2018 TCR UK

[BertMk2]

All 6 cars were out for the second session.

[touring fan01]

six cars. pathetic. surely they have to cancel this farce.

[touring fan01]

i see that 'touring car times' are being a bit disingenous in their coverage of testing today. they dont mention only 6 cars, but just say 'several' and have multiple images of the same 6.

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2018...verstone-test/

[Bramzel]

I count 7 though...

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by Bramzel

I count 7 though...

6 or 7 does it make any difference?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

6 or 7 does it make any difference?

There's one car missing from the timing, that also ran without number/name.

A Honda driven by Price.

[850Estate]

Verizon Connect sponsorship for Crocker. That's very impressive - surely he (and they) would be better served taking that to a bigger series?

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

There's one car missing from the timing, that also ran without number/name.

A Honda driven by Price.

so the grand total of 7 cars.
what a complete joke, particularly after all the massive hype that they will have so many entries they will need to have qualification races etc.

[AdrianM]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

so the grand total of 7 cars.
what a complete joke, particularly after all the massive hype that they will have so many entries they will need to have qualification races etc.

Its not compulsory that they have to do the test. There could be far more cars but testing isn't free.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by AdrianM

Its not compulsory that they have to do the test. There could be far more cars but testing isn't free.

oh no doubt there are more cars around. but none that are actually committed to doing this series.

dont you think the TCR people would have been twisting every arm possible to make sure as many cars that they could gather together made it out for their first ever official test day (which was also going to be their media day!) rather than have this embarrasingly small turnout?

[Sodemo]

“You only need two cars to make a race”

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

“You only need two cars to make a race”

[Alfisti]

...and one of those can be the safety car 😁

[850Estate]

In all seriousness 7 cars isn't a bad turnout. Especially given it's a clubmans series, and many prospective drivers will be working on a Tuesday. I was expecting 3 or 4 to be totally honest. If they can hit double figures the series should be alright - and the more it begins to take off the more interest that might generate.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by 850Estate

In all seriousness 7 cars isn't a bad turnout. Especially given it's a clubmans series, and many prospective drivers will be working on a Tuesday. I was expecting 3 or 4 to be totally honest. If they can hit double figures the series should be alright - and the more it begins to take off the more interest that might generate.

seriously?! you think 7 is a good turnout for one of the most hyped new series that was going to be so swamped with competitors that they were going to schedule qualifying heats.

as the saying goes "you only get one chance to make a good first impression".

you hit the nail on the head, that its just a 'clubmans series'. problem is that people wont spend that sort of serious money doing a clubmans series

those 6 or 7 drivers would be far better putting their cars on a ferry and competing in one of the better european TCR series rather than wasting their money competing against such a pathetic field.

[Bramzel]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

6 or 7 does it make any difference?

It's a 16% increase!

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by Bramzel

It's a 16% increase!

actually that huge increase didnt even happen.
there were only a total of 6 cars there all day according to TSL timing;

http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=TC.../181030tcr.pdf

[redshoes]

Presumably the VW Racing Cup Media Day scheduled to take place at Silverstone today was also cancelled.

Looking at the TSL Timing, only 4 cars ran in the Closed Wheel sessions (3x VW plus an MX5) whilst the one lucky sole had the track to himself for the Open Wheel sessions.

[geordiecriag101]

Just back from Silverstone, what a strange day. Considering we were told the this was NOT a media day, it felt very much like it! With drivers standing next to their cars getting photos took, the TCR management making sure championship sponsors logos were in the correct place and running laps behind a camera car to get tracking shots.

There must have been a few glitches in the timing as there were only 6 TCR's running, in the Closed wheel sessions there were 3 x VW cup cars and 5 x MX5 cup cars and in the Open Wheel there were 7 x FF1600 cars running.

From what I've seen today the championship needs to find at least 6 more entries to make the thing look respectable and also to give it the status they are looking for.

If they try to run it as I saw today, it would be a total embarrassment and potentially might not even last a whole season. One of the things that struck me was how much they have cocked-up on were they have positioned it.

I mean no disrespect to the championships that have been partnered with it, but by putting it with clubman level classes then that is how TCR feels. If you are taking a sponsor to see you race, they will look at the other races as well and sorry to say they will be disappointed in seeing sum old single seaters and one makers.

TCR UK should have been placed on the British GT package which would have given it a headstart in terms of proving how serious it is. Sorry if that rambled on.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

actually that huge increase didnt even happen.
there were only a total of 6 cars there all day according to TSL timing;

http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=TC.../181030tcr.pdf

7 cars were pictured on track - the Honda of Price was not included in TSL's results for some reason.

[Alfisti]

...what also should ring alarms is two of those cars are lily white; so no sponsors so where is the money coming from to fund them?

You are not going to choose to not sticker your car up and give your sponsor value, so they are definitely unfunded as of now.

The black & blue Honda had something very small on it; damned if I can make out what, so that's not bringing any value to anyone.

So there are ONLY FOUR CARS with any funding that have made an appearance.

You'd generate more exposure by placing a sticker on your bumper and circulating the M25!

[geordiecriag101]

For anyone who interested, here's my vid from the days test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xIBu9RAKgw

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

The black & blue Honda had something very small on it; damned if I can make out what, so that's not bringing any value to anyone.

Walkinshaw Performance,so not a driver's sponsor, just the team owner's family company.

[jsmee]

So the fact only a handful of VW Racing Cup cars turned up at their media day, does that mean that championship is also a farce?

Yes the championship overpromised to start with, but no championship in its first year can be expected to perform with massive grids on day 1, its just unrealistic. Especially in a flooded motorsport championships market in the UK.

The real test is who turns up to Race 1, not Test 1.

[medius]

The fact Lewis Kent and Carl Swift have stepped up from club level Fiestas and Civics is a bit of a proof of concept, they would ordinarily have gone the Ginetta Supercup/Clio route into touring cars. How many more in similar positions have the means/desire to follow will be the measure of its success. How professional it pitches itself or could a parent/offspring run a TCR car out of a gazebo and win races? Who knows, but that will says something about costs.perceived value for money will pull in the Clubby guys instead of buying a Clio.