Sundays are the perfect time to finally take the plunge and use some of your Christmas cash on a box set of season reviews for the British Touring Car Championship from the 2000s. You insert the first DVD, embarking on a three-hour journey revisiting the 2000 season of car touring across the finest asphalt landscapes Britain has to offer. You consider the American audience, making a mental note to clarify that the excitement on screen is somewhat akin to NASCAR, but without oval circuits, smaller engines, and significantly more interactions among drivers that you could aptly characterize as ‘politely irritable outbursts.’
Vroommmm. A Ford Mondeo rushes past, Swiss driver Alain Menu behind the wheel. Crash. James Thompson and Jason Plato have tried to combine a Honda Accord and a Vauxhall Vectra to create the world’s inaugural Honhall Veccord. Skid. Another Mondeo drifts around a curve. The door number is unclear. Is it Rickard Rydell or Anthony Reid in control? Oh no. It’s neither. Adrian Edmondson somehow flashes a playful smile through a full-face helmet as he navigates the machine down through Paddock Hill bend.