Mardi Gras ditch Civic

[Matt_S]

Mardi Gras have decided to ditch the LPG Honda and will miss the next two rounds of the series at Oulton and Mondello.

However, they will be back for the second half of the season with an ex VLR Peugeot 406 Coupe, also running on LPG.

So the Pug will back, can't help but feel the 307 would have been a better starting point as the 406 is a bit long in the tooth and hasn't raced for a while, but hopefully this move will see the team have more luck than they enocountered with the Civic.

[BootsOntheSide]

Very strange announcement. When I saw the title I was thinking "perhaps they'll get the car that was to be Varta's second entry", but I really can't see much sense in running a 406 (not even a 307), especially on LPG which seems dismally flawed. I doubt they're gettng any official Peugeot backing, and the VLR Peugeot backing from last seaosn is elsewhere,s o what is going on?

[touringlegend]

Ok so the ETC Honda Civic is a bit of a dog, and presumably the development has stopped since JAS are running an Accord now, but this is just a side step, if not one back IMO.

[SPARK Msport]

I'm guessing VLR wants to keep hold of his 307's (maybe he still wants to race them this or next year??) and the 406 is all they had. Taking into account the 406 is alot larger and could be slower, it sounds as if the ETCC Civic isnt the car to have...I mean, look at Team Varta's Civic, no where to be seen!

[Hazard]

Can't exactly say the Civic's are doing that well in the ETCC either. They were points capable in 2002 and were making progress - but have dropped off considerably now.

[touringcarnut]

I can't see it working too well. It seems to be swaping a dog for another dog!

Maybe that shed of an Accord will return next??

[SPARK Msport]

now your talking!

[kmchow]

And I guess they couldn't source another ETCC car, say a BMW from somewhere else? What about an Astra? Isn't the '02 or '03 for sale??

[BootsOntheSide]

I think the ETCC Civic can be modestly competitive, but only if ran using petrol. It's still a beter car than the 406, which was miles off the pace in 2002 and will only be swamped by the other works and 03-spec cas.

[sceptic]

Originally posted by kmchow
And I guess they couldn't source another ETCC car, say a BMW from somewhere else? What about an Astra? Isn't the '02 or '03 for sale??

They wouldn't want an ETCC car because there is always going to be a weight problem. A BTCC spec car is a step forward - because the car is already well developed and a proven race winner.

[ATF]

Originally posted by sceptic
A BTCC spec car is a step forward - because the car is already well developed and a proven race winner.

It's not quite a race winner. It's had 2 second place finishes and a handful of 3rds!

[johngeorge]

Hi guys the reason for the move was a combination of things , firstly at Silverstone we were only a couple of tenths off the petrol Civic and i was using a road box, so we really werent that far off the potental of a converted BTCP car . However that was still at least 6 seconds behind the pack and was going to take a decent gearbox , 100kg off the wieght and about 40bhp before we could get close , now add that up and mega money .

So why not an Astra well almost all the BTCC cars lease the engine's even the 307 and of course we cant go that route as we need to gas convert our engine so we had to look elsewhere.

The 406 is a complete package with loads of spares and everything we need to carry on , it just meets the wieght , it has a 6 speed sequential box and over 270bhp.
we also have a bench mark we can try it before the gas and then after . As with the Civic this is new ground and we are going to develop things as we go , but at least with this car we only have to worry about the gas and its impact with the car instead of the Civic which was completly unknown and never raced .

What about the Civic , well if i was pointing a finger it would be aimed at the gearbox , there was no way forward until that was sorted , so thank you Quaife for what we came to know as that bag of S**t they call a gearbox .

Any way i was just about to say we'll see how the 406 goes at the GP meet but that seems to have gone out the window , good job i havent booked and paid for a load of people to come and watch (bugger).

So dont expect miracles, remember the aim is to make a gas car compete in the BTCC , after the Civic one top ten place this year would be a major achievment.

John George

[N I Tram]

Thanks for coming on here to explain things John, some good technical information there. However, I can't see any way that you can be competitive with the 406. Even if you ran it with petrol, a top 10 finish would be a good achievement, because no one in the team has experience of the post-ST BTCC.

[SPARK Msport]

George, good luck with the 406 (its been driven by the greats Soper and Harvey remember lol) when are the first pics gonna be out? Is it going to be red and silver like your Civic or are you going to be having a new livery? (Mind you the Orange is nice...)

[Duffacus]

What about the Lexus? Thats not being run at the moment and that showed great signs of promise. Don't know what the prices would be involved there though.

And talking of Harvey, that got me thinking, what about those black Alfa Romeos we saw in 2001, what happened to those?

http://www.carenthusiast.com/kelvinf...vey1_small.jpg

(Best pic I could find at short notice)

[SPARK Msport]

I think the Alfas went rallying...which is a bit odd. Am I right or am I wrong?

[Duffacus]

Hmmm that could explain this;

http://www.forocoches.com/foro/showthread/t-16931.html

I never knew about that! Thanks for pointing it out. That article makes for quite interesting reading.

[touringlegend]

One of the spare BTC Alfa bodyshells went rallying..

[johngeorge]

Hi at the minute the car is black and i believe was being or going to be used in Sweden , i think we have just about all the bits from all the cars , 3 shells , half a dozen engines , show car the works , i assume we will rebadge it back up in red as JAG and all our sponsors will remain with us .
On the will it be competitive front i agree it isnt the cutting edge , but i can only see it being a big improvement on the Civic and something we can work on as the season goes on .
As usual more time would be great and we now have 6 weeks to start testing and getting the package together .
I personally would much rather be doing the GP support race , and i know the team were really looking forward to it as we were sure to get some great PR .

John George