[BTCC] BTCC 2020 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[crmalcolm]

And not much to update on the non attributed information.
Just the final location of Crees was different to that which was previously apparent. (sorry sceptic)

Team	Car	Driver	Notes
Words Marked
???	???	Files	TR4racer
Simpson TBL	Honda Civic	Not Simpson	Pickles
PMR	???	Smiley	Pickles
Motorbase	???	Butcher	Pickles
???	???	Shedden	Pickles
Vodafone (Motorbase)	Ford Focus ST	Butcher	crmalcolm
Excelr8	???	Smith	sceptic
???	???	O.Jackson	sceptic
Came to pass
???	???	Sutton	touring fan01
AmD	Honda Civic x2	New Drivers	Overboost
Motorbase	3rd Car	???	Jiiiiiiim
HARD	BMW 1-Series	Boardley	Kinger6
Speedworks/Dynamics/WSR/Laser Tools/HARD/Amd Cobra/BTC/Motorbase	Change of 1 Car	???	Pickles
HARD	???	Boardley	sceptic
Trade Price	Audi S3 x2	???	Overboost
Trade Price?	Audi S3 x2	???	RS67
WSR	???	Jordan	touring fan01
BTC	???	Cook	Overboost
???	???	Chilton	touring fan01, Alfisti
BTC	Honda Civic	Chilton	billy bleach
BTC	???	Chilton	Overboost
Didn't materialise
PMR	3rd Car	???	Pickles
???	Honda Civic	Boardley	Pickles
Not HARD	Not Honda Civic	Boardley	Pickles
HARD	VW CC	???	crmalcolm (in entry list)
???	BMW 330i	Collard	Alfisti
Trade Price Cars	???	Hill	sceptic
Excelr8	???	Osborne	sceptic
HARD	???	Crees	sceptic

[S700UBO]

Nic Hamilton has a license for 2020 so hell be in a car on a grid by looks of things

[Johno.UK]

Originally Posted by S700UBO

Nic Hamilton has a license for 2020 so hell be in a car on a grid by looks of things

Doesn't mean it will be on the BTCC package though. He could be racing anywhere such as TCR etc.

[S700UBO]

Originally Posted by Johno.UK

Doesn't mean it will be on the BTCC package though. He could be racing anywhere such as TCR etc.

Hence my wording

[Robshillito1990]

What about Hamilton in the 4th Hard seat? They're renowned for being able to provide drives for less budget and that was what prevented Hamilton completing the season last year......wild guess but surely not impossible?

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Robshillito1990

What about Hamilton in the 4th Hard seat? They're renowned for being able to provide drives for less budget and that was what prevented Hamilton completing the season last year......wild guess but surely not impossible?

I think Nic will suit his pink woolly bobble hat. Best wait for a publicity picture to be sure...

[mj088]

Originally Posted by Robshillito1990

What about Hamilton in the 4th Hard seat? They're renowned for being able to provide drives for less budget and that was what prevented Hamilton completing the season last year......wild guess but surely not impossible?

shhh its a secret

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by S700UBO

Nic Hamilton has a license for 2020 so hell be in a car on a grid by looks of things

"Has a licence" what does this mean?

[S700UBO]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

"Has a licence" what does this mean?

He has a license to race from the fia in International Class C for the year of 2020, every driver looking to enter a series must do this

[medius]

Fact. Nic rarely has a 30 round budget.
Fact, TG signs drivers without a 30 round budget.
Fact. The CCs are the the cheapest seats on the grid by some margin.

I can see them all coming together nicely.

[porsche962fan]

for his brother a top seat in BTCC would be just pocket money , surprised he doesn't give him some

[jsmee]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

for his brother a top seat in BTCC would be just picket money , surprised he doesn't give him some pocket money

This has been frequently addressed.

Nic does not want his brothers financial support. He wants to stand up on his own two feet and do it for himself.

Needless to say i'm sure some contscts from the F1 industry come in handy, along with the indirect support of his profile as 'Lewis's brother', but direct financial contributions are not how he wants to do it.

Good on Nic.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by jsmee

This has been frequently addressed.

Nic does not want his brothers financial support. He wants to stand up on his own two feet and do it for himself.

Needless to say i'm sure some contscts from the F1 industry come in handy, along with the indirect support of his profile as 'Lewis's brother', but direct financial contributions are not how he wants to do it.

Good on Nic.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I agree.
Having seen Nic at Donington last year and seeing how difficult he finds it getting around the paddock etc, never mind racing in the BTCC I have the utmost admiration for him for trying and without any obvious complaints.

[jsmee]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

I agree.

Having seen Nic at Donington last year and seeing how difficult he finds it getting around the paddock etc, never mind racing in the BTCC I have the utmost admiration for him for trying and without any obvious complaints.

There is this which I completely agree with, but also that in the Motorbase Focus, which was seen as a bit of a tough car to drive, Nic actually really impressed on track too in 2019. Rarely caught up in incidents, and had a few strong performances.

Mind you, if he's in a Hard VW, he may have it tough.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by jsmee

There is this which I completely agree with, but also that in the Motorbase Focus, which was seen as a bit of a tough car to drive, Nic actually really impressed on track too in 2019. Rarely caught up in incidents, and had a few strong performances.

Mind you, if he's in a Hard VW, he may have it tough.

All the props and support in the world for him... but, if he struggled to break into the top 20 / 25 in the Focus, he's going to struggle far more this year, barring any considerable improvements with the VW.

[Johno.UK]

Originally Posted by S700UBO

He has a license to race from the fia in International Class C for the year of 2020, every driver looking to enter a series must do this

To be picky not everyone needs an International C license.

[Evantra]

Brands Hatch will look a little bit different.

https://twitter.com/racecircuitinfo/...159628800?s=21

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Evantra

All the props and support in the world for him... but, if he struggled to break into the top 20 / 25 in the Focus, he's going to struggle far more this year, barring any considerable improvements with the VW.

Being in the car in itself is an achievement. I don't do PC, but the young man is disabled and his skin colour is not white. That's two bloody great doors he's kicked down, and all under his own steam.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Being in the car in itself is an achievement. I don't do PC, but the young man is disabled and his skin colour is not white. That's two bloody great doors he's kicked down, and all under his own steam.

Yes, I completely agree, and as I said, complete respect to him. But he's got a very, very difficult job to get anything out of the VW.

[aland]

Originally Posted by Johno.UK

To be picky not everyone needs an International C license.

in all honesty getting international c is not that hard, the vast majority of club racers that have been around a few years will hold one... to put licensing into laymans terms

pass ards test nat b probationary (you have a black X on a yellow background, complete so many races (think it is 6) and get signed off by the clerk you lose the big X and have nat B, then you compete in 6 events and get signatures by the clerk and you can apply for nat A, To attain this licence you must demonstrate successful participation in three National ‘A’ Races or two National ‘A’ plus two National ‘B’ or Clubman Races or six National ‘B’ or Clubman Races. The qualifying signatures must be obtained at three different venues.

please note if you have a habit of writing off cars and appearing on crash the clerk might not give you a signature, ditto if your driving standards means you enjoy tea and biscuits with the clerk on a regular basis

[Alfisti]

I am inclined to agree Evantra.

However, even though this is the VWs swansong I believe better results than have been achieved since the JP and Colin days at BMR are within reach.

Why?

Goff is handy. He's now peddled it for a year so knows the car and where it's weaknesses are. He's reputedly good at communication with engineers.

Bushy is a fine engineer and better peddler than many.

If these two work together well and enjoy similar setups I think it's possible to find some performance gains. A little bit here and a little bit there. The grid is close so a tenth here or there could be the difference between mid grid and back row.

What Jake Hill & co. achieved with the previously abysmal Audi last year proves that the right people (and a sprinkling of cash) can make a car work in BTCC.

I'm not writing #HARD off yet.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by aland

in all honesty getting international c is not that hard, the vast majority of club racers that have been around a few years will hold one... to put licensing into laymans terms

pass ards test nat b probationary (you have a black X on a yellow background, complete so many races (think it is 6) and get signed off by the clerk you lose the big X and have nat B, then you compete in 6 events and get signatures by the clerk and you can apply for nat A, To attain this licence you must demonstrate successful participation in three National ‘A’ Races or two National ‘A’ plus two National ‘B’ or Clubman Races or six National ‘B’ or Clubman Races. The qualifying signatures must be obtained at three different venues.

please note if you have a habit of writing off cars and appearing on crash the clerk might not give you a signature, ditto if your driving standards means you enjoy tea and biscuits with the clerk on a regular basis

Why is this a story? He will have had an Int C since he drove for AmD Audi .

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Goff is handy. He's now peddled it for a year so knows the car and where it's weaknesses are. He's reputedly good at communication with engineers.

Bushy is a fine engineer and better peddler than many.

If these two work together well and enjoy similar setups I think it's possible to find some performance gains. A little bit here and a little bit there. The grid is close so a tenth here or there could be the difference between mid grid and back row.

What Jake Hill & co. achieved with the previously abysmal Audi last year proves that the right people (and a sprinkling of cash) can make a car work in BTCC.

I'm not writing #HARD off yet.

I really hope so too. Fingers crossed!

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Why is this a story? He will have had an Int C since he drove for AmD Audi .

The 'story' is that he has received his 2020 licence and posted a picture of it on his Instagram feed. As I'm sure you you know, nobody has ever posted a picture like before, which obviously makes it huge news.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Why is this a story? He will have had an Int C since he drove for AmD Audi .

I think some posters have got a bit in a twist over this, and the original story has been lost.

S700UBO - Nic Hamilton has renewed his license for 2020.
Johno.UK - Doesn't mean it's for BTCC.
billy bleach - ?
S700UBO - all drivers need a Int C License.
Johno.UK - to be picky, not all need Int C.
aland - route to Int C is....

So in summary, the story is that Nic Hamilton has renewed his license for 2020.
This might not mean a seat in BTCC, but it is a strong likelihood he'll be racing somewhere. It backs up his own comment when he withdrew in 2019 - 'See you in 2020, where I will be hungrier and stronger than ever.'

Having been on the BTCC grid in 2019, and driving in Motorsport in 2020, it's not a huge stretch to reach the conclusion that he is now likely to return to the 2020 BTCC grid.

The routes to his license, funding stream, entitlement and challenges are not really the story here - just that a lot of indicators suggest he's back.

#DE086A, #95D600