| Founded | 1980s |
|---|---|
| Folded | 2004 |
| Team principal(s) | Vic Lee |
| Former series | British Touring Car Championship British GT Championship |
Vic Lee Racing (VLR), formerly Vic Lee Motorsport (VLM) was a UK auto racing team, most famous for running BMWs and Peugeots in the British Touring Car Championship, and most infamous for the drug-related convictions of its owner Victor "Vic" Lee.
Vic Lee Motorsport was based in Springhead Enterprise Park in Northfleet, Kent, from where a number of cars were prepared including the BTCC BMW cars. The team had considerable success in the early 1990s: in 1990 Jeff Allam won his class in a VLM prepared BMW M3, 1991 saw Will Hoy take the BTCC title in a similar car, and Tim Harvey won the championship for the team in a BMW 318is. During the 1992 season, following the switch to the new car, Vic Lee Motorsport would continue to prepare the older BMW M3 cars for privateer entrants such as future multiple champion Matthew Neal, who drove Hoy's title winning 1991 car under his father Steve Neal's 'Rimstock' banner.
However, the company was liquidated when Lee and others were convicted of importing drugs hidden in their race transporters worth £6 million, suspicions having been raised due to the number of times the team found it necessary to test at the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands. [1] Lee received a sentence of twelve years' imprisonment in 1993. [2]
The team was liquidated, and some of the assets sold went to the team's driver Ray Bellm and Steve Neal, who together formed Team Dynamics. [3]
After being released on parole in 1998 to work for Team Dynamics, [4] Vic shortly took over the Bowman Motorsport team, and restarted the team as 'VLR' (Vic Lee Racing) by running a programme in the National Saloon Car Championship. The team was given its own space at Peugeot's Stoke Heath factory; [4] the relationship also meant that the team also designed, built, and developed rally cars for the British iteration of the Peugeot 206 Cup, a one-make rally championship.[ citation needed ] For the 2000 BTCC season they ran a joint campaign in the NSC and BTCC Class B last season, winning both with Peugeot 306s driven by Toni Ruokonen and Alan Morrison respectively.
On the strength of these results Peugeot enlisted VLR to run their works entry in the new-look BTCC for 2001. VLR signed Dan Eaves, former VLM driver Steve Soper and Matt Neal to drive the bright yellow Peugeot 406 coupés, but sponsorship difficulties meant Neal was released from his contract after only two rounds. In addition, former Superbike racer Aaron Slight drove an extra car for one race weekend mid-season. The dominance of Vauxhall in 2001 meant that the team were not as successful as Peugeot hoped, resulting in the withdrawal of works backing.
However, despite rumours linking the team to running Lexus cars for 2002, they continued with the 406s under the guise of "Team Halfords" having landed substantial backing from the company. Eaves remained with the team, and was joined by 1992 champion Tim Harvey, Soper having retired after a career-ending crash at the final round of the 2001 season. Midway through the season they were joined by single-seater refugee Carl Breeze, and by the year's end Eaves had claimed 1st in the Independent's championship, with the team a creditable 5th overall.
For 2003 VLR switched to a Peugeot 307 with Eaves and Breeze, however the car was not as competitive and Breeze jumped ship to GA Motorsports with Clio ace Danny Buxton taking his place. Despite lodging an entry for the 2004 season, nothing materialised, leading to Eaves taking Halfords sponsorship to Team Dynamics at the last minute.
In 2005 Lee was again charged with two others and convicted of drug trafficking offences, when £1.7 million worth of class A drugs was discovered in the boot of his car, [4] in which he received again, twelve years imprisonment. [2]
Lee was released in 2010 and later became a managing director of Corbeau, a manufacturer of aftermarket seating for motor vehicles. [4]
Matthew Stephen Phillip Neal is a British motor racing driver. Neal is a triple BTCC Champion having won the British Touring Car Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2011. Neal is also a record 6 time BTCC Independents Champion having won the title in 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2006. He is also a race winner in the European Touring Car Championship. He is 6' 6" (2 m) tall, making him almost entirely unable to race single-seaters. He is also the Group Marketing Director at Rimstock, the alloy wheel manufacturer founded by his father Steve.
Daniel John Eaves is a British auto racing driver. He competed in the British Touring Car Championship between 2000 and 2005, and again in 2009, winning a total of six races and claimed a best finish of third place in the drivers' championship in 2005.
The 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 49th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. As in 2005, there were ten racing weekends at nine different circuits; each round comprising three races, making a thirty round competition in total.
The 2004 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 47th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
Team Dynamics Motorsport was a UK-based motor-racing team based in Droitwich, Worcestershire; best known for their successes in the British Touring Car Championship, including winning the Overall Drivers title in 2005, 2006 and 2011 with Matt Neal and 2012, 2015 and 2016 with Gordon Shedden. The team was founded by Steve Neal and former driver of Vic Lee Motorsport, Ray Bellm when they acquired its assets in 1993. For the following season, Bellm, having bought a majority stake in the Silverstone-based motorsport equipment retailer, Grand Prix Racewear, also acquired a McLaren F1 GTR and went his own way.
The 2003 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 46th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
Timothy James Harvey is a British racing driver, best known for being the 1992 British Touring Car Champion, and the 2008 and 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain champion. A household name in the 1990s, Harvey won sixteen races in the British Touring Car Championship between 1987 and 1995, and competed in the series until 2002. He was also the winner of the invitational Guia Race of Macau touring car event, in 1989.
Triple Eight Racing was a motorsports team formed in 1996 as Triple Eight Race Engineering, which competed in the British Touring Car Championship and the British GT Championship.
William Ewing Hoy was a British racing driver and the 1991 British Touring Car Champion, the highlight of a 20-year career in motor racing.
The 2002 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 45th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season which began at Brands Hatch on 1 April and concluded at Donington Park on 22 September.
Raymond Anthony Bellm is a racing driver from the United Kingdom.
The 1993 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season was 36th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
The 1997 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was won by Alain Menu of the Williams Renault Dealer Racing team, driving a Renault Laguna. Menu dominated the year, setting a record of 12 wins during the season. The runner up was Frank Biela of Audi Sport UK in an Audi A4 Quattro. Third place was Menu's teammate, Jason Plato. In the independent class the championship was won by Robb Gravett in a Honda Accord.
The 1995 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was won by John Cleland in a Vauxhall Cavalier. The Independents' title was won by Matt Neal in his Team Dynamics Ford Mondeo with fourteen class wins.
The 1992 Esso RAC British Touring Car Championship season was the 35th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
The BTC-T Peugeot 307 is a BTC-Touring class racing car that was built for the 2003 British Touring Car Championship season by Vic Lee Racing.
The 1991 Esso RAC British Touring Car Championship season was the 34th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season and marked the first year of the Super Touring era.
The 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 53rd British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It began at Thruxton Circuit on 4 April and finished after 30 races over ten events at Brands Hatch on 10 October.
The BTC-T Peugeot 406 Coupé is a BTC-Touring class racing car that was built for the 2001 British Touring Car Championship season by Vic Lee Racing, who were selected to run Peugeot's official works program for that season.
The BTC-T Honda Civic Type-R is a BTC-Touring class racing car that was built for the 2002 British Touring Car Championship season by Arena Motorsport, who ran Honda's official works program.
