When Simon Harrison lined up for his British Touring Car Championship debut at Donington Park in 1995, he had one rather significant problem. Despite being entrusted with a factory Peugeot 405, he had never actually practised a standing start in the car.

“It was just surprising how difficult it was to get the thing moving because you either ended up with stalling it or massive wheel spin,” Harrison recalled during the latest episode of Stories From SuperTouring.

After two troublesome starts, Peugeot arranged a test at Silverstone, where Harrison spent time travelling up and down the Hangar Straight trying to perfect his technique. It was hardly the preparation he had envisaged when he secured the drive alongside Patrick Watts. Harrison was the last factory driver to be confirmed for 1995. “It was only a few weeks before the start of the season, so we didn’t really have much preparation time!”

The racing itself was another eye-opener. Having graduated from the National Saloon Car Cup, Harrison was suddenly sharing the circuit with drivers he had previously watched from the sidelines. At Donington, he remembered lining up alongside David Brabham’s BMW, while at Thruxton he found himself chasing John Cleland’s Vauxhall.

The Hampshire circuit left a particularly lasting impression.

“And the speed at which you were going, it didn’t feel, it didn’t feel natural. It’s like this is too quick.”

The fiercely contested midfield was equally memorable, particularly Harrison’s encounters with Derek Warwick. The former Formula 1 driver was competing in an Alfa Romeo 155, and Harrison recalled regularly finding himself alongside Warwick in qualifying and subsequently battling him on the circuit.

The pair became familiar adversaries, frequently making contact as they fought for position. Harrison recalled that either he would hit Warwick or Warwick would hit him, often through little fault of either driver.

“We had quite a few on track exchanges,” he admitted, although he was keen to stress that the contact was rarely malicious. “It was all pretty clean, but no one gave an inch.”

Harrison explained how drivers would deliberately make their presence felt, occasionally giving the car ahead a gentle nudge in the hope of forcing a mistake. Attempting to overtake around the outside was particularly risky, as there was every chance of being forced onto the grass.

Despite the bruising encounters, Harrison remembered the racing fondly.

“No one’s firing each other off,” he explained. “Generally if that happens to mistake, people are just trying to be annoying to the person in front and just keep reminding them that they’re there.”

There were challenges with the Peugeot itself, too. The 405 struggled against its increasingly sophisticated rivals, and Harrison found himself involved in a continuous development programme alongside Watts.

The relationship with his experienced teammate proved one of the highlights of the season, with Harrison particularly appreciative of Watts’ willingness to share information and help him adapt to the car.

“Without a doubt the best team mate I’ve ever been with just because we’d be completely open and honest. He’d help as much as he could, we’d work together.”

The pair even began swapping cars during testing to experience one another’s setups, something Harrison believes helped accelerate development. He was equally impressed by Watts’ ability to extract performance from the Peugeot, even when its handling was far from ideal.

“I think his, his skill at racing was superb. Just I think, you know, he had such confidence and he could drive around problems, which I think was very important.”

One particularly interesting modification involved the rear suspension, which introduced a slight four-wheel-steering effect under cornering loads. Harrison explained how the change improved the car’s turn-in and front-end grip, allowing him to feel considerably more confident behind the wheel.

What made their partnership particularly unusual was the absence of any real rivalry between the two drivers away from the circuit. Rather than attempting to establish himself at Harrison’s expense, Watts was determined to see both Peugeots improve. “He just wanted us both to do well, which was I think pretty unheard of.”

There were plenty of laughs away from the racing, too. Harrison remembers the drivers turning safety car practice sessions into unofficial races in their road cars. His enthusiastic use of the kerbs repeatedly knocked the wheel-centre badges out of his Peugeot, leaving team manager Mick Linford rather unimpressed when marshals returned the missing pieces!

By the end of the season, Harrison felt he was finally beginning to get to grips with the 405. Unfortunately, Peugeot decided not to retain him for 1996, eventually replacing him with former champion Tim Harvey. Despite the disappointment, Harrison still looks back on 1995 with great affection, having experienced the BTCC during one of its most fiercely competitive periods.

Listen to the full interview with Simon Harrison now below, or wherever you get your podcasts.