BTCC Oulton Park Race Thread - Page 2

luke · 19 Jun 2005, 16:15 (Ref:1332974)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

Hopefully Proctor is hit with some sort of punishment - going off under yellow is inexcusable.

I know this is the BTCC and not F1, but in 2003 at the Brazlian Grand Prix Schumacher went of in a yellow and nearly hit the marshals when he hit the barrier and had no punishment.

luke · 19 Jun 2005, 16:16 (Ref:1332975)

Poor Dan Eaves off, everyone's locked up their brakes in the wet now and gone straight on.

Kicking-back · 19 Jun 2005, 16:17 (Ref:1332977)

If only the MG had a better driver in it...

luke · 19 Jun 2005, 16:18 (Ref:1332980)

Collard is good enough and deserves the ride. Nearly everyone has made the same mistake.

Kicking-back · 19 Jun 2005, 16:23 (Ref:1332983)

And the man who stays mistake-free (unusually for him!) is Tom Chilton - an excellent drive, an excellent victory.

SeaneyC · 19 Jun 2005, 16:24 (Ref:1332985)

Good race, shame there weren't more cars in it

luke · 19 Jun 2005, 16:25 (Ref:1332986)

Matt Neal has a big lead over Eaves 152 to his 128. Well done Chilton on winning, and good luck for Monza!

I just hope Eaves wins at the next round at Croft in a months time to keep the chase tight.

**touringlegend** · 19 Jun 2005, 16:41 (Ref:1332999)

On the whole, some very clean races today, I feel.

Plato put up his hands for the lock up - he forgot to alter the brake bias - doh! I'm assuming James Pickford did exactly the same.

Quite a handy day for SEAT nonetheless in the manufacturers championship, especially with the 3rd race Vauxhall shenanagins!

justafeind · 19 Jun 2005, 16:42 (Ref:1333000)

brill race shame about mg, btcc really needs to boost the feilds to stay alive i say bring all the regs up to wtcc

BootsOntheSide · 19 Jun 2005, 16:44 (Ref:1333003)

Some pretty excellent racing there, and hopefully plenty of people tuned in to enjoy it - ITV's promotion of the series has been pretty good in recent years. I was really hoping the MG would win, especially after the attack on their whole racing programme on Trever MacDonald's report, but it wasn't to be. Never thought I'd see the day when Chilton keeps his head and no one else does, but I guess he's had more time to mature than most.

speedy king · 19 Jun 2005, 20:13 (Ref:1333424)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

but I guess he's had more time to mature than most.

Viceversa, he's the youngest not the oldest so i dont see how that works!?

Great to see the Vauxhall messing up, harsh but its just a breather after recent years. If i were Gavin Smith i wouldn't have parked up in the pits, more driven straight out the circuit and avoid a true...you know what

BootsOntheSide · 19 Jun 2005, 21:25 (Ref:1333580)

I didn't phrase that very clearly - I was in a hury to go and watch the Formula 1 'race'. I meant that when Tom first reached the BTCC he was very young, and not mentally at the mature level really needed for a top-class racer. NOw he's had the time to finish maturing and adjkust to the demands of racing.

gravel_monkey · 19 Jun 2005, 21:27 (Ref:1333585)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kicking-back
Hopefully Proctor is hit with some sort of punishment - going off under yellow is inexcusable.

just a quick note, dont belive yellows were out on lodge at the point, they only started on start/finish straight as safety car was up on avenue waiting

manicmarshal · 19 Jun 2005, 21:36 (Ref:1333607)

The yellows should have been out for the fact that there were cars already in the gravel.

KennyG · 19 Jun 2005, 21:42 (Ref:1333617)

Those watching on TV do not realise just how flat and unintersting the BTCC was this weekend. TV makes it look exciting, and it wasn't, too few cars, too prosessional and not what it was even last year, never mind in the days of Menu etc. The rain brought one thing of interest however, the emergency doctor at Old Hall dancing in the rain.

I have to try and make these events look exciting in pictures, and to be honest, it is getting impossible with such tiny grids and three of the cars not even being competitive. The Porsche support races were, well, a waste of time for similar reasons. If they fail to increase grid sizes then it can't last and to be honest, it shouldn't. There are bigger grids for the touring car historic races. This decline in the BTCC is very sad indeed. I do not imagine Croft will be any better and in some respects it is likely to be worse.

I have been photographing the touring cars since the late seventies and this is pretty close to being the worst year for spectators and media that I can recall.

On the upside, well done Tom Chilton, great to see him on the top step.

cos · 19 Jun 2005, 23:24 (Ref:1333781)

Quote:

Originally Posted by KennyG

Those watching on TV do not realise just how flat and unintersting the BTCC was this weekend. TV makes it look exciting, and it wasn't, too few cars, too prosessional and not what it was even last year, never mind in the days of Menu etc.

Given that far more people watch BTCC on TV than at the circuits that shouldn't be too much of a problem. In "the days of Menu" the Supertouring races were often very, very dull given all the aerodynamics etc.

Quote:

I have to try and make these events look exciting in pictures, and to be honest, it is getting impossible with such tiny grids and three of the cars not even being competitive. The Porsche support races were, well, a waste of time for similar reasons. If they fail to increase grid sizes then it can't last and to be honest, it shouldn't.

So the BTCC and Porsches are having a duff year grid-size wise. That isn't representative of the quality of racing. FRenault has grids of well over 20 and many find them the dullest series on the Toca package.

Quote:

There are bigger grids for the touring car historic races.

The historic touring car races that most of the crowd (rightly or wrongly) never stay to watch...?

Quote:

This decline in the BTCC is very sad indeed. I do not imagine Croft will be any better and in some respects it is likely to be worse.

Expect Leggate and GA's Alfa at Croft.

Quote:

I have been photographing the touring cars since the late seventies and this is pretty close to being the worst year for spectators and media that I can recall.

I'm pretty sure that many on this forum would rate this year and last year as producing some of the best BTCC racing in recent times.

Hazard · 19 Jun 2005, 23:53 (Ref:1333819)

Great races...I went to Thruxton, the grid sizes look silly, and the size of Oulton probably didn't help that from a spectator point of view, but can't believe you lot are whinging about grid sizes still! (Maybe you should have watched the BTCC aftershow party! was on at 7pm on ITV1

)

Great races, great wins. Ooh wet weather. Bad driving aplenty, lets see Vauxhall straighten out his men like Arena have sorted out Chilton. Was amazed he stayed on track, since he span out in his Zytek at the ALMS race!

KennyG · 20 Jun 2005, 00:22 (Ref:1333850)

Cos, what is a shame is that the BTCC series IS geared towards TV and nothing is allowed to interrupt the TV schedules, even racing in the rain or decent gaps between races to allow marshals to have a break (they are not paid you know, and they need a pee just like anyone else). The trackside public no longer matter to the BTCC masters.

Unfortunately, the grid sizes DO dictate the quality of racing from a spectator point-of-view. One battle in a grid of 6 just does not make for exciting racing. I raced myself in a series that got down to 6 cars and we abandoned it. It wasn't fun for those racing either. The atmosphere in the BTCC garages, pits and paddock isn't right either. There is no razamatz, or up-beat feel to it anymore, and I spend enough time there to tell the difference from last year and earlier years.

If you think that one or two battles happening in a small grid is great racing, then you are obviously too young to remember the capacity grids and capacity spectator areas too. I'm sorry, but IMHO the BTCC this season is an absolute bore for anyone who is trackside and good TV producers with clever camera control can't fix what is not happening on track, just make it appear better than it is.

Hip Priest · 20 Jun 2005, 00:35 (Ref:1333867)

Grid size issues are affecting most categories of motorsport in Britain at the moment. I saw a grid of nine or ten Formula Fords at Croft earlier this season, which was a far cry from the huge entries the series used to get in the nineties. The BTCC has produced some great racing this year, but anyone who thinks that the small number of competitors isn't a problem needs to remove their rose-tinted spectacles

racer69 · 20 Jun 2005, 10:46 (Ref:1334327)

What did the Vauxhall drivers do to eachother, On the Autosport site it says the Vauxhall team will be having words with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cos

The historic touring car races that most of the crowd (rightly or wrongly) never stay to watch...?

This is an interesting, in Australia the Historic Touring Car support races at out Touring Car Championship meetings are amongst the most popular.

Hazard · 20 Jun 2005, 10:49 (Ref:1334331)

Gotta get home man!

Turkington knocked Smith out of race two. Smith knocked Turkington out of race three...I think terminally damaging his car in the process.

N I Tram · 20 Jun 2005, 14:19 (Ref:1334566)

Gavin Smith seemed to be on a mission to reduce the number of cars in action all afternoon. Brining money was the only critereon for geting that seat, even though they presumably oculd have partly funded the 3rd car given Turkington's funding. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Considering that Turkington's car was off in the corner Proctor went off at, there should have been yellows there. Either proctor or the marshalls stuffed up big time in what could've been a very dangerous incident, which the TV coverage shamefully air-brushed out of existance.

Good racing overall, with lots of battles going on, although it's a shame the live race had the thinnest field. There are 4 or 5 cars due to join the grid soon, so it won't really be a problem by then. I'm surprised that our photographer friend couldn't get anything interesting on camera - perhaps he's in the wrong job.

KayBee · 20 Jun 2005, 15:51 (Ref:1334707)

Quote:

Originally Posted by N I Tram

Considering that Turkington's car was off in the corner Proctor went off at, there should have been yellows there. Either proctor or the marshalls stuffed up big time in what could've been a very dangerous incident, which the TV coverage shamefully air-brushed out of existance.

Unfortunately the television didn't show it but the silver car aquaplaned and slid into the gravel under a waved yellow after the preceding stationary yellow caused by the incident on the previous lap.

KennyG · 20 Jun 2005, 22:38 (Ref:1335223)

That's always a problem KayBee, the TV shows things how it wants to and for N I Tram to blame the marshals for the incident is more shameful than the TV is for any airbrushing.

Sorry to rant, but some people are armchair experts and have not got a clue as to what really goes on.

KennyG · 20 Jun 2005, 22:46 (Ref:1335237)

Quote:

Originally Posted by N I Tram

I'm surprised that our photographer friend couldn't get anything interesting on camera - perhaps he's in the wrong job.

Well, let me see. You are abviously an expert on everything BTCC and photographic. When you can't get even two cars in a shot because they are strung out in a procession, all you end up with is boring single car shots apart from during the first couple of laps. Not only that I have yet to devise a way of being in more than one place at a time. You however, watching it on TV assume that everyone on the ground has the same distorted view as you, we don't.

I am not in the wrong job, not by a long way. I have been a motorsport photographer for 27 years (a rally driver for 4 and a racing driver for 5) and have photographed the BTCC when it was really competitive, not a show put on for TV. What exactly are your credentials?

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