2018 TCR UK

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Which suggests to me there won't be a TCR UK next year...

Needs to be merged with BTCC I think?

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by Rob29

Needs to be merged with BTCC I think?

why on earth would btcc do that and have a different (slower) class of car mixed in with their own??

[S griffin]

And a full grid to boot too!

[Alfisti]

What TCR needs, IMO, to thrive is more media exposure. The package it's with - and I don't mean to be disrespectful - has a small clubby feeling. If TCR can get onto the same bill as BTCC or British GT then exposure would increase. And thus it would be more attractive to sponsors. Thus more cars and drivers...

From a fan point of view - and in my case if it has four wheels and a roof I'll probably watch it - it's not bad, but the BARC package is equally, if not more, entertaining and in the case of Croft this month £11, whereas the TCR meet is £18. It's Yorkshire, we don't like pulling shiny pieces of metal out of our pockets! 😀

[Umai Naa]

The BGT package would make a bit more sense.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

What TCR needs, IMO, to thrive is more media exposure. The package it's with - and I don't mean to be disrespectful - has a small clubby feeling. If TCR can get onto the same bill as BTCC or British GT then exposure would increase. And thus it would be more attractive to sponsors. Thus more cars and drivers...

From a fan point of view - and in my case if it has four wheels and a roof I'll probably watch it - it's not bad, but the BARC package is equally, if not more, entertaining and in the case of Croft this month £11, whereas the TCR meet is £18. It's Yorkshire, we don't like pulling shiny pieces of metal out of our pockets! 😀

I'm sure that being on a 'better' race programme would increase the exposure which would in turn raise the profile of the series which would encourage more entries. Unfortunately I can't see TOCA welcoming a potential competitor onto the BTCC weekends...

Originally Posted by Umai Naa

The BGT package would make a bit more sense.

Although I've not been to one of these meetings for donkeys years myself, I am sure that this would be a good idea, and the TCR races would compliment, and not compete with the main event.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

why on earth would btcc do that and have a different (slower) class of car mixed in with their own??

Are they really that much slower though? Half a second around Brands Indy? How much of that is tyre and how much of that is engine horsepower? If the BTCC Dunlops are a faster tyre and the TCR cars are given as much power as BTCC cars (350 vs 380) I don't think there would be much in it.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Are they really that much slower though? Half a second around Brands Indy? How much of that is tyre and how much of that is engine horsepower? If the BTCC Dunlops are a faster tyre and the TCR cars are given as much power as BTCC cars (350 vs 380) I don't think there would be much in it.

But the BTCC don't (currently) need extra cars. The grids are full, and Alan Gow is talking of reducing the numbers even further anyway. It would be a complete conflict of interests to have TCR cars on the same meeting, never mind the same grid.
The series needs to move onto a better meeting package (which may be limited, am I right in saying that the series is organised by the BRSCC, do they have any higher profile meetings?) to become an alternative/threat to the BTCC.

[S griffin]

I think it going onto the British GT programme could be the best thing to happen to it. It would have more chance of success there

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

But the BTCC don't (currently) need extra cars. The grids are full, and Alan Gow is talking of reducing the numbers even further anyway. It would be a complete conflict of interests to have TCR cars on the same meeting, never mind the same grid.
The series needs to move onto a better meeting package (which may be limited, am I right in saying that the series is organised by the BRSCC, do they have any higher profile meetings?) to become an alternative/threat to the BTCC.

That wasn't really the point I was making, but your right, I agree with what you are saying. I was simply addressing the point about the cars being "slower" (which they are, but likely due to variable factors).

There was a video of an Astra TCR car on youtube which was running at increased boost levels of 400bhp, so its possible to simply turn up the wick on these things to get extra performance if needed.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

That wasn't really the point I was making, but your right, I agree with what you are saying. I was simply addressing the point about the cars being "slower" (which they are, but likely due to variable factors).

There was a video of an Astra TCR car on youtube which was running at increased boost levels of 400bhp, so its possible to simply turn up the wick on these things to get extra performance if needed.

but they cant do that anyway. every tcr car in every tcr series has to run to the same tcr baseline balance of performance. so one tcr series cant just turn up the boost like you suggest.

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

What TCR needs, IMO, to thrive is more media exposure. The package it's with - and I don't mean to be disrespectful - has a small clubby feeling. If TCR can get onto the same bill as BTCC or British GT then exposure would increase. And thus it would be more attractive to sponsors. Thus more cars and drivers...

From a fan point of view - and in my case if it has four wheels and a roof I'll probably watch it - it's not bad, but the BARC package is equally, if not more, entertaining and in the case of Croft this month £11, whereas the TCR meet is £18. It's Yorkshire, we don't like pulling shiny pieces of metal out of our pockets! 😀

Agree there-ticket prices are horrifying-one reason I have not been for 10 years-when I first wenr to British GP ticket was six shillings(30p)

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

What TCR needs, IMO, to thrive is more media exposure. The package it's with - and I don't mean to be disrespectful - has a small clubby feeling. If TCR can get onto the same bill as BTCC or British GT then exposure would increase. And thus it would be more attractive to sponsors. Thus more cars and drivers...

The biggest error that TCR made was not joining the BGT package because "we want to be the star attraction at our own meetings".

Well they have their own meetings, but they haven't really been an attraction.

Nobody knows what this series is in theUK, so they aren't just going to attract a crowd.

They need to be with BGT to get some exposure, and then in five years if TCR is still going, they might be able to think about doing their own thing - they'd have some real and reliable fan data to actually work with by then.

[el_cat]

Originally Posted by Petoli

So 10 cars have been entered into the Croft round. Robert Gilmour and Carl Swift are not taking part im guessing they were unable to repair the cars. While Sean Walkinshaw returns in the SWR Honda Civic

Its a shame that the grid hasn't grown over the year.

I am truly in awe of the season Robert Gilmour has had.

DNS every round he has entered.

Finally took the start at Oulton - totalled the car on the first lap and subsequently DQ’d from the second race.

Not entered for latest round due to said wrecked machine.

It’s all got a very Andrea Moda feel about it

[Matt K]

As I said at the very beginning, national TCR series doesn't make sense in the UK as BTCC's position is too strong and there are championships that are more naturally considered as BTCC's feeder series. That's it. Watching about 10 cars driven mostly by amateurs is just a waste of time if it's the main attraction of the weekend. I wonder if it's just a slow beginning and the series will (somehow) take off or will it disappear.

[S griffin]

It could have been a good feeder series, like the NSCC in the 80s and 90s, but unfortunately the entries peaked early and have gone down ever since

[Umai Naa]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

but they cant do that anyway. every tcr car in every tcr series has to run to the same tcr baseline balance of performance. so one tcr series cant just turn up the boost like you suggest.

Unless it's IMSA, where the TCR cars are hobbled so as to not out perform the GT4 cars they race with.

[Mrpop123]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

What TCR needs, IMO, to thrive is more media exposure. The package it's with - and I don't mean to be disrespectful - has a small clubby feeling. If TCR can get onto the same bill as BTCC or British GT then exposure would increase. And thus it would be more attractive to sponsors. Thus more cars and drivers...

From a fan point of view - and in my case if it has four wheels and a roof I'll probably watch it - it's not bad, but the BARC package is equally, if not more, entertaining and in the case of Croft this month £11, whereas the TCR meet is £18. It's Yorkshire, we don't like pulling shiny pieces of metal out of our pockets! 😀

£18 on the gate,£14 on-line

[Mrpop123]

Originally Posted by Matt K

As I said at the very beginning, national TCR series doesn't make sense in the UK as BTCC's position is too strong and there are championships that are more naturally considered as BTCC's feeder series. That's it. Watching about 10 cars driven mostly by amateurs is just a waste of time if it's the main attraction of the weekend. I wonder if it's just a slow beginning and the series will (somehow) take off or will it disappear.

well I'm hoping it's first year syndrome,and more enter next,take TCR Germany think for its first year had 15/16,last absolutely exploded,over 40 entries,this season back down to 25, roughly! So there's hope!

[S griffin]

I think how many entries it has in season 2 will decide it's fate

[antnee]

I think teaming up with BGT meetings could work quite well. They can then share the costs of TV coverage, it already has a lot of the big UK motorsport teams there and a lot of drivers with decent budgets who could be tempted to switch their Lambos and McLarens for a Golf or a Leon.

[btccbloke]

Originally Posted by antnee

I think teaming up with BGT meetings could work quite well. They can then share the costs of TV coverage, it already has a lot of the big UK motorsport teams there and a lot of drivers with decent budgets who could be tempted to switch their Lambos and McLarens for a Golf or a Leon.

Why would BGT want to open up to a lesser known series being on the bill on the basis of some of its teams and drivers might want to have a go instead of running the exotic sports cars they are currently racing? potentially weakening the series own credibility and position of attracting drivers and sponsors?
Could you imagine Team Dynamics saying "yeah we have decent budget but we are going to stop racing the Hondas and just put out a Clio Cup car now as it looks interesting"

Drivers and teams are pretty in the know about what series are around, I don't think they are blinkered by only seeing what's in their own paddock the way that spectators are. if they thought there was logic in them doing TCR UK they would have already looked at it

[Umai Naa]

As far as plug-n-play race cars go, GT3, GT4, and TCR are fairly similar in philosophy.

A team could add one or two of the above to the fleet, and lease them out. Being on the same program wouldn't stretch the resources or hurt the brain too much, worrying about development, reliability and the like. Plenty of teams in other markets do just that already.

[Alfisti]

If it were on the GT package then some of the GT teams may be tempted into running a TCR car as well. You'd have your guys and gear at track anyway, so you're talking an additional car and all the paraphernalia to run it...

[btccbloke]

"as well" I can kind of agree with, tho its rare for a driver to take part in 2 different headline events on a race day these days, but definitely not "switching".