BTCC - Brands Hatch (Kent), Rounds 1-3, 1-Apr-07

[Welsh Karter]

What a great days advertisment for National Motorsport - Great weather, big crowd, circuit looking excellent - big grids, colourful cars - major variety in the BTCC (teams really making an effort to 'look' the part this year) - also great coverage from Setanta - agreed that the quality of pic was way better than motors tv - just a shame not as many people can watch now.

[Rockmunky]

Yeah, DQ for ignoring the flag.

He said he couldn't see it, and also that the radio doesn't work at Brands...

Yeah, right

[cos]

Another good day out at Brands, even enjoyed an induced sleep mid-afternoon during the Porsches and the second BMW race.
Those new SEATs sure are quick, sound fantastic, and are pretty robust too (just look at Nixon's car after the first race).
Good BTCC action as well; Erkut wasn't as slow as I expected, Stockton impresses (making Leason look rather woeful), Kerry's BMW really is that quiet and Allison seemed to have the upper hand on Howell on the balance of the weekend.
Great show from Jones, shame he isn't doing the full season! SEAT should wheel out their 3rd Leon for him when GR are playing away, he showed up the works cars during that 3rd race.

[redshoes]

Don't know what it looked like on TV but from trackside it looks like we're in for a very promising season. Lots of battles and rivalries developing not just at the sharp end but all the way down the field.

Have to feel sorry for Mat Jackson for race one - the meatball flag was un-necessary. Good result in race two from the back with ballast, and a great result in race 3. Like Craig I've been a fan of Mat since he's days in the Focus - great to see him not only get a real chance but grasp it firmly with both hands.

Adam Jones was a bit of a revelation. He did well last year but the Lexus was never quite up to the job. Looking at his CV I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but he's a driver who have never properly registered on my radar before.

[cos]

Originally Posted by redshoes

Don't know what it looked like on TV but from trackside it looks like we're in for a very promising season. Lots of battles and rivalries developing not just at the sharp end but all the way down the field.

Good point, there was no one who was particularly straggling (aside from Kerry, but I'm sure that car will improve) - good battles up front, midfield (guys like Motorbase, Hughes, Bell, Pinkney, Stockton) and at the back (Blanckley, Marsh, Pocklington, George).

Anyone else spot the cheeky guerilla advertising for the Rockingham meeting during the afternoon?

[Hazard]

Great weather? Damn chilly!

Good days racing...great fun. I take back my previous comments about Dynamics, they've got that thing winning already - not good.

(Also, at the end of the first lap in race one when three BMW's were in the top 4, I thought it was going to be WTCC Brazil all over again - glad it wasn't, see Jaime, Plato can beat the Beemers!)

[Suze]

Anyone else spot the cheeky guerilla advertising for the Rockingham meeting during the afternoon?

Aha so it was going to Brands...we were having a debate about it (one guy was convinced it wasn't headed to BH!) as were sprinting at North Weald which is where the plane took off from.

[Stephen Green]

Was a great weekend but Race 1 was the worst for me having to write 8 reports on contact etc. Looking forward to my first visit to Rockingham soon as guest on the Rescue Unit

Clios...................................Total madness!

[rdjones]

Just back, what a great weekend, its shaping up to a good really. As everyone else has said, really impressed with Matt Jackson. As for the Clio's as mad as ever, however not so sure about the new Seats.

[gregc]

Originally Posted by Hazard

Great weather? Damn chilly!

Only when the wind blew, which admittedly it did a lot! I thought it wasn't bad at all for the start of April, I've come away with the required light BTCC sunburn...

Fantastic weekends racing, as others have already said. Highlights for me - Tom OC helping out with the Saturday Clio commentary, he's not just quick, he comes across as a thoroughly nice bloke too - I reckon RAC have picked a good one there, he raced well today too. Turkington getting pole surprised me, Plato winning 2 of the 3 didn't - but for Neal to pick up the win in race 3 blew me away. He was (admittedly very slightly) pulling away from Gio after the second safety car, and for me that's very impressive from a car that was only finished a couple of weeks ago. And of course Mat Jackson, up there straight away.

Then there's the Toledos that look like they might be a little embarrassing for the works Seats, development on the new Alfa's should move them up the field (damn shame for Murray that he didn't make the start ), Jordan looked quick (as did his son in the Clios btw). Shame that Rick's 120 was so far off the pace, but there's a lot of development to do there, hopefully.

And the Clios? As already said, madness as usual! Though the main race today was relatively incident free (for Clios), but the state of one of yesterdays rolled ones looked... expensive.

Great seaon in prospect, can't wait for Rockingham now

[Sodemo]

I attended my first BTCC meeting today since I stopped visiting trackside after 2000 (the year of the ST demise).

I was quite surprised, the racing was pretty good. Its a shame however that the level of talent is so vast in the BTCC now, there is a massive gulf in performance between the best teams and the slowest. I thought it was a great shame to see those beautiful Alfas so far down the order.
I spoke to an alfa chap very briefly whilst on the pit road walkabout and he said that the Alfa's in question were 2007 evolutions of the 2006 N-Tech cars. He said that they had no testing too, which partly explains their lack of pace.

I thought the BTCC though looked stronger than it has for some time, though I think that the support package is weak, far weaker than it was when I last attended - where are the Fiestas?!
Also, there are too many single seater races for my liking, and the 13 car Porsche demonstration, oh sorry, I mean race, was a total 34 lap bore fest.

Aside from all that, im glad I went, and I enjoyed it overall, though paying £5 for a programme on top of the £27 entry I thought was a joke, the old BHL programmes used to be free, but I guess MSV wants to milk us for all we are worth...

[gregc]

Most of what you said I'd disagree with (apart from the racing being good, agreed there ), but then again I've only been trackside for the last couple of years so I don't know about the support package back then. I like the support races myself, including the single seaters, although agreed the Porsches weren't great entertainment.

Just so you know on the programmes, they're a fiver at every round and have been for a couple of years - not down to MSV!

[cos]

Yeah, it was a shame that the Porsches were 34 laps of utter dullness yet there was only one 20 lap of race for the Clios on the Sunday (ironically because the entry list is so large this year!). Single seaters are notoriously poor to watch around the Indy track, although the first BMW race was a good'n. I'm sure programmes have been £5 for a good few years, and don't forget you can save that by booking race tickets in advance

[Rockmunky]

Yep, programmes are always around a fiver, no matter where you are.

Wish i was there, sounds like it was a good day out.

[gregc]

Actually having read it again I agree with The Monster more than I thought - it's only the supporting package that I would argue about.

Only other comment - that gulf in competitveness should come down, the A-Tech Alfas only arrived in the UK last week so they should get a lot faster (and they do look great), and I'm expecting more from other midfield runners.

And I'd guess that Fiestas then = Clios now? Just curious.

[Stephen Green]

Fiesta and FF dropped out a few years ago when Ford stopped supporting them and pulled out of BTCC. The Clios had two races on Saturday, both of which were full of the usual madness. There were 44 Clios entered for the first round, hence the qualification races on Saturday and the BARC having to juggle with the timetable to fit them both in before the 6.30pm curfew.

I agree with others about the Porsche race. 34 laps does seem rather a lot for such a relatively small field. I also noticed that the FBMW and FR fields were both down on last year.

Well done Henry Surtees for a fantastic finish in race 1 of the FBMW's!

[Alan Brown]

Still far too much car bashing, both in the BTCC and the other races, including Formula Renault. If Mat Jackson is disqualified, then why not some of the others for driving offences. Was anybody punished? Darren Turner? Erkut Kizilirmak? Too often drivers charge up the inside of Druids and use the other car as a means of slowing/not going into the gravel. This was more true of Clios and Seats.

What an enormous slick left by Nick Leason's Lexus.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by The Monster

Aside from all that, im glad I went, and I enjoyed it overall, though paying £5 for a programme on top of the £27 entry I thought was a joke, the old BHL programmes used to be free, but I guess MSV wants to milk us for all we are worth...

You really have been away for a while. It hasn't been BHL for best part of 10 years. Octagon have been and gone since then.

Aside from the Bentley Drivers' Club @ Silverstone last year I can't remember the last time I saw a free programme. At an equivalent BTCC meeting in 2000, which is when you said you were there, the program would have cost £3.

£27 entry is about average for all events of this size at all circuits now, not just MSV, as is the £5 programme.

Have to agree with you about too many single seater races, but at least the first FBMW race was worth watching. Porsche Cup has rarely had over 15 cars in all the years it's been running. I don't understand why it hasn't been dropped by TOCA or red-carded by the MSA.

[rdjones]

I understand Turner was excluded for his move on Turkington in Race 3.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by redshoes

You really have been away for a while. It hasn't been BHL for best part of 10 years. Octagon have been and gone since then.

Aside from the Bentley Drivers' Club @ Silverstone last year I can't remember the last time I saw a free programme. At an equivalent BTCC meeting in 2000, which is when you said you were there, the program would have cost £3.

£27 entry is about average for all events of this size at all circuits now, not just MSV, as is the £5 programme.

Well, the last time I went to Oulton Park / Brands Hatch in 1999 for the BTCC the programmes were free. I guess I just *assumed* that it would be the same now.

But yes, I remember paying for programmes at Silverstone / Thruxton and the like for many years, since I began going to the BTCC in 1997 or so.

When I attended the Donnington BTCC round in 2000 I recall that the support package was amazing, they had something like 14 races, all of which had massive grids.
I'm glad to see the Clios are still there, by far the best racing of the day.

[White flag man]

A great weekeend, shame about the wind.
Well done Matt Jackson on three storming drives (and having the best grid girls!!). Jason Plato was strong, Turkington was very good,and Neal's win was a great & pleasant surprise.
As for the support races; I still think the Porches are good, simply because of their speed, The new Seats looked and sounded great. Do we really need formula BMW and Renault. I thought the FBMW were alright, but I didn't actually see (along Brabham Straight) any Formula Renualt overtake! Bring back the heritage boys.
As for the Clios, Well they managed to get from the grid, all the way to the end of the pit lane, not even paddock hill bend, before the first race was stopped!!!
Roll on Rockingham.

[Sodemo]

More Clio races on race day please!

What happened to the TVR's? They used to bring massive grids...

[Craig]

Good god, you're going back many years now!

Weren't they on the Powertour bill for a while?

[redshoes]

TVRs? My god, you really have been away for a while. Do you know they don't race at Brooklands now

TOCA has been running a regular fixed support package since the mid-90s, with only an occasional guest race. As I recall TVRs supported the end of season TOCA Shootout or Tourist Trophy mid/late 90s but they never had regular support slot in the normal season. Once the works support was lost in the late 90s the money went out of the series and it was never the same again.

[Stephen Green]

You are right Nigel, once the works support for the old Tuscan Challenge disappeared, so did the racing. By then the cars were very long in the tooth and rather battered in appearance.