[BTCC] BTCC 2023 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by redshoes

Yes you can. Pedestrian tunnel at the Esses then you can walk all the down to Melbourne and into the paddock. Admittedly once you get past the Esses there isn't much to see

It is also recognised as one of the best locations on the circuit for photography, with the proximity to the circuit being good and the velocity is easier to work with.

[pimmy]

It adds another couple of overtaking opportunities too.

[S griffin]

I do like to see a bit of variety on the calendar.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I do like to see a bit of variety on the calendar.

I can understand that view - but it is always worth remembering that part of BTCC's success is stability, not variety.

Alan Gow explains that he is reluctant to make changes: "Where do you take it in the future? Well you don’t; you build on what you’ve got. [Stability] is what it’s all about. There’s a reason why the championship is the success it is; it’s because we’ve got stability in the technical regulations. You’ve got investment in the cars and stability in the regulations. You’ve also got stability in the calendar, in the race formats, in the television and in the tyres. It’s something that the teams can invest in knowing what the BTCC will look like for the next five years. They’ve made major investments and it’s up to us to make sure that they can quantify their investment as much as possible over that time, so we provide them with the best and most stable platform that we can. Sometimes you tinker with the race formats a little bit, but at the moment the race formats are working really well. I’m never against change, but I’m always against wholesale change. You don’t do change for the sake of change."

[Ant25]

Anyone got any gossip for next year then hahah? Must be some whispers about!

[mattcanary]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Doh.

Mondello is in The British Isles…

I've learned something new. British Isles includes Republic of Ireland. Every day's a learning day!

[mattcanary]

Originally Posted by sceptic

I'm not. It adds nothing.

You can't spectate on any part of the Melbourne loop, and the longer lap means you'll see the cars fewer times when watching anywhere else trackside.

There's a reason it was taken off the calendar 20 years ago.

You can spectate at the Melbourne loop. At least, in others race series you can. I did a few years ago, and saw lots of action at the corner.

Donington probably my favourite UK track, and good to see the BTCC go there twice next year on different layouts.

[mattcanary]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I can understand that view - but it is always worth remembering that part of BTCC's success is stability, not variety.

Alan Gow explains that he is reluctant to make changes: "Where do you take it in the future? Well you don’t; you build on what you’ve got. [Stability] is what it’s all about. There’s a reason why the championship is the success it is; it’s because we’ve got stability in the technical regulations. You’ve got investment in the cars and stability in the regulations. You’ve also got stability in the calendar, in the race formats, in the television and in the tyres. It’s something that the teams can invest in knowing what the BTCC will look like for the next five years. They’ve made major investments and it’s up to us to make sure that they can quantify their investment as much as possible over that time, so we provide them with the best and most stable platform that we can. Sometimes you tinker with the race formats a little bit, but at the moment the race formats are working really well. I’m never against change, but I’m always against wholesale change. You don’t do change for the sake of change."

Very sensible view, to be fair.

[S griffin]

The BTCC is right to stay grounded. I've seen quite a few series go to pot because they tried to do too much and ended biting off more than they can chew. In fact it almost happened with the BTCC with the super touring era. The costs left the series in a very sorry state, but thankfully lessons have been learnt from that

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by S griffin

The BTCC is right to stay grounded. I've seen quite a few series go to pot because they tried to do too much and ended biting off more than they can chew. In fact it almost happened with the BTCC with the super touring era. The costs left the series in a very sorry state, but thankfully lessons have been learnt from that

I still think that Supertouring could have been sustained at or near the level it was for another 10 years, if the right promotion was behind it. I believe it was £10M was the Prodrive / Ford bill for the 2000 season, when you compare the top budgets of F1 at the time which were near £200M, it does offer good value for money, the problem is the comparative lack of exposure. I am not sure if this was a problem with TV or the series not promoting itself or the car makers not doing some of that, I am not sure, maybe a bit of everything. Lets face it, £10M would be a bargain if it had live TV and was beamed to every motorsport viewing household in Europe and or the world.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I still think that Supertouring could have been sustained at or near the level it was for another 10 years, if the right promotion was behind it. I believe it was £10M was the Prodrive / Ford bill for the 2000 season, when you compare the top budgets of F1 at the time which were near £200M, it does offer good value for money, the problem is the comparative lack of exposure. I am not sure if this was a problem with TV or the series not promoting itself or the car makers not doing some of that, I am not sure, maybe a bit of everything. Lets face it, £10M would be a bargain if it had live TV and was beamed to every motorsport viewing household in Europe and or the world.

I'm not sure that it would have been sustainable.

S2000 became too expensive in the ten years that followed Super Touring, and that was much cheaper than the £10M you outline above.
Currently, some entrants are struggling to meet a budget 1/10th of the Super Touring cost.

The simple truth is that once manufacturers started to leave, the finances were not in place to sustain Super Touring.
IMO - If the regulations had been retained, then we would not have seen privateers able fill grids and we could have seen the series folding. It was only by adopting much cheaper regulations that has kept the series alive. We have no manufacturer involvement now - and it is only by adopting regulations such as BTC-T and S2000 that allowed private teams such as WSR and TD to keep going.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by mattcanary

I've learned something new. British Isles includes Republic of Ireland. Every day's a learning day!

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I'm not sure that it would have been sustainable.

S2000 became too expensive in the ten years that followed Super Touring, and that was much cheaper than the £10M you outline above.
Currently, some entrants are struggling to meet a budget 1/10th of the Super Touring cost.

The simple truth is that once manufacturers started to leave, the finances were not in place to sustain Super Touring.
IMO - If the regulations had been retained, then we would not have seen privateers able fill grids and we could have seen the series folding. It was only by adopting much cheaper regulations that has kept the series alive. We have no manufacturer involvement now - and it is only by adopting regulations such as BTC-T and S2000 that allowed private teams such as WSR and TD to keep going.

I think you perhaps have missed my point.

I agree, given the state of play in the 90s, £10M was unsustainable, but that's only because someone in a marketing department determined that the return on investment wasn't worth it any longer. If the potential return had been increased with better sponsor exposure, better TV coverage, then all of a sudden that £10M looks like a bargain.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I think you perhaps have missed my point.

Possibly -

Originally Posted by Sodemo

If the potential return had been increased with better sponsor exposure, better TV coverage, then all of a sudden that £10M looks like a bargain.

I'm not sure that was possible - the regulations were used in many series both nationally and internationally, including the highest profile series' of Touring Car World Cup, BTCC, Super Tourenwagen Cup and Australian Super Touring Championship.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I think you perhaps have missed my point.

I agree, given the state of play in the 90s, £10M was unsustainable, but that's only because someone in a marketing department determined that the return on investment wasn't worth it any longer. If the potential return had been increased with better sponsor exposure, better TV coverage, then all of a sudden that £10M looks like a bargain.

Better TV coverage? Outside of F1 what is better ? Free to air , live and all support races? Also back in Supertouring days it was sold Worldwide - even Airlines bought