The Super Touring era is regarded by many as the finest period in touring car history.
The British Touring Car Championship was arguably the toughest to win during the era, which attracted multiple manufacturer-backed teams spending millions of pounds, as well as plenty of international drivers.
Although the two-litre era kicked off in 1990, we’re looking at the period when these increasingly sophisticated cars battled for outright BTCC victories: 1991-2000.
For this list, we’ve considered the success each driver scored in the championship, their impact, longevity and how they stacked up against rivals and team-mates. Only wins and titles during the period are included.
10. Steve Soper
Years: 1991-94
Wins: 7
Titles: 0
Few could match Soper in a rear-wheel-drive tin-top and some regard him as the finest touring car driver of all time. But this is a very specific list and there were others who shone more during the BTCC’s Super Touring era.
As had become the norm by that stage of his career, Soper dipped in and out of the championship in 1991. He proved his class by taking his Prodrive-run BMW M3 to three wins in his nine outings, enough to give him fourth in the 14-race championship.
A combination of another part-campaign, some drama, and pace from Vic Lee Motorsport team-mate Tim Harvey meant Soper went winless in 1992. His odd year ended with the controversial clash with John Cleland that didn’t show him in the best light, but which did undoubtedly help boost the BTCC’s profile.
Armed with a BMW 318i run by series newcomer and crack touring car squad Schnitzer Motorsport, Soper started the following season as one of the favourites. But he was thwarted by on-form team-mate Joachim Winkelhock despite the German being new to the BTCC. Three wins gave Soper the runner-up spot.
Soper was arguably stronger than Winkelhock when the BMW was outclassed early in 1994, but this was another part-programme and he scored just a single victory, at Knockhill.
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That was it as far as Soper and Super Touring in the UK was concerned. Thereafter he largely plied his trade abroad once again, first in touring cars and then in endurance competition.
9. Tim Harvey
Years: 1991-98
Wins: 11
Titles: 1 (1992)
Harvey was already a BTCC frontrunner and class champion when the two-litre era began. He initially found the step down from 550bhp Ford Cosworth RS500 to BMW M3 with more like 300bhp a tricky one, but soon got into the swing of things and took his first success of the period at the 1991 finale.
He stayed with VLM for 1992 and the team got its hands on the brand-new E36-model 318is. After sorting early teething troubles, the team went on a roll in the second half of the season, Harvey winning six times in the eight races prior to the season finale, including beating team-mate Soper at Pembrey in a performance Harvey regards as one of his best.
The season culminated in the Silverstone showdown that has become part of BTCC folklore, as Harvey, reigning champion Will Hoy and Cleland all had a chance of the crown. Famously, Soper charged into contention after an early clash, helped Harvey get the better of Cleland, then crashed out with the Vauxhall. Ahead of the carnage, Harvey took fourth to secure the crown.
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He joined Renault for 1993 and, though a win at Donington Park in the awful Renault 19 underlined Harvey’s wet-weather prowess, team-mate Alain Menu had the edge. It was a similar story with the new Laguna in 1994 as Menu finished second in the standings to Harvey’s ninth, though there was another victory at Silverstone.
A deal with the Tom Walkinshaw Racing Volvo squad placed Harvey alongside the rapid Rickard Rydell for 1995. The Briton scored a sensational Brands Hatch double – again in the wet – to briefly move to the top of the points table, but Rydell’s one-lap pace generally proved too much and Harvey ended up fifth, two places further back.
A three-year stint at Peugeot followed, driving the pretty but recalcitrant 406 that never became a winner. Harvey got close, switching to wet tyres in the second Thruxton race of 1997 and storming to within 0.7 seconds of victory.
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Harvey beat team-mate Patrick Watts in 1996-97, though was defeated by Paul Radisich in their one season together in 1998. But persistent problems, not least with the engines, meant that Harvey was only occasionally able to show flashes of his ability before Peugeot’s withdrawal marked the end of his time in the BTCC’s Super Touring period.
8. James Thompson
Years: 1994-2000
Wins: 12
Titles: 0
Thompson proved that you didn’t have to be a former single-seater ace to be a star in the Super Touring era. He wasn’t quite yet 20 when he made his BTCC debut in a privateer Peugeot, but the inexperienced Thompson soon caught Vauxhall’s attention and he was signed for 1995.
While team-mate Cleland headed for the title, Thompson made his mark with two poles and a victory before his season was cut short by a crash at Knockhill. Cleland beat Thompson again in 1996, but it was the younger driver who gave the Vectra its only win of the season, at Snetterton.
Thompson then joined the Prodrive-run Honda attack, alongside 1994 champion Gabriele Tarquini. Both had their moments in the Accord but it was Thompson’s reputation that was enhanced as he pipped Tarquini in the 1997 table.
Thompson led Honda’s charge in 1998, with Peter Kox as team-mate. The Accord proved to be not quite good enough, but it was probably Thompson’s most convincing campaign yet as he took three wins and third in the championship.
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It was a similar story in 1999, with the now West Surrey Racing-run Hondas outpaced by the dominant RML Nissans. Thompson once again starred and, along with Rydell, was the driver most likely to trouble the benchmark Primeras. Four wins took him to fourth in the points.
Another big crash forced him to miss four races in 2000, but Thompson still managed a victory at Silverstone, meaning he scored at least one BTCC Super Touring success every year he was with a factory squad. No other non-champion was such a consistent presence at the front in the late-1990s.
7. Gabriele Tarquini
Years: 1994-95, 1997, 1999-2000
Wins: 12
Titles: 1 (1994)
Despite being blessed with an obvious car advantage with the controversial and bewinged Alfa Romeo 155 on his BTCC arrival in 1994, the ex-Formula 1 driver quickly became a fan favourite.
Tarquini reeled off five consecutive wins at the start of the 21-race season and managed to add three more despite a trio of non-starts and the Alfa Corse team withdrawing from the first Oulton Park meeting during the rules controversy.
After losing some points due to the arguments, Tarquini got them back again but had to run slightly less-extreme aero. It didn’t stop him taking the title by a whopping 76 points, a margin only beaten by Frank Biela (1996) and Menu (1997) during the era.
Thereafter, the Italian’s time in the BTCC was less convincing. The 155 was nowhere in 1995 and, when Tarquini returned to the series after a year away, he was narrowly beaten by Honda team-mate Thompson in 1997, though both scored a single victory.
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Tarquini won three times in his final BTCC season, pipping team-mate Tom Kristensen to sixth in the standings, before heading off to greater success on the European and World stages. It’s very much his 1994 arrival and impact on the championship that gets the popular Tarquini onto this list.
6. Jo Winkelhock
Years: 1993-94, 1996
Wins: 13
Titles: 1 (1993)
One of the great tin-top entertainers, ‘Smokin Jo’ sometimes got himself into scrapes but he could also be incredibly fast when all was right in his world.
A race winner in the DTM after the end of a promising single-seater career, Winkelhock burst into the BTCC with Schnitzer in 1993. His BMW team-mate Soper concedes he was “beaten fair and square” across the season.
The works rear-wheel-drive 318is were the cars to have, particularly early on in the season, and Winkelhock defeated Soper 5-3 on wins to head a BMW 1-2 in the standings.
Like everyone else, Winkelhock had to give best to the Alfa Romeo onslaught in 1994, but the upgraded BMW was a contender in the second half of the year. The German reeled off four wins, more than any other non-Alfa driver, but a bit too much drama limited him to sixth in the championship.
After a year in Germany (winning the competitive Super Tourenwagen Cup), Winkelhock returned to the BTCC in 1996. In a typically exciting final campaign, Winkelhock won four races to team-mate Roberto Ravaglia’s one, but only beat the Italian by a single point in the standings!
5. Frank Biela
Years: 1996-97
Wins: 13
Titles: 1 (1996)
Placing Biela in this list is tough because he was playing a slightly different game to most of his competitors. With the four-wheel-drive Audi A4, Biela had a distinct advantage during his first year in the BTCC in 1996.
As with all top drivers, though, he used that edge well. The German won five of the opening eight races and comfortably kept clear of his opposition in the points even after the A4 was hit with extra weight.
Things were tougher in 1997 as Renault set the pace and the A4 had to carry even more ballast. Biela kept plugging away and became a serious threat again once some of the weight came off, beating Renault’s rookie Jason Plato to runner-up in the standings by one point.
Biela had also added five wins to his 1996 tally of eight. He might not have been tested in FWD machinery in the BTCC but it’s hard to argue with his record of 31 podiums from 50 starts and the fact he finished first and second in the championship across his brace of seasons.
4. Laurent Aiello
Year: 1999
Wins: 10
Titles: 1 (1999)
Given his successes elsewhere, Aiello could stake a claim to being the driver of the Super Touring era, but he only completed one campaign in the BTCC. That prevents him climbing higher on this list, but what a season it was.
Having starred in the German Super Tourenwagen Cup with Peugeot, the Frenchman stepped into the RML Nissan seat vacated by Anthony Reid for 1999. Despite a lack of experience of the tracks or series, Aiello made the most of the pacesetting Primera.
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A former single-seater ace, Aiello outpaced team-mate Leslie 10 poles to four and won 10 times despite team orders not always being in his favour. Though the series had arguably passed its peak, there was still factory opposition from Volvo, Ford, Honda, Renault and Vauxhall.
A classy and normally clean operator, Aiello moved on to a successful period in the DTM with comfortably the best strike rate of the BTCC’s Super Touring big hitters.
3. John Cleland
Years: 1991-99
Wins: 17 (excludes 1991 Silverstone)
Titles: 1 (1995)
One of the true characters and fighters of the BTCC, Cleland proved his worth by staying competitive as the influx of manufacturers and international drivers upped the ante.
Cleland had won the 1989 BTCC title during its class-based era and was a leading running in the fledgling two-litre category in 1990 with the Dave Cook Racing-run works Vauxhall Cavalier.
His first outright BTCC win came at Thruxton in 1991 and, along with Toyota’s Andy Rouse, he battled the rear-wheel-drive BMWs, finishing as runner-up to Hoy, another candidate for this list.
Cleland looked the likely champion early in 1992, taking three wins and two seconds in the first six races. But the improving pace of Harvey’s BMW and an enormous testing crash hampered him. He was still battling for the crown when the infamous clash with Soper at the Silverstone finale dropped him to third behind Harvey and Hoy.
The gritty Scot remained a frontrunner over the next couple of years, but his Cavalier was outgunned by the invading forces from BMW, Alfa Romeo and Renault. That was until RML developed the bewinged version for 1995…
Cleland knew he had a winner on his hands from the first test and four straight victories in the middle of the season – and six in total – helped him comfortably beat Menu to the title. Remarkably, he finished on the podium 18 times from 25 races.
The Vectra replaced the Cavalier in 1996 and Cleland was never again a title contender. He was winless that year and in 1997, but scored two victories at Donington for Triple Eight in 1998, including the famous ‘Nigel Mansell’ race. Cleland bowed out of the BTCC at the end of 1999 having scored more Super Touring wins than all but Rydell and Menu – and still sometimes races one of his old Vectras.
2. Rickard Rydell
Years: 1994-2000
Wins: 21
Titles: 1 (1998)
The likeable Swede’s memorable arrival with the legendary Volvo 850 estate in 1994 was merely the prelude to a fine career in the BTCC.
A remarkable 13 poles in 1995 driving the 850 saloon was only converted to four victories as Rydell – perhaps not as ruthless as some – often struggled in races, though some of that could be attributed to the Dunlop tyres used by TWR against the Michelins of its rivals.
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The team switched rubber for 1996 only for all the front-wheel-drive runners to be thumped by Biela and the 4WD Audi (on Dunlops!). The smooth Rydell was third in the points for the second consecutive season and was pipped to best-of-the-rest status by Menu.
The new S40 was no match for Menu’s Renault Laguna in 1997 but showed promise as Rydell took a victory late in the season on his way to fourth overall.
It finally all came together in 1998. Rydell nailed three wins and four second places in the early part of the season as the RML Nissan squad ironed out early bugs. He then held firm to take the crown in the face of a charge by Reid.
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Rydell had his own late surge to finish third in 1999, behind the dominant Nissans of Aiello and David Leslie, before Volvo withdrew from the BTCC.
Rydell was part of the Ford superteam of 2000 and won three races but lost out in the final table to colleagues Menu (six wins) and Reid (two). He left the BTCC as the Super Touring era came to an end, having finished in the championship top-three five times in seven seasons.
1. Alain Menu
Years: 1992-2000
Wins: 36
Titles: 2 (1997, 2000)
Menu has to be number one. No driver scored more BTCC wins during the Super Touring era than him and nobody but Menu managed to take more than one crown – and with different manufacturers.
The Swiss first appeared in 1992 at the wheel of a Prodrive BMW after his single-seater career ran out of steam, but only completed half the season thanks to a quadbike accident.
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Renault picked him up, placing Menu alongside reigning champion Harvey for 1993. Both won wet races in the poor Renault 19 and Menu beat Harvey in the standings, but it was with the Laguna that Menu really made his name.
His sheer speed always made him a threat even when other cars (Alfa Romeo, Vauxhall and Audi) were dominating, and he finished as series runner-up three times from 1994 to 1996.
By 1997 the now Williams-built Lagunas had been refined and Menu destroyed a quality field. He won 12 of the 24 races in a performance that even his then team-mate Plato describes as “epic”.
Renault was overtaken in 1998 and Menu joined the Prodrive Ford quad the following year. After a tricky first campaign, the Mondeo was the car to have in 2000 – the final year of Super Touring in the BTCC – and Menu beat team-mates Rydell and Reid before heading to the DTM and then the world stage.
