For 1990, Vauxhall found that the title winning Astra was no longer eligible for the new two-litre class, so they turned to the all-new front
wheel drive Cavalier GSi model to take its place. Although the Cavalier was an unproven racecar, Cleland used it to great effect against the
tried-and-tested BMW M3 of Frank Sytner and his fellow BMW junior team members. In fact, Cleland and the Cavalier ended the 23 race class-winning
streak for the BMW after only three rounds of the championship.
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1990 also saw some of the Cleland aggression on display for the first time in the BTCC. His year long battle with Frank Sytner boiled over at the
Birmingham street circuit, where an ambitious attempt by Sytner to overtake Cleland at the final corner put both cars out of the race and ended
in fisticuffs on the circuit. Unfortunately, this manoeuvre cost Cleland any hope for the title and the following scuffle a £250 fine for
"un-gentlemanly behavior".
Cleland bounced back from this incident and took one more race victory in the final round at Silverstone, taking his overall tally to four wins for the season
putting him second in class and fifth overall.
The Cleland/Cavalier combination had become quite a formidable partnership by the end of the year and the possibilities for 1991 looked promising.
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Jeff Allam joined Cleland at Vauxhall in 1991, giving the team more strength in the series. Both were very experienced and capable drivers and ran strongly
during the season. However, Cleland could not turn the pre-season predictions into a reality, and second overall was all he could achieve again.
The blame for the lack of form was laid squarely at the Dunlop tyres, which Vauxhall had used successfully in the previous year. Such was the
pace of tyre development that the previously reliable Dunlop's were soon off the pace compared to the Pirelli's and Yokohama's of the rest of the
field. It was not until Dunlop introduced their new radial-ply tyre half way through the season that the Cavaliers improved.
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A Yokohama tyre deal was the first change for 1992, as were two brand new cars for Cleland and Allam. Following the disappointments
of the previous season, 1992 started well for Cleland with two wins in the first two rounds. This gave him a strong early lead that he was
to hold on to for the majority of the season.
A Testing accident at Donnington towards the end of the year left him with a broken sternum, but the gritty driver still
drove in the following round in an attempt to keep his championship hopes alive. His heroics were rewarded with a third place and he entered
the final round with a three points lead over Tim Harvey and four points over Will Hoy.
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