[BTCC] Donington Park rounds 4,5 & 6 2017

[Alfisti]

Noting the lousy weather; this may just be my poor (selective?) memory... Donington is normally cold and wet in spring.

Back in the day it used to be one of the last races of the year - late September/ early October: I don't remember ever getting soaked or frozen.

Here starteth the campaign to shuffle it back 'til late Summer.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Noting the lousy weather; this may just be my poor (selective?) memory... Donington is normally cold and wet in spring.

Back in the day it used to be one of the last races of the year - late September/ early October: I don't remember ever getting soaked or frozen.

Here starteth the campaign to shuffle it back 'til late Summer.

Well years back it was the opening round, so I often recall a cold Donington. It was freezing cold in 1999 for example.

[mattcanary]

Originally Posted by sceptic

What would you like them to do? Speculate?
The official update was released at 3.30pm. Until then there was nothing for them to say on the matter.

Just tell people what what was going on - they said absolutely nothing!

I heard no update at 3.30pm, or at any other time.

[BLiTZ]

Yeah, we were sat directly under the speaker, aside from the cheesy music 'requests' and hints that Racing should resume 'after lunch' there was no mention of who was involved or how they were. It may have been different on the telly, but circuit side we were kept in the dark. Which is all the more insulting when even from the top of the hill you can clearly see that someone was stuck in a car!

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by BLiTZ

Yeah, we were sat directly under the speaker, aside from the cheesy music 'requests' and hints that Racing should resume 'after lunch' there was no mention of who was involved or how they were. It may have been different on the telly, but circuit side we were kept in the dark. Which is all the more insulting when even from the top of the hill you can clearly see that someone was stuck in a car!

Yep, we were in the paddock having food and wandering around. We did wonder why we couldn't hear cars going around as we moved from the Craners up to Redgate for the start of the F4 race, then moved into the paddock for a mooch. We heard nothing whatsoever from the circuit announcers, more frustrating is that after the timetable was sent into disarray (cant be helped of course if someone is injured) there was no updates as to the amendments.

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Noting the lousy weather; this may just be my poor (selective?) memory... Donington is normally cold and wet in spring.

Back in the day it used to be one of the last races of the year - late September/ early October: I don't remember ever getting soaked or frozen.

Here starteth the campaign to shuffle it back 'til late Summer.

I don't know if anyone had the misfortune to attend the 2005 opener, but I have never been so cold at a race track, the wind can be horrendous there. And I've never been as wet at a track than 2009. But despite the fact that the weather can be iffy, I bloody love Donington Park. A proper racing circuit with flowing corners which always produces great touring car races. If only we could do two visits there instead of Brands Hatch.

[Sodemo]

I went to the opening 2007 Donington BTCC races, and it rained the whole day. Saw very little racing as everything was behind safety car or red flagged. Me and my mate I went with bailed at about 3pm because we were just both so miserable and we had seen virtually no racing of note.

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Neal was not the only car that had left the circuit and was in a dangerous position, and that at least one other car required outside assistance to regain the track. And both cars then proceeded around the circuit under their own power.

Which other car needed more than a push to get back on track?

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by bauxxitt

hey, if any of you got the replays, could you send it to me? thank you

Seen as ITV are slow on the upload, they are there on YouTube if you act fast.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

Which other car needed more than a push to get back on track?

Why does it have to be more than a push?

'Any car unable to return to the Pits under its own power'

Needing a push means it was not under its own power.

[S griffin]

Anyone there see what happened at McLeans at the first lap of R1, as the ITV4 coverage lacked replays

Anyway MGs looked better this weekend, shame they hit each other in R1. And Newsham once again punching above a car's weight

But still don't understand the difference between Neal in R3 and Max Coates in the Clio Cup

[porsche962fan]

regarding Shedden exclusion something I was wondering about


if Dynamics knew that they may be in trouble with ride height wouldn't have made sense for Shedden to intentionally spin a few laps before the race end ? or come into garage claiming something like misfire or clutch failure ???

cos this way they may have gotten away with 2 points , for leading a lap and fastest race lap instead of total DQ and zero points

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Why does it have to be more than a push?

'Any car unable to return to the Pits under its own power'

Needing a push means it was not under its own power.

I was going by Tim Harvey in the commentary when the team were trying to get Neal out of the gravel.

"He wants them [marshals] to push him. He doesn't want the recovery truck to tow him, because if they push him it's counted as genuine assistance, if the recovery truck does it, it brings into the question of outside assistance and whether he can restart."

Then Matt floored it and got stuck...

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

Which other car needed more than a push to get back on track?

I cannot recall now, but if you get a chance to see a re-run of that opening lap, you will see that another car required the help of the marshals to push him out. In that instance, the tractor came out to do a pull because the car became stuck temporarily, but in the end the marshals succeeded in moving him and the tractor wasn't required.

Nevertheless, my contention is that as the race had been neutralised at that point, meaning that according to the rules the race hadn't officially been started. There was, in my opinion, no "real" difference under the circumstances between the two types of outside assistance, and the race director should have used his discretion and allowed Neal to take his place on the re-formed grid.

[slummingangel]

Is it a FIA rule that governs over whether if the car is pushed it is OK but if Mechanical help is required it is excluded? Could it be a carry over from the likes of WRC where there is a strong tradition of cars being pushed to get going again?

[thlbtcc]

Other highlights from watching the races back include Bert Taylor swearing on TV and Harvey calling Mat Jackson 'Jat Mackson'.

[luckn002]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

Other highlights from watching the races back include Bert Taylor swearing on TV and Harvey calling Mat Jackson 'Jat Mackson'.

I'm pretty sure he said 'Aron Taylor-Swift' completely unintentionally, too!

[CaptRustyNail]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Well years back it was the opening round, so I often recall a cold Donington. It was freezing cold in 1999 for example.

I remember it was at the very beginning of the season around 00/01 as i went to thruxton the following week. Never experienced a cold BTCC there luckily... The WTCC event that was held there in 2010ish? was horrific... lashing rain for a day and a half. Spent most of it sheltering near the trees by the old hospitality stand... Awful weekend.

Seems race control made a few questionable decisions over the weekend...but on the grander scheme of things it was a terrible round for every one given what happened.

[BillWiskins]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

regarding Shedden exclusion something I was wondering about


if Dynamics knew that they may be in trouble with ride height wouldn't have made sense for Shedden to intentionally spin a few laps before the race end ? or come into garage claiming something like misfire or clutch failure ???

cos this way they may have gotten away with 2 points , for leading a lap and fastest race lap instead of total DQ and zero points

If BMR did that for Plato and it came to light you'd have wet yourself with rage.

[geordiecriag101]

Normally I would say I had a cracking day watching the racing but after seeing the F4 crash right in front of me, its hard to say i enjoyed the rest of the day as much after that. Hope Billy is on the road to recovery soon.

For me, the decision to start the last race when they did was just stupid. After seeing 3 cars go off on the 2 warm up laps that should have been enough warning to say it wasn't safe. Have to also say well done to Aiden for getting his first win, he had the pace of the field and was well deserving of the win.

Anyway here my vid from the days racing, dose NOT include Billy / Patrik F4 crash:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KGb-s1XY_8

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

if Dynamics knew that they may be in trouble with ride height wouldn't have made sense for Shedden to intentionally spin a few laps before the race end ? or come into garage claiming something like misfire or clutch failure ???

At what point do you think TD knew the car would fail ride height?

When they deliberately set it up to breach the technical regulations, but thought they would try and cheat?
When Shedden crossed the line and thought 'this car was too good, it must be illegal'?

Or when it went through scrutineering and the officials noticed the issue?

Are you seriously suggesting that TD would cheat for results? Perhaps Gow should introduce an It's A Knockout joker card where teams get one race a year to ignore the regulations and set up a car in any way they see fit?

[RED55]

It would be pointless to check the ride height before leaving the pits or on the grid as every car would likely fail as the tyre pressures are lower than when the cars finish the race.

Dynamics probably made a genuine mistake on the set up on flash's car more than likely caused by the weather conditions and the set up choice and tyre just before the race start.

rules are rules but I do like the idea of a free set up for one race as a joker across the year, only with the parts avail and possibly a bonus 20 points ! and can be used directly before a race without the need to announce it until a letter j is placed on the car window by the number or drivers name.

Racing was good at Donny, the youngsters are finally getting the measure of the elders but there are still half a dozen no hopers in the mix.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Noting the lousy weather; this may just be my poor (selective?) memory... Donington is normally cold and wet in spring.

Back in the day it used to be one of the last races of the year - late September/ early October: I don't remember ever getting soaked or frozen.

Here starteth the campaign to shuffle it back 'til late Summer.

750MC was at Donington on 1 October last year - The rain started as we came out of our pre-race briefing at lunchtime and continued unabated for the entire afternoon - washing out the whole afternoon race programme - leaving us and a lot of other racers somewhat unimpressed One qualy session isn't much for a full days entry fee......

Lets face it, its Britain - we can get lousy weather anytime of the year.

[BLiTZ]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

At what point do you think TD knew the car would fail ride height?

When they deliberately set it up to breach the technical regulations, but thought they would try and cheat?
When Shedden crossed the line and thought 'this car was too good, it must be illegal'?

Or when it went through scrutineering and the officials noticed the issue?

Are you seriously suggesting that TD would cheat for results? Perhaps Gow should introduce an It's A Knockout joker card where teams get one race a year to ignore the regulations and set up a car in any way they see fit?

Would be great to see a race where they wind the boost up a bit!

Daft question, but do they (TOCA) ever divulge by how much the ride height was out? Are we talking the whole splitter or just a few cm section hanging down at one side?

Also, I know the top three cars are tested as they enter the pit lane, but are all 32 tested? I only ask as you rarely hear of cars down the grid failing ride height tests?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by BLiTZ

Also, I know the top three cars are tested as they enter the pit lane, but are all 32 tested? I only ask as you rarely hear of cars down the grid failing ride height tests?

Any car may be selected at random. I think they concentrate on the trophy winners and maybe a couple of others after each race.