Ian Heward
Ian Heward (born 3 July 1964 in Leeds) is a British former auto racing driver. He is best known as entering the prestigious British Touring Car Championship in the mid-nineties as an under-funded driver. He started racing as a rally driver in the early 80's and switched to circuit racing with three years in the British Porsche Carrera Cup from 1987 to 1989 in a 924 and 911s. In 1990 he drove in some races in the Formula Ford 1600 and Formula Renault Championships. He returned to racing in a Porsche 944 S2 in 1994/5 with the British Production Car series. This was followed by racing in some rounds of the VW Vento Challenge in 1995.[1]
BTCC
He first entered the British Touring Car Championship in 1996 where he campaigned a former David Leslie RML works 1993 Vauxhall Cavalier with his own low-budget Promotor-Sport Team. He started his season in the third round at Brands Hatch, but was well off the pace of his fellow Total Cup for Independents racers, failing to qualify due to steering issues. He returned for round 19 at Oulton Park, but did not qualify for a race until round 21 at Thruxton, finishing the first race, but retiring with gearbox failure in round 22. He would have more success on his second visit to Thruxton that year finishing 12th overall in the now historic race that saw Alain Menu and Will Hoy's crash in the Williams, Renault Laguna at Campbell on the opening lap. The last two championship races of the year at Donington Park saw Heward on the podium 2nd & 3rd in class and finishing the season's Total Cup in overall fifth place with 28 points. He returned to Donington Park in October that year for the International Tourist Trophy Race but retired due to engine failure.
Despite his problems with the car, he returned with it for eight more rounds in 1997. Still a long way off the pace, he only qualified for rounds eleven and twelve at Donington Park. He only finished in the second of these races, four laps down from race winner Alain Menu.
In 2010 Ian competed in the Bathurst 12 Hour in a Holden Commodore HSV and in the BritCar endurance series with ProSport. Ian is currently racing in the 2011/12/13 BritCar series in a 3400cc Nissan Rapier SR2.
Racing record
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
(key)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | ProMotor Sport | Vauxhall Cavalier | DON 1 |
DON 2 |
BRH 1 DNS |
BRH 2 DNS |
THR 1 |
THR 2 |
SIL 1 |
SIL 2 |
OUL 1 |
OUL 2 |
SNE 1 |
SNE 2 |
BRH 1 |
BRH 2 |
SIL 1 |
SIL 2 |
KNO 1 |
KNO 2 |
OUL 1 DNS |
OUL 2 DNS |
THR 1 12 |
THR 2 Ret |
DON 1 18 |
DON 2 18 |
BRH 1 |
BRH 2 |
25th | 0 |
| 1997 | ProMotor Sport | Vauxhall Cavalier | DON 1 |
DON 2 |
SIL 1 |
SIL 2 |
THR 1 |
THR 2 |
BRH 1 |
BRH 2 |
OUL 1 |
OUL 2 |
DON 1 Ret |
DON 2 16 |
CRO 1 |
CRO 2 |
KNO 1 |
KNO 2 |
SNE 1 DNQ |
SNE 2 DNQ |
THR 1 DNQ |
THR 2 DNQ |
BRH 1 |
BRH 2 |
SIL 1 DNQ |
SIL 2 DNQ |
23rd | 0 |