1991 Rover Dunlop 216 GTi Challenge @ Thruxton

Description

The 1991 Rover Dunlop 216 GTi Challenge at Thruxton. In midsummer 1990, Rover announced the release of a new 3 door hot hatch - this car was the Rover 216 GTi Twin Cam. Fitted with the 16DA9 Honda 1590cc twin cam unit used in the Honda Civic CRX mk2. Pushing out 130bhp with no catalytic emissions controls, this car was ripe for racing. In 1991 in conjunction with Dunlop, Rover's new one make premier racing series the Dunlop Rover 216 GTi challenge was born. This series characterized close racing with excitement and thrills and soon built up a big following with regular race goers, and road going variants owners. The race cars were specials. The shells were created without sunroofs and had stiffened suspension units fitted. The engine and gearboxes were sealed versions of the standard road going components and ensured close racing and proved the whole package to be very, very reliable and extremely fast. This series stayed as Rover's premier race championship until the arrival of the Dunlop Rover Turbo Cup series in 1994. Pershore's Dave Loudoun is the undisputed King of the Dunlop Rover 216 GTi Challenge and also won the opening series of the Dunlop Rover Turbo Cup. The Race cars from the series, to this day, can still be seen competing in various events, track days, Hillclimbs and Sprints all over the country.

Keywords

1991, Rover, Dunlop, 216, gti, Challenge, door, hot, hatch, Twin, Cam, 16DA9, Honda, 1590cc, Civic, CRX, mk2, Dave, Loudoun, Turbo, Cup, Hillclimb, Sprint, Ian, Taylor, Chris, Clarke, Tiff, Needell, Martin, Short, Joe, Ellis, Nick, Carr, Nigel, Petch, Edwards, Jones, Owen, Hall, John, Gurvan, Formula, Renault, Bobby, Verdon-Roe, Jason, Plato, Michelin, Smash, accident, Gareth, Almond, crash, races, Dallara, V6, Eurocup, championship, Reynard, Ralt, TOM'S

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