Motorsports Trivia Thread!

[LumpiestFish]

The last time a manufacturer competed in the British Touring Car Championship despite that manufacturer not being available in the UK domestic market.

Year / Manufacturer

I'm not sure if it would have been the last time, but the Holden VL or VK Commodores during the mid-late 80s?

 

[Clark]

Yeah I don't know his name but one guy ran them in the Autoglass livery for a few years.

 

[Liquid]

I'm not sure if it would have been the last time, but the Holden VL or VK Commodores during the mid-late 80s?

Yeah I don't know his name but one guy ran them in the Autoglass livery for a few years.

Mike O'Brien did run a VK Commodore in 1987 and a VL Commodore in 1988 but that wasn't the last time.

There has been a "blink and you'll miss it" entry since then.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

I haven't seen too many Proton's around, but that could be where I live and how many people want to drive a Proton...

 

[Liquid]

Ah but Protons are available in the UK.

 

[TenEightyOne]

The last time a manufacturer competed in the British Touring Car Championship despite that manufacturer not being available in the UK domestic market.

Year / Manufacturer

Scattergun answer... presuming it's not Opel (because Holden wasn't the right answer) and presuming it's not a trick answer (ie Austin Minis once they'd become BL and so on)... Chevrolet in 1975?

 

[Pezzarinho17]

I was thinking the question related to car model not being available rather than the manufacturer.

In which case, I think it might be MG in 2012. I think I remember seeing the announcement of the MG6 returning to BTCC and believing at the time that MG had yet to properly return to the UK after the sale to China.

 

[TenEightyOne]

In which case, I think it might be MG in 2012. I think I remember seeing the announcement of the MG6 returning to BTCC and believing at the time that MG had yet to properly return to the UK after the sale to China.

Dammit, that smells right.

 

[Liquid]

I was thinking the question related to car model not being available rather than the manufacturer.

In which case, I think it might be MG in 2012. I think I remember seeing the announcement of the MG6 returning to BTCC and believing at the time that MG had yet to properly return to the UK after the sale to China.

We're only after the manufacturer, not the model. There was some controversy about Matt Neal's first two titles because the Integra was not available in the UK at that time. That's kind of what inspired this question but Honda was available in 2005 and MG was in 2012; the MG TF was produced at the new Longbridge from 2007-2012 and the MG6 was 'officially' launched in 2011.

Scattergun answer... presuming it's not Opel (because Holden wasn't the right answer) and presuming it's not a trick answer (ie Austin Minis once they'd become BL and so on)... Chevrolet in 1975?

Slow down now, who said it wasn't Opel? Care to hazard a guess at what year it might have been?

 

[Barra333]

Based on that response, it was Opel, probably due to anything that would have had an Opel badge on it in Europe had a Vauxhall badge in the UK.
Pulling a year out of the sky.... 1995

 

[Liquid]

You're on the right lines, just slightly out with the year.

 

[TenEightyOne]

You're on the right lines, just slightly out with the year.

Lanfranchi, Monza, 1983?

 

[Jimlaad43]

Monza?

 

[Liquid]

No, Barra has been closest with the year so far.

 

[Legro]

Monza?

Opel Monza.

Now that I'm here: Vectra in 1993?

 

[Liquid]

It is an Opel Vectra, well worked out, but it wasn't 1993 and it wasn't 1995. A touch later than that.

 

[Obelisk]

Was it 1996?

 

[Liquid]

Yikes, not 1996. Very close now.

Who has the fastest fingers?

 

[Barra333]

1997

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Who has the fastest fingers?

If that is the next question, I am going to guess Sebastian Vettel...

 

[Liquid]

1997

There it is.

Swedish driver Jan Brunstedt had a "blink and you'll miss it" appearance in the 1997 British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone (Rounds 3 & 4). He drove his Opel Vectra to 17th and 14th place in the two races, 5th in class on both occasions.

Opel pulled out of the UKDM for good in 1988 making this appearance a wild anachronism. Proof, if proof was needed:

 

[Barra333]

If someone has a question ready, fire away. Otherwise I will come up with something tomorrow morning.

 

[Roo]

Outside of his sole victory at Barcelona in 2012, Pastor Maldonado's best finish was a 5th place in Abu Dhabi the same year. Excluding the Indy 500s in the 50s and 60s, only one winning driver has a lower second-best result of his F1WCGP career. Who?

 

[daan]

Giancarlo Baghetti? He won his first race, but I don't recall him doing much else.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Giancarlo Baghetti? He won his first race, but I don't recall him doing much else.

He won his first three F1 races (albeit 2 of them non-comp), I think he had a podium at Zandvoort a couple of years later?

 

[Liquid]

I'm trying to think of drivers who have only won once race, and a fortuitous one at that.

Peter Gethin?

 

[Jimlaad43]

Peter Gethin. Apart from Italy 1971, his best results were 2 6th places

 

[Roo]

I'm trying to think of drivers who have only won once race, and a fortuitous one at that.

Peter Gethin?

Correct. His victory was the only points finish he achieved all season, a feat Jean-Pierre Jabouille repeated in 1979 and 1980. Aside from Gethin's win the only other points he scored in his career were the pair of 6th places Jimlaad mentioned.

 

[Liquid]

Pass.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Which competitor robot (previously called "The Mulsanne Monster") in Robot Wars Series 6 was designed to look like a Le Mans racer?