In 1993, Ian Flux had finally competed in his first full season in the British Touring Car Championship. This followed a number of seasons filled with part season drives, which were always limited by funding issues.
“I did 2 years with Roy Kennedy Racing with his BMW M3 and it was just chasing money the whole time. We turned up at some meetings because we had enough money to run and then didn’t bother if we didn’t!” Flux told our Stories From SuperTouring podcast. “We never got into debt – we always agreed that we would never get into debt and that we would only race if we were all able to make a couple of quid over the weekend.”
https://embed.smartframe.io/cf672a5debefbf3ded9207696998bf28.jsAt the end of 1992, Flux was offered the opportunity to race a second Peugeot 405 for the works outfit at the season finale and the TOCA Shoot-Out.
“I did the last round of 1992 at Silverstone and then did the TOCA shootout with the factory team,” Flux continued. “I was told that the drive was mine for 1993, but then I had a phone call from Mick Linford just before Christmas to withdraw that offer because Robb Gravett was smart enough to have written in his contract that he would have an input into who would be his team mate in the second seat.”
As a result of that contract mix up, Flux was given a Peugeot 405 for free by Mick Linford to run for 1993, with Roy Kennedy Racing running the car.
“In 1993, with the Peugeot, the car was free from Mick Linford and I had free tyres from Dunlop. Halfords had just started selling Silkolene Oil and they wanted to promote it, so they gave us £120,000 to do it. So our overall budget was £200,000!”
https://embed.smartframe.io/cf672a5debefbf3ded9207696998bf28.jsFlux had a strong start to the season & outperformed the factory cars of Gravett & Eugene O’Brien. By the time the championship got to Knockhill, the 2 works Peugeot 405s received an engine upgrade, with Flux stuck with the original engine.
“The works cars never beat me in the first half of 1993. It was only when they got the new cylinder head & I didn’t, that’s when our pace fell off. We went to Knockhill and I was looking a right knob because of our pace & I said to the press that a fucking Leeds taxi driver wouldn’t want this engine!”
That outburst effectively ended his relationship with Peugeot UK, with Flux struggling with an uncompetitive machine – failing to score another point that season.
For 1994, Flux was again pencilled in to be in a Peugeot 405, but instead of a UK built machine, it would be one of the French built cars, run by John Macdonald’s SuperPower team.
SuperPower were a team with vast experience, including F1 & F3000. They were founded in 1989 by Macdonald & Mick Ralph, who owned the RAM F1 team.
Despite the car appearing on the entry list, the team never managed to get the budget together and the car never raced.
“Halfords had enjoyed the coverage they got in 1993, but Silkolene felt they had enough & Halfords would only come up with half of the budget, which was £400,000. We had free Michelin tyres ready to go. Halfords tried to find another partner that they stocked in their shops, but couldn’t find anyone willing to come up with the other £200,000.”
“So we never ran and it’s a shame because it was a pukka car, it was the factory car from the French championship that they ran in 1993.”
When asked how he felt the car would have performed, Flux gave a usual no-nonsense answer.
“Who knows, I could bullshit you and say it would have been brilliant, but it didn’t happen. I’ve got enough shit to deal with from stuff that did happen!”
Listen to the full story of Ian Flux’s career on our podcast series, Stories From SuperTouring.
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