BTCC Brands Hatch 2 - Sept 24th 06

[Hazard]

British Touring Car Championship - Brands Hatch
Rounds 25, 26 & 27

Circuit Length: 1.22 miles

2006 First Round Information

Pole Position:
* - Tom Chilton - VX Racing, Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch - 48.975

Race Winners:
r1 - James Thompson - Seat Sport UK, Seat Leon
r2 - James Thompson - Seat Sport UK, Seat Leon
r3 - Jason Plato - Seat Sport UK, Seat Leon

2005 Brands Hatch Indy Round

Pole Position:
* - Matt Neal - Team Dynamics, Honda Integra Type-R - 49.312

Race Winners:
r1 - Matt Neal - Team Dynamics, Honda Integra Type-R
r2 - Matt Neal - Team Dynamics, Honda Integra Type-R
r3 - Yvan Muller - VX Racing, Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch

Unofficial Entry List for 2006 Event

#1 - Matt Neal - Team Halfords, Honda Integra Type-R (I)
#4 - Jason Plato - Seat Sport UK, Seat Leon Cupra [S2000]
#5 - Tom Chilton - VX Racing, Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch
#6 - Colin Turkington - Team RAC, MG-ZS (I)
#7 - Rob Collard - Team RAC, MG-ZS (I)
#10 - Gavin Smith - VX Racing, Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch
#11 - Fabrizio Giovanardi - VX Racing, Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch
#12 - Mark Proctor - Fast-Tec, Honda Civic Type-R
#15 - Martyn Bell - Geoff Steel Racing, BMW 320i E46 (I) [S2000]
#16 - Richard Marsh - Team Farecla, Peugeot 307 (I)
#17 - Eoin Murray - Quest Racing, Alfa Romeo 156 (I) [S2000]
#19 - Nick Leason - Team NJL Racing, Vauxhall Astra Coupé (I)
#20 - James Kaye - Synchro Motorsport, Honda Civic Type-R (I)
#21 - Adam Jones - Xero Competition, Lexus IS200 (I)
#24 - Darren Turner - Seat Sport UK, Seat Leon Cupra [S2000]
#25 - Gareth Howell - Team Halfords, Honda Integra Type-R (I)
#28 - Jason Hughes - Kartworld Racing, MG-ZS (I)
#42 - Darren Dowling - BTC Racing, Lexus IS200 (I)
#43 - Chris Stockton - BTC Racing, Lexus IS200 (I)
#52 - Gordon Shedden - Team Halfords, Honda Integra Type-R (I)
#55 - Dave Pinkney - Motorbase Performance, Honda Integra Type-R (I)
#66 - Mark Smith - In-Front Motorsport, Alfa Romeo 156 (I) [S2000]
#77 - Mike Jordan - Eurotech, Honda Integra Type-R (I)
#79 - Mark Jones - Team Forward Racing, Lexus IS200 (I)
#82 - Paul O'Neill - Thurlby Motors with Tech-Speed, Vauxhall Astra Coupé (I)
#90 - Erkut Kizilirmak - VX Racing, Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch

• New entries galore, see pertinant thread
• Car number 82 is listed as Paul O'Neill's race number, but usually BTCC rules assign numbers per driver not car, so this may be an error.
• Mark Proctor is not confirmed. Another driver may race the car, or the car may not be present.
• If all 26 cars are present, this means there will be more cars in the BTCC for this race weekend, than at Istanbul for the WTCC!

[Alfa Fan]

I cannot wait for next weekends races. Will be fantastic to see so many cars on track.

[Neil Adams]

indeed the most we had on the indy track just last year was 14! so its a helluva difference

i hope they all make it through to race day

[gixxer]

Hopefully the weather will be kind also makes the 2 and a half hour drive more bearable hopefully it'll be worth it plenty of action

[cos]

No Erkut, he's withdrawn for "personal reasons". First practice results:

1. Darren Turner SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon 49.646secs
2. Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon 49.678secs
3. Mike Jordan Team Eurotech Honda Integra 49.680secs I
4. Matt Neal Team Halfords Honda Integra 49.701secs I
5. Gordon Shedden Team Halfords Honda Integra 49.831secs I
6. Colin Turkington Team RAC MG ZS 49.872secs I
7. Dave Pinkney Motorbase Honda Integra 49.909secs I
8. Fabrizio Giovanardi VX Racing Vauxhall Astra 49.950secs
9. Jason Hughes Kartworld Racing MG ZS 49.999secs I
10. Gareth Howell Team Halfords Honda Integra 50.040secs I
11. Gavin Smith VX Racing Vauxhall Astra 50.042secs
12. Rob Collard Team RAC MG ZS 50.061secs I
13. Tom Chilton VX Racing Vauxhall Astra 50.178secs
14. Eoin Murray Team Quest Alfa Romeo 156 50.315secs I
15. Paul O'Neill Tech-Speed Vauxhall Astra Coupe 50.339secs I
16. James Kaye Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R 50.624secs I
17. Chris Stockton BTC Racing Lexus IS200 51.116secs I
18. Adam Jones Xero Competition Lexus IS200 51.225secs I
19. Martyn Bell Geoff Steel Racing BMW 320i E46 51.353secs I
20. Richard Marsh Team Farecla Peugeot 307 51.966secs I
21. Nick Leason Team NJL Racing with Daniels Motorsport Vauxhall Astra Coupe 52.156secs I
22. Mark Smith In-Front Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 52.337secs I
23. Mark Jones Team Forward Racing Lexus IS200 52.573secs I
24. Darren Dowling BTC Racing Lexus IS200 52.803secs I

[redshoes]

Plato fastest in FP2 - MST Times. Turner had to miss the session as his engine was being changed, a result of dumping it in the gravel in FP1.

O'Neill is running 82. I'm trying to think of a previous occation when a replacement driver has retained the number. I think it's happened before, just can't remember when.

Generally times are 0.5 sec down on FP from April's round, yet O'Neill is at least a second quicker than what Leggate was doing in the same car. That should give some more ammunition to her non-fans.

[redshoes]

To answer my own question, in 1999 Will Hoy took over the #17 Arena Motorsports' Laguna previously driven by Russell Spence and retained the number.

[Hazard]

Grid for Race 1

1 - Jason Plato [4] - Seat Sport UK - Seat León - 49.368


2 - Darren Turner [24] - Seat Sport UK - Seat León - 49.375


3 - Matt Neal [1] - Team Dynamics - Honda Integra Type-R - 49.513


4 - Gordon Shedden [52] - Team Dynamics - Honda Integra Type-R - 49.541


5 - Colin Turkington [6] - Team RAC - MG-ZS - 49.639


6 - Rob Collard [7] - Team RAC - MG-ZS - 49.701


7 - Gareth Howell [25] - Team Dynamics - Honda Integra Type-R - 49.745


8 - Tom Chilton [5] - VX Racing - Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch - 49.773


9 - Fabrizio Giovanardi [11] - VX Racing - Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch - 49.788


10 - Mike Jordan [77] - Team Eurotech - Honda Integra Type-R - 49.790


11 - Jason Hughes [28] - Kartworld Racing - MG-ZS - 49.815


12 - Gavin Smith [10] - VX Racing - Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch - 50.043


13 - Paul O'Neill [82] - Tech-Speed Racing - Vauxhall Astra Coupé - 50.097


14 - David Pinkney [55] - Motorbase Performance - Honda Integra Type-R - 50.201


15 - James Kaye [20] - Synchro Motorsport - Honda Civic Type-R - 50.422


16 - Chris Stockton [43] - BTC Racing - Lexus IS200 - 50.954


17 - Adam Jones [21] - Xero Competition - Lexus IS200 - 50.957


18 - Martyn Bell [15] - Geoff Steel Racing - BMW 320i - 51.384


19 - Nick Leason [19] - Daniels Motorsport - Vauxhall Astra Coupé - 51.574


20 - Darren Dowling [42] - BTC Racing - Lexus IS200 - 51.816


21 - Mark Smith [66] - In-Front Motorsport - Alfa Romeo 156 S2000 - 51.988


22 - Mark Jones [79] - Team Forward - Lexus IS200 - 52.061


23 - Eoin Murray [17] - Murray Motorsport - Alfa Romeo 156 S2000 - No Time

• Marsh Peugeot withdrawn with engine problems.

Car graphics courtesy of the Seat Spotters Guide

[Hazard]

Well, Seat looking strong (again). Neal should be able to wrap up the drivers easily tomorrow though, and Seat the constructors.

Credit to Paul O'Neill, not the top 10 he was (optimistically) promising, but good nonetheless. Stockton impressive in the old HPI Lexus first time out...had a feeling these new Lexii would fill out the back, guess not.

We have a very plentiful B-division now! Look forward to seeing it in person. No updates tomorrow

[Knowlesy]

We need some retirements for Neal and some strong, untroubled results for Plato. Get this championship to the last rounds.

This is a daft thing to hope for I know, because it will never happen.

[Mike Kelly 1]

Great to see Paul O'Neill back in the BTCC. For someone who's a bit race rusty, and in a car thats not exactly been top 10 this season I think he's doing a great job.

COME ON FELLA!!!!!!

[cos]

Plato takes easy win from Neal and Turkington. Turner was 2nd until engine issues, Shedden and Howell both seemed to have identical tyre problems at the same corner. MST has full results here.

[Knowlesy]

Giooooo!!!!!

Plus two wins for Plato. Neal took to the gravel in the last race after a collision with Chilton. Still leads by miles though.

[BootsOntheSide]

Matt just needs 17 poitns form teh final roudn to clinch the title, but that's less than we expected. Not the most spectacular races, but some solid action with some great clean driving. Matt was unlucky in race 3, but he was overdue some misfortune. The way Shedden talked about the incident post-race made it sound like he felt it would have been fair enough if Matt had punted Tom off, adn impleis that that was the intention, which isn't so good.

[redshoes]

Was the other side of the track at the time so haven't seen the Neal accident from race 3 yet.

Races 1 and 2 were hardly the most exciting I've ever seen. Race 3 looked better, but only because Gio and Chilton were obviously holding up the cars behind.

The various new Lexus aquited themselves well for a first showing.

[Hazard]

Stockton mighty impressive in my opinion particularly.

Just found out MotorsTV had some picture issues it seems...thankfully my eyes weren't so blurry.

I was at the inside of Druids and saw the Neal incident...basically when Gio passed Chilton was stuck on the outside, Shedden passed him on the way up to Druids, and Neal tried to have a go too. Certainly didn't have the angle to judge whether Chilton cut in, or Neal left no room, but they hit and Neal's car ran over the front of Chilton's. The Honda probably tilted 30 degrees to the right and flopped forward into the gravel trap.

Otherwise, mostly incidentless day.

Eoin Murray & Nick Leason in race one were the best of the passers for sure - and Jordan was at it all day!

I think Paul O'Neill's showing was fantastic too, pegging the works car of Smith all through race three.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by Hazard

Certainly didn't have the angle to judge whether Chilton cut in, or Neal left no room

From the ITV footage, a bit of both. The slight tap from behind from Plato may not have helped but it was the fact Neal and Chilton made wheel-to-wheel contact that did the damage. A few inches either side and it would have been a relatively harmless knock.

I see that Chilton is still up to his old tricks when it comes to mechanical sympathy and looking after his tyres. Drives the wheels of the car for the first half of the race then wonders why he has no grip in the final laps. Looks impressive but not the way to win races and certainly not the way to win a championship.

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by redshoes

I see that Chilton is still up to his old tricks when it comes to mechanical sympathy and looking after his tyres. Drives the wheels of the car for the first half of the race then wonders why he has no grip in the final laps. Looks impressive but not the way to win races and certainly not the way to win a championship.

Clearly the Civic was a little more forgiving to this method than the Astra is.

[cos]

Originally Posted by redshoes

I see that Chilton is still up to his old tricks when it comes to mechanical sympathy and looking after his tyres. Drives the wheels of the car for the first half of the race then wonders why he has no grip in the final laps. Looks impressive but not the way to win races and certainly not the way to win a championship.

Autosport says Chilton had gearbox issues in race 3... although it didn't look that way from the TV coverage.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by cos

..although it didn't look that way from the TV coverage.

Didn't look that way at the track either - just looked like his tyres had gone and he was struggling for grip.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

... just looked like his tyres had gone and he was struggling for grip.

Thats what I thought too but I watched the day's races on Motors TV late last night and there was an interview with Tom at the very end where he mentions that the gearbox was playing up.

I was struggling to stay awake so I may have misheard him but I think he said something along the lines of when he changed down, it kept going into second or something like that and I think he also mentioned that when he lifted of the throttle it would drop into neutral and rev the engine quite hard. He said he was surprised the engine didn't let go.

[BertMk2]

Maybe he did have gearbox woes but coming through paddock he was at some very inventive angles! Giovanardi and the following train all looked much better through there (being genorous maybe the gearbox problems were the cause of the odd looking cornering).

I was impressed with O'Neill, certainly seemed to be hustling the car along nicely, Stockton also looked to be pushing the car to the limits of what it could do. What happened to Leason? Quite a few casualties throughout the day, I'm surprised SEAT couldn't get Turners car sorted out though - very odd.

[Stephen Green]

Chilton definately had some problems, you could tell by listening to him at Paddock. He was either struggling with gears or had a clutch problem.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Quite a few casualties throughout the day, I'm surprised SEAT couldn't get Turners car sorted out though - very odd.

Couldn't hear the PA that well but though Turner said they didn't have another engine.

They had already replaced one on Saturday after a trip through the gravel during Free Practice and another after race 1. The retirement in race two was down to a broken oil pump, which I assume would have meant another yet another engine change had one been available.

[BertMk2]

That would explain it - the bit I heard on the PA just said something about a warning light on the dash. That's some luck to do 2 engines in a weekend though!