Touring Cars 2020 Touring Car discussion (TCR, BTCC etc.)

Posted on Tuesday, a little behind-the-scenes look at Motorbase's rebuild of Rory Butcher's car:

 

After a busy wet-drying quali session, many drivers had best laps removed for track limits, most notably Cammish who had a potential Pole removed (starts 16th). Ingram took Pole from Cook, Proctor in the Hyundai, Hill and Turkington completing the top 5. However Ingram failed post-race ride height checks, meaning he's likely to lose Pole (TBC*)

Elsewhere both Laser Tools Infiniti's of Moffat and Sutton went off at T1 Clervaux, in near identical incidents. Sutton qualified P8 after having his best time removed for causing a red flag, after at one stage looking like he'd be on the front row, falling victim to track limits like many others.

*Edit: Now confirmed both Ingram and Proctor have been disqualified for failing ride height checks, so both start from the back tomorrow. Cook starts from pole, from Hill and Turkington now P3.

 

Jac Constable withdraws from Croft on medical grounds

 

Cook holds off early pressure from Hill to win Race 1 convincingly. Turkington and Sutton classified 3rd and 4th after a 2-second penalty for Butcher.





Less than five minutes before Race 2 gets underway...

 

Tough decision for BTCC, do they actually penalise their favourite driver?

 

They did when he and Turkington came together at Brands GP last year; either way, another strong set of drives from Cook and Hill.

Monumental dramas for both Turkington and Sutton; great result from Ingram to finish 4th in his ongoing recovery from qualifying.

Tom Chilton granted Race 3 pole.

 

Penalty confirmed for Neal, handing Cook the win

 

Was trying to watch a bit of btcc before on itv4, i don't know where they get the audio from but every camera change they do the audio dosent seem to change, you get this generic car racing noise which dosent match what you are looking at....hmmmm, rubbish...

 

Huge crash for Thompson in Race 3. Got out under his own power but clearly shaken.

 

The BTCC cars sound like generic race cars, so around an echoy former airfield with no spectators to absorb noise, what you're experiencing is to be expected.

 

After the problems he had at Silverstone and his exclusion from qualifying, today couldn't have ended any better for Ingram. Excellent start, an even better move on Cammish at the Jim Clark Esses and enough pace to keep the Halfords Honda at bay to the flag. Both now sit 4th and 2nd respectively in the drivers' standings, only 29 and 7 points off Sutton!

Glad that Thompson came out of those rolls okay. Shame since he did very well to fight in the top 10 in the first two races. Gutted to see Turkington have another Lap 1 disaster, especially with Sutton once again showing how much of a demon he is when fighting from the back.

 

I just meant the sound dosent match what you are looking at on the tv......unless you get an onboard shot.....

 

I understand that, but the camera microphones can be picking up engine noise from all over the place, not just from the direction it's pointing. Because most of the cars are using the TOCA engine and all the engines are the same 2 litre 4 pots, you can't distinguish between the BMW on screen and the Honda behind it out of shot. It's only when they go onboard and shut out the reverberating mix of 25 indentical engines that the only engine note you hear is from the car you're looking at (or from).

 

To be honest, the BMW and Honda are two of the most distinguishable 4-pots on the grid , the Honda especially so, has a real nice tone to it. Collectively they do sound really angry, though TV doesn't do them much justice compared to in person.

Was getting Brands GP 2019 concerns with Cammish in race 3, with just how hot those front brakes were getting. Was concerned he'd have another high-speed failure, thankfully not though. That Civic looked like it was turned up to 11 with the size of the flames it was spitting out in race 3. Championship has really been shaken up after croft, makes the last 2 rounds extra tasty .

 

Former Mini racer Jessica Hawkins will contest Snetterton for PMR

 

Bobby Thompson sidelined with concussion; Mini Challenge racer Ethan Hammerton to take his place this weekend:

 

Turks with a perfect drive to victory in Snetterton Race 1. Sutton in P5. Jess Hawkins finishes a respectable P22

 

Great racing in the 3 races and support. Lighting towards the end, have in Project Cars.

 

2021 TCR Australia looks to begin January 24
https://www.speedcafe.com/2020/10/30/rogers-duo-unveil-race-tasmania-double-header/

 

TCR Australia have just lost me as both a fan and a paying customer.

https://www.speedcafe.com/2020/11/02/tcr-australia-calendar-unveiled-for-2021/

National series, my . Should be re-named The Eastern States Series like a lot of what passes as national here.

 

Tasmania seems a weird choice, if they're not going to The Bend. Wonder why. Must be a reason.

 

What's really strange is that the other Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships are planned for The Bend ... and all coincide with the other TCR rounds except for Tassie


Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships 2021 calendar

Rnd Circuit/Event Date
1 Phillip Island*, Victoria Feb TBA-TBA
2 Bathurst 6 Hour, New South Wales Apr 2-4
3 Sydney Motorsport Park, New South Wales May 1-2
4 Morgan Park, Queensland Jun 25-27
5 Sandown International Raceway, Victoria Sep 10-12
6 The Bend Motorsport Park, South Australia Oct 15-17

 

There must be a specific reason. Do all the Shannon's categories use Pantha fuels? I just don't know. Would be nice to get a word about TCR skipping The Bend. Saw good racing last year.

 

BTCC Brands Indy finale to proceed under new lockdown measures.


Which means that we will get to see another new face in the PMR Astra next weekend:

 

For a moment there I read his name as Phil Bradpot.

 

Ciceley Motorsport are set to retire their Mercedes A-class at the end of season, replacing it with something new for 2021.

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2020/11/06/ciceley-switch-mercedes-class-2021-campaign/#:~:text=The Ciceley Motorsport team has,for the 2021 BTCC season.

What's been impressive is how Ciceley have managed to evolve and keep the A-class competitive over its 7 years in the BTCC, compared to similarly aged packages like the VW CC. Will be interesting to see if the stay with a Merc for next year, one assumes it could be replaced with the newer W177, but we'll have to see.

 

Would anyone in here have any idea where I can find detailed specs for the 90's Super Touring era? Like wheel/tire size, alignment specs, weight, etc.

 

Super Touring Register has the technical regulations here alongside plenty of useful information on the cars built and entered under that ruleset.

 

Thanks. Goal is to give my personal car a similar look in the future.