1999 in the British Touring Car Championship saw the multi-million pound factory teams of Ford, Honda, Nissan, Renault, Vauxhall and Volvo battle it out over the 13 rounds at eight different tracks. However, it was a drive by privateer Matt Neal in a 1998 Nissan Primera that grabbed the headlines early on the season and highlighted why BTCC is so special. Matt picked up a cheque for £250,000 from series organiser Alan Gow for being the first privateer to take the chequered flag against the might of the big factories! Once the leading teams got over the shock it was Nissan (Laurent Aiello and David Leslie), Volvo (Rickard Rydell) and Honda (James Thompson) who would carry the fight through the season. Night racing added extra spice to the show during the summer - and proved popular with drivers and fans alike.