Obituary: Vauxhall motorsport boss and successful co-driver Mike Nicholson dies aged 81

It’s a uncommon feat for anybody to have performed a key half in two of the UK’s best eras of motorsport in two such disparate disciplines.

In a single, he discovered himself a part of the elite virtually accidentally; within the different, he was instrumental in its success.

Mike Nicholson, who has died aged 81, will likely be remembered not solely as a high competitor within the heyday of the British Open rally championship, through which he co-drove Jimmy McRae to the 1984 crown, but additionally as head of Vauxhall’s motorsport programme – which, over a 21-year interval, resulted in British Touring Automotive Championship crowns for John Cleland, Jason Plato, James Thompson, Yvan Muller and Fabrizio Giovanardi. Each collection, at their respective peaks, had been hailed as ‘world’ championships that simply occurred to happen on UK soil.

Not solely that, however when the BTCC-supporting TOCA package deal was shaped for 1993, because the Tremendous Touring period introduced crowds flocking to the circuits and massive producer cash to the paddock, Nicholson pushed his marque’s Method Vauxhall Lotus and Method Vauxhall Junior – and, later, the Vectra Problem – championships to the circus.

“Vauxhall had been a automotive producer however they hadn’t been into motorsport,” recollects John Cleland, who gained the 1989 and 1995 BTCC titles with the Astra GTE and the Cavalier over an 11-year stint within the collection. “They had been into soccer. However, if something, we grew to become as huge because the Ford Motor Firm when you think about their footprint in motorsport versus Vauxhall’s. I believe we left a mark.”

“If it hadn’t been for Mike, and his help of us, Triple Eight wouldn’t have occurred or it could have been very tough to get going,” provides Ian Harrison, boss of the staff of that title, which ran Vauxhall’s works BTCC effort from 1997-2009. “Mike made it straightforward. He wanted our assist and we wanted his, so mutually all of it labored rather well. He grew to become a lifelong pal after that.”

Nicholson was the son of a horse dealer within the East Midlands, however most well-liked equipment that didn’t have a thoughts of its personal and commenced a clandestine rally navigating profession with lads from the native farming group.

By the early Seventies, an opportunity dialog with famous driver Roger Platt started to push Nicholson in direction of the large time, initially with Ford Escorts. Throughout the center of the last decade, he moved to the British Leyland works staff, sitting alongside Pat Ryan, primarily within the Triumph Dolomite Dash.

After an strategy from Supplier Staff Vauxhall, Nicholson’s huge break got here for 1978 when he was chosen to co-drive Pentti Airikkala within the Chevette HS within the British Open, starting knowledgeable profession underneath the Basic Motors umbrella that may final three a long time.

Over the following few years he known as notes for McRae (father of the late Colin), the good Tony Pond and Terry Kaby with Chevette equipment earlier than, in 1984, his title victory with McRae within the revered Opel Manta 400.

Nicholson had grow to be employed by Vauxhall in 1979, initially as fleet gross sales supervisor however, because the Nineteen Eighties wore on, he started to pivot extra right into a motorsport function with the corporate, and commenced to handle the rally programme. Though his co-driving profession was winding down, he did contest some rallies with Le Mans 24 Hours legend Derek Bell, to whom his much-broadcasted entreating Nicholson used because the title of his charming autobiography Pay attention To Me.

Cleland remembers Nicholson’s transfer to motorsport chief for Vauxhall being evolutionary, albeit as a part of a marque administration staff that included chairman Mark Bowie plus Steve Thompson (the ex-Method 5000 ace) and John Nixey. “There wasn’t anyone else at Vauxhall that knew as a lot as he did to get entangled as competitors supervisor,” says the Scot. “No person had that data, however he had.

“Steve and I had been the primary to drive the Brock Holden when it got here throughout right here within the Marlboro colors [and which would kick-start Cleland’s mid-to-late-1980s stint in Thundersaloons]. Mike wasn’t actually on the pointy finish of it when the Thundersaloons had been there; he got here on in direction of the top of that when the Astra was about to come back into racing. As quickly as we received into touring automobiles, Mike was there – he was that hyperlink between the staff and the folks that wrote the cheques.

“He was in a position to make the case to the powers that be at Vauxhall. I misplaced depend of the variety of Monday mornings the place I received a telephone name [from Nicholson] after an occasion and we’d have the dialog about, ‘Do we want any extra attorneys concerned?’”

Like Cleland, Nicholson loved an extended relationship with Vauxhall

Photograph by: JEP

Cleland remembers an incident within the first race at Snetterton in 1995, and a bit of skullduggery that solely got here to mild between races as a result of Nicholson’s spouse Marie was one of many bosses at BHP, the manufacturing firm that popularised the BTCC by way of its highlights packages for the BBC. It culminated in a driver who was primed to take out Cleland’s Cavalier eradicating one other automotive as a substitute.

“They’d greased over the bumper cam previous to the race, and you possibly can hear, ‘Have you ever sorted that digital camera on the entrance?’” recollects Cleland. “Marie had entry to the filming, and between the races all hell broke unfastened, and I keep in mind Mike being closely concerned in all of that.

“I keep in mind him phoning me one Monday morning and saying, ‘Pay attention, that firm automotive that we’ve changed for you, it’s simply gone by way of an public sale. Did we ever use that for a recce on a rally?’ I mentioned, ‘No I don’t suppose so, why?’ ‘Properly, the beneath of it’s f**ked.’ And it was only one explicit dip within the street on my method dwelling that I simply all the time used to flatten the exhaust on… Expensive outdated Mike needed to proceed to bail my firm automobiles out of hassle.”

Vauxhall’s works staff RML jumped ship to Nissan for 1997, so Nicholson pushed by way of a take care of a brand new operation initially spearheaded by Derek Warwick, former privateer staff boss Roland Dane, Harrison and ex-TWR Volvo design chief John Gentry. This was the BTCC’s equal of a Seventies prog-rock supergroup.

“We had been at a lodge in Newbury,” chuckles Harrison. “I used to be working at Williams and I used to be determined to maintain it quiet. Derek was there, and he met up with Mike and received a room for an hour – very dodgy! – and I hid within the rest room. Mike had no concept that I used to be concerned, and I’d actually been apprehensive that Frank [Williams] would discover out.

“They’d been chatting away, and after a couple of minutes I opened the toilet door, and Mike went, ‘Ooh what’s happening right here? Jesus Christ, what are you doing right here?’ And I simply put my head out the door and mentioned, ‘Is it secure?’ That was the cat out the bag then and we simply went from there. Mike’s affect was large. He received everyone on facet at Vauxhall and off we went.”

Harrison credit Nicholson’s affect for the BTCC’s reinvention on the demise of the Tremendous Touring period on the finish of 2000 and into the brand new BTC Touring rules for 2001: “Roland and Peter Riches [BTCC technical chief] steered the BTC rules as a result of Roland knew how a lot cash Basic Motors had, and I believe it went from £6million in Tremendous Touring and the next 12 months it was £1.3m or one thing like that.

Nicholson and his Vauxhall squad performed an important function in supporting new 2001 BTC rules

Photograph by: JEP

“They mentioned, ‘Look, we’ve received to construct automobiles round this type of cash’, and we did. We had been constructing automobiles [the Astra Coupe] with a value cap on them – constructing them for 80 grand and promoting them for 120 grand. They steered it alongside as a result of Mike was fairly open about how a lot cash they needed to spend, and that’s what received BTC off the bottom. Mike was massively concerned with that.”

Nicholson was famend as a heart-on-sleeve, motorsport nut mixed with the savvy required to push by way of his tasks, significantly throughout his last decade at Vauxhall, when producers had been merging, pulling out of the game or downsizing their commitments.

“I’m privileged to have felt that he was a very good mate,” displays Harrison. “Socially in addition to professionally, we received on rather well and we met up and did stuff. He would all the time attempt to come alongside to social occasions. He began flying and he stored making an attempt to coax me alongside to Turweston the place he’d go up on this bloody little aeroplane of his, and I’d be, ‘Sorry mate, I’ll hold my toes on the bottom if you happen to don’t thoughts!’”

“He was all the time a relentless, he was an fanatic by way of and thru, he knew the story,” sums up Cleland. “He undoubtedly cherished the game, and he and Marie had been actually fitted to what Mike did. He was there by way of my whole tenure – good, unhealthy and detached.”