TIM HARVEY SURVIVING THE BTCC’S MOST INTENSE ERA
Most people think that homework stops when a person leaves school. That’s not the case for the 1992 British Touring Car title-winner Tim Harvey. Since he has swapped the steering wheel for the microphone on ITV4’s BTCC coverage, he has immersed himself in detailed analysis.
Often is the time in the media room where Harvey, fresh from hunting out the gossip in the pitlane, will be poring over split times, speed trap measurements and all the data he can find. It all goes to add to his insight in his commentary.
The 16-time British Touring Car Championship race winner was tempted by life with a roof on after a Formula Ford accident in 1986 meant he had limited articulation in his ankles. But what a success it was. Harvey went on to conquer the crown in 1992 after a dramatic showdown at Silverstone (including that accident between John Cleland and Steve Soper). He has also been a title winner in Porsches and won races in British GT, as well as competing at Le Mans on four occasions – the first of those being on a layout that included the full Mulsanne straight. He took time out of his busy schedule to tackle the MN readers’questions.
Question: Was the original dream Formula 1 when you started racing?
James Hilton Via email
Tim Harvey: “The reason I got into motorsport was to have fun and just to drive racing cars. I had no intention to make a career out of it. There was no plan that I could be a professional or anything else. I did some karting and it proved I had some talent in it, and the same was true when I went into Formula Ford in 1983. It was only when I won theAustin Rover/ Daily Express scholarship [at the end of 1983] that I suddenly twigged that there could actually be more to motorsport as a career for me. Despite winning that, my heart was all in single-seaters at the time but commercially, the opportunity presented itself to go down the saloon car route so I followed it.
“In those days, the routes were very straightforward. You did Formula Ford 1600,
