The Grid.co.uk    the national & club motor racing website - est1998          

  ^News

Web:  www.themastersseries.com

Continued from News:

New Touring 70s series gathers momentum 

Cologne Capris and BMW 'Batmobiles' are coming back to the race tracks of Europe this season as Touring 70s, the new race series for Group 2 Touring Cars of the 1970s, rapidly gathers strength.

Touring 70s has been created by the Masters Racing Organisation and is set to become one of the most exciting race series in Europe. It has already received a tremendous response from competitors eager to race these stunning cars.

The first two races have now been held, and in the most recent event at Donington Park, three BMWs took on the awesome Cologne Capri of Shaun Lynn. At least three more examples of each car are known to be currently in-build, so the prospects for the future of Touring 70s are very bright.

"I've been after one of these cars for years," said Lynn after his Donington victory. "It's a proper car and I was so pleased to get it. I'd been chasing the guy who owned it for a long time!"

However, it is not just the Cologne Capris and BMW 'Batmobiles' that are being prepared for Touring 70s. Long-time Mini Cooper and Marcos GT racer Allen Tice is another driver to be inspired by the new series. At Donington, he debuted a 1970-vintage BMW 2002 that he has imported from Australia specifically to use in Touring 70s. "I was sitting at home on a wet day in November and fancied a BMW," said Tice. "I found this one on the net and got it shipped over. It hadn't raced for seven years and so it was straight out of the box at Donington. It should be a bit of fun."

The new race series is for the Group 2 touring cars of the 1970s, the era that produced some of the most spectacular and popular racing saloons cars of all time. This was the era of slicks, wings and body kits on cars like the Cologne Capris and the BMW 'Batmobiles'. Among the smaller engined cars could be Ford Escorts, Alfa Romeos and Volkswagens. 

Group 2 was introduced in the late 1960s and the regulations were used in the European Touring Car Championship right through the 1970s and up to 1982, when Group 2 was replaced by the Group A regulations. 

For its inaugural season, Touring 70s is a regular fixture on Top Hat race days and will also join in with some Masters events in Europe to provide an excellent calendar.

mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk