BTCC 2019 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I beg to differ. It depends on how they approached it with the success ballast etc (which I hate BTW) but last year we saw the WSR BMW some 100kg heavier than some FWD vehicles, 75kg + 25kg RWD penalty, and they were qualifying down in 18th - 20th place at some tracks.

In any case its not meant to "make a difference to the show" as such, merely balance out an alternative propulsion method.

Yes, if a car is 100kg then it will be slower than cars which are not 100kg heavier. But if every car is 100kg heavier then it will make absolutely no difference to the appearence on track. The cars will be half a second or so slower, maybe feel a little heavier to the drivers, and look absolutely identical on TV.

Until you're at a laptime difference of 5-10 seconds, you won't see any difference on TV or trackside.

I'm not arguing it's a good idea (it's pointless), but adding 100kg to BTCC cars does not change the cars at all.

[Evantra]

Pirtek to stop sponsorship for Jordan / BTCC after 2019.

[Peter Mallett]

Source?

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Pirtek to stop sponsorship for Jordan / BTCC after 2019.

https://media1.tenor.com/images/5f75...itemid=5117586

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

https://media1.tenor.com/images/5f75...itemid=5117586

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Source?

https://twitter.com/andrewjordan77/s...722761729?s=21

[thetool]

Seemed inevitable when a deal through to the end of 2021 was announced last year. http://www.btcc.net/2018/02/07/pirte...rship-to-2021/ Like football contracts, the longer the "contract" the more likely they are to be off soon.

[Matt K]

Such a shame for AJ, for WSR and for the BTCC. I didn't expect it to end so early and I'm afraid we may not see Jordan in BTCC after 2019. It's always sad when big sponsors leave teams/drivers/championships and I'm quite convinced Pirtek won't be replaced by another this big and this loyal sponsor.

[touring fan01]

toyota are taking 4500 factory staff and guests to donington on sunday.

4,500!!
thats amazing

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2019...umper-support/

[RS67]

Originally Posted by Matt K

Such a shame for AJ, for WSR and for the BTCC. I didn't expect it to end so early and I'm afraid we may not see Jordan in BTCC after 2019. It's always sad when big sponsors leave teams/drivers/championships and I'm quite convinced Pirtek won't be replaced by another this big and this loyal sponsor.

All it means is AJ hasn't needed to find a large sponsor for a number of years, it doesn't mean he can't, or won't be able to find a replacement.

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

toyota are taking 4500 factory staff and guests to donington on sunday.

4,500!!
thats amazing

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2019...umper-support/

Haven't seen anything like that since Nissan had their workers at Croft 20+ years ago. Amazing.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

toyota are taking 4500 factory staff and guests to donington on sunday.

4,500!!
thats amazing

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2019...umper-support/

Good effort from them. A definite sign of genuine support from Toyota.

Reminds me of 2006 at the same venue, where an entire stand was populated be the Halfords contingent.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by thetool

Seemed inevitable when a deal through to the end of 2021 was announced last year. http://www.btcc.net/2018/02/07/pirte...rship-to-2021/ Like football contracts, the longer the "contract" the more likely they are to be off soon.

Sadly, another example of how the contents of a press release cannot be held as being a firm guarantee of what will happen in future years.

It does make you wonder what has changed in the Pirtek world over the last few months to cause this withdrawal of backing.
Are they moving to another series, or leaving the motorsport arena?

[AJ.fan]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Sadly, another example of how the contents of a press release cannot be held as being a firm guarantee of what will happen in future years.

It does make you wonder what has changed in the Pirtek world over the last few months to cause this withdrawal of backing.
Are they moving to another series, or leaving the motorsport arena?

Presumably a result of Pirtek Europe being sold, and a review of the business by the new owners

[VIVA GT]

Pirtek have supported the Jordan family for years. I remember them sponsoring Mike Jordan back in the days when he raced in Eurocars!

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Are they moving to another series, or leaving the motorsport arena?

I believe AJ's tweet stated all motorsport?

[S griffin]

Well I'm sure he can get plenty of sponsors to continue like Red Bull

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Well I'm sure he can get plenty of sponsors to continue like Red Bull

Not sure the few cases of drink and the right to use the logo to impress potential sponsors they get is really going to stretch too far!

But at least they have time to try to find new funding.

[RS67]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Not sure the few cases of drink and the right to use the logo to impress potential sponsors they get is really going to stretch too far!

But at least they have time to try to find new funding.

Think you will find it has stretched further than that such as the odd rally x event.

[EastonNeston]

Over time the effectiveness of sponsorship in the same market area loses effect. So it is no surprise that a new management board decide to use the marketing budget in different ways, especially as the market demographic for their product/service can be reached more effectively with other marketing methods.

[Evantra]

So... 2 rounds in, what have we learnt?

WSR - The new 3 series is very, very fast. Surely Turkington has to be title favourite, with Jordan not far off provided no lasting effects from that hit. Oliphant has exceeded expectations also.

Speedworks - Toyota looks good and should hopefully be in the title battle. At the moment, not sure it is on the same level as the BMWs though.

Dynamics - Underwhelming results so far given what we expected pre-season, from Cammish especially, but they look quick and should be really strong at Thruxton.

BMR - Still complaining about a lack of straight line speed... yet Sutton is leading the championship. Ash is almost a guaranteed win for any wet race, so he'll have a good chance at the title if we keep getting rain! Proctor has been a little behind so far, but still only has a couple rounds in the car under his belt.

PMR - About the same as last year, seem to be very consistent top 10 runners. Plato and Collard seem near evenly matched.

BTC - Very strong so far, Cook racking up loads of points and Smiley quick but seems to be invovled in lots of incidents. More impressive than Dynamics so far, IMHO!

AmD - The car is obviously really fast, and Butcher's really impressed me so far being consistently quick and clean. Tordoff has been seriously unlucky so far, should hopefully go well at Thruxton with no weight on.

TPC - Hill has been really, really impressive - shame it took 5 years for the S3 to be competitve! Probably due a reverse grid win this season. Blundell disappointing, as some expected. Personally I can see him becoming really demotivated and out before season's end.

Motorbase - Chilton looks very strong again, and should be in the running for the championship. Jackson hasn't shown much so far, and Hamilton always seems to be in the thick of any accident.

Ciceley & Laser Tools - Not really sure what to say: really far down on both Saturdays but quick on Sundays, for Morgan at least. Rowbottoms been much further down than I would've predicted. Moffat is another one that seems to pick up a lot of damage.

Simpson - Sadly not the Simpson we saw in 2018 so far.

TPR - Very surprising start to the season, both car and driver were transformed at Brands but couldn't carry the pace into Donington.

HARD - The VWs have been nowhere so far, unfortunately. Shame to see Goff and Thompson's talent wasted. Boardley and Cress backmarkers as we thought, though Cress much better than I thought! Thruxton should suit them but I reckon this will be the last year of the CCs.

Excelr8 - A new team really up against it: Osborne circulating at the back, Smith a bit higher up at Donington and I have high hopes for him in the future! Great liveries though!


Driving Standards - Hmm... excellent at Brands, awful at Donington!

General Rules - Seems to be a step backwards, personally. Ballast doesn't seem to make much difference, and the tyre choices are still dictating races.


Clio Cup - not worth watching this year, sadly. Only ten cars and really only two in contention for victories.

Ginetta GT4 - I enjoyed this at Donington, better racing and a bigger grid than usual. Marred a bit by the Donington incident though.

Ginetta Juniors - same craziness as always!

F4 - the usual, you already know if you watch this or not!

Porsches - ditto!

[crmalcolm]

4/6 races won by new cars to the grid shows that long development programmes are not always necessary - good for the NGTC ruleset.
1/2 the races won by FWD, 1/2 by RWD - good for the NGTC ruleset.
Older spec machinery picking up a win - good for the NGTC ruleset.

Tyres having too much effect - maybe?
Ballast having too little effect - maybe?

Currently, the main issue for the series in my opinion is the excessive amount of contact this weekend. Reprimands must be severe enough to make drivers' change their approach.

[S griffin]

Well I thought the contact got a bit too much in R2, but R3 I was pleased to see it had calmed down

[pimmy]

It's funny how they call them option tyres when using them is mandatory. They detract from the racing, so I'd like to see them gone. Thruxton is always good without them.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by pimmy

It's funny how they call them option tyres when using them is mandatory. They detract from the racing, so I'd like to see them gone. Thruxton is always good without them.

With dunlop's reduction in exposure as the main series' title sponsor, they appear to be making other efforts to still get the airtime.

Plenty of talk at Donington of the tyres got them regular mentions.

Four different colour schemes,
Snetterton requirement to use all three dry compounds,
Knockhill using the soft tyre for qualifying, with medium as the option,
Thruxton's oft-mentioned strains on tyre use...
it all looks like some good work by Dunlop to get as many mentions during coverage as Kwik Fit.