport News editor Matt James said: “So many great circuit racing championships have come and gone in the years gone by, so narrowing it down to just 10 was a real headache. However, we have selected a broad range and there are some real belters in our list.
“We’d love to know your opinions and it’s simple: just click on your favourite below and we will unearth our most missed championship.”
Check out our most missed motor racing championship shortlist and cast your vote below!
1 – TVR Tuscans
Blackpool truly rocked in the 1990s. The TVR Tuscan Challenge featured awesome lightweight rear-wheel-drive sportscars, a plethora of national racing’s biggest names and a sweet V8 soundtrack. The action was fearsome.
2 – Formula 5000
The American single-seater import was loud, brash and spectacular when it landed in the UK in 1969. The five-litre Chevvy monster single-seaters lit up the UK tracks in some pretty decent hands before it morphed into Group 8 in 1976.
3 – Thundersports
Britain’s version of Interserie racing with an eclectic mix of sportscars, ranging from the big banger V8 CanAm machines through to the press-on clubmen in its second tier two-litre division. In the 1980s, the rumbling racers provided some real fireworks.
4 – Super Saloons (Thundersaloons)
Into the 1970s, Special Saloons evolved into Super Saloons as Gerry Marshall took on the world in ‘Baby Bertha’. The spaceframe specials got more and more clever and eventually it self-destructed before Thundersaloons had a golden period.
5 – Production Saloons
The heady days in the 1980s sustained two front-line Production Saloon classes, one from the British Racing and Sports Car Club and one from the British Automobile Racing Club. After a revival as the National Saloon Car Championship on the PowerTour package at the turn of the century, the series was absorbed into the BTCC before disappearing.
6 – Ford Escort Mexicos
The first of the manufacturer-backed one-make race series followed Ford’s victory on the 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally. Identical Kent-engined Mk1 Escorts with a host of hot-shot drivers delivered frantic action.
7 Formula Vauxhall Junior
The baby brother of Formula Vauxhall Lotus arrived in 1991 and the 1600cc slick-shod single-seaters were an immediate hit. Dario Franchitti was one of the early pacesetters and dozens of future champions came through the category before it was shelved in 2000.
8 – Formula Renault
Imported from France in 1989, the multi-chassis early days of Formula Renault provided huge support from the French firm, a marketplace for teams and constructors and a competitive playing field. The category went one-make in the late 1990s before disappearing from the UK in 2011.
9 – Eurocar
Sonny Howard’s vision in 1994 brought about the spec Ford Mondeo-based V6 spaceframed racer, with the aim of attracting short oval drivers to the long circuits alongside the established racers, and it worked. A V8 version later in the 1990s was a stepping-stone but wasn’t as popular.
10 – Renault Clio Cup
Morphing from the Renault 5TS championship, the Renault Clio Cup really took off as part of the British Touring Car Championship support bill in 1993. The series went through several iterations of the French hatchback and always provided wheel-to-wheel action and some worthy champions.
Motorsport News will run the result in print on January 27.
This content was originally published here.
