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BTCC 1999 - Round 13/14 Rounds 13/14
Rounds 15/16 - Snetterton 18 July 1999
Rounds 17/18 BTCC 1999 - Round 17/18
The BTCC weekend at Snetterton started of well. The sunny atmosphere and carnival atmosphere drew large crowds to the South East for the first ever BTCC night race. Nissan dominated qualifying once more, even though James Thompson posted fastest laps in one of the pre-race testing sessions. The one-shot showdown qualifying had a few surprises though.

Both Ford drivers had a terrible time. Anthony Reid ploughed off the circuit on the exit of the Esses complex. This was during his fast lap and resulted in a start from the back of the grid for the sprint race. Jean-Christophe Boullion, in the Renault Laguna, was right behind the Mondeo when this incident occurred and was slowed by gravel on the track - he was given another chance to qualify however and managed a very respectable fifth place on the grid. This compared with a woeful 11th place for the feature race.

There go those titanium shields!
Photograph by Jakob Ebrey

Peter Kox had a nightmare to begin with, not getting to the end of the pit-lane in time to qualify for the sprint. He more than made up for this by posting 5th fastest for the feature race. Aiello appeared to be the favourite for both races as he sat on pole and looked very fast in testing. It was not to be the championship leader's day though.

A lap of Snetterton by night
Drawing provided by PA Graphics
David Leslie came away with a win and a second place and Peter Kox (Honda) scored a surprise feature race win (his first ever BTCC win). The night-race format proved to be a fantastic success. The two races at Snetterton in the dark were the most exciting so far this season. That says something when every race is on-the-edge, door-handle to door-handle racing!

Jason Plato was the star of round 15, the sprint race. He made a storming start from 8th place on the grid and was soon past his team-mate Boullion. He fought hard with Yvan Muller, but they collided at the end of the 145mph Revett Straight. Muller's Vauxhall spun. He was then hit by another car and forced to retire. He was unhurt, but the spare car was required for the feature race. Plato finished in 4th place, just ahead of the other Renault Laguna.

Spectators were treated to sights never seen before on the BTCC series Photograph provided by Volvo
Previous to this Muller was in the thick of the action. He battled hard with the Renault Lagunas of Plato and Boullion, using Plato's rear bumper instead of his brakes! He eventually passed Plato, but was overtaken again in a daring move in the Bomb Hole. A few laps later, Boullion, Thompson and Muller tried to squeeze through the Esses side by side...... This is not possible. Boullion came out the better, but the safety car was called out to clear up the mess. Two laps later Leslie crossed the finish line ahead of the Volvo S40s of Rydell and Radermecker. There was less than two seconds spanning the top three finishers.
Laurent Aiello retired on lap two of the sprint and finished a poor seventh in the feature due to a loose bonnet needing seeing to. James Thompson was forced to start at the back of the grid after a drive-shaft problem was discovered just before the sprint race pit-lane opened. He lost a wheel in the feature race! Somehow, he still managed to scrape together some points as he finished 9th and 15th. His team mate drove steadily and deserved his win. I bet he was surprised to find the Honda Accord of Peter Kox ahead of him in the feature race. Kox actually finished nearly 4 seconds ahead of the Nissan Primera. This demonstrates that Honda have got the speed required to challenge the Nissans, but not yet the reliability and consistency. There are a lot of races to go! Let's hope there will be more night-racing in the future. John Cleland had a bad weekend (two 12th places) but still had this to say about BTCC at night:

"The whole atmosphere of racing is different at night and I think this first attempt by the BTCC worked: it would be great if all the races could be like this next year. It was a fantastic spectacle for everyone who came to watch. Obviously, I would have liked better results in the races, but I think from a spectator's point of view it was great entertainment. I hope we do it again."

So do I John. So do I.

S.O'
Jean-Christophe Boullion managed a respectable 4th place Picture by Williams
Muller made it to the podium again, Cleland was not so lucky Picture by Jakob Ebrey
Both Volvo drivers went well in the dark Picture by Volvo
Racing was extremely close, providing an excellent spectacle as usual Picture by Williams
Round 15 - 19 laps
  • 1 - David Leslie (Nissan Primera GT) - 23:44.201
  • 2 - Rickard Rydell (Volvo S40) - 23:45.785
  • 3 - Vincent Radermecker (Volvo S40) - 23:46.169
  • 4 - Jason Plato (Renault Laguna) - 23:46.430
  • 5 - J-C Boullion (Renault Laguna) - 23:46.950
  • 6 - Peter Kox (Honda Accord) - 23:47.662
  • 7 - Matt Neal (Nissan Primera GT) - 23:49.283
  • 8 - Alain Menu (Ford Mondeo) - 23:49.672
  • 9 - James Thompson (Honda Accord) - 23:49.857
  • 10 - Will Hoy (Renault Laguna) - 23:52.425
  • 11 - Lee Brookes (Honda Accord) - 23:52.743
  • 12 - John Cleland (Vauxhall Vectra) - 23:52.862
  • 13 - Mark Blair (Vauxhall Vectra) - 23:59.329
Fastest Lap - David Leslie (Nissan Primera GT) - 1:09.011

Drivers' Points
  1. Laurent Aiello: 147
  2. David Leslie: 135
  3. James Thompson: 120
  4. Jason Plato: 95
  5. Rickard Rydell: 92
  6. Matt Neal: 82
    Yvan Muller: 82
  7. Peter Kox: 76
  8. Vincent Radermecker: 67
  9. Jean Christophe Boullion: 63
  10. Alain Menu: 45
  11. Anthony Reid: 40
  12. John Cleland: 34
  13. Lee Brookes: 5
    Mark Blair: 5
  14. Russell Spence: 3
    Paula Cook: 3
  15. Will Hoy: 1
Round 16 - 34 laps
  • 1 - Peter Kox (Honda Accord) - 40:45.358
  • 2 - David Leslie (Nissan Primera GT) - 40:49.187
  • 3 - Yvan Muller (Vauxhall Vectra) - 40:52.504
  • 4 - J-C Boullion (Renault Laguna) - 41:06.537
  • 5 - Vincent Radermecker (Volvo S40) - 41:06.915
  • 6 - Jason Plato (Renault Laguna) - 41:08.560
  • 7 - Laurent Aiello (Nissan Primera GT) - 41:08.728
  • 8 - Rickard Rydell (Volvo S40) - 41:11.839
  • 9 - Alain Menu (Ford Mondeo) - 41:13.688
  • 10 - Matt Neal (Nissan Primera GT) - 41:15.392
  • 11 - Anthony Reid (Ford Mondeo) - 41:15.957
  • 12 - John Cleland (Vauxhall Vectra) - 41:24.346
  • 13 - Will Hoy (Renault Laguna) - 41:32.005
  • 14 - Paula Cook (Honda Accord) - 41:51.436
  • 15 - James Thompson (Honda Accord) - 40:46.578
  • 16 - Lee Brookes (Honda Accord) - 40:50.102
Fastest Lap - Laurent Aiello (Nissan Primera GT) - 1:09.560

Manufacturers' Points
  1. Nissan: 312
  2. Honda: 198
  3. Renault: 162
  4. Volvo: 155
  5. Vauxhall: 129
  6. Ford: 88


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