[BTCC] BTCC 2019 - Thruxton - Rounds 7, 8, 9

[JDMROB]

Hmmmm. Another 'stale' days racing.

Touring cars struggling to overtake each other, has the over harsh contact rules ruined the exciting racing? Are the grippy tyres a problem? Have the cars been made too evenly matched? They dont even seem to be getting close enough to each other to mount an attack. Has the advanced aero caused that?

Team HARD non existent, other than Michael Crees who's a great personality to have on the grid. I think Jack Goff should leave now to avoid embarrassment. He's far better than that. Is it purely the car? I'm not so sure.

Rory is class.

BMW could walk it though....

Opinions?

[touringlegend]

Rory is a class act.

He quietly gets on with it. They say you need luck in the BTCC, I believe a lot of drivers make their own luck (ie Turkington in his approach)

I think Dan Cammish needs to get out of this trap he’s fell into of feeing unlucky. He qualified on the front row and still bemoaned his lack of luck? I sort of couldn’t believe what he was saying. Even after one of his podiums today whilst waiting to be interviewed he looked totally dejected.

Compare that to a Turkington (sorry to use him as an example again!) who’d be turning that into a positive and taking the points he knows is crucial.

Sort of getting back to Butcher. Yes he’s had a win albeit not on the road. But to be tied on points with Turks who has had two wins and been focused on as being very successful this year is a great achievement

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by touringlegend

I think Dan Cammish needs to get out of this trap he’s fell into of feeing unlucky. He qualified on the front row and still bemoaned his lack of luck? I sort of couldn’t believe what he was saying. Even after one of his podiums today whilst waiting to be interviewed he looked totally dejected.

I've noticed that on his social media too. Obviously want to like the guy but he just comes across as a bit arrogant.

Struggle to see where he's had bad luck anyway! Look at poor Tordoff, who must've lost about 10 potential podium finishes since coming back through no fault of his own!

[btccbloke]

Originally Posted by JDMROB

Hmmmm. Another 'stale' days racing.

Touring cars struggling to overtake each other, has the over harsh contact rules ruined the exciting racing? Are the grippy tyres a problem? Have the cars been made too evenly matched? They dont even seem to be getting close enough to each other to mount an attack. Has the advanced aero caused that?

Team HARD non existent, other than Michael Crees who's a great personality to have on the grid. I think Jack Goff should leave now to avoid embarrassment. He's far better than that. Is it purely the car? I'm not so sure.

Rory is class.

BMW could walk it though....

Opinions?

Agree this was one of the most dull weekends of BTCC for a long while. I dont know what has changed but it was much a precession today.

Team Hard tbh are as you say non existent, I want to like them but theres nothing going for them. Bushell pulled a master stroke getting the race engineer role at AMD as hes probably getting much more respect and getting noticed more doing that than pulling into the puts with problems or crashing which is generally all Team Hard seem to do.
I would rater Jake in a better team, but where could he go? he wants to keep in the paddock for when something better comes up.

It cant all be the car, the car was a race winner and teams and independents championship winner with BMR in 2015, I heard Team Hard started messing about trying to shorten the car but i dont know if thats correct - im guessing that the R&D team at VAG knows better than Tony and his crew after all.

Its looking a BMW walkover, the ballast being reduced this year doesnt help with that, a BMW win in R1 will now mean in R2 they can get away from the grid quicker and by the looks of the last 2 rounds be pretty unchallenged until theres the reverse grid to deal with

[Sodemo]

I think its a case of BMW taking a small step forward but the other teams taking a step back. The new FK8 Honda doesn't seem as quick as the FK2, or at least Dynamics can't get it to perform, the Toyota Corolla looks worse than the Avensis, Subaru had their engine issues from last year and are likely still working on that, didn't they also have a new aero package that was a "questionable upgrade"?

Undoubtedly the BMW is a great package, however perhaps the other teams should just step up their game rather than trying to claw back another team?

[S griffin]

Decent, but not the greatest of races there. Still there's plenty to discuss after that

AJ, what a recovery from that bad weekend at Donny. Helped by zero ballest in race 1, but he controlled race 2. Turkington, more points on the board. WSR have really done their homework over the winter with that car that it's a title contender already

Bad luck for Tordoff, he really looked good out there. Certainly 2nd is better than nothing though. Butcher, he's really been consistent this season. The old shape Civic is certainly being outdone by the newer shaped ones

Good to see Cammish finally having a good weekend, shows he is a top driver in the series. Another win for Cook, although the BTC Hondas don't seem to have it on pure pace to me. He's done well to grab a couple when he could

Motorbase seemed a bit anonymous this weekend. They need to get back on the pace at Croft.

The Minis provided entertainment, nice to see something different from the support bill

[porsche962fan]

so mostly verbal warnings for Blundell, Bobby Thompson ,Michael Crees , Stehpen Jelley and Senna Proctor

while Chilton got 30 seconds added for failing to take drive-thru

[VIVA GT]

Three pretty bland BTCC races there this weekend, although the driving standards were (mostly) clean.
The Mini's showed that closely matched cars can provide entertaining & spectacular racing, so where have TOCA gone wrong?

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

so mostly verbal warnings for Blundell, Bobby Thompson ,Michael Crees , Stehpen Jelley and Senna Proctor

while Chilton got 30 seconds added for failing to take drive-thru

You're allowed three laps to take a drive through, but it was notified less than three laps from the end. He would probably have lost a little less than 30 seconds if he'd taken it, but he was out of the points anyway, so it didn't matter.

Motorbase really struggled on the hard tyre all weekend, and race three was just a test session really. Hopefully they've now found a setup on the hard tyre for Croft.

[S griffin]

Chilton was about 13th at the time, but either way he would have lost points

[Div]

Originally Posted by btccbloke

It cant all be the car, the car was a race winner and teams and independents championship winner with BMR in 2015, I heard Team Hard started messing about trying to shorten the car but i dont know if thats correct - im guessing that the R&D team at VAG knows better than Tony and his crew after all.

Not trying to stir anything but the main difference between BMR in '15 and Hard when they got the cars are the engineers/designers running the show and the mechanics building them. Anyone in the paddock will agree with that.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by sceptic

You're allowed three laps to take a drive through, but it was notified less than three laps from the end. He would probably have lost a little less than 30 seconds if he'd taken it, but he was out of the points anyway, so it didn't matter.

And staying out is precisely in line with the current regulations, as noted in the official results:

'If an incident for which a Drive Through or Stop-Go Penalty is imposed occurs within 6 laps or less remaining to the finish of the Race, the BTCC Clerk will impose a time penalty of not less than 30 seconds and not more than 1 minute on to the total Race time of the driver'

It would probably be fairer to describe it as 'Chilton was awarded a 30 second penalty for an incident in the last 6 laps', as opposed to saying he failed to take a drive-through penalty.

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

while Chilton got 30 seconds added for failing to take drive-thru

When did the pit lane become an American Fast Food joint?

[swedishsundays]

Some pretty serious chat from Tom Chilton post-Thruxton regarding Mark Blundell.

"I said to him yesterday ‘I shouldn’t have to say this to you, Mark, you’re ex-Formula 1, ex-Le Mans winner, but you looked like you were completely out of your depth’.

I honestly think he shouldn’t be in this championship because he’s that far off – it’s dangerous.

He’s the most inexperienced-to-look-at driver I’ve ever seen in British Touring Cars. I really think he should seriously think about pulling out – that’s my gut feeling."

He has looked far more out of his depth than I'd expected pre-season but I'm not sure he'll back out. Certainly seems to be generating some fairly decent exposure for his sponsors even though he's pedalling around at the back.

Still enjoyed the racing overall at Thruxton, despite a relative lack of action.

Long-time fan, first time poster. Hello everyone!

[Moneyseeker]

Harvey said that cars were hitting the limiter on the run up from Church to the chicane, this may have impacted on the overtaking into the chicance, coupled with they tyre stack to keep them from straightlining.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

Harvey said that cars were hitting the limiter on the run up from Church to the chicane, this may have impacted on the overtaking into the chicance, coupled with they tyre stack to keep them from straightlining.

They certainly were, you could hear that from the on car shots of the BTC civic, and in car with Matt Simpson.

[Sodemo]

Wouldnt that affect all cars equally? That would usually happen with a tail wind, but they said yesterday that there was barely any wind...?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by swedishsundays

Some pretty serious chat from Tom Chilton post-Thruxton regarding Mark Blundell.

"I said to him yesterday ‘I shouldn’t have to say this to you, Mark, you’re ex-Formula 1, ex-Le Mans winner, but you looked like you were completely out of your depth’.

I honestly think he shouldn’t be in this championship because he’s that far off – it’s dangerous.

He’s the most inexperienced-to-look-at driver I’ve ever seen in British Touring Cars. I really think he should seriously think about pulling out – that’s my gut feeling."

Putting aside his former career - is the same question of pulling out of the series being asked of the drivers who are behind him in the championship?

If you are looking at someone being 'far off', then surely the best measure is your team-mate?
On that basis, perhaps Chilton should take a look around his own garage first before suggesting drivers in other teams withdraw?

Blundell is 55 points behind his team-mate.
Jackson is 63 behind his - and their stable-mate is 68 behind.

Or is it just a case of being upset over a qualifying incident, and not being able to get on with his own driving?

[S griffin]

Well we know how good Focus has been in the past. I’m not sure about the Audi though. Is Jake Hill punching above the car’s weight?

Speaking of Ollie, he has been a bit of a disappointment so far. I didn’t expect him to be beating Chilton, but I did expect him to get a few points here and there. Maybe Chilton like Hill is punching above the car’s weight

[HopAlong]

There has been plenty of great racing at Thruxton in the past, not every race will great. I'm sure conditions along with cars in their more natural order played their part. Tyre wear not being as high I think had a role to play as well.


Not surpised by the BMW, when you think about it, that is the body style and size car the rule makers had in mind (along with the Avensis) when NGTC was envisioned.


I am surprised to see BMW and Turkington as the guaranteed round winners at Croft, given Subaru and Sutton have much better stats.

[S griffin]

Well hopefully the race in August will be better. That said it’s good to see less tyre troubles these days, 2016 was where it became too much.

Have to say the run off at Church looks better

[btccbloke]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Well we know how good Focus has been in the past. I’m not sure about the Audi though. Is Jake Hill punching above the car’s weight?

Speaking of Ollie, he has been a bit of a disappointment so far. I didn’t expect him to be beating Chilton, but I did expect him to get a few points here and there. Maybe Chilton like Hill is punching above the car’s weight

Fake Jackson was never going to be a front runner, i was surprised Motorbase went for him considering the drivers available to them, he has always been involved in incidents and accidents himself whereas Motorbase should have looked for a more solid backup to Chilton if they had serious title ambition

[S griffin]

To be fair Ollie has had a few good results in the past and has shown himself competent enough when he has a clean run. He needs to get the results sooner rather than later though

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by swedishsundays

Some pretty serious chat from Tom Chilton post-Thruxton regarding Mark Blundell.

"I said to him yesterday ‘I shouldn’t have to say this to you, Mark, you’re ex-Formula 1, ex-Le Mans winner, but you looked like you were completely out of your depth’.

I honestly think he shouldn’t be in this championship because he’s that far off – it’s dangerous.

He’s the most inexperienced-to-look-at driver I’ve ever seen in British Touring Cars. I really think he should seriously think about pulling out – that’s my gut feeling."

Oh wow, thanks for sharing! Would've loved to have seen Mark's response!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Oh wow, thanks for sharing! Would've loved to have seen Mark's response!

Some of the interview can be found in the article here.

[VIVA GT]

Just because he's raced in F1 and sportscars at a pretty high level (and some time ago) doesn't mean that someone can hop into a BTCC car and mix it with the big boys, it is a different style.
I seem to remember a certain Mr Mansell looking like an accident about to happen all on his own but was saved the embarrassment by having someone run into the back of him that he could blame for the crash!