Those were the days ...
TM
Superprix
The story of Birmingham’s Motor Race
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First published in November 2009 by Veloce Publishing Limited, 33 Trinity Street, Dorchester DT1 1TT, England. Fax 01305 268864/e-mail info@veloce.co.uk/web www.veloce.co.uk or www.velocebooks.com. ISBN: 978-1-845842-42-0 UPC: 6-36847-04242-4 © SS Colins, David Page and Veloce Publishing 2009. All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purpose of review, no part of this publication may be recorded, reproduced or transmitted by any means, including photocopying, without the written permission of Veloce Publishing Ltd. Throughout this book logos, model names and designations, etc, have been used for the purposes of identification, illustration and decoration. Such names are the property of the trademark holder as this is not an official publication. Readers with ideas for automotive books, or books on other transport or related hobby subjects, are invited to write to the editorial director of Veloce Publishing at the above address. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data – A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typesetting, design and page make-up all by Veloce Publishing Ltd on Apple Mac. Printed in India by Replika Press.
Contents Acknowledgements................................................................................................... 4 Introduction................................................................................................................. 4 A road race for Birmingham?................................................................................ 5 Paving the way towards a street race.............................................................. 13 1986 – The final preparations.............................................................................24 1986 – The Halfords Birmingham Superprix................................................... 29 1987 – The Halfords Birmingham Superprix street racing festival.......43 1988 – The Halfords Birmingham Superprix...................................................56 1989 – The Halfords Birmingham Superprix...................................................68 1990 – The Halfords Birmingham Superprix................................................... 75 The end of the road race....................................................................................... 81 Index.............................................................................................................................95
Acknowledgements Contributing drivers: Mario Hytten; Phil Andrews; Mark Bryan; David Hunt; Jari Nurminen; Emmanuele Naspetti; Allan McNish; Andy Wallace; Marco Apicella; Roger Orgee; Rod Birley; Gerry Taylor; Tony Trimmer. General information and websites: The Nostalgia forum at www.autosport.com; www.tentenths.com forums; www.tbk-lite.com forums; the old tbk.fameflame.dk forums; www.grandprixgames.com forums Other contributors: Stuart Knibbs – a big thank you to you for whetting my appetite about the Birmingham Superprix; Simon Lewis at www.simonlewis.com for his superb photographs; Ian Wagstaff for his pictures; Nick Bailey; David Lucas, Head of the Birmingham Road Race Department; The Birmingham Central Library (the Local Archives section); Many fans and marshals from the Nostalgia forum and Ten-Tenths forum; Stuart Dent – for his help and advice for contacting the right people; Kevin Wood from LAT Archives; Dominic Ostrowski from the BRSCC; Ben Laidlow, producer of the Inside Out programme by BBC West Midlands; Simon Edwards for various memorabilia; John Wisson for his marshal documents; Alastair Nash and Melanie Roberts for selling their collection of 1986-1990 Motoring News newspapers to me; The Communications Department of the Birmingham City Council; Simon Arron from Motoring News; Gregor Marshall for information about his father’s involvement at the 1980 Lucas ‘On The Streets’ event; Rick Ashton
from Ashton Plant Hire (Dudley) Ltd. for allowing me to look at the old Superprix Armco in its compound; Birmingham Post & Mail for its collection of old newspaper cuttings. And finally, a huge thank you to my girlfriend, Sandra Burton, for supporting and putting up with me throughout this project. I am so grateful for your patience, and for giving me the motivation to complete the book. David Page
Introduction
“T
he place is magic; better than Monaco” – not a description you would expect to hear of England’s much derided second city, but Stefano Modena meant it. He was stepping from the cockpit of his Formula 3000 racer at the time: “Birmingham is something else; it is fantastic for the people of the city as well as for the people taking part. The circuit is not dangerous, as can be the case with street tracks – the drivers say it is bumpy, but then it’s a street circuit so it would be bumpy, Birmingham is not an exception. I had no great problems with it, and in my opinion, Birmingham is a wonderful race.” That ‘wonderful race’ took place for five years, a half decade where the excitement and glamour of international motor racing came to the streets of the West Midlands. But those five years have now faded into obscurity. This is the story of how the races came about, and how they came to such a premature end. This is the story of the Superprix.
Top and bottom: The 1975 Duckhams parade on New Street. (Ian Bower)
ahead of the chasing pack. Wallace then had to divert his attention from chasing Modena to defending himself against Gugelmin and a rapid Martini. Wallace held off the onslaught from the Brazilian for a further seven laps, and Roberto Moreno gained a lot of ground up Peter Barwell Hill, into Halfords Corner. On the approach to Ferodo Corner, Wallace suddenly moved Eventual winner Stefano Modena heads a tightly bunched group. across and slid wide under heavy braking. His Madgwick Motorsport Lola careered over first lap); Barilla; Bailey; Euser; Hytten (after an amazing the gravel that covered a roundabout there, which it first lap); Leoni; Belmondo; Apicella; Foitek; Spence; cleared before ending up in an escape road. He quickly Nurminen; Moreno; Langes and FertÊ. booted the throttle and spun the car 180 degrees. When At the end of the sixth lap, Stefano Modena had he rejoined the track he was in 5th, behind works Ralts built a good gap between himself and Andy Wallace, of Moreno and Gugelmin, as well as Luis Pèrez Sala. setting the fastest lap time so far of 1m 29.63sec, with an average speed of 99.2mph. Modena was even quicker on his next lap, setting a time of 1m 24.99sec (104.62mph). The Italian was in dominant form, increasing his lead to 8.5 seconds City skyscrapers provide the backdrop as cars hurtle into Halfords Corner.
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A packed grandstand thrills to a duel at Halfords Corner. The Oreca Motorsport March of Olivier Grouillard shakes off an earlier clash of wheels with fellow Frenchman Pierre-Henri Raphanel’s Marlboro-sponsored Onyx March at the start of the 1987 F3000 race.
Superprix – The story of Birmingham’s Motor Race
Mark Blundell, in the Cadbury-sponsored Middlebridge Racing Reynard, on his way to a 5th place at the 1989 Birmingham Superprix, the lapped Franco Scapini behind him on Peter Barwell Hill.
Rush hour traffic clogs the roads along Peter Barwell Hill and Belgrave Middleway, under a bitterly cold winter sunrise. (David Page) of the Birmingham to Weston Veteran Car Rally. He was also there to welcome them at the end of their journey. A week later, an event organised by Martin Hone called the Coventry Shakespeare Run – a 65 mile run through the Warwickshire towns from Coventry to Stratford-upon-Avon – took place. Bristol Street, and the other roads used for the street circuit, had become eerily silent since the last controversial, and noisy, Birmingham Superprix
shuddered to a halt; the event condemned to a small, sometimes forgotten piece of Birmingham’s history. The Superprix remains a quiet memory for now, marred by politicians’ petty squabbles, with those in power incapable of seeing the unarguable benefits that a revived Superprix would bring. Imagine a horde of GP2 Dallara’s screaming down Belgrave Middleway, or the buzzing ranks of British F3, all no doubt supported by the hugely popular BTCC …
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