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The Story of BNG

It all began with a meeting at the Craven Motor Club in Reading during the late 1980’s. We were five friends and rally enthusiasts who created a team, which built a Peugeot rally car that would dominate the Peugeot GTI rally championship for two years. For the driver it would be the start of an illustrious career, culminating in being crowned 2001-world rally champion!

The prime mover at the start was David Williams, a very successful business conference and exhibition designer. He was also a successful part-time rally driver. I had been helping David for a number of years, servicing his rally cars at events, including an awesome Group B Metro 6R4. One club evening our friend Gordon Jarvis introduced us to Alex Burns and his teenage son Richard, who told us he wanted to be a professional rally driver. “Ok, ok mines a pint!” was the reply. Gordon had already helped Richard build a Talbot Sunbeam 1.6 rally car and thought he was a very promising driver.

I can’t remember exactly how and when I got involved with Richard but I expect it went something like this; at club nights, Alex would buy me beer all evening and then tell me we are going to Wales next weekend on a rally. Meanwhile Richard would be deep in conversation with David and looking for sponsorship. That tactic worked; I went away on many rallies and David would give Richard support. It was all good fun for us and superb experience for Richard. David very soon realised that “the kid was good” and told him that to progress and get noticed, he had to do things properly. At one of our meetings, competing in the Peugeot GTI Rally Championship was suggested. The fact that I had bought “Autocare” a small independent Peugeot specialist made this idea a pretty exciting one. The Peugeot series was the most popular single make championship at the time, with over 50 GTI’s regularly competing.

It consisted of five stage rallies, one rally cross event at Croft, one circuit race at Donnington Park, and a two-day international tarmac rally in Belgium. It offered a very generous cash prize fund at each event with factory support for crew and team. Most important of all, the championship winning crew would get a works drive in the British round of the World Rally Championship in a factory supported Peugeot 309 16V.

David, Gordon, Alex, Richard and I sat around in the Burn’s kitchen table to plan a strategy. David’s experience of promoting major corporate functions came into play; an image in sponsor-friendly motor sport was essential. To be noticed not only did Richard have to be quick, he had to be presentable. The car and the team also had to look good and perform well. We all agreed that no matter how quick (or slow) Richard was, the car would be the best presented GTI in the championship. David agreed to buy the car, the rest of us put £500 each onto the kitchen table for the team bank account. I agreed to do all the mechanical work, free of labour charges and contribute £100 per event to the rally fund. In return, the name “Autocare” would be advertised on the car. Finally, we all would pay our own travel and hotel bills, and even buy ourselves the same Peugeot rally jackets. That was quite a deal, but all we needed was a car! Practicalities made us decide to find a rally car rather than convert a road car. We very soon found the perfect choice - F347 BNG, a 1.9 205 GTI. It had been used on the 1989 Peugeot GTI Championship, rolled into a ball and re-shelled. I regard the shell as the most important component of a rally car, the rest bolts on, can be overhauled or replaced. This shell was in mint condition, fully seam-welded, strengthened and came with a Safety Devices cage. It had only competed in one tarmac rally and the motor race, completely unmarked. The rest of it was all the wrong specification, but that didn’t matter to us. So the “BNG” story started to gather pace. During that winter at rally HQ (which was a draughty old barn at the Burn’s place) BNG was stripped down to the bare shell. We even had David Williams under the car with a blowlamp scraping the underseal from the wheel arches and floor. He also designed an attractive colour scheme before the shell was taken to Wigmore’s Body Shop for a good paint job. The engine, gearbox and axle were completely overhauled. The Peugeot GTI championship had very strict rules and these units had to remain standard, with no performance modifications allowed.

Various types of competition springs, shockers, torsion bars and other parts were allowed but only the ones listed by Peugeot Sport. The idea was to keep a level playing field with all the cars the same, so that only a good driver had an advantage. You could not “buy speed”. The secret was to prepare and set up the car properly, so that it would handle correctly and not let the driver down.

Our secret was to build the most immaculate car,which would not cost bucket loads of cash. Every suspension and steering component was hung on a line, sprayed with Hammerite black, and then assembled with new shiny nuts and bolts. (Not F1 rocket science but very effective.) The wheel arches were always painted gloss white, engine and bay perfectly clean and tidy with all wiring and pipework neatly and safely held in place with clips and ties. We were determined that the car would look like this at every event throughout the season. It was hard work but very satisfying for us all. After about two month’s work our pride and joy “BNG” was complete and ready for testing. Richard wanted to take it to the Welsh Forest Rally School. It was there that he very first drove a rally car at the age of 14! On the first day in Wales the car was running perfectly but David thought Richard was too slow. This was probably due to nerves and not wanting to damage such a lovely car. David said to him “move over and I will show you!” Apparently there is a slightly different technique in throwing a 350BHP, Group B, 4WD, Metro 6R4 into a corner, than a Group N 205 GTI. David promptly tipped BNG over onto its side! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, when he turned up with bent panels and broken glass in my pride and joy. David was the most embarrassed bloke on the planet but as it turned out, this was a blessing in disguise: David told Richard, “Its bent, just get in and drive it flat out!”

That’s just what Richard did and for two days he just drove the doors off the thing. He found his and the cars limits, practiced left foot braking, hand brake turns, everything. After all this, Richard was brimming with confidence and ready for the first rally. That was more than could be said for poor BNG. David took it back to Wigmore’s body shop with his tail between his legs. Jim and Tim duly turned the bodywork back to it’s original shape and condition. Then it was back to rally HQ for a strip down, check over and clean up in readiness for the first rally of the 1990 Peugeot GTI Championship. This was the Panaround Stages at Llandrindod Wells on March 3rd. BNG and Richard’s first appearance in front of 51 GTIs and the rest of the entries. I’m proud to say that BNG was the best turned out car by far and we were a very proud bunch of mates too. We were expecting much of Richard; the bank account was empty, so we needed some prize money to fund the next event. Richard excelled himself and fulfilled our expectations. He finished first Peugeot and was awarded a nice trophy, together with a fat Peugeot cheque, the first of many. For some reason I cannot remember the after rally party, only the headache the next day. This was a routine that would carry on for the rest of the year (winning rallies and prize money, not the headaches!)

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The fact that BNG (and the team) always looked so good and won, various rumours started, (we had two cars, one tarmac spec., the other forest spec., David was a multimillionaire and the team was spending thousands every event). All of them nonsense, “the” car was prepared in an old barn during our spare time, we all paid our own way and the only income was prize money. At the race at Donnington Park we thought we would have some fun and wind everyone up. David’s friend parked his Ferrari in our pit and we borrowed a set of F1 tyre warmers for BNG! This really got tongues wagging but it was all in good fun and part of the camaraderie that we experienced on the Peugeot Championship. Richard drove perfectly all year, BNG suffered very little damage thanks to his smooth driving ability. As you all know, he and BNG won the 1990 Peugeot GTI Cup and with it, the works 309 16V on the RAC rally. At the end of that year, Richard met a co-driver who would guide him to even greater success; his name was Robert Reid. Richard and Robert entered the 1991 Peugeot GTI Championship in BNG with the same team as 1990. To be honest, in the rally, they were in a class of their own. The championship was sown up as early as July 6th on the Kayel Graphics rally with four events still to run! They, of course won the prize works drive on the RAC in a 309 16V. This was the start of a partnership and professional career that would culminate in being crowned World Rally Champions in 2001, and is very well documented. As for BNG, sadly, it had to be sold at the end of 1991, never to be seen again, or so we thought. The BNG story continues in the next issue of The Peugeotist.

MIKE SHONFIELD - AUTOCARE

The Richard Burns Foundation will provide support for people whose lives are affected by serious illness and injury. Find out more and make a donation - www.richardburnsfoundation.com