1988/1989 - Birmingham Superprix - Super Challenge races.
As I am a newbie in this forum, let me introduce myself. I am currently making a website about the history of the Birmingham Superprix: http://8w.forix.com/bsp.html There was two races full of Metro 6R4s as part of the 1988 Esso Metro Superchallenge and 1989 Holts Super Metro 6R4 Challenge. The Birmingham Superprix street circuit hosted a round of the 1988 and 1989 Super Challenges. I got very little information, I have only written a small report of the 1988 qualifying session and the race at the Birmingham Superprix in here Tony Pond won in both races and after the 1988 race, he was quoted: “For rallydrivers, it is like a motorway. They should have painted trees on the Armco to make us feel more at home.” :lol: But as this is the ideal forum to look for more information so does anyone have any more information about the Super Challenge races at the Birmingham Superprix? Finally, I would like to know who uploaded this excellent Metro 6R4 Superchallenge YouTube video clip? As I would like to know more about the footage itself. Thank you. :)

Hi 'bigears' and welcome to the 6R4.net forum. I recall both 6R4 races around the streets of Birmingham, because I was there! I was heavily involved with the 6R4 Owners Club in those days, and part of my duties were to produce their magazine / newsletter, and as such I actually managed to get signed on as a member of the media for the weekend! I wouldn't say my photos were tremendously jaw-dropping, but I like to think that I was actually there all those years ago, and managed to capture the moment - all be it very amateur-ly! I'm sure I also have the results sheets here somewhere, including qualifying times, etc. More than happy to contribute to your site if this would be of interest.

Thank you for the kind welcome, I am so jealous that you was actually there as I was only a kid when those races happened. It must be an exciting sight to see those cars going around a street circuit, an unusual sight compared going around the forest or a proper circuit! I would love to know more about the results and the qualifying times. I only got some news snippets from Autosport and they only mention about Tony Pond's strong showings in both races and his amazing pace at the 1988 race that would have qualified him 8th in the BTCC grid in the same event! Any photo of the old BSP is jaw-dropping enough for me! So I would like to see what you have taken. Either, put them up in here or email me the photos. I will have a little scrummage through my collection and see what I can share for you 6R4 fans!

OK 'bigears' - might be nicer to call you John, Trevor or even Quentin - rather than 'bigears' all the time? Or is it David as well? I notice you already have some information concerning the 1988 race - including that famous press photo of Gary Midwinter's car. Leave it with me and I'll see what I can unearth. A child at the time eh? I was in my mid twenties! :oops:

Hi David. :wink: I'm not sure who the original photographer was, but I guess he'd have been working for Rover anyway. A credit to Rover would do the job I'm sure. 6r4nicky on here is the guy you want to talk to about the video on You Tube.

Hi David, Apologies for the delays, but I have been digging around (the Bristol Street area!) trying to unearth what I can about the Superprix 6R4 races. I have found full qualifying times for 1988 and 1989, but ONLY full race results for 1989 I'm afraid. I'm sure I had the 1988 version here somewhere, but I cannot lay my hands on it. I've also unearthed the following photos from the Metro Superchallenge regulations booklets, so I guess if you creditted Rover for them it'd be OK to use them. I've only posted small versions here, but if you want larger versions of the images or the results I mentioned above, drop me a PM with your email address on and I'll send them to you. You'll have to give me a bit of time getting the results keyed in though. 1988... 1989... I trust the above has been of interest - drop me a PM if you want the images / results sending through. I do have a load more images of my own, but I cannot access them at the moment I'm afraid. Leave it with me for a few weeks / months (!) and I'll see what else I can find for you.

What a fantastic post! A lot of unseen photos there. You got a PM. :)

I got your email and thank you once again for the scans. I am looking forward to the 1988 and 1989 qualifying times and full results from you. Same for your own photos and other additional material about the Birmingham Superprix. Do take your time.

Very interesting cap'n. You have a PM from me also.

Apologies for the delayed update of this thread, and responses to your posts, PMs and emails. I have been somewhat busy lately, as well as the fact that it's taken a little longer to sort out the information that I promised too. 'bigears was sent the list of results for his Birmingham Superprix website, but then somebody on here asked to see it with registration numbers in place - that is what has taken the time to sort! Anyway, here are the 1988 Practice times, complete with registration numbers in place... 1988 BIRMINGHAM SUPER PRIX METRO 6R4 TROPHY – Practice on 28 August 1988 Result - No - Driver - Time - Registration No 1 - 16 - Tony Pond - 1:40.70 - E88 MMM 2 - 1 - Pete Slights - 1:43.18 - C97 KOG 3 - 26 - Trevor Lewis - 1:44.46 - Unregistered (But later Reinhard Klein's K-MG-03) 4 - 5 - Andy Sharam - 1:45.02 - D316 CVJ 5 - 3 - John Price - 1:45.44 - E929 FVJ 6 - 14 - Ian Donaldson - 1:45.74 - E498 KHU 7 - 6 - Steve Harris - 1:46.64 - D884 UPU 8 - 4 - Ian Beveridge - 1:47.29 - C818 FFC 9 - 20 - Gary Midwinter - 1:47.53 - D974 UXF 10 - 18 - Alistair Sutherland - 1:47.54 - MAD AL (But really MT-8217 from New Zealand) 11 - 8 - Rob Lawrence - 1:48.22 - E562 TOF 12 - 17 - Tim Harvey - 1:49.05 - D585 BRT 13 - 10 - Richard Holmes - 1:49.25 - D990 KHA 14 - 23 - Alex Banyard - 1:49.45 - E50 MMM 15 - 9 - Paul Bennett - 1:49.71 - Q491 VHR 16 - 12 - Clive Faine - 1:51.53 - D750 PDM 17 - 22 - Geoff Underhill - 1:51.77 - Q367 PDE 18 - 25 - Will Corry - 1:52.58 - C996 LCA 19 - 15 - Kenny Dorans - 1:52.77 - D376 COS 20 - 19 - Rupert Turner - 1:52.99 - E310 VKU 21 - 21 - Bev Oates - 2:07.55 - D630BFO 22 - 2 - Bill Barton - DNS 23 - 7 - Sam Nelson - DNS 24 - 11 - Nigel Hutton - DNS 25 - 24 - Nigel Fraser-Kerr - DNS More to follow shortly...

1989 BIRMINGHAM SUPER PRIX SUPER METRO 6R4 CHALLENGE – Practice on 28 August 1989 Result - No - Driver - Time - Registration No 1 - 1 - Tony Pond - 1:42.02 - Unregistered (But later Clive Faine's Q528 NTM) 2 - 2 - Bill Barton - 1:43.34 - Unregistered (But later Martyn Harrison's C341 FWX) 3 - 8 - Sam Nelson - 1:43.99 - E264 AAM 4 - 11 - Paul Bennett - 1:45.34 - Q491 VHR 5 - 19 - Rupert Turner - 1:45.89 - E310 VKU 6 - 6 - Andy Sharam - 1:45.95 - SOF 406 7 - 9 - Stewart Robertson - 1:45.97 - E88 MMM 8 - 16 - Ian Donaldson - 1:46.35 - E498 KHU 9 - 15 - Keith Bird - 1:46.75 - E666 EVL 10 - 5 - Rob Lawrence - 1:48.26 - E562 TOF 11 - 7 - Robert Dennis - 1:48.57 - Q191 CPF 12 - 22 - Colin Pearcy - 1:49.56 - B197 XUD 13 - 3 - Nigel Hutton - 1:49.99 - E99 FLD 14 - 21 - Peter Lloyd - 1:50.32 - C874 EUD 15 - 17 - Steve Harris - 1:51.42 - D884 UPU 16 - 14 - Dave Roberts - 1:53.48 - F931 GMA 17 - 10 - Martin Prew - 1:54.02 - E835 KDF 18 - 4 - Ian Beveridge - DNS 19 - 12 - Clive Faine - DNS 20 - 18 - Alistair Sutherland - DNS 21 - 20 - Diccon Wright - DNS 22 - 23 - David Gillanders - DNS More to follow shortly...

1989 BIRMINGHAM SUPER PRIX SUPER METRO 6R4 CHALLENGE – 10 Lap Race on 28 August 1989 Result - No - Driver - Time - Registration No 1 - 1 - Tony Pond - 17:10.31 - Unregistered (But later Clive Faine's Q528 NTM) 2 - 8 - Sam Nelson - 17:19.03 - E264 AAM 3 - 6 - Andy Sharam - 17:37.13 - SOF 406 4 - 19 - Rupert Turner - 17:42.23 - E310 VKU 5 - 16 - an Donaldson - 17:42.79 - E398 KHU 6 - 9 - Stewart Robertson - 17:43.85 - E88 MMM 7 - 15 - Keith Bird - 17:54.77 - E666 EVL 8 - 17 - Steve Harris - 17:58.55 - D884 UPU 9 - 7 - Robert Dennis - 18:09.72 - Q191 CPF 10 - 14 - Dave Roberts - 18:35.96 - F931 GMA 11 - 3 - Nigel Hutton - 18:36.36 - E99 FLD 12 - 10 - Martin Prew - 18:37.25 - E835 KDF 13 - 21 - Peter Lloyd - 18:56.79 - C874 EUD Not Classified… NC - 11 - Paul Bennett - 4 laps (did not finish) - Q491 VHR NC - 2 - Bill Barton - 2 laps (did not finish) - Unregistered (But later Martyn Harrison's C341 FWX) NC - 5 - Rob Lawrence - 1 lap (did not finish) - E562 TOF Fas-*test*-('") Lap… 1 - Tony Pond - 1:40.19 Lap Record - Q528 NTM Non Starters… 22 - Colin Pearcy - B197 XUD I trust the above is of interest. Leave it with me a little longer and I'll get some photos scanned in for you all - but please be patient...

Thanks for sharing all that info with us all Captain :D Its amazing to see how much Pondy was quicker than the most of the pack, but some of them werent that far behind. Wouldnt it be great if they do do the superprix again have a 6r4 race to re-live the noise and speed of 88 and 89.