BTCC 2024 News & Rumours

[MagicBoy]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

But it doesn't need to be from the Corolla, though; it could be from any of their range.

What else in the current range uses a 2 litre 4 cylinder petrol non-hybrid engine?

Other than the Supra that's a joint venture with BMW...

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by MagicBoy

Toyota would likely struggle to use an actual 4-cylinder Corolla engine in the Corolla, given they are low-revving hybrids and run on the Atkinson cycle.

The BMW out of the Supra makes more sense given it's the right capacity and turbocharged.

Not forgetting originally the Corolla used the TOCA motor - presumably because there was no suitable Toyota unit

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

But this brings up another query that I don't know the answer to, and that is can teams use a manufacturer's engine that has as standard a larger capacity, but then reduce the capacity to meet the 2 litre measurement?

'The base engine can be sourced from a manufacturer’s broad ‘family’, including subsidiary brands under their effective control, with the bore/stroke allowed to be altered to achieve the 2-litre displacement.'

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Not forgetting originally the Corolla used the TOCA motor - presumably because there was no suitable Toyota unit

At the time it was introduced, the engine from the C-HR would have been an option.

[Mike Harte]

Thanks, crm, that makes sense; and that means that Toyota do currently have one of their own engines - I need to qualify that because I don't actually know whether they are the originators of the engine - which is in their range of cars but with a displacement of 2.3 litres which could be altered to bring it down to 2 litres.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

At the time it was introduced, the engine from the C-HR would have been an option.

Suitable Head design? Weight? Optimum bore and stroke possible? Inlet manifold OK? Many factors to considered

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Suitable Head design? Weight? Optimum bore and stroke possible? Inlet manifold OK? Many factors to considered

True, there are many factors to consider if you are asking about it being competitive (see the Subaru Levorg issues).

But the characteristics of the M20 engine means it would be suitable for NGTC use.

So why did they not use it? Speedworks was a relatively smaller operation at the time, and the TOCA engine was the easier option to implement. When the switch to the B48 became an option however, it was already on the grid, so the experience at NBE already existed.

[Evantra]

Looks like 21 cars on the Cayman grid? Good number, hopefully it translates to good racing.

https://x.com/porscheraces_gb/status...T11pmdgnSSDQzA

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Looks like 21 cars on the Cayman grid? Good number, hopefully it translates to good racing.

https://x.com/porscheraces_gb/status...T11pmdgnSSDQzA

Yes, it seems to be a strong 21 entries. 21 were photographed in the static shots and all apart from Caitlin Wood's Barbie-sponsored car appear on TSL. Judging from her social media posts, Caitlin Wood appears to still be looking for additional sponsorship.

From the photographs Porsche have shared - an Orange windscreen banner denotes "RS-Pro", a Green windscreen banner is "RS-Am", a White banner is "CS-Pro" and a Black banner is "CS-Am".

"RS" competitors use the new Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
"CS" competitors use the old Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport

There are 13 GT4 RS (7 Pro & 6 Am) and 8 GT4 Clubsports (4 Pro & 4 Am). Quite a few recognisable names continuing in or joining the series.

RS Pro
#18 - Sebastian Hopkins - Team Parker Racing
#26 - Robert Cronin - Team Parker Racing
#30 - Will Jenkins - Team Parker Racing
#32 - Ethan Hammerton - Team Omologato with Graves Motorsport
#71 - Max Coates - Team Omologato with Graves Motorsport
#43 - Thomas Bradshaw - Toro Verde GT
#98 - Oliver Cottam - Xentek Motorsport

RS Am
#8 - Edward Stanton - Toro Verde GT
#16 - Bal Sidhu - Xentek Motorsport
#25 - Matthew Kyle-Henney - Clean Racing
#27 - Jacob Tofts - Graves Motorsport
#28 - George Jaxon - Q Mix Concrete with JWB Motorsport
#88 - Oliver Meadows - Team Parker Racing

CS Pro
#5 - Oskar Dix - Team Parker Racing
#11 - Ben Mulryan - Race Car Consultants
#70 - Samuel Harvey - Xentek Motorsport
#65 - Caitlin Wood - TBA

CS Am
#3 - Karim Sekkat - Breakell Racing
#44 - Jonathan Beeson - Graves Motorsport
#50 - Darelle Wilson - AALCO with JWB Motorsport
#87 - Paul Porter - Team Parker Racing

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by sceptic

There was a long red flag in the Porsche race, which will account for some of that, but by the time you posted that they had shown three live races AND the earlier F4 race.

Sorry all I recall seeing was an interview with Abbie Pulling

[coffinpilot]

Bobby Thompson in with WSR for the rest of the season.
Why set a media embargo when it's in Autosport magazine that I picked up at 6am??!!

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

Bobby Thompson in with WSR for the rest of the season.
Why set a media embargo when it's in Autosport magazine that I picked up at 6am??!!

because wsr gave autosport the exclusive first
thats the way things work

[thetool]

Wonder how many rounds he'll end up doing. Clearly budget is a big issue or else he'd have been there from Round 1. With Oulton, Croft and Knockhill all coming up in a few rounds time it's a good time to get up to speed with RWD and hope to score some great results there.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by thetool

Wonder how many rounds he'll end up doing. Clearly budget is a big issue or else he'd have been there from Round 1. With Oulton, Croft and Knockhill all coming up in a few rounds time it's a good time to get up to speed with RWD and hope to score some great results there.

like coffinpilot said.
for the rest of the season

[MarcusH26]

https://btcc.net/bobbys-back-thompson-joins-zeus-cloud-racing-with-wsr/

Official announcement of Bobby T

[Evantra]

Absolutely excellent. From the teaser and Zeus Cloud’s branding it looks like we’re getting a purple BMW.

Hope it leads to the results we all think he’s capable of!

[touringlegend]

Glad to see it confirmed for the the rest of the season

[MarcusH26]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Absolutely excellent. From the teaser and Zeus Cloud’s branding it looks like we’re getting a purple BMW.

Hope it leads to the results we all think he’s capable of!

Massively excited to see how he does , Snett I'm not expecting fireworks instantly because he'll have some restrictions to work around but a good clean weekend and stick it in a good place for Race 3. But it's another quality driver to add to a stacked front of the field and gives WSR that extra car to get data and everything from.

[Robin Marriott]

Couldn’t be happier with this. He showed moments of greatness in what everyone though was a bad car, hopefully a step up to what might be the best car on the grid will net some amazing results.

[thetool]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

like coffinpilot said.
for the rest of the season

Yes I'm sure that's the hope. Whether it works out that way will depend on sponsors.

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

because wsr gave autosport the exclusive first
thats the way things work

I think you missed the point. I know how it works.

I know from talking to a journalist that the story had an 8am release for this morning with BTCC and WSR, Autosport would put it out a few minutes later and then everyone else - so the BTCC and WSR had exclusivity (which gives their socials/websites most of the traffic) - but it's in print in a magazine with thousands and thousands of readers, from the early hours of the morning, where any fan could go online with a photo of the article before the embargo.
That would make an embargo time and coordinated news utterly pointless.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

I think you missed the point. I know how it works.

I know from talking to a journalist that the story had an 8am release for this morning with BTCC and WSR, Autosport would put it out a few minutes later and then everyone else - so the BTCC and WSR had exclusivity (which gives their socials/websites most of the traffic) - but it's in print in a magazine with thousands and thousands of readers, from the early hours of the morning, where any fan could go online with a photo of the article before the embargo.
That would make an embargo time and coordinated news utterly pointless.

I do get your point but Does the printed version of Autosport still have thousands & thousands of readers. and if they do, what percentage of these readers will have read the magazine before the 8:00 deadline, and what percentage of these early readers are BTCC fanatics?

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

I think you missed the point. I know how it works.

I know from talking to a journalist that the story had an 8am release for this morning with BTCC and WSR, Autosport would put it out a few minutes later and then everyone else - so the BTCC and WSR had exclusivity (which gives their socials/websites most of the traffic) - but it's in print in a magazine with thousands and thousands of readers, from the early hours of the morning, where any fan could go online with a photo of the article before the embargo.
That would make an embargo time and coordinated news utterly pointless.

the amount of people that would actually read it in autosport before the 8am release is vanishingly small in comparison to the wide distribution the story gets online and in social media at 8am.
thats why they dont care about it being leaked by a handful of people before 8am

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

I do get your point but Does the printed version of Autosport still have thousands & thousands of readers. and if they do, what percentage of these readers will have read the magazine before the 8:00 deadline, and what percentage of these early readers are BTCC fanatics?

When print was the only option it would be down to when the postman delivered your subscription copy or when the local newsagent opened for you to buy a copy. These days it's mostly digital subscriptions so more likely you'll get a copy before 8am.

However, take your point about thousands & thousands of readers.

For me I think the question is why the 'exclusive' embargo when Thompson himself pretty much gave the game away on social media 2 days ago.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

it's in print in a magazine with thousands and thousands of readers, from the early hours of the morning, where any fan could go online with a photo of the article before the embargo.

Which would technically be illegal. I would expect the copyright to be worded along the lines of:
'for your information and personal use only and may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, displayed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any other purposes whatsoever without the prior written consent of the respective owners.'

And so if a fan did that, and it ended up in wide circulation, then they would find themselves liable.

On this site - 'You also agreed not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you.'