* The Official BTCC Thread *

MagicBoy · 5 Jun 2011 at 20:34

I doubt Chilton is going anywhere. Daddy is chairman of AON, the primary sponsor.

Andy Neate on the other hand appears to be rubbish. He's done nothing useful all year.

Street · 5 Jun 2011 at 20:35

Duke said:
The bit where the team were all hanging over the rails to welcome them over the finish line was legendary.

The best bit was the guys face they were zoomed in on going from excitement at thinking they'd won to more of a "what the hell?!" face!

Duke · 5 Jun 2011 at 21:15

Street said:
The best bit was the guys face they were zoomed in on going from excitement at thinking they'd won to more of a "what the hell?!" face!

Almost GIF worthy

Westyfield2 · 5 Jun 2011 at 21:16

Plato annoys me.

Alibaba99 · 5 Jun 2011 at 22:13

Berger said:
The thing is, its usually at least 50% his fault in these situations!

There is always going to be a team with a better chassis/engine or whatever, just happens that Honda have both, being a works team you would expect that.

Its his teams fault for not using the NGTC engine imo, which if they have spent a lot developing the S2000 engine then you can see why they would want to use it and not just throw all that development money away!

Wonder what happened with Collard and Nash at the start, ruined Nashs chances in the last race.

Chevrolet/RML don't have an NGTC engine. They are closely aligned with the WTCC cars but the factory cars are now running a 1.6T as per the WTCC rules which cannot be used in the BTCC.

Berger · 5 Jun 2011 at 22:15

Alibaba99 said:
Chevrolet/RML don't have an NGTC engine. They are closely aligned with the WTCC cars but the factory cars are now running a 1.6T as per the WTCC rules which cannot be used in the BTCC.

So you are making my point exactly?

They won't spend the money to develop one so Plato should stfu whinging since thats the team he chose to drive for?

DevilsAdvocate · 5 Jun 2011 at 22:16

For those who didn't see it

blueboy2001 · 5 Jun 2011 at 22:20

wez130 said:
I'm wondering why Audi have gone for a RWD A4?

It's because the A4 uses a transverse mounted engine (like most RWD cars) even though they are FWD. There are 2 gearboxes available under the NGTC rules and only the RWD box would fit in the chassis , so they had to go RWD.

blueboy2001 · 5 Jun 2011 at 22:32

Berger said:
So you are making my point exactly?

They won't spend the money to develop one so Plato should stfu whinging since thats the team he chose to drive for?

Whilst I don't agree with his whinging and certainly not this weekend when it appeared to me that the conditions were more to do with the pace differential than the engines, Plato has a point insofar as Alan Gow said that performance between NGTC cars, S2000/NGTC Turbo engine cars and S2000 NA cars would be given parity. Effectively that means it shouldn't matter whether you run a turbo or an NA engine, the performance should be the same.

It's easier said than done though, because these rules are not in place to stifle development. Honda have a great package but are actually running a lower boost pressure than some other teams. If Plato has similar performance to say the Vectra's, then thats fair enough. He can't expect other teams to be pegged back until he can beat them.

Whilst he's whinging though, his results and championship points are actually pretty good. He could be holding a bit back in the hope of further rule changes to his advantage.

Kerming · 5 Jun 2011 at 22:36

WOW!!!!!!!! lmao what the hell happond! amazing video, i didn't watch the race's becuase i was working.

Alibaba99 · 5 Jun 2011 at 22:59

blueboy2001 said:
It's because the A4 uses a transverse mounted engine (like most RWD cars) even though they are FWD. There are 2 gearboxes available under the NGTC rules and only the RWD box would fit in the chassis , so they had to go RWD.

Don't you mean the engine is longitudinal? Most front drivers are transverse, it's the Audi which is an exception.

Berger said:
So you are making my point exactly?

They won't spend the money to develop one so Plato should stfu whinging since thats the team he chose to drive for?

RML aren't a big enough organisation / don't have the funding to develop two turbo engines. Obviously Chevvy wanted to be competitive in WTCC so that is the way they went.

MagicBoy · 5 Jun 2011 at 23:00

blueboy2001 said:
It's because the A4 uses a longitudinal mounted engine (like most RWD cars) even though they are FWD. There are 2 gearboxes available under the NGTC rules and only the RWD box would fit in the chassis , so they had to go RWD.

Fixed.

The only other option for RML is to use the TOCA Swindon engine, but being manufactuer supported that's never going to happen.

mrgubby · 6 Jun 2011 at 08:20

I'd been taking photos at Lodge corner but walked along to the end of the start/finish straight a few laps from the end to get the Pit crew waving the cars across the line shot for the Hondas...

Double Fail for me

Skeeter · 6 Jun 2011 at 09:22

Alibaba99 said:
RML aren't a big enough organisation / don't have the funding to develop two turbo engines. Obviously Chevvy wanted to be competitive in WTCC so that is the way they went.

I'm sorry, but this argument is just rubbish. The NGTC is an almost off the shelf engine, and even one man and his dog independant teams have been able to develop them. The head of the team even admitted it on yesterdays show that they wanted to go the pure S2000 rout for the 'principle' of it, and knew they would be at a disadvantage. Clearly they figured they could just moan enough to slow the turbos down, and it appears to be working.

MagicBoy · 6 Jun 2011 at 09:40

It's not rubbish. RML are a manufacturer supported team. How can Chevy in all conscience use the BTCC to help sell cars when they are using someone else's engine in it?

GravyMonster · 6 Jun 2011 at 09:44

Then maybe Chevrolet should take their rebadged Daewoos and leave the series then?

That'd be a shame. Really would.

Skeeter · 6 Jun 2011 at 10:15

MagicBoy said:
It's not rubbish. RML are a manufacturer supported team. How can Chevy in all conscience use the BTCC to help sell cars when they are using someone else's engine in it?

Doesn't seem to hinder Honda....

RML have never said they couldn't use the NGTC engine, they have always said they chose not to. You don't choose to use a setup you know will be slower, and then complain that its slower... :confused:

TBH, the sooner RML either fit the NGTC engines or bugger off, the better. The NGTC specifications are great, all this arguing is doing is slowing down the implementation.

Berger · 6 Jun 2011 at 10:17

If AMD Miltek are reading this then I am more than happy to step into Onslow Coles shoes.

I am available for the remaining rounds of the season and will happily drive for free

My extensive CV consists of 3 trackdays, but as the round at Oulton Park is now complete, and the championship doesn't visit Cadwell Park I'm not sure how much use that will be.

Skeeter · 6 Jun 2011 at 10:21

Berger said:
I am available for the remaining rounds of the season and will happily drive for free

Unfortunatly, almost all BTCC drivers pay for their seats. If you have a few million in the bank I'm sure they would be interested though

GravyMonster · 6 Jun 2011 at 11:32

It's around £200-£300k for a season for the pay drivers. I remember seeing an article about pay drivers in AutoSport a few years back.

As an aside, an average pay driver in F1 would have to pay between £5m-£15m depending on the team. Probably less now HRT/Virgin are involved.

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