[BTCC] BTCC 2017 - Rounds 13, 14, 15 - Croft

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Matt K

It's not about Eurotech, it's about Team Dynamics Dynamics is Steve Neal's team
.

Yeah, I know that. My original post was about Eurotech's history of owner's son driving for them - nothing to do with TD.

[skells22]

well, here some good news, Luke now back home but we still waiting on when boh motorbase and triple 8 plans are for Wednesdays test

[S griffin]

Well testing is on today in good conditions, so we'll see if there is any new names out there

[Alfisti]

Will Plato finally drive Suttons Subaru? Indeed, will BMR turn up? Ditto 888?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Will Plato finally drive Suttons Subaru? Indeed, will BMR turn up? Ditto 888?

BMR and 888 are both testing. Plato, Sutton, Cole and Price all tested in the am for BMR. Cook drove for 888.

Chris Milford was out in a CC.

[AdrianM]

Be interesting to see if they did swap cars. 5/10ths between them this morning and (it's early days) it's the same sort of gap but the other way around this afternoon.

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Chris Milford was out in a CC.

Backup driver and car should Motorbase or MG not get back out again?

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

Backup driver and car should Motorbase or MG not get back out again?

Epps was unavailable today, but will drive tomorrow.

Or perhaps Milford's cheque cleared first

[thlbtcc]

Rory Butcher, Shedden's brother-in-law, tested for Motorbase today - https://www.motorsport-news.co.uk/ne...for-motorbase/

[skells22]

so at the mo 31 cars on the grid for the next round in Snetterton which means who ever replace Luke will have to wait until Knockhill

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by AdrianM

Be interesting to see if they did swap cars. 5/10ths between them this morning and (it's early days) it's the same sort of gap but the other way around this afternoon.

BMR are being fairly cagey about the results of the test - and it seems like Plato is not going to get a new chassis, but will have to make do with his current (bent) one.
'It was a very successful test and all changes were tried on all four cars at different stages to ensure we got absolute answers for set up. We are confident that we are heading in the right direction to make the car work for Jason's requirements.'

Could the last sentence be interpreted as 'Jason can't make the car work as well as Ash can'?
With the current championship standings, I would think the team should be getting behind Sutton 100% and doing everything possible to make the car work for Ash's requirements, not Jason's?

[auroan]

I can see Jason going back to FWD. Lets admit it... he's a wizard in a FWD car.... maybe RWD doesn't suit his driving style.

[Rob877]

Originally Posted by auroan

I can see Jason going back to FWD. Lets admit it... he's a wizard in a FWD car.... maybe RWD doesn't suit his driving style.

To be fair to Plato, he was pretty damn close to Turkington (the benchmark of BTCC RWD) last year, so I don't think it's RWD holding him back this year. Although it's starting to become a bit of a broken record I'm inclined to believe that he is suffering with issues from the crash at Brands. He was quicker than Sutton there then seemed to drop off a cliff after the crash. It must be hugely frustrating to be in his position when Ash Sutton has lit up the field most of this year.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Rob877

To be fair to Plato, he was pretty damn close to Turkington (the benchmark of BTCC RWD) last year, so I don't think it's RWD holding him back this year. Although it's starting to become a bit of a broken record I'm inclined to believe that he is suffering with issues from the crash at Brands. He was quicker than Sutton there then seemed to drop off a cliff after the crash. It must be hugely frustrating to be in his position when Ash Sutton has lit up the field most of this year.

Just to put an alternative view forward here but could it be that due to experience with the car, Ash was actually slow at Brands, but his gained experience has gained him pace?

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Just to put an alternative view forward here but could it be that due to experience with the car, Ash was actually slow at Brands, but his gained experience has gained him pace?

That's a good point - how much testing did Sutton do pre-season in the Subaru?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Rob877

It must be hugely frustrating to be in his position when Ash Sutton has lit up the field most of this year.

He sounded pretty frustrated in an interview over the 2 days. The work on the car that was planned has still not happened, and it sounds like he is only hoping that it happens next week. He suggested that the car needs to go in the bin, but the team can't afford to replace it.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

He sounded pretty frustrated in an interview over the 2 days. The work on the car that was planned has still not happened, and it sounds like he is only hoping that it happens next week. He suggested that the car needs to go in the bin, but the team can't afford to replace it.

There is something that I don't understand about this situation concerning the car. If it is terminally damaged due to the Brands' incident, then why doesn't Plato put his hand in his own pocket to buy a replacement vehicle. He is not exactly short of a bob or two, and if the problem really is the car, he could prove it by driving a clean one.

One has to appreciate that the cost of a track-ready car is not about the base price of the road going vehicle; it is the racing bits and pieces that push the price skywards. And the team already have all that stuff; they just need to transfer it all to another car.

I am pretty sure that since Brands that they could have sourced either a brand new car for a lot less than the RRP of about £30,000 or a much cheaper 2nd hand one that hadn't ever suffered any damage.

I would have thought that Plato's pride in his own driving ability would have taken him down such a path. Mind you, if his prowess has taken a serious hit this season, then it's good reason to just keep blaming the car!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

There is something that I don't understand about this situation concerning the car. If it is terminally damaged due to the Brands' incident, then why doesn't Plato put his hand in his own pocket to buy a replacement vehicle. He is not exactly short of a bob or two, and if the problem really is the car, he could prove it by driving a clean one.

One has to appreciate that the cost of a track-ready car is not about the base price of the road going vehicle; it is the racing bits and pieces that push the price skywards. And the team already have all that stuff; they just need to transfer it all to another car.

I am pretty sure that since Brands that they could have sourced either a brand new car for a lot less than the RRP of about £30,000 or a much cheaper 2nd hand one that hadn't ever suffered any damage.

I would have thought that Plato's pride in his own driving ability would have taken him down such a path. Mind you, if his prowess has taken a serious hit this season, then it's good reason to just keep blaming the car!

He was asked specifically if they could transfer all of the parts to another car, and he said it's not an option?

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

He was asked specifically if they could transfer all of the parts to another car, and he said it's not an option?

That just doesn't make sense. Or does it mean that the 4 cars that they started out with were not strictly compliant with their road going homologation?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

That just doesn't make sense. Or does it mean that the 4 cars that they started out with were not strictly compliant with their road going homologation?

I'm not sure if he meant it was technically not possible, or if the team have decided it won't happen for another reason.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I am pretty sure that since Brands that they could have sourced either a brand new car for a lot less than the RRP of about £30,000 or a much cheaper 2nd hand one that hadn't ever suffered any damage.

Where does the £30K figure come from, is that the sticker price of a new road car? These are not really converted road cars. The shell may be the same but that's it. Stripping back to a bare shell, preparing the shell and building/installing the cage is mostly not something they can do in-house, it's many hours of third-party specialist work. Even if you take the engine, subframes and running gear from the old car, you are still looking at somewhere well north of £100K.

[Peter Mallett]

Having done this with a historic touring car I can confirm it is well North of £100k

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Having done this with a historic touring car I can confirm it is well North of £100k

But, Peter, it doesn't need to.

I, also, built my own cars; however, most of the work I did myself in my spare time, and having started with bog-standard road going cars, I managed to sell all the stuff that I stripped off, and was surplus to requirements, for a profit.

I would suggest that most of the expensive stuff that the team would need for the car could be transferred from the damaged vehicle.

[Peter Mallett]

I think we are way off topic. If a historic costs more than £100k without engine and gearbox I'm sure that a modern car will be significantly more.

And don't forget it will be built by professionals who need payment.

[Akrapovic]

I can't imagine building a BTCC car, even reusing a lot of parts, will cost £30k.