*** BTCC Begins, Sunday 5th April 09. ***

Grumps82

Grumps82

Grumps82

Soldato
Joined
30 Aug 2006
Posts
3,368
Just a heads up for all you people here. On ITV 4 from 11:45 - 18:00.

All news etc can be found here : http://www.btcc.net/html/home.php

It seems as though Jason Plato will be making an appearance with the Chevrolet Lacetti.

And a rather nice selection of manufacturers :

1 Fabrizio Giovanardi : VX Racing Vauxhall Vectra
3 Jason Plato : RML Chevrolet Lacetti
4 Colin Turkington : Team RAC BMW 320si E90
5 Matt Neal : Vauxhall Vectra
9 Adam Jones : SEAT Leon
10 Tom Chilton : Team Aon Ford Focus ST
11 Robert Collard : BMW 320si E90
12 Jonathan Adam : Airwaves BMW
15 Martyn Bell British : Honda Integra
16 Nick Leason : BMW 120D
17 Harry Vaulkhard : Chevrolet Lacetti
27 Liam McMillan : SEAT Toledo Cupra
28 Jason Hughes : MG ZS
29 Paul O'Neill British : Honda Integra
44 Stephen Jelley : BMW 320si E90
50 John George : Honda Integra
52 Gordon Shedden : Honda Civic
55 David Pinkney : Honda Civic
63 Martin Johnson : Vauxhall Astra Coupe
77 Andrew Jordan : Vauxhall Vectra
85 Dan Eaves : SEAT Leon


Im not a fan of Formula 1 but i do like the door to door racing of Touring cars.

So who is your money on for the championship ?.

Im going for Matt Neal.
 
Spunkey said:
TBH I think i'd prefer a series without manufacturers, so it's about drivers going for glory rather than big corporate types trying to raise sales.
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What's so bad about "win on Sunday, sell on Monday"? It was part of what made Touring Cars so good before the great manufacturer withdrawal. The AWD Audis tearing up the field, the Volvo 850 estates, the utterly bizarre blue and yellow paintscheme on the Lagunas, Nigel Mansell's couple of drives in the Mondeo....

Now it's just banger racing, and not particularly exciting banger racing either.
 
JRS said:
What's so bad about "win on Sunday, sell on Monday"? It was part of what made Touring Cars so good before the great manufacturer withdrawal. The AWD Audis tearing up the field, the Volvo 850 estates, the utterly bizarre blue and yellow paintscheme on the Lagunas, Nigel Mansell's couple of drives in the Mondeo....
Click to expand...

That was great. Battle of "Dads" cars :D None of this hatchback nonsense :)
 
I don't really mind if it is manufacturers, or professional drivers and sponsorship or the gentleman drivers. For the last few years it has been a real mix of them all and the racing has been really good.

I know people long for the manufacture saloon car days but they are gone. Manufacturers cannot afford the big fancy cars with big name drivers, in the 90's engines were rebuilt after nearly every race and parts developed like in F1, it was crazy money. The S2000 spec of car works well for everyone and hence Vauxhall are still in and other brands in the WTCC. The other factor of course is that normal saloons cars are in decline and why would the manufacture want to highlight these cars. Manufactures came in, had their fun and are now off again, something which I believe could happen in F1 as well.

Privateers will always choose the best car for racing, model promotion is not important. If you can have a Focus with a 2 litre engine then why would you choose a bigger/bulkier/heavier Mondeo to race unless the aerodynamics is significantly better. For the record we still have the 3 Vauxhall saloons, 4 BMW 320's, at least 2 Lacettis, the MG ZS and a Seat Toledo so there are still plenty of saloons.

The series still has plenty of support and lots of people still wanting to join it. The good publicity, crowds and TV coverage still helps with interest and sponsers. Yes they are 3 cars down and some big names down this year but its been tough for a lot of people if key sponsors pull out. That is why Matt Jackson isn't around this year, BMW Accident Exchange pulled out and although I thought he had other sponsors ready it seems he has not made it. At least Plato put something together after losing his works drive and the other big privateer teams are as strong as ever.
 
Im still looking forward to this, i agree about the good ol' days. Used to love the Volvo's tearing up the track.

For me this is still the best motor racing i get to watch (not having sky etc). Formula 1 to me has no excitement.

I hope the weather on Sunday is awful, gives me an excuse to stay in all day and watch it.
 
I think maybe the thing to do is tune in at 11:45 and see what its all about. Im not sure if there are any rule changes but there probably will be.

The excitement of Touring cars has been lost maybe in recent years, lets hope the racing this year is good.
 
JRS said:
What's so bad about "win on Sunday, sell on Monday"? It was part of what made Touring Cars so good before the great manufacturer withdrawal. The AWD Audis tearing up the field, the Volvo 850 estates, the utterly bizarre blue and yellow paintscheme on the Lagunas, Nigel Mansell's couple of drives in the Mondeo....

Now it's just banger racing, and not particularly exciting banger racing either.
Click to expand...

Ive still got a 1996 promo poster of the Laguna, think I might still have one of the BMW ones aswell. Really miss the "old" days, my first real experience was Snetterton 96 so there was a fantastic mix of cars.
 
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