EX-SOPER ROVER RETURNS TO RACING
Man who built the Vitesse gets behind the wheel – eventually
‘Barter has claimed Historic Road Sports’ Datsun 240Z takes title, below
After a sabbatical of 34 years, an ex-steve Soper Rover Vitesse is racing again this season in the hands of Ken Clarke, the man who originally built the car for Tom Walkinshaw Racing in 1983.
The Hepolite-liveried Rover came close to being scrapped in Holland, but Clarke eventually took ownership of the bodyshell a decade ago and has rebuilt it into an immaculate race car as time and money has permitted.
Clarke raced it in the Historic Touring Car Challenge at the Oulton Park Gold Cup and was elated to finish ninth overall and second in class to Soper and Chris Ward in their Bastos-liveried car.
“I built it originally and the last time it was at Oulton Park was Good Friday 1983,” said Clarke, who is recognised as the Vitesse expert. “I drove it round the circuit that day after the race while Steve was on the podium. It is a very special car to me and it has taken six years to get it back together.”
Clarke’s car, chassis 002, had not raced after the end of 1983 season until earlier this year. After Soper’s BTCC season it was stripped to a bodyshell and later used as a Bastos show car.
“A guy in Holland found it in a scrap yard in a stack of wrecked cars. Had he not turned up when he did, it would have been crushed.” Clarke identified it from one or two unique touches that he did in period, notably with the switches.