BTCC - What is going on?

Malt_Vinegar said:
Why, when the diseasals have a performance advantage?
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They only have an advantage in a straight line. The Vauxhalls are more stable on the conrners due to their longer wheels base. Are you going to say thats unfair too and they should make the vectra shorter?
As you seen in race 2 Fabrizio managed to stay right with Jason Plato even up the hill into turn 1.
 
The Seat can't have that much of an advantage - Plato isn't winning (and is very unlikely to do so) the championship. I think it's great that you have petrol, diesel, FWD, RWD, 5-speed, 6-speed etc etc all in the same field. It makes for fantastic racing. I'm going to the Silverstone race in a couple of weeks.
 
clv101 said:
The Seat can't have that much of an advantage - Plato isn't winning (and is very unlikely to do so) the championship. I think it's great that you have petrol, diesel, FWD, RWD, 5-speed, 6-speed etc etc all in the same field. It makes for fantastic racing. I'm going to the Silverstone race in a couple of weeks.
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Agreed, they shouldn't have too many rules otherwise it will become like F1. :)
 
Spunkey said:
:( hadn't heard they'd change their minds on that.

I dare say Audi have quite a bit of sway over them.
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It was during the Le Mans event this year. There was an announcement from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO, governing body of Le Mans and LMES) about the future of the sport. Everyone was expecting them to say that all P1 cars would be closed cockpit and that they would slow down the diesels, but the outright speed of the cars over the weekend and some presure from teams meant the announcement was more like "uh, the P1 cars (Diesel and Petrol) are to dam fast, we will be finding way to slow them, finding ways to even the Petrol/Diesel spit, and not forcing P1 to closed cockpit, watch this space".

I doubt it was Audi who had a substantial say, as the rumors about them are that the R10 is being retired, and they are plannign to replace it with a closed cockpit R8 (the P1 car, not the road car), probubly with Petrol power. The most exciting rumor however was talk of an Audi GT2 challenger, in the form of an RS4 or S5 based car :)

All will be revealed however.

sr4470 said:
What? No Volvo? :/
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The Volvo C30 at Brands Hatch in the WTCC was awesome. A very under developed car running on Ethonol. It was keeping pace well in the mid field and sounded awesome as it revved much higher than the almost silent Seats and the BMWs... That was, untill they went of and it ingested some gravel :(
 
Skeeter said:
The Volvo C30 at Brands Hatch in the WTCC was awesome. A very under developed car running on Ethonol. It was keeping pace well in the mid field and sounded awesome as it revved much higher than the almost silent Seats and the BMWs... That was, untill they went of and it ingested some gravel :(
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Not the Volvos I remember in the late 90s then.
 
sr4470 said:
Not the Volvos I remember in the late 90s then.
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There was one of them there too!

(well, a fan had covered an old T5 in graphics to make it look like one, estate too!)

Old:
volvo_850_t5-r_btcc.jpg


New:
191195-1.jpg
 
There are loads of reasons why the Rwd cars aren’t really as competitive as they could be in a less bump and barge style of racing.

1. 5 speed gear box
2. They cannot regain control as easily or maintain speed when contact occurs (a necessity in the BTCC)
3. Driving style for a rwd car is more often slow in fast out. Fwd can carry more speed into the corner but can’t put the power down as early on the way out. In the BTCC this means that rwd cars are prey to late lunge attacks and with the way the contact is dealt with in the btcc they will usually be nurfed out onto the grass or gravel.

Benefits are: fast starting and better tyre wear.

I was a bit appalled at the standard of driving at Nockhill. There were several occasions where cars were pushed onto the grass along a straight :confused: which is totally out of order and dangerous in my book. Also what’s the deal with being gentlemanly in motorsport nowadays- there were several occasions where cars were overtaken and not given racing room on the exit of the corner forcing them into the gravel (Turkington's tactic) not exactly fair or clean racing if you ask me.

Still all good entertainment I guess just sad to see that the drivers clearly have no respect for each other these days.
 
Platinum Pete said:
I was a bit appalled at the standard of driving at Nockhill. There were several occasions where cars were pushed onto the grass along a straight :confused: which is totally out of order and dangerous in my book. Also what’s the deal with being gentlemanly in motorsport nowadays- there were several occasions where cars were overtaken and not given racing room on the exit of the corner forcing them into the gravel (Turkington's tactic) not exactly fair or clean racing if you ask me.
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The BTCC is only about entertainment. To the general mindless, ignorant public (the largest majority of the audience), that means crashing into each other.

The nurfing going on last weekend was absolutely shocking, and yet as far as I'm aware (haven't caught up with everything as yet), no penalties were given. That tells you something.
 
Memphis said:
The BTCC is only about entertainment. To the general mindless, ignorant public (the largest majority of the audience), that means crashing into each other.

The nurfing going on last weekend was absolutely shocking, and yet as far as I'm aware (haven't caught up with everything as yet), no penalties were given. That tells you something.
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I know- I was looking on the official site on Monday honestly expecting several drivers to have their race points stripped. If someone had crashed badly because of the bad racing ethics I would imagine it would be a different story.

That said I am a huge motorsport fan and also love the BTCC (some might say the two are mutually exclusive!!) and see the merit of allowing a small amount of contact (BTCC has always been far more entertaining than WTCC and closer racing in my opinion) but I think there does need to be more enforcement of racing "rules" especially when people are getting a benefit from driving in a purposely unsporting manner.
 
Been at Knockhill every year since it's debut at Knckhill 1991, was there on Sunday and really enjoyed the day.
Yes the SeatTDI is good at Knockhill due to the long uphill drag on the main straight, but it isn't as successfull at other circuits, shown by the fact the a Vauhall leads the driver's championship.
Also Gordon Shedden actually works at Knockhill so if anyone had a chance it was him, but his best was 4th IIRC, just shows how good the Vauxhall and Seat's are.
I was at Croft as well this year and the BMW really suited Croft, with Matt Jackson having a spectacular drive from 14th to 2nd and almost snatching 1st at the line, different cars suit different tracks.
Yes it has taken afew years for the series to get as competitive as the late 90's in the SuperTouring era but it is getting there.

Great 1994 video btw!
 
Spunkey said:
For anyone who saw last weekend at Knockhill, compare and contrast.

By the way, I absolutely love the Alfa 155s. There is a very large part of me that still wants to buy one :)
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WOW, not one panel dented (except for that crash LOL)....proper racing. BTCC now its just daft..... all you need to do is get close to plato and he rams you off the road.
 
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