BTCC: Kieth O’dor – 25 years on from his tragic death

Nissan: a brand with multiple British Touring Car wins to its name, and Kieth O’dor to thank for its success.

Being the man that brought the Japanese marque into the famous series, O’dor’s career was one of success, slumps, and sorrow.

25 years on from the Salisbury-born racer’s heartbreaking death, William Holmes pays tribute to one of the prominent figures of ’90s touring cars.

Born on 5 April 1962, O’dor (also noted as Odor throughout his career) initially partook in rallying, before switching to circuit racing in 1987. Kieth’s first success was enjoyed two years later, winning the British Production Saloon Car Championship in a Ford Sierra.

O’dor’s father, Hungarian-born Janos, founded famous engineering company Janspeed shortly after his son’s birth, and it is through this operation that Kieth’s long-term association with Nissan began.

Behind the wheel of a Janspeed Skyline, O’dor eased to the 1990 Group N Production Championship title, with nine wins and 10 lap records to his name.

As a result of this success, Kieth found himself lining up on the BTCC grid come 1991, driving the first Nissan ever raced in the series – a Primera eGT. O’dor frequently placed in points finishes in his inaugural season, with the Janspeed team ultimately upgrading to two cars come the end of the year.

1992’s campaign saw O’dor partnered with Andy Middlehurst and James Weaver; Kieth bettered both throughout, and Nissan placed fourth in the Manufacturers’ championship. However, the year was perhaps best remembered for O’dor’s frightening rollover at Donington Park in a TOCA Shootout session, in which he remarkably walked away relatively injury-free.

Kieth enjoyed his best BTCC season in 1993, claiming his and Nissan’s first race win in the category at Silverstone – the event was the British Grand Prix’s support package, and O’dor led a Nissan 1-2 alongside teammate Win Percy. A couple of second-place finishes at Brands Hatch rounded off a stellar year, ultimately placing sixth in the Drivers’ standings.

Sadly, the success was not to be reciprocated in 1994, with the Primera GT slow from the offset, and a plethora of unlucky crashes tainting the season. An early fourth place finish at Snetterton topped the year’s results.

Consequently, O’dor travelled to Germany in 1995 with Nissan and BMS Scuderia Italia, and competed in the recently formed German ADAC Super Tourenwagen Cup. Despite running an older model Primera, Kieth quickly found his feet, and won the first of two races at AVUS, beating eventual champion Joachim Winkelhock in a lights-to-flag victory.

During the second race, whilst running in third, O’dor’s Nissan clipped the inside wall at a fast right-hander, and shot into the opposing Armco barrier. Left stranded in the middle of the track, Frank Biela’s Audi A4 slammed into the driver’s side door at 118mph.

For most of the other drivers on the grid, the smash would not have been on the passenger’s door, but, because of O’dor’s British racing experience, he was placed on the right-hand-side of the car.

After 30 minutes, O’dor was eventually extracted from the Primera GT, and was transported to hospital in Berlin, where he sadly succumbed to his injuries the following morning.

Thanks to Kieth’s natural racing ability, the famous Nissan brand continued to find success in the BTCC after his death, winning multiple races during the peak of the Super Tourer era.

The most notable of these wins came in 1999, when Matt Neal famously won £250,000 from then series promoter Alan Gow; Neal and Team Dynamics bagged the first ever outright Independents win in the modern era at Donington Park in a Nissan Primera GT. While Neal has since paved his own way, his success in part, was thanks to efforts O’dor and Nissan had worked on throughout that decade.

A man harnessing great skill in a tin-top racer, future success would have surely come O’dor’s way. Sadly, Kieth’s untimely death 25 years ago remains a brutal reminder of the dangers of motorsport, and regrettably, took away a very talented individual.