From banger chaos to BTCC heritage: Brundle’s journey through grassroots grit and legacy
From grassroots banger chaos to touring car heritage, Alex Brundle retraces a family path through British motorsport’s rawest and most evocative machinery.
A new experience for our intrepid racer – mid-1990s BTCC, in the Honda formerly campaigned by David Leslie
Sometimes a historics journey serves you to the seat of a gleaming V12 screaming down the back straight of a European circuit in the spring air. Sometimes it’s an Astra in a banger race on a snowy day in Yarmouth, below. I shan’t be drawn on which is more fun.
Dad (Martin Brundle) started banger racing at 12 at Pott Row near King’s Lynn in a car he ‘borrowed’ from my grandad’s garage forecourt. Then, the legend goes, it was written off after a little ‘incident’ and went into hot rod racing which was, in theory, more polite. At Back to Basics Bangers in Great Yarmouth I had the full experience. I must admit a renewed reverence for the old boy, that you could start here and get to Formula 1. Different days.
I consider myself an omni-motor-sport type, so I was shocked by how little I understood about this world. The reality I had not engaged with is that someone was going to run into my £400 Astra on purpose, without any seeming benefit to their positioning in the race. In short there are people in a banger race with no intention of winning the race, they just want to crash.
I learned that the immaculately prepared barriers in international circuit racing impart a false sense of security when you crash. Upon bashing a road-based car into another, these illusions are shattered. I was happy to finish fourth in the final, happier to leave unscathed, but aware that I would be mocked as a ‘rodder’ – someone trying a bit too hard to win rather than shunt. “Think you’re in BTCC, do you?” “Not yet, mate, that’s next week.”
In a Honda Accord to be exact – which David Leslie raced in 1996 – for its owner, Jeremy ‘Jez’ Banks, at a Donington test day. I’d never been in a touring car of that age. The combo of the Neil Brown engine, saloon shape and sequential-shift manual gearbox with a throttle cut is majestic; all very ’90s.
Motor Sport has taken a whole host of brilliant racing machines on-track in 2025 – here’s the full round-up
Turning the steering wheel was to execute a bizarre geometric contortion that sees the inside rear wheel head skywards and the front lurch at the corner, with such enthusiasm that it catches you by surprise. The rear follows like a toddler being dragged round the aisles of Sainsbury’s, but somehow by the exit you can still mash the throttle and it all responds.
I’ve also given our Toyota Celica Willhire 24 Hours car a run at Donington and, of course, it immediately broke. A new water pump is inbound, or would be, if anybody still made them. I have no idea how I’m going to get one in time to test it in late April with my dad and uncle [Robin], who raced it in 1980 and ’81. I’d best go back to the workshop and find out.
Our top events this month
Easter Motor Show
Weston Park, Shifnal, Shropshire, April 5-6
Walk off the calories of that Cadbury Buttons chocolate egg at the largest vehicle gathering of Easter. More than 1000 display cars and motorcycles of all ages will be present, along with autojumble and retail stands. Your £17.50 entry gives full access to the Capability Brown-landscaped parkland – oof, and there’s a miniature railway.
Salon Privé London
Royal Hospital Chelsea, London, April 16-18
The home of the scarlet-clad Chelsea Pensioners gives its lawns to a supercar and classic car pageant for a fourth time. Central is a display of SCC private members’ club supercars plus there’s a Maserati Through the Ages collection. Thu-Fri 11am-5pm; Saturday 10am-5pm. From £55.
Vintage Bike Festival
Lydden Hill, Kent, April 18-19
Motorcycles from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s are on track for Rounds 1 and 2 of the British Historic Racing Club calendar, alongside a display of bikes from days of yore. Arrive on a pre-1990 motorcycle and entry is half-price. Regular price from £20.94.
EHC/HHC Rechbergrennen
Rechberg, Styria, Austria, April 24-26
Imagine the scenery of Heidi but with a goat-herder replaced by a Porsche GT3. Last year this hillclimb – average gradient 6%, 2¾ miles – attracted 258 participants from 16 nations. There are three fanzones along the incline, with the finish at Rechberghöhe. Tickets from £24.
Motor Racing Legends Donington Historic Festival
Donington Park, Leicestershire, May 1-3
The season-opener for MRL will see 18 races across three days representing 10 decades of racing, as well as parades, demos and that all-important access to the paddock. Entry from £18.
