MG Sport & Racing 2002

 

At the end of February, a press conference at the Longbridge plant revealed MG’s motorsport plans for the coming year. Here’s a summary of the main news…

Gwyndaf Evans’ first outing in the MG ZR rally car this year was a crushing disappointment, when the car was badly damaged and put firmly out of action for the remainder of the Monte Carlo round. But Evans and co-driver Chris Patterson are confident that the ZR, with its 1.6-litre K series engine, has plenty of potential for the rest of the Junior World Rally Championship.

By the time you read this, the car will have reappeared at the Rallye Catalunya. With an interesting choice of words, Evans cheerfully announced, “Roll on Spain! Er, well not literally you understand.”

After a trial run in the final three events of last year’s British Touring Car Championship, Anthony Reid and Warren Hughes have been confirmed as this year’s Works drivers in the new MG ZS Touring Cars – and will be contesting the full 2002 season. Hope is high for outright wins this year following the last round of the 2001 season at Brands Hatch, when Hughes took pole position and Reid came through to win the race.

Reid described how he stayed out on slicks at Brands despite the rain, putting him a lap ahead of the competition: “I wasn’t sure whether I could hold the lead and win,” he said. “Maths was never my strong point at school but it was running through my head that I had a 40 second lead and there were eight laps to go. On slick tyres in the rain I was losing five seconds a lap so… well, I won by 0.2 of a second.”

Meanwhile Hughes explained that when he started as a student at the Jim Russell Racing School in the late 1980s, Anthony Reid was his instructor. “I’m still learning from him,” said Hughes modestly.

MG will continue to sponsor world record stunt driver Terry Grant, although the connection between his motorcycle-engined Legend car and MG is not entirely clear. Never mind; the grey and green livery looks good and it all adds to the sparkle of publicity. So does Grant’s new driving partner, Trudy Thompson, who claims she is not a typical woman driver. “But can you park?” asked someone. “I usually slide into my parking space using the handbrake,” answered Trudy. “You see, I know how big six inches is.” Touche.

Apparently we can all be MG racing drivers, now that the video game TOCA Race Driver (for Playstation 2 and PC) features two MG cars.

Key sponsor of MG’s motorsport programme this year is toy company Mattel, so its Hot Wheels branding will be emblazoned across the Le Mans, BTCC and rally cars. No doubt there will be plenty of grey and green toy cars out very soon.

Interestingly, Mattel also owns the Barbie doll brand – although I can’t quite picture the MG Lola in pink. But perhaps we’ll soon be able to buy Racing Barbies?

Hot Wheels sponsors MG entries for Le Mans, BTCC and Rally Cars

The big media story of the day was the launch of Team Atomic Kitten, which is using last year’s MG Touring Cars to run an independent team in the 2002 BTCC.

Atomic Kitten? Is that some sort of fuel injection system? I’m clearly out of touch with the modern world. The rest of my colleagues at MGOC HQ were fully up-to-date with Atomic Kitten as they’re either young enough to know that sort of thing, or else they have children who are young enough to know that sort of thing. At 36 and childless I was left feeling bemused. As a piece of market research I asked my 80-year-old father what he knows about Atomic Kitten. “Jenny’s the prettiest,” he answered and broke into a shaky rendition of their last number one. “You ought to get out more,” he added.

Why is this chart-topping girl-band backing a motor racing team? “Well there are loads of men in racing,” said Kitten Jenny at the Longbridge launch, “and we’ve got loads of money.” Which gives the chance-of-a-lifetime to up and coming drivers Gareth Howell and Colin Turkington. The Atomic Kitten connection is going to thrust them – and their yellow and black MG ZSs – straight into the limelight. They won’t be competing in the first two rounds of the Championship but will make their debut at Oulton Park on 21st April.

The most famous motor race in the world takes place on 15th-16th June and there are three questions on everyone’s lips. Will MG finish? Can MG win its class? And does MG have any chance of winning overall?

The first two are definitely on the cards – after last year’s performance with a new and relatively untested car there is a very realistic hope of a class win in 2002. For an overall win, the little MG Lola EX257 would need a stroke of exceptional luck up against the bigger, more powerful 900kg cars. But MG certainly has some strong factors in its favour when it comes to giving the heavier cars a run for their money:

First, the driver line-up will be the same as last year, giving a strong combination of experience and and youth. Five of the six drivers were on a two-year contract so their presence was assured but now MG has announced that Mark Blundell will also be returning to the team. In addition, he’ll be taking on the role of “Ambassador” for the MG brand.

Veterans Julian Bailey and Anthony Reid will be back at Le Mans in 2002, while last year’s Le Mans Virgins, Warren Hughes, Jonny Kane and Kevin McGarrity, will be tackling their second outing at the famous circuit. All three were bowled over by last year’s experience – both the support of the crowds and the race itself. As Kane pointed out, “The Mulsanne Straight alone is longer than most of the circuits I’ve raced on.” When McGarrity was asked what his first time was like, he blushed. “What? Oh, you mean Le Mans?”

Also in the team’s favour is the MG Lola, which several of the drivers have described as the best car they’ve ever driven. Winter modifications have focused on reliability and serviceability but performance has also improved.

Incidentally, no fewer than 700 MGOC members in their MGs are joining the Club’s annual pilgrimage south to Le Mans.

Rally co-driver Chris Patterson, from Ballyclere in Northern Ireland, is the perfect complement to Gwyndaf Evans and not just because of his impressive career in rallying. Mix Patterson and Evans together with MG Touring Car drivers Anthony Reid and Warren Hughes and you have the perfect start to the tale of MG motorsport in 2002: “An Englishman, a Scotsman, a Welshman and an Irishman decided to go racing…”