BTCC 2019 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by sceptic

I think Rob might be doing British GT.

Or, He is standing down , after all he missed races in 2018 due to medical issues - concussion can last for up to 3 years and he has had multiple bangs. Whatever he does good on him

[Alfisti]

Different sponsors on the BTC cars is the whisper, Norlin on the Smiley machine as title sponsor. My mind places James Cole or Nic Hamilton or Jason Plato as the three people most likely to bring a title sponsor with deep pockets...

If Nic is with Barty as rumoured we definitely have PMR still in talks and I suspect BTC not having signed their second driver yet. Excelr8 to me is the dark horse for JP if they want an old hand to guide and mould the team and he is prepared to run around in an old car for a year... it was damn quick still in Rory B's hands.

[btccbloke]

I like that - it ties in with my earlier prediction
BTC- (Drivecool with Ticketmaster) James Cole
PMR - Plato
Team Monsterbase - Hamilton

To me that leaves:
1x XLR8
1x TPC
1x PMR
1x BMR

[850Estate]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Different sponsors on the BTC cars is the whisper, Norlin on the Smiley machine as title sponsor. My mind places James Cole or Nic Hamilton or Jason Plato as the three people most likely to bring a title sponsor with deep pockets...

If Nic is with Barty as rumoured we definitely have PMR still in talks and I suspect BTC not having signed their second driver yet. Excelr8 to me is the dark horse for JP if they want an old hand to guide and mould the team and he is prepared to run around in an old car for a year... it was damn quick still in Rory B's hands.

You know, I've been thinking the same for quite a wee while. From their website.

Development will continue throughout 2019 with the intention of bringing an iconic British brand back to the grid in 2020, leading to what would undoubtedly be one of the biggest stories in UK motorsport for many years.

https://www.excelr8motorsport.com/20...ship-proposal/

[porsche962fan]

an iconic British brand back to the grid in 2020

can it be anything else but Vauxhall ?

[mprmke]

That’s just talking about their aims for the future. 2019 is a bit of a tester year from them, they’re starting out in the MG, which is a well-used and ageing touring car. Their aim for 2020 is to go into it with a year’s experience and a completely new car. The iconic British brand they are hinting at is fairly obviously going to be Jaguar, if they can pull off their ambitous plan that is! There are numerous links between their employees and JLR though.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

can it be anything else but Vauxhall ?

Jaguar XE maybe? How cool would it be to have Lister involved in motorsports again!

The only other possibility I can think of would be MINI, depending on their definition of British! All other UK manufacturers seem to be sports cars or high end luxury.

[btccbloke]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

can it be anything else but Vauxhall ?

might have slipped your notice but we already have Vauxhall back on the grid

[medius]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

can it be anything else but Vauxhall ?

Rover?

[mark_l]

Originally Posted by medius

Rover?

Wolseley Motors?

[Alfisti]

MINI. The Clubman being the right size. Obvious Excelr8 links. Mini MINIs on the package...

The Jag XE is, to me, a bit big - with the exception of Ash in the Subaru it's small hatches that have dominated in recent years. It's also RWD, and that hasn't really worked well other than the WSR BMW. And Jag is contracting, so manufacturer investment in motorsport whilst cutting jobs ain't a recipe for a happy workforce. Yes, 2020 is a good way away but Jag is going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better - the diesel backlash seems to have caught out JLR far more than the Germans. They also seem to have drastically fallen out of favour with the Chinese people - my gut says the Chinese have had enough of the appalling badly built unreliable crap that JLR knocks up.

[mprmke]

The brand that have been hoping to bring to the BTCC is Jaguar. That’s a fact. They’ve been working on the project since 2014 and they own at least one XE shell. As said, there are several known links between Excerlr8 and JLR.

Whether it will come to fruition or not remains to be seen. The landscape at JLR has changed certainly over the past couple of years and it was already an ambitious plan, so it’s going to take some doing for sure if they’re to have a prayer for 2020. It would be great to see Excelr8 on the grid in Jaguars, but they may have to find an alternative manufacturer or the may not be on the grid at all, depending on how 2019 goes, along with work behind the scenes over the next 12 months.

The Jaguar XE is barely any larger than a Clubman really and certainly smaller than a Levorg, Avensis or CC!

[Craner Curves]

Wasn't the XE in the plans of Warren Scott at one point?

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

Wasn't the XE in the plans of Warren Scott at one point?

Isn’t the shell aluminium ? That means a bolt in cage and complications with subframe mounts? Very 1978....

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by mprmke

The Jaguar XE is barely any larger than a Clubman really and certainly smaller than a Levorg, Avensis or CC!

In a word, no.

The XE is 4672 mil in length. Which sticks it in Levorg and Avensis territory.

The Clubman is 4253 mil. In round money that's 1 Series, A Class, FK2.

In my books 400 mil is rather significant 😀

[mprmke]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

Wasn't the XE in the plans of Warren Scott at one point?

No. Once news broke that BMR were working on bringing a new car/brand in and from the information that was leaked, plus knowing Plato was really pushing for RWD, Jaguar was one of the brands that seemed to fit the bill, but as it turned out, it was Subaru.

[mprmke]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Isn’t the shell aluminium ? That means a bolt in cage and complications with subframe mounts? Very 1978....

There’s no issue in fitting a steel cage in an aluminium shell these days, as shown on plenty of other race cars, as long as you have the budget to do it!

[mprmke]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

In a word, no.

The XE is 4672 mil in length. Which sticks it in Levorg and Avensis territory.

The Clubman is 4253 mil. In round money that's 1 Series, A Class, FK2.

In my books 400 mil is rather significant 😀

Maybe so, but nothing that will make a difference in race car terms under BTCC regs.

The Avensis/Levorg/CC are all larger and proven race and/or Championship winning cars.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by mprmke

There’s no issue in fitting a steel cage in an aluminium shell these days, as shown on plenty of other race cars, as long as you have the budget to do it!

Except there is no way a bolt in cage will be as stiff as a welded setup

[Robin Marriott]

i hope it’s not the Clubman, it’s awful looking. Even the Countryman would be better.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by Robin Marriott

i hope it’s not the Clubman, it’s awful looking. Even the Countryman would be better.

clubman is way too small

[ChrisMarks]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

clubman is way too small

Its the same size as the Merc A-Class, so clearly not "too small"...

[ExplodeTheApex]

Considering JLR weren't interested in the Thorney RR Evoque, albeit a much different proposition, I can't see them taking the bait on a Jag XE.

I always assumed the new brand would be Mini, even if the cars and company are completely different to the 60s it would be a great story.

[Robin Marriott]

Moffat confirmed at Laser Tools Racing (as expected)

http://www.btcc.net/2019/01/17/moffa...rware-in-2019/

Also of note is the confirmation that Ciceley are no longer helping with the car, it’ll be interesting to see how it performs this year with what is essentially a new team.

[Csaba]

And from this article it seems that Moffat's team will be independent from Ciceley.
https://www.touringcartimes.com/2019...mxHwBQRhREhSG8