[BTCC] Snetterton 20/21 May 2023, Rds. 7/8/9

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Matt K

Have to say it, not a fan of all this tyre diversity.

Nope, not sure anyone is. Certainly hasn’t shaken up the results so far!

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Matt K

He'll be on the softs though, am I correct?

Yes, so hopefully he can come forward, though the starts he’s made today have been dreadful!

If there was a championship for reverse grid poles I’m sure Jelley would have as many as everyone else combined!

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Nope, not sure anyone is. Certainly hasn’t shaken up the results so far!

It somehow all feels quite complex to achieve nothing now days. Same with the hybrids.

[BTCC frog]

Shame Sutton didn’t choose hards for that race, then he could have attempted a Taylor-Smith and then charged back to the front on softs for race three.

It seems that, unlike a few years ago, it is now always the same drivers who are the fastest each weekend. Is this just because of ballast? Or do the teams just never get it wrong any more?

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

It somehow all feels quite complex to achieve nothing now days. Same with the hybrids.

Exactly. Imagine being a newcomer to watching the TV broadcast and having to sit through everything on tyres, hybrids and track limits - you’d end up turning off long before the race.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a Sutton, Turkington and Hill podium again in race 3, though I expect if one the top three is on mediums or softs it’ll be an easy win.

[Northern Monkey]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Yes, so hopefully he can come forward, though the starts he’s made today have been dreadful!

If there was a championship for reverse grid poles I’m sure Jelley would have as many as everyone else combined!

Ingram will be on the Medium

[Jon411]

Fair play to Ash but I think Toca have engineered themselves into a corner a little here with the obsession of penalising the RWD to bring them back towards FWD as you can guarantee most the teams on the grid are going to be saying that the Ford is too fast and needs slowing down like they used to moan about the BMW.


Now we have a FWD team really getting things together it's a bit harder to target the Ford when it seen by some to be above the rest of the FWD cars as if they remove any of the RWD penalties all they are going to do is pull the BMW clear on the rest of the FWD cars but unless they single the Ford out for some sort of restriction, its going to slow the rest of the FWDs too.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by SR18

Ford needs to be penalised ASAP. Like BMW were in 2019

There is a big difference between the two, though. As Tim Harvey mentioned during the middle of R2, he felt the need to dispel the thought that Sutton in particular had a top speed advantage over the rest of the grid because, if I heard correctly, Sutton's car was 15th fastest through the speed trap during R1.

As Sutton said during both interviews after the two races today, the car was just in a sweet spot and they haven't altered anything since Brands. It's just the combination of car, not a top speed, and driver that has produced the results that we are witnessing.

It's not as though the Fords are consistently coming across the finishing line 1st to 4th., or even consistently first and second.

[v8supes]

I dont like Snetterton at the best of times but i cant help but think this has been one of the worst meetings of recent times. Im lost, no idea whats going on with tyre compounds. The gap at the front is massive and the support races quite uninspiring.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by SR18

Ford needs to be penalised ASAP. Like BMW were in 2019

4 BMWs in the top six twice. Surely they should be penalised too?

Or - is it possible to step back a bit and look at the context of the results to realise that sometimes teams and drivers just do a better job than others?

[Greem]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

4 BMWs in the top six twice. Surely they should be penalised too?

Or - is it possible to step back a bit and look at the context of the results to realise that sometimes teams and drivers just do a better job than others?

How DARE you come and post in this forum in a way that suggests a modicum of common sense could be applied. This just isn't that sort of place!

(Slightly reminiscent of "Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, it's the War Room!" )

[tocatrucky]

Originally Posted by BTCC f19rog

It seems that, unlike a few years ago, it is now always the same drivers who are the fastest each weekend. Is this just because of ballast? Or do the teams just never get it wrong any more?

Kinda both, you've got WSR who have ran essentially the same car (minus bybrid) since 2019 so 4 years of solid recent reliable data. And Motorbase who have ran essentially the same car (minus bybrid) since 2020 so 3 years of solid recent reliable data. The tracks are the same at the same time of year each year, just the drivers come and go so the teams arrive and basically know what to expect setup wise every weekend. Short of a major ruleset or weekend format change, complete calendar turnaround (Brands Summer, Thruxton Autumn etc) or new model introduction its just fiddling arpund the edges.

[Sodemo]

I think the Ford needs something like a .020 boost cut and the BMWs need a minus 20kg reduction in their base weight or they can run 5mm lower or something.

[FFSM]

Ash is by far the class of the field, doesn't surprise me that the best driver in the best car walks away from the rest. What bothers me more is how Cammish breezed up the field on hard tyres in R1...

Race 2 felt a bit like Napa realised this, and told him to ease up a bit.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by v8supes

I dont like Snetterton at the best of times but i cant help but think this has been one of the worst meetings of recent times. Im lost, no idea whats going on with tyre compounds. The gap at the front is massive and the support races quite uninspiring.

The supports (and BTCC) have been pretty stagnant, not much overtaking across the board. Relatively incident-free as well, which is good but sometimes helps to spice things up!

Hopefully there’s a classic BTCC R3 coming up without too much tyre nonsense.

[Evantra]

Rowbottom starting 3rd on the mediums, must be the favourite here.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by FFSM

What bothers me more is how Cammish breezed up the field on hard tyres in R1...

Wasn't really that surprising. Look at the quality of drivers, and their qualifying times, in the bottom half of the grid. Even with the penalty of running hard tyres, it was never really a contest

[SR18]

Fingers crossed for Jelley. He deserves a win!

[GT6]

Lets hope the third race is more entertaining than race 2,

[v8supes]

Bit concerning to hear Paul O'Neill speaking the way he was about the championship before this race. If hes feeling a bit down about the way things are shaping up then what hope have the rest of us got?

[porsche962fan]

the whole tyres thing has become an utter clown show

imagine in socces if some players have to play with different inferior shoes and some don't

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

the whole tyres thing has become an utter clown show

imagine in socces if some players have to play with different inferior shoes and some don't

Yep. So stupid when some can just drive past so easily. Of course everyone has equal on time on each compound, but races like this are a bit ridiculous.

That said, Ingram is still leading…

[v8supes]

Agreed, i dont find it entertaining. The same as DRS in F1.

[SR18]

BMWs started 1-2-4-5 and finished 7-8-10-11.
What more evidence ist needed to show that they're disasvantaged against the Fords?

[Matt K]

Well, R3 was eventful but it was a passing festival rather than battling on the track. Again it was proved to me I'm against this tyre mumbo-jumbo.
Happy for Tingram though, finally a win this year.