Alain Menu, a name familiar to so many race fans for his time spent in the BTCC – 11 seasons the Swiss man raced in Britain’s premier tin-top racing series. Indeed, Menu is one of probably only a handful of drivers to have raced a British Touring Car in the last three ears – Jason Plato and Matt Neal are probably two other names you can put in the same bracket.
Menu started racing in the BTCC back in 1992 and raced all the way through the Super Touring era – collecting two Championship titles when the Super Tourers were at there peak. Manufacturer backed entries, professionally paid drivers and million pound+ budgets to spend on racing – those certainly were iconic days. And, to grab two BTCC titles in that time, given the competition, with the likes of Cleland, Biela, Tarquini; Harvey, Rydell and Winkelhock – all BTCC Champions in there own right – just gives you an indication of the weight of those achievements.
Menu though, has also raced through the S2000 and the newer NGTC spec Touring Car Championships and he is well paced to offer his thoughts on the Super Touring era ahead of their return to Knockhill this weekend – 10/11 September – for the David Leslie Super Touring Festival event supported by EventScotland and Fife Council.
Alain, BTCC Championship winner in 1997 and 2000, takes us back through his Super Touring career with Renault and the iconic Ford Mondeo Team; he also discusses his first impressions of Knockhill – way back in 1992, a section we almost cut for his references to Knockhill being a ‘go-kart’ track… but we’ll forgive him for his initial impression as he more than makes up for it in an insightful interview with Knockhill Commentator, Duncan Vincent.
We are all eager to get the weekend underway and witness the return of Super Touring Car action to Knockhill; alongside a bumper Scottish Motor Racing Club meet that will see Formula Ford, Mini, Fiesta, BMW, Legends, Sports Car and Classic racing all take place across the weekend.
Frank Biela – 5 time Le Mans 24 Hours winner and 1996 BTCC Champion will be guest of honour. He’ll be here doing parade laps and autograph sessions but won’t be racing on track. He’ll leave that to the likes of John Cleland – The Scottish double BTCC Champion – and Gabriele Tarquini – also a former BTCC Champion – who’s set to race a former David Leslie Honda Accord.
Aside from the action on track, we’ll have up to 15 of the most iconic Super Touring cars on display at the event. And, the David Leslie Tribute element will see a number of his iconic cars on display including his Super Touring Nissan Primera and his Le Mans Aston Martin C1. The Super Tourers will race once each day; with Sunday’s feature race also allowing fans to walk the grid immediately before the race for an additional fee of £5.
There is FREE camping available on-site all weekend for those that wish to make a weekend of it. And, there will be a Saturday evening forum in the Clubhouse featuring the star attendees – Cleland, Biela and Tarquini – just stick around after the final race of the day and grab a seat in the Clubhouse for what should be a memorable night of Super Touring tittle-tattle.
Tickets for the event are available online now – subject to pre-booking discounts. Alternatively, tickets will be available at the gate throughout the weekend.
