Rover/MG (2001-2003) |
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Rover/MG (2001-2003) |
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| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | ||
| MG ZS EX259 | MG ZS EX260 | MG ZS EX261 | ||
| A. Reid | A. Reid | A. Reid | ||
| W. Hughes | W. Hughes | W. Hughes | ||
| C. Turkington |
| MGs re-entry into the BTCC followed the companies resurgence from it's sell off by BMW. Viewing the British Touring Car Championship as one of the best ways of promoting their new MG road cars, they entered the MG ZS for the 2001 season. West Surrey Racing (WSR) were selected to run the team under the direction of Dick Bennetts, with drivers Anthony Reid and Warren Hughes recruited to 'pilot' the Lola prepared cars. Testing and development work on the cars was tied to the timing of the new MG road car models and consequently a lot of the winter 'pre' season was lost. Fortunately the cars ran reasonably well from their initial testing sessions, without many traumas. The 2002 season had always been MGs main aim with 2001 being seen as an introductory period for the two ZSs and they finally managed to enter their first race in September, at Silverstone. Anthony Reid took the car to 12th place on it's first outing, in the Sprint race, with both drivers finishing in the top 10 places of the feature race. Considering the teams lack of race experience these were very creditable results. Two weeks later the cars took mid table positions at Donington Park. Due to the fact of Reid and Hughes late entry into the season neither driver was eligible for championship points. Consequently, and perhaps unfortunately, Anthony Reid was not credited with any points for his win in the sprint race at a rain soaked Brands Hatch in the seasons finale. A 'wise' tyre choice saw Reid leading the field having stayed on track, on slicks, whilst most other drivers had pitted to fit 'wet' tyres. The race was subsequently red flagged due to conditions with Reid declared the winner. This result was all the more pertinent considering that the Vauxhall Astras had won every prior round. | 
Anthony Reid - 2001 MG ZS |
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Warren Hughes - 2002 MG ZS |
MG/WSR entered the 2002 BTC(T) series with the same driver line up, driving the new MG ZS EX260. Following the success the team had had in the six races of the '01 season much was expected of MG for 2002. The car was on the pace from the first green light of the championship and Reid scored a 4th and 3rd in the first two rounds at Brands Hatch, in April. Not to be outdone Warren Hughes took two 2nd places at the next meeting, at Oulton Park. The MG was consistently finishing on the podium with both drivers scoring well. Warren Hughes eventually became the first non-Vauxhall winner of 2002 when he slithered to victory at Silverstone on a wet , but drying, track in the sprint race. Thanks to excellent reliability and pace the MGs enabled both Reid and Hughes to give the Vauxhall drivers a good run for their money. At the second Brands Hatch meeting, over the August Bank holiday, MG achieved a clean sweep. Reid won the sprint race, with Hughes second, and Hughes then went on to take first in the feature. A good first full championship year saw MG Sport & Racing finish second in the Teams Championship and MG also took runner-up slot in the Manufacturers table. Whilst the drivers table had pretty much been dominated by Astra drivers all year, both Reid and Hughes did exceptionally well to eventually finish in 4th and 6th respectively. |
| MG Sport & Racing continued their campaign in the BTCC for 2003 with Warren Hughes and Anthony Reid, who were joined by former Team Atomic Kitten driver, Colin Turkington. Dick Bennetts and the WSR team were still at the helm and had used the chance to develop the new MG ZS EX261 over the winter months. The team managed to get a lot of testing done in Spain prior to the season starting and the hopes for 2003 were high. It proved to be a season of two halves, it started badly but things did improve as the year progressed. All three drivers started the season fighting for podium places but bad luck and racing incidents all too often saw the MGs failing to finish. As a consequence the early half of the championship saw Vauxhall & VX Racing gain a rather large points advantage in the drivers and manufacturers tables, which MG were never going to claw back. Although results improved by mid season with the trio of drivers all gaining good finishes the results weren't really consistent enough to stage an effective title challenge. Anthony Reid gained MG & WSRs first win of the year at Croft, after narrowly missing the opportunity at Rockingham in the previous meeting. Both Hughes and Turkington also took a win a piece before the season finished. The drivers table finished with Reid as the teams top driver in 6th, followed by Hughes and Turkington in 7th and 8th respectively. In the manufaturers and teams championships, MG and WSR took third spot behind Vauxhall and Honda. |
Anthony Reid - 2003 MG ZS |
| Audi | Alfa Romeo | BMW | Ford |
| Honda | Mazda | Mitsubishi | Nissan |
| Peugeot | Renault | Rover/MG | |
| SEAT | Toyota | Vauxhall | Volvo |
