Chris Williams / Charlie Williams

TWR Group A Rover SD1  N0.9

Chris (52) has been racing since 1987 in Morgans in the Morgan Sports Car Challenge and a Rover SD1 in Toyo Tyres Super Road Saloons during the mid 90’s.  

Chris bought this ex-Dennis Leech Group A Rover last year to race with his son Charlie (26).  At 6”6 Charlie proved too long to fit into Dads rapid Morgan, which has made several appearances in this series in the past.

Charlie, who works abroad for a French Development Property Company, started racing the year before last and completed six races in this series which included a class win as Snetterton.  Having ironed out a few niggling problems with the car during the winter, they hope to have a competitive package this year. 

TWR Group A Rover SD1.

There were only 15 or 16 cars ever built by TWR.  However, there were chassis numbers in excess of this as some cars were rebuilt and given a new identity (chassis numbers) for the following season.

This is TWR racing chassis number 17 built from scratch in 1985 in which Tom Walkinshaw and Win Percy won the 1985 Silverstone TT and ETC round at Nagaro but was then crashed heavily at Zolder by Tom in a first lap corner incident. Tom then completed the season in his old car chassis 16.At the end of that year Tom cut up and scrapped chassis 16.No.17 was sold to Dennis Leech who reshelled it and  raced it in '86 and'87 in the British Touring Car Championship and some rounds of the European Touring Car Championship

From 1988, the car then raced in the Modified Saloon Car Championship in the hands of  firstly Nick Humphrey and then John Quartermaine. John raced the car on into the early ‘90’s in Thunder Saloons. The history of the car is then rather cloudy, but Chris purchased it last year after it had been rebuilt by Ken Clarke Motorsport – Ken was TWR’s Chief Engineer back in 1985 and had built the original car!