BTCC 2019 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

I've seen my first Power Maxed liveried Vauxhall van since the deal began in 17. That activation is working well....

I guess that now most of the Power Maxed branding on the car has been replaced with Sterling, they need to get their exposure elsewhere?

[Sodemo]

Is there any news on the state of the cars after the Donington carnage? Will WSR have to prep a new car for Jordan?

What about the Merc of Morgan?

[btccbloke]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Is there any news on the state of the cars after the Donington carnage? Will WSR have to prep a new car for Jordan?

What about the Merc of Morgan?

Seeing as they got Morgan back out I doubt there is any issue getting his car ready for Thruxton. I seem to remember in commentary Tim Harvey mentioning about cicely having a spare car or at least the most of one built up for this eventuality

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by btccbloke

Seeing as they got Morgan back out I doubt there is any issue getting his car ready for Thruxton. I seem to remember in commentary Tim Harvey mentioning about cicely having a spare car or at least the most of one built up for this eventuality

They don't have a spare car.

What they had was a spare font sub-frame, built up with all the suspension/steering/etc attached and engine already installed. They simply bolt on the entire assembly rather than have to build up everything from scratch. (Ok, not quite a simple as it sounds, but you get the idea)

[crmalcolm]

As confirmed by redshoes - the Ciceley situation was made quite clear in the BTCC article about Morgan's 'recovery'.

'Team Principal Russell Morgan had provisioned for such an eventuality, however, with a full drop-in front-section with engine, suspension and ancillaries all ready to go. His team beat the clock, completing the job in an astonishing 51 minutes, ensuring Morgan made it to the grid for the second encounter.'

As to Jordan's car, DB had the following to say:
'We’ve built the [car] to 2020 FIA regulations [...] that might well have helped with this heavy impact. [...]we’ll get the car repaired and ready for him to bounce back next time out at Thruxton.'

[Peter Mallett]

Didn't they say on the TV that it took them around 50 mins to change that front end?

AFAIK the Jordan car took some hits on the chassis "tweaked the roll cage" so that would need straightening on a jig.

[Johno.UK]

Just popped down to Brands on my lunch break and Jake Hill is testing Blundells car. I wonder if they think there is a difference between them?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Johno.UK

Just popped down to Brands on my lunch break and Jake Hill is testing Blundells car. I wonder if they think there is a difference between them?

Is Blundell's the only car out - or are they running two?

There are many things that could determine who drives what car at a test session, and so conclusions should probably not be drawn.

Perhaps they are checking everything is right with the car, after damage at Donington, and Hill is the only driver available?
Maybe Blundell's car was the one closest to the transporter when they came to loading?

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Is Blundell's the only car out - or are they running two?

There are many things that could determine who drives what car at a test session, and so conclusions should probably not be drawn.

Perhaps they are checking everything is right with the car, after damage at Donington, and Hill is the only driver available?
Maybe Blundell's car was the one closest to the transporter when they came to loading?

Your 'anti-conspiracy theory' medication is obviously working well.
(Or to put it another way, you're just no fun anymore!)

[Johno.UK]

Only the one from what I could see. Lots of joking around the pits cafe with people saying they're trying to work out if it's an old car or an old man that is the problem. Bit harsh I thought!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Your 'anti-conspiracy theory' medication is obviously working well.
(Or to put it another way, you're just no fun anymore!)

Too many conspiracies in BTCC to stay on top of!

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by Johno.UK

Only the one from what I could see. Lots of joking around the pits cafe with people saying they're trying to work out if it's an old car or an old man that is the problem. Bit harsh I thought!

Only Blundell's car with Jsjexatvtge wheel, but all Jake was doing was set-up work for Mark ahead of Thruxton. Sorry to upset any conspiracy theories.

[Johno.UK]

What setup work can be done at Indy for Thruxton? There's not a lot in common between the two tracks.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Johno.UK

What setup work can be done at Indy for Thruxton? There's not a lot in common between the two tracks.

How much more work can be done if you are only 20 minutes from your own base (and able to pop back for spares), compared to a 4hr round trip?

[Johno.UK]

I was genuinely interested in what setup work can be done when the two tracks are so dissimilar. Shake down work I can understand but not setup.

I don't see how being close to base makes much difference to be honest other than the travel time. It's not like they will be machining parts etc. They had the full race transporter there with all the spares they would usually take to a meeting I assume.

It wasn't an open test day so an hour (and could easily be double that in that area, when I left the M25 southbound was closed for instance) round trip for parts could easily mean missing an entire session.

[sceptic]

Testing at Thruxton is so severely limited that effectively you can't.

So if you are going to do any testing ahead of Thruxton, doing it at your nearest track seems sensible.

[Alfisti]

Probably just general testing of the car. Maybe they've changed some bits and pieces and a good shakedown was in order.

Or maybe it was somebody else disguised as Jake to confuse conspirators. Might have been a new slimline Mat Jackson shaking down before a racing return...

[Liquoriceman]

Been to Oulton today watching the TCT & TCR. Only 7 cars out but the parity between them was spot on

Sent from my BLA-L09 using Tapatalk

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Johno.UK

What setup work can be done at Indy for Thruxton? There's not a lot in common between the two tracks.

Or maybe just maybe they are looking beyond Thruxton....

[Craner Curves]

So I hear there's a sailor docked at the farm? Very interesting. I wonder if the farmer had to grovel?

[Johno.UK]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Or maybe just maybe they are looking beyond Thruxton....

But I was replying to a poster who said they were doing setup work for Thruxton....

[VIVA GT]

I see on the Autosport website that Mark Blundell has received a verbal reprimand for his collision with Tom Chilton. In the circumstances, as the red flag wasn't really Chilton's fault, surely he should have his fastest qualifying time reinstated?

[Sodemo]

Playing devils advocate here, did Blundell really do much wrong there? He was going wide I guess Chilton thought he was going to jump over the kerbs, but instead Blundell actually made an effort to make the corner and in doing so he clattered into Chilton...

[S griffin]

Blundell has said that he didn't have that much time left, so he had to make sure he got that one lap together. So it was one of those things

[crmalcolm]

I have just been catching up on some of the drivers' interviews from Thruxton, and some comments from Plato caught my attention.

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I feel for everyone who was part of the team for the last few years that their efforts are not recognised by the new 'star' who has joined them.

In the recent interviews, Plato comes across as being unable to adapt to the characteristics and nuances of a car. His comments seem to suggest the real reason he couldn't get the results he craved in a RWD car are due to his own requirements.
'what they found last year in the setup of the car, how they set the thing up to make it work, tried and tested what they achieved last year. It's quite a different philosophy to what I've been used to.

We’ve got a consistent little thing going on where we can't seem to cure it. And it's exactly what; it’s the area of the car I want to really work on and that’s the bit that I want and need.

It’s a grip and rotation and all these sorts of things where we just need the car to be slightly stronger at certain phases in the corner because of the way I want to drive it and the way I drive.'



He also seems far too concerned with getting his excuses in regarding the BMW performance, and is already cementing his position as top complainer on the grid.

After Qualifying:
'The two BMWs in front either got the radio call to say look, you’ve got one more lap you’ll get to the flag in time so they then blocked me so that I didn’t get through and potentially mess their laps up or they got the radio call saying he’s just gone green, green get in his way.

BMWs will be gone, they’ve got you know a considerable straight-line speed advantage over most and, err also they’re rear wheel drive so they won’t eat their front tyres. Much better tyre degradation. So I think it will be a BMW walkover.'

And after R2:
'The BMWs are in a league of their own, we've got to stop that crack going on haven't we. I’m on the other side of the fence now I'm going to get vocal aren't I. But here we need, we know, BMW pace is just ridiculous. They're too fast in a straight line and they’ve got a massive advantage in that CoG and Rear Wheel Drive.'