BTCC 2024 News & Rumours

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

What % do you think the Hybrid accounts for on a season of racing?

just 6%

(on the basis that hybrid costs just under 30k and a season is around 500k then thats just 6% of the budget so is obviously not the issue)

as another poster here reminded people everything is more expensive now

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by AJD

Look at the country at the moment man everything is more expensive! Houses/mortgages, food, energy and insurance or is hybrid to blame for all that as well? It's the way things are at the moment, things are more expensive than they were.

Some people are struggling to pay bills and others are struggling to pay the required price to go racing. That's the top and bottom of it.

Be for or against hybrid but to suggest it's the reason that certain drivers (the ones who usually struggle for sponsors) aren't on the grid is daft.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

Exactly nobody has the divine right to be in BTCC especially when they lurk around at the back with little evidence of improvement. Fair play for having a go but when it is time to move on just move on without crying about costs etc The cream always rises to the top

[InYourMirrors45]

[QUOTE=billy bleach;4197440]Exactly nobody has the divine right to be in BTCC especially when they lurk around at the back with little evidence of improvement. Fair play for having a go but when it is time to move on just move on without crying about costs etc The cream always rises to the top[/QUOTE

Despite everyone seemingly thinking it’s doom and gloom let’s not forget that we do have 1 team in particular on the grid who have 2 fully professional drivers and another semi professional driver. Shows it can be done still.

[redshoes]

As expected, JEdwards has launched her '10 for 10' fundraiser. Looking for 10 companies at £10K each. "I have a seat on offer, with a great team and car. This will be my final chance of being on the BTCC grid in 2024"

Form an orderly queue

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by redshoes

As expected, JEdwards has launched her '10 for 10' fundraiser. Looking for 10 companies at £10K each. "I have a seat on offer, with a great team and car. This will be my final chance of being on the BTCC grid in 2024"

Form an orderly queue

100K for A BTCC Seat? Seems cheap….

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

100K for A BTCC Seat? Seems cheap….

Perhaps she already has the other £250k from existing sponsors?

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by sceptic

Perhaps she already has the other £250k from existing sponsors?

350k for a BTCC Seat ? Seems good value

[crmalcolm]

It's never as simple as just saying £XXX for a seat. Every deal will be different, and within that deal there are many ways it can be structured.

There are so many factors that can be broken down in different ways:
Damage costs
Tyres / consumable costs
Insurance(s)
Hospitality access
etc..

All that can be derived from what Jade is currently doing is that a seat is still available for her to drive, but she is trying to get more funds to support her entry.

She might already have enough funds to secure the seat, but wants to put together a package with sponsors getting hospitality.
She might need a partial boost to her funds to make the deal work.
She might be looking for a way to make a bit of income for herself from any deal.

To take the amount of sponsorship she is openly campaigning for, and correlate that to any indication of a cost for a drive in the BTCC is a fool's errand.

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by redshoes

As expected, JEdwards has launched her '10 for 10' fundraiser. Looking for 10 companies at £10K each. "I have a seat on offer, with a great team and car. This will be my final chance of being on the BTCC grid in 2024"

Form an orderly queue

No chance of that happening. Just a load of "oh if I could help you I would, but I can't" replies from Joe Public, who the post is clearly not aimed at.

[Protonman]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

100K for A BTCC Seat? Seems cheap….

We assume the seat is the last one at PMR. If so they have a title sponsor in place and this is in order to top up the budget . If so it’s a good opportunity, too good for her to overlook. Reliable car, Good team mate to judge or be judged by and only a max 6 others competing for the JST. Let’s see if theirs an appetite to keep a girl on the grid . I know others are more disparaging but the way I see it is she’s more often mid grid than at the back falling off on her own . This is especially so when it’s wet and slippery . Also too often she is either driven into or sorted out by others which has cost her big time . Maybe it’s a male pride thing ! . Even if you discount this the alternative is another pay driver or no driver at all . Besides I just love a good underdog who is prepared to try .

[InYourMirrors45]

Originally Posted by Protonman

We assume the seat is the last one at PMR. If so they have a title sponsor in place and this is in order to top up the budget . If so it’s a good opportunity, too good for her to overlook. Reliable car, Good team mate to judge or be judged by and only a max 6 others competing for the JST. Let’s see if theirs an appetite to keep a girl on the grid . I know others are more disparaging but the way I see it is she’s more often mid grid than at the back falling off on her own . This is especially so when it’s wet and slippery . Also too often she is either driven into or sorted out by others which has cost her big time . Maybe it’s a male pride thing ! . Even if you discount this the alternative is another pay driver or no driver at all . Besides I just love a good underdog who is prepared to try .

Mid grid? She’s scored 2 championship points in 3 seasons…

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by InYourMirrors45

Mid grid? She’s scored 2 championship points in 3 seasons…

Wow

[antnee]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

This is pretty much the gist of the issue, speaking to people who should know. Yes the global socio-economic situation isn't helping, but the difference between say 2016 and today is that the performance parameters are so equal, to have an advantage and be successful takes so much more investment. Arguably this is what has ultimately killed off the smaller entries and led to larger teams running multiple cars or satellite operations.

I would be surprised if there isn't a regulation tweak for 2025/26. A cost-cap type solution as a potential or rule-set tweaks. Hybrid won't be going anywhere, whether it is liked or not, the sustainability messaging is key to the survival of motor sport, especially at BTCC level and above.

There is a cost cap of sorts in place already, there are limits on quantity of engines, brake pads, etc that can be used through a season.

[antnee]

Originally Posted by InYourMirrors45

Mid grid? She’s scored 2 championship points in 3 seasons…

It is worse than that - its actually -3 points

Looking at full season entries;
In 2021 on Hamilton was behind her in the standings
In 2022 tied with Osborne and Hamilton was behind
In 2023 Only driver to contest all rounds and score 0 points. Halsted scored 10pts before his penalty.

[Evantra]

Confirmation of One Motorsport’s departure.

https://onemotorsport.co.uk/one-moto...-btcc-in-2024/

Intent on returning with the Civics next year.


From Autosport: “At face value that leaves a reduction to 21 cars for this season for the BTCC, but sources have suggested that one of the existing teams is working on a deal whereby it could wheel out an additional car, potentially to be run by a satellite operation. BTCC insiders are also not ruling out more of the Team Hard Cupra Leons, in addition to those acquired by Restart, being mopped up for a programme in 2024.”

[thetool]

In the same way Team Dynamics were going to be back in 2024. Who's going to be paying for this development work on a platform that's going to be 7 years old at the start of 2025?

I know BTC had the newest Civics, but even they are four years old now with the exception of the chassis Moffat used last year which was new for Shedden in 2022.

In terms of cars on the grid, I'm sure most of the current teams would be happy to run additional chassis, but only if/when the right money comes along, which is the problem.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by thetool

In the same way Team Dynamics were going to be back in 2024. Who's going to be paying for this development work on a platform that's going to be 7 years old at the start of 2025?

I know BTC had the newest Civics, but even they are four years old now with the exception of the chassis Moffat used last year which was new for Shedden in 2022.

Yes, I’m not really holding out too much hope. Sabbaticals in the BTCC tend to be permanent more often that not!

[Robin Marriott]

21 cars will be perfect at Brands Indy.

[MarcusH26]

I could understand taking a year out to develop a new car , but it felt like the Civics had become a bit of a dead end platform that they realistically weren't going to get more out of.

Would also be curious to see who would run the Leon's given 2 were in the hands of the finance company and looked in rough shape on RacecarsDirect.

[coffinpilot]

I seem to remember reading Marcus Simmons in Autosport in his feature with Alliance/NAPA mentioning (I don't know whether it was joking, or serious) that the development on the car for 2023 had seen a redesign of almost every outer panel to the point that it was close to a new homologation (I'm guessing there was a bit of humour there) at quite a cost.

I also remember a piece about the hybrid at WSR (Autosport or Racecar Engineering) where they developed a number of installations for cooling/balance that other teams didn't have the ability to do in an attempt to get it just right (reading between the lines seemed to suggest most teams would have one option then have to stick with it.)

And in the current Touring Car mag Ingram talks about there being huge potential for development in the i30 (at a cost,) along with Cook and Edwards talking about how much of a struggle the Dynamics Civic compared to the BTC Civic was last year.

I only point to these as to wonder about the costing. Is there any way to limit development? I know there are plenty of control parts and restrictions, but Adam Weaver did allude to how much of a challenge that side of the BTCC has now become, but is there ay way to make that kind of spending redundant?

The only answer I can think of, and it wouldn't be popular, would be for TOCA to be open and aggressive on a balance of performance across the first five or six rounds of a year so that a theoretical balance for the second half of the year is in place. To an extent it would be subjective, and would anger a lot of people, but would it not discourage the kind of spending advantage that it seems that Alliance/WSR and from what has been suggested Excelr8 appear to have?

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by MarcusH26

I could understand taking a year out to develop a new car , but it felt like the Civics had become a bit of a dead end platform that they realistically weren't going to get more out of.

Would also be curious to see who would run the Leon's given 2 were in the hands of the finance company and looked in rough shape on RacecarsDirect.

This is what I wonder. Would a team like Graves be in a good position (and I'm not suggesting they are, just merely using then as an example) to run a single Leon and share data and other stuff in partnership with Restart?

[Jiiiiiiim]

Originally Posted by MarcusH26

I could understand taking a year out to develop a new car , but it felt like the Civics had become a bit of a dead end platform that they realistically weren't going to get more out of.

Would also be curious to see who would run the Leon's given 2 were in the hands of the finance company and looked in rough shape on RacecarsDirect.

Cupra wise, I think two were for sale, two at Restart, one Carl Boardley owns, so there should be one decent(ish) car still about. Is anyone brave enough to try and salvage the shells for sale or are we looking at Boardley’s + the unaccounted for car maybe?

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by Jiiiiiiim

Cupra wise, I think two were for sale, two at Restart, one Carl Boardley owns, so there should be one decent(ish) car still about. Is anyone brave enough to try and salvage the shells for sale or are we looking at Boardley’s + the unaccounted for car maybe?

I'm sure someone pointed out that the shells were no longer for sale, with a suggestion that Restart might have got them at a knockdown price as spares shells?

[MarcusH26]

Originally Posted by Jiiiiiiim

Cupra wise, I think two were for sale, two at Restart, one Carl Boardley owns, so there should be one decent(ish) car still about. Is anyone brave enough to try and salvage the shells for sale or are we looking at Boardley’s + the unaccounted for car maybe?

I think we might be looking at someone trying a 1 car entry with the Boardley car and associated TBL. I think coffinpilot is right and the other cars went to other teams either for parts or spares.