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

[RS67]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

There's a Jackson onstage at 10. But who? Ollie, Mat, Tito, Jermaine or Janet?

Ollie.

[Evantra]

Crees at BTC.

What a waste

[porsche962fan]

only 8 seats left unconfirmed


Toyota Corolla - Speedworks - Tom Ingram

Honda Civic - Team Dynamics - Matt Neal
Honda Civic - Team Dynamics - Dan Cammish

Infiniti Q50 - Laser Tools - Aiden Moffat
Infiniti Q50 - Laser Tools - Ash Sutton

VW CC - HARD - Jack Goff
VW CC - HARD - Mike Bushell
VW CC - HARD - ??????

BMW 125 - HARD - Carl Boardley

BMW 125 - Team Parker - Stephen Jelley ??

BMW 3 - WSR - Colin Turkington
BMW 3 - WSR - Tom Oliphant
BMW 3 - WSR - Andrew Jordan

Mercedes - Ciceley - Adam Morgan
Mercedes - Ciceley - Daniel Rowbottom

Vauxhall Astra - PMR - Jason Plato
Vauxhall Astra - PMR - ????

Hyundai I30 - Excelr8 Motorsport - Rob Smith
Hyundai I30 - Excelr8 Motorsport - Senna Proctor

Honda Civic - AMD - Jake Hill
Honda Civic - AMD - Sam Osborne

Honda Civic - BTC Racing - Josh Cook
Honda Civic - BTC Racing - Tom Chilton
Honda Civic - BTC Racing - Michael Crees

Honda Civic - Simpson Racing - Matt Simpson ??

Ford Focus - Motorbase - Rory Butcher ???
Ford Focus - Motorbase - ????
Ford Focus - Motorbase - ????

Audi S3 - TPC - Bobby Thompson
Audi S3 - TPC - James Gornall

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Crees at BTC.

What a waste

Please do explain. Should they of given it to Jack Goff?

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

Please do explain. Should they of given it to Jack Goff?

Because he's not good enough for the BTCC, let alone a top seat. He obviously has great passion for the sport, and I really like him for that, but he's just not ready yet.

As always, very much hope to be proved wrong.

[mj088]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Crees at BTC.

What a waste

He brings budget, I don't think he was able to show a lot last year but let's be honest he was with Team Hard, I don't think he disgraced himself, or had many major accidents of purely his own fault Given he scored well and engages well with fans, why not give him a chance in a decent car?
If he bombs then at least he had a go.

Is he worse and less deserving than Boardley, Rowbottom, Osborne etc who have all secured drives for 2020 despite scoring less points than Crees in 2019?

[porsche962fan]

so Bucther at Motorbase seems more liklely now ? there aren't many alternatives left...

[RS67]

Well that's my surprise as Plato's team mate gone then.

[S griffin]

Crees is a bit of a surprise, I was expecting a young rookie in the third car. It’s good for him though, he is a great addition to the series, as he’s a real enthusiast. Hopefully if he can get a few decent results, although I don’t expect him to win like Sonic and Cook

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by mj088

He brings budget, I don't think he has. Shown a lot last year but let's be honest he was with Team Hard, I don't think he disgraced himself, or had many own accidents. Given he scored well and engages well with fans, why not give him a chance in a decent car?
If he bombs then at least he had a go

He really didn't score well, all his points were due to wet / dry races and he struggled to get out of the top 20 otherwise.

Again, I like the guy, and very much hope he has a great year and I'm proved wrong. But let's be honest, Cook and Chilton are going to win races and Crees will struggle to get in the points.

[mj088]

Originally Posted by Evantra

He really didn't score well, all his points were due to wet / dry races and he struggled to get out of the top 20 otherwise.

Again, I like the guy, and very much hope he has a great year and I'm proved wrong. But let's be honest, Cook and Chilton are going to win races and Crees will struggle to get points.

Do those points not count?

[S700UBO]

Good luck to Crees, i think he will step up this year and be a consistent top 10 finisher, he has a car to do it.

I reckon we have a few more surprises still to come

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by mj088

Do those points not count?

They count but they're not representative. Without those races, he would've scored 0.

[Matt K]

Well, it's not that Crees is THAT bad, he may have not unleashed his full potential at Team HARD but I still feel he's not good enough to be at BTC. I don't think he'll be very close to Chilton and Cook. I hoped to see a very strong three-car lineup, not this :/

[JDMROB]

I'm pleased with that. A good character who isnt full of excuses. He will be fighting for a few points a meeting quite regularly I think.

[Johno.UK]

Plato says he still hasn't signed with PMR but hopes to within the next week or so.

[Johno.UK]

Originally Posted by Evantra

He really didn't score well, all his points were due to wet / dry races and he struggled to get out of the top 20 otherwise.

Again, I like the guy, and very much hope he has a great year and I'm proved wrong. But let's be honest, Cook and Chilton are going to win races and Crees will struggle to get in the points.

The other rookies had the chance to do what he did in wet/dry races but didn't do it. To me that shows Crees has something they don't. I don't think he's at the level of Cammish, Ingram, Cook, Sutton etc but he's a long way from being the worst driver out there IMO. Plus the sport needs characters like him, the following he has built up in one season is incredible.

[Pickles]

Don't forget 2019 was only his 4th year of racing having won every series he'd contested previously, as well as switching to FWD. Agreed he needs more experience but he's in the best place to get it. And would he have had that chance without Gilham in the first place?

[mj088]

So that leaves 6... 3x motorbase, 1x HARD, 1x Excelr8 and 1x PMR

How certain are we of Butcher to motorbase? PMR looks much more attractive

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Johno.UK

The other rookies had the chance to do what he did in wet/dry races but didn't do it. To me that shows Crees has something they don't. I don't think he's at the level of Cammish, Ingram, Cook, Sutton etc but he's a long way from being the worst driver out there IMO. Plus the sport needs characters like him, the following he has built up in one season is incredible.

Remember that he was in a very uncompetitive car.

We've seen before that the only way that VW is going to do well is for the driver to take a risk running slicks when its wet, but drying, or wets when it's dry, but raining.

Crees was astute enough to take that gamble and talented enough not to crash when on the wrong tyres for the conditions.

He's not going to be winning races in this car like Cook or Chilton will, but that's because he has a lot less experience than either. He will be scoring points on a regular basis this year.

Also it's to his credit that he's made the effort to get into a better car. He could have stayed with Team HARD - Tony wanted him to remain and I believe Crees kept that option open until just a couple of days ago, while he was negotiating with other teams.

He wasn't the only one interested in the BTC seat either - the team only had two confirmed drivers when AIS opened on Thursday morning - but he was the one to get the deal done.

[S griffin]

It’s not a big deal really. They’ve got two race winners in the team. Having a third driver who’s not on their level, but good enough for a seat doesn’t do much harm

[mj088]

Originally Posted by Evantra

They count but they're not representative. Without those races, he would've scored 0.

But those races counted overall, and he was able to read the conditions to get the result he wouldn't have otherwise got. The HARD VW CC is never going to get good results unless circumstance allows, as shown by the other drivers results. In a more competitive car if he rolls the dice and comes away with a podium or 2 this year we will be talking about how good he is in changing conditions.

From the press release Crees knows he isn't on the Cook and Chilton level and wants to learn.

He got the money together to get the seat and that's the hardest part, he's not as decorated or as talented as some drivers but also isn't the worst we have had in recent years, he has done what he needs to be there.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by RS67

Well that's my surprise as Plato's team mate gone then.

Wowsers. Pretty (well totally) convinced Senna Proctor was I at PMR with Creesy as an alternative. The old livery sealed it for me. Thought they were gonna sticker the car window with Sennas name and number overnight and leave it on view for when the doors opened this morning. But that went to rats yesterday leading me to think it was Creesy after all. Why? JP likes the kid and sees potential.

Clearly the lad has gained access to a big old budget; which to go from what HARD required to what BTC require means he must have some friends somewhere. Or maybe the BTC squad really has hooked some significant backing.

The story I had was that Michael was going to continue at HARD but couldn't get the budget raised so Tony had to let the seat go to another driver (who I cannot post or will face a poison tipped umbrella!)

To continue my rubbish predictions (no more from me this year honest): the obvious Rory, the sneaky suspicion of Flash wanting back, OJ and a new new Focus at Motorbase.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Crees at BTC.

What a waste

His driving in wet conditions demonstrated to me a natural talent. A raw talent, yes, but talent. Needs to rack up miles, gain experience, but with two experienced talented team mates he has good company to learn from. He'll do well I predict. Maybe not at first, but give the lad time - second half of the season some silverware.

[Johno.UK]

Originally Posted by sceptic

Also it's to his credit that he's made the effort to get into a better car. He could have stayed with Team HARD - Tony wanted him to remain and I believe Crees kept that option open until just a couple of days ago, while he was negotiating with other teams.

He said in the interview that the HARD deal fell through before Christmas and, up until a week ago, he had no drive and no sign of one. BTC called him after seeing the amount of responses he got on social media after admitting he didn't have a drive.