[BTCC] BTCC 2020 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[S griffin]

We’ll see what happens with Coates. Tbh I don’t see much point with him staying in Clio Cup, although it hasn’t harmed others to stay in the category a bit longer

[thetool]

Don't think it's either BTCC or Clio Cup.

[crmalcolm]

A while since the last update. Summary of rumours below. A lot of recent talk has been on what cars/models will be driven, while the talk of who is in what seat has gone a bit quiet.
Only a handful to announce now - and aside from the previously rumoured drivers, no new drivers seem to be generating many column inches.
Edwards is no longer a rumour for BTCC in 2020.

Team	Car	Driver	Notes
Confirmed Entries
Excelr8	Hyundai i30	Smith ?	On TBL Entry List - says he is close to a deal
Excelr8	Hyundai i30	Proctor	On BTCC.net (and others)
Team Dynamics	Honda Civic	Cammish	Confirmed in press release
Team Dynamics	Honda Civic	Neal	Confirmed in press release
WSR	BMW 330i	Oliphant	On BTCC.net (and others)
WSR	BMW 330i	Turkington	On BTCC.net (and others)
WSR	BMW 330i	Jordan	On BTCC.net (and others)
Power Maxed	Vauxhall Astra VXR?	Plato ?	Says deal is not signed yet
Power Maxed	Vauxhall Astra VXR?	???	On TBL Entry List
Speedworks	Toyota Corolla	Ingram	Confirmed Ginsters backing for 2020 in article
Laser Tools (Aiden Moffat Racing)	Infiniti Q50	Moffat	Confirmed in press release
Laser Tools (Team BMR)	Infiniti Q50	Sutton	Confirmed in press release
Ciceley Motorsport	MB A-Class	Rowbottom	On BTCC.net (and others)
Ciceley Motorsport	MB A-Class	Morgan	On BTCC.net (and others)
HARD	VW CC	Goff	On BTCC.net (and others)
HARD	VW CC	Bushell	On BTCC.net (and others)
HARD	VW CC	???	On TBL Entry List
HARD	BMW 125i	Boardley	On BTCC.net (and others)
AmD (Cobra)	Honda Civic	Hill	On BTCC.net (and others)
AmD (Cobra)	Honda Civic	Osborne	On BTCC.net (and others)
AmD (Trade Price)	Audi S3	Thompson	On BTCC.net (and others)
AmD (Trade Price)	Audi S3	Gornall	On BTCC.net (and others)
BTC Racing	Honda Civic	Crees	On BTCC.net (and others)
BTC Racing	Honda Civic	Cook	On BTCC.net (and others)
BTC Racing	Honda Civic	Chilton	On BTCC.net (and others)
Motorbase	Ford Focus RS	Jackson	On BTCC.net (and others). Car described as new build RS
Motorbase	Ford Focus	Butcher	On BTCC.net (and others)
Motorbase	Ford Focus	???	On TBL Entry List
Simpson Racing	Honda Civic?	Simpson?	On TBL Entry List - Rumoured to have vocalised a withdrawal
Team Parker	BMW?	Jelley	On BTCC.net
Likely Entries
Possible Entries
???	???	M.Jackson	Linked to half of the teams on the grid - strong suggestion of PMR
???	???	N.Hamilton	Didn't complete 2019 season, but website is being updated
???	???	Smiley	Confirmed to be not at BTC
???	???	Shedden	Speculation about wanting a return - Neal hints he is helping secure drive
Entries with doubt
???	Subaru Levorg	???	Car not viable as NGTC entry
???	Subaru Levorg	???	Car not viable as NGTC entry
???	MB A-Class	???	Car on sale from Laser Tools
???	MG6	???	Excelr8 switched to Hyundai
???	MG6	???	Excelr8 switched to Hyundai
???	???	Tordoff	Didn't complete 2019 season
HARD	VW CC	Coates?	Gilham #tagging?
Not PMR	???	Collard	PMR rumoured to have new driver

[crmalcolm]

And an update to those rumours that originated in 10/10ths.
The news of Butcher and O.Jackson being on the grid has made the public domain, other possibles are still to be confirmed:

Team	Car	Driver	Notes
Words Marked
???	???	Files	TR4racer
Simpson TBL	Honda Civic	Not Simpson	Pickles
PMR	???	Smiley	Pickles
???	???	Shedden	Pickles
Vodafone (Motorbase)	Ford Focus ST	Butcher	crmalcolm
Excelr8	???	Smith	sceptic
Came to pass
???	???	Sutton	touring fan01
AmD	Honda Civic x2	New Drivers	Overboost
Motorbase	3rd Car	???	Jiiiiiiim
HARD	BMW 1-Series	Boardley	Kinger6
Speedworks/Dynamics/WSR/Laser Tools/HARD/Amd Cobra/BTC/Motorbase	Change of 1 Car	???	Pickles
HARD	???	Boardley	sceptic
Trade Price	Audi S3 x2	???	Overboost
Trade Price?	Audi S3 x2	???	RS67
WSR	???	Jordan	touring fan01
BTC	???	Cook	Overboost
???	???	Chilton	touring fan01, Alfisti
BTC	Honda Civic	Chilton	billy bleach
BTC	???	Chilton	Overboost
Motorbase	???	Butcher	Pickles
???	???	O.Jackson	sceptic
Didn't materialise
PMR	3rd Car	???	Pickles
???	Honda Civic	Boardley	Pickles
Not HARD	Not Honda Civic	Boardley	Pickles
HARD	VW CC	???	crmalcolm (in entry list)
???	BMW 330i	Collard	Alfisti
Trade Price Cars	???	Hill	sceptic
Excelr8	???	Osborne	sceptic
HARD	???	Crees	sceptic

[RS67]

Add Bobby Thompson as no.3 to the BTCC preseason injury/illness list.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by RS67

Add Bobby Thompson as no.3 to the BTCC preseason injury/illness list.

Uh oh... what's happened?

[RS67]

Nothing serious by the look of it.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...Jp7CVaOoflCeu8

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by RS67

Nothing serious by the look of it.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...Jp7CVaOoflCeu8

Ta Yeah, doesn't look quite as bad. Hopefully that's the last of them!

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Hopefully that's the last of them!

Well that lasted all of 30 minutes, apparently Ollie Jackson has norovirus..!

[VXDave]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

A while since the last update. Summary of rumours below. A lot of recent talk has been on what cars/models will be driven, while the talk of who is in what seat has gone a bit quiet.
Only a handful to announce now - and aside from the previously rumoured drivers, no new drivers seem to be generating many column inches.
Edwards is no longer a rumour for BTCC in 2020.

I think my comment about PMR and the VXR brand might have been misunderstood! I was suggesting that they might advertise the VXR brand on the cars, but the car will not actually be a VXR. Next Astra VXR won't be until at least 2021, if not later. The car will be externally more or less the same as last year, bar the barely noticeable facelift, unless they switch to the insignia which I find highly unlikely as it dwarfs even the 3 series by a big margin!

[Sodemo]

Need to get back to smaller mid size cars. The hatches are too small, and the saloons are too big.

For the record, I think the A3 saloon is the perfect size and profile for a touring car.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Need to get back to smaller mid size cars. The hatches are too small, and the saloons are too big.

For the record, I think the A3 saloon is the perfect size and profile for a touring car.

Interesting point, and I'm not saying I disagree.
What basis do you make that judgement on though - aesthetics, ideals or performance?
The NGTC regs introduced a minimum length, and fixed width, which was aimed in part to bring about a certain size of car.
In terms of BTCC, I think the models should always reflect what is in showrooms and supermarket car parks.

[Evantra]

Dan Lloyd announcing plans tomorrow - more than likely to be TCR but could be a potential candidate for the Motorbase or PMR seat..?

[crmalcolm]

Looking at the best selling cars of 2019 (in the UK), what featured in the top 20 (highest seller listed first)?

Ford - Fiesta, Focus, Kuga
VW - Golf, Polo, Tiguan
Nissan - Qashqai, Juke
Vauxhall - Corsa, Astra, Mokka X
Mercedes - C-Class, A-Class
MINI - Hatch
Kia - Sportage
Audi - A3
BMW - 3-Series, 1-Series
Hyundai - Tucson
Toyota - Yaris


From that list, to have the maximum range of options, NGTC is faced with being either:
Superminis (B segment) - 5
Compact (C segment) - 6
Compact Executive (D segment) - 2
SUVs (J segment) - 7

We have a mixture of Compact/Compact Executive cars on the grid currently, so I would suggest they have it about right.

[RS67]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Need to get back to smaller mid size cars. The hatches are too small, and the saloons are too big.

For the record, I think the A3 saloon is the perfect size and profile for a touring car.

Focus RS is only about 100mm shorter than a Sierra RS 500 or Mk2 Mondeo, only about 50mm shorter on wheelbase, yet is wider than either of it's predecessors. Not exactly small.

[Petoli]

I would say that the size of touring cars havent really changed that much. Cars have got bigger. For example A modern Astra is only 4 inches shorter then the Vectra used during the supertouring era. A similar size gap between a modern focus and a 20 year old Mondeo. The Hatchbacks we see now are not that much different size wise from the saloons that were used during the supertouring years.

[S griffin]

Touring cars have always been about a variety of cars in different models, from hatchbacks to estate cars

[crmalcolm]

Width is largely irrelevant nowadays, due to the NGTC fixed width specification. But what about length? Since 1990, the length of the base model of the car driven by the champion is listed below.
This shows that the smallest car was the Honda Civic of 2011, closely followed by the Astra Coupe of 2001. Interestingly though, the 125i of recent years is just 1mm shorter than the M3 of the early '90s.
In terms of longest cars, the two most recent models to enter the list (Levorg and 330i) are only challenged by the Vectra of 2011 in terms of length.
The majority of cars are in the 4400-4600mm range, which aligns with the NGTC spec of a 4400mm minimum length.


4490mm (RS 500)
4325mm (M3 E30)
4433mm (318is E36)
4443mm (155)
4419mm (Cavalier)
4520mm (A4)
4508mm (Laguna)
4470mm (S40)
4481mm (Primera)
4556mm (Mondeo)
4267mm (Astra Coupe)
4374mm (Integra)
4611mm (Vectra)
4520mm (320si E90)
4597mm (Cruze)
4249mm (Civic)
4324mm (125i)
4690mm (Levorg)
4709mm (330i G20)


What this also tells us is, regardless of length, a car built well to the regulations can be successful. Any talk of cars needing to be long or short to give results is just nonsense. The current 3-series is longer than any other championship winning car of the last 30 years, and yet the most successful car in the NGTC era is also the shortest.......
The real factor in what makes a good touring car here is WSR and Team Dynamics.

[Robshillito1990]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Dan Lloyd announcing plans tomorrow - more than likely to be TCR but could be a potential candidate for the Motorbase or PMR seat..?

Hopefully sticks to TCR cant stand the whinging prat

[Crazyknight]

PMR have a driver announcement at 8am tomorrow

Edit they’re announcing both drivers

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Chief pasty taster and fat b@$€£÷@!

Originally Posted by Robshillito1990

Hopefully sticks to TCR cant stand the whinging prat

I see we're keeping it classy in our respect for drivers in the BTCC!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Crazyknight

PMR have a driver announcement at 8am tomorrow

Edit they’re announcing both drivers

It's not Coates then - and confirms that Plato is not confirmed yet.

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

It's not Coates then - and confirms that Plato is not confirmed yet.

there is no better seat left for Plato to go to

[crmalcolm]

sales-i have announced that they will be running a blog throughout the 2020 season.
This might indicated a step up in their level of coverage, following the ASI announcement that they will continue with PMR.

Adam Weaver (PMR): 'We’re delighted to be continuing our relationship with sales-i. This will be their fourth season utilising the BTCC as a marketing tool with us, and every year their presence on the car has grown'

Chloe Cordell (i-sales): 'we are continuing our sponsorship of Power Maxed Racing (PMR) and are excited to see what the future holds for the talented drivers (TBC) and their team'

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

there is no better seat left for Plato to go to

Arguably true. Drivers don't always move to better seats though, and unless they've acquired a 3rd car/TBL from somewhere, it means that Plato is currently (as at 1600hrs on 4th Feb) not confirmed at PMR as a driver.

Leon-Lacetti
Cruze-MG 6
MG 6-VW CC
VW CC-Levorg

Each one of those moves could be seen as moving to an inferior car, but one with potential.