Cleland's Astra GTE - Retro Rides Touring Car Week

A very clear demonstration of how the BTCC class system used to work: in 1989, there were 26 (Class A) Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworths on the grid, yet John Cleland won the championship in his (Class C) Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v. (And he was only one solitary point ahead of James Weaver in his [Class B] BMW M3.)
No less impressive was the fact that 1989 was Cleland's first year in the British Touring Car Championship, and he won best-in-class in eleven of the thirteen races. Plucky little thing, the Astra, and with the angry forthrightness of Cleland behind the wheel, it was more than a match for the Golf GTI and 309 GTi that also resided in Class C. And he must have been enjoying himself - he stuck with the Vauxhall BTCC team for the next ten years...