3 JOHN CLELAND

CHAMPION: 1989, 1995

Has there ever been a more memorable phrase in the British Touring Car Championship? As John Cleland climbed out of his battered Vauxhall Cavalier at Silverstone in 1992, slammed the door shut behind him and stood trembling with anger, he was already thinking on his feet. When he met the inevitable television camera as he strode back to the paddock, he uttered the immortal lines: “The man’s an animal.”

He was referring to BMW driver Steve Soper, who had just cannoned into his rival to assure his own team-mate Tim Harvey of the title.

That incident was what Cleland was about – TV gold – but to remember him for that alone is a huge disservice to a BTCC legend. At times, he was the only real home-grown talent leading the frontline against the big-name imports.

He was a dogged overtaker and raced with such fire that anyone who managed to unseat him achieved something special. His first crown, from Class C in 1989, paled into insignificance compared to his in the Super Tourers in 1995.

But there was always a story. In the early 1990s, amid the influx of professional wannabes, Vauxhall realised it needed to respond and hired a personal trainer for Cleland and team-mate Jeff Allam. What the bosses didn’t know was the two drivers clubbed together and paid the trainer just as much again to leave them alone and keep schtum. “I think the bloke was able to buy a Harley Davidson after just one year,” jokes Cleland.