Dunlop MSA BTCC 2011

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Ardius
Probably not, as all the entries that are running BMWs are not big teams (except WSR although they don't have oodles of money), the whole reason they are running the 320si in the first place is because they don't have the funds to buy an NGTC car like the Avensis or buy a newer ex-works car like the Cruze or Focus.
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I really didn't know they actually struggle for funding but I do understand that they're just an indipendent team. Hopefully the 320si can do something tomorrow and at least give them some points in the weekend. I also just noticed that Arthur Forster is now no longer in the running in this year's Championship...
 
I'm liking the look of the new Snetterton. Is the BTCC using the longer layout?
 
Good old BTCC - a two-car crash on the parade lap...
 
Bye bye Neal... And some save from Chilton!

Plato beaten Rouses win record... 61 wins now. Shame about Jordan's puncture.
 
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Wow. That race reminded me of why I stopped watching it. These big-name drivers could do with watching the Ginetta Juniors for a lesson in racecraft.
 
Please please please will someone sign up Turks and Gio.

Gio planned to race this season but yet again couldn't find the sponsorship...!!
 
They moved to the V8 Superstars and DTCC didn't they? James Thompson's also at the DTCC. Hamilton's in the Clio's now.
 
I thought Tommo and Turks went to STCC?

Yeh Gio went but there was an interesting link found that he was actively looking to compete in 2011, nothing came of it.
 
Only_in_f1
I thought Tommo and Turks went to STCC?

Yeh Gio went but there was an interesting link found that he was actively looking to compete in 2011, nothing came of it.
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My bad. They changed it to the STCC. Still, looking forward to last few races today. And Hamilton Jnr did a good job in the Clio's. I'll be watching him with interest as the season goes on.
 
Andrew Jordan's bad luck continues, just like last year. Everytime things look good there's a problem :(.

Not the most exciting BTCC race weekend, but the Brands Indy circuit isn't the best for overtaking. Can't wait to head up to Donny in a fortnight. Anybody else going and fancy a little GTP meet up?
 
Found this on btcc.net. Sham the awesome livery is ruined by Pinkey having to have one part pink.

 
Famine
Wow. That race reminded me of why I stopped watching it. These big-name drivers could do with watching the Ginetta Juniors for a lesson in racecraft.
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Eh, thats pretty much how its always been though. I am a little disappointed with Shedden though, he didn't need to take out Boardman like he did.

Not too bad racing wise today, overtaking is difficult at BH Indy, mostly shunts and spins were the excitment of today but there were some good drives, most notably James Nash, Tony Gilham, Mat Jackson, Paul O'Neill and Dave Newsham. Gutted for Andrew Jordan, unlucky again. Nice job by Nick Hamilton to finish both his races, will certainly help him build on his experience. 👍
Josh Hill had a reasonable start to his Formula Renault season too and I like the new-look Ginetta G55s. Porsche was a mixed bag of meh as it always is. Sometimes it can be fantastic, sometimes it can be boring. The Carrera's are essentially a low-level GT class so they can become a little processional.

Duffers917K
Not the most exciting BTCC race weekend, but the Brands Indy circuit isn't the best for overtaking. Can't wait to head up to Donny in a fortnight. Anybody else going and fancy a little GTP meet up?
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I hope to make it to Oulton Park again this year. 👍

InvincibleM5
I really didn't know they actually struggle for funding but I do understand that they're just an indipendent team. Hopefully the 320si can do something tomorrow and at least give them some points in the weekend. I also just noticed that Arthur Forster is now no longer in the running in this year's Championship...
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Yeah, unfortunately the BMWs are just too old now to really be a threat over the season. They are getting like the old Integras, I only really see Collard regularly challenging for top 10 positions. And yeah Forster couldn't find the sponsorship, a shame as that team was doing a respectable job in its first season, Martin Depper was getting into the midfield at the tail-end of last year. At least we still have Milltek with Onslow-Cole.
 
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Only going to Oulton, Ardius? Or is that the only one near you? I should be going to Donny, Oulton, Rockingham and Silverstone this year.
 
Oulton is my local, yeah. Donington is a little bit further away, everywhere else is too far for me (it starts to get into the area of booking accomodation, when I usually only want a day out - at least as far as watching low-level motorsport is concerned).
I haven't actually been to any circuits other than Oulton and Three Sisters. This year I will be going to Silverstone (British GP) and the Nurburgring (holiday/drive around it) for the first time though.
 
Might try for Thruxton and Silverstone myself. Possibly the last round at Brands too.

Enjoyed watching it again, looking forward to the rest of the season.
 
im glad its back missed it :( only really caught the touring car races yesterday but iv got it recorded to watch all support races.

as much of a fan i am of plato ( hes an epic driver ) i hate to see him winning for some reason- i like to see him struggle and have a hard time getting on the podium

i thought sheddon drove excellant even if it was a bit pushy
 
Not the best racing, Ginetta GT's were probably the best of the lot to watch. I think the Honda is looking the best car of the lot, but Neal was unlucky in Race 1 and just sheer freak accident for Shedden in practice/qualy. Nash was impressive in the 888 Vectra and Matt Jackson looked very competitive in last years Focus.

Plato being Mr Consistent again. You know exactly what you're going to get, but it is down on straight line speed, which could cause issues at other circuits.
 
Ardius
Eh, thats pretty much how its always been though. I am a little disappointed with Shedden though, he didn't need to take out Boardman like he did.
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I might have rosetinteds on, but it didn't seem anywhere near as bad until Yvan Muller got a Vectra - then it became the norm not to find your way past the car ahead, but to smash him as hard as possible to end his race while not ending your own. Oh, and being completely innocent of all such moves, but furious if anyone else so much as breathed on your decals.

BTCC has always been characterised by being a high-contact series. Back in the day, John Cleland was always a bit fighty, but it was always door-to-door stuff. Three cars could go into a corner abreast and come out abreast - not end up in the kitty litter or with your wheels pointing in different directions. They could cope with "rubbin' is racin'" and they knew where the line they shouldn't cross was...


It seems that BTCC has, in-part, recaptured the diversity of the 80s after a decade of nearly Vauxhall-exclusive boredom - we've got a field of Chevrolet Cruze and Lacetti, Honda Civic, Ford Focus (2 generations), Toyota Avensis, Seat Leon, BMW 3 series, VW Golf, Proton Gen-2, Honda Integra and Vauxhall Vectra - which compares to the heyday of Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Cavalier, Volvo 850, Peugeot 405, Renault Laguna, Nissan Primera, Toyota Carina, Honda Accord, BMW 3-series, Mazda Xedos 6 and 323 and Alfa Romeo 155. It's a good start. It needs to recapture the gentlemanly respect too - the stewards don't need to crack down on people running a tyre-width wide out of a corner (which makes Vettel's pass of Button last week look even more farcical), but on people who cause contact that ruins or ends others' races.

We all love to see nice, close racing. We don't get that when drivers are smashing their way through the field with impugnity.
 
Hear. Hear.

I still enjoy the BTCC, but it would be better if they could be gentlemen about it, not all of them are aggressive, but it'll be difficult to not be aggressive if the guy you are trying to overtake is giving you no racing room at all and likes to close the door in to Druids despite giving you a cars width in the braking zone.

The Formula Renaults I find to be quite dull. Ginetta's and Clio's are pretty good though.
 
All open-wheel formulae need more room, simply because most of what you present to the outside world is your wheels - contact is likely to involve wheels and wheels don't react well to contact. You're forced to give space because if you don't, your race will probably be over too...

There was lots of rubbin' is racin' with the Ginettas and Clios and even though there were several large, race-ending crashes, they all seemed to be either racing incidents or plain old mistakes (one of the G55/G50 crashes looked like a very optimistic move up the inside, ending in nose-door contact, a spin and then ludicrousness - but the guy at fault just missed his braking spot and ducked under to avoid a big front-rear shunt).


A side-by-side battle is classic touring car racing and good to watch for everyone. Nosing up the rear quarter is classic World's Policiest Police Chases.
 
Famine
I might have rosetinteds on, but it didn't seem anywhere near as bad until Yvan Muller got a Vectra - then it became the norm not to find your way past the car ahead, but to smash him as hard as possible to end his race while not ending your own. Oh, and being completely innocent of all such moves, but furious if anyone else so much as breathed on your decals.

BTCC has always been characterised by being a high-contact series. Back in the day, John Cleland was always a bit fighty, but it was always door-to-door stuff. Three cars could go into a corner abreast and come out abreast - not end up in the kitty litter or with your wheels pointing in different directions. They could cope with "rubbin' is racin'" and they knew where the line they shouldn't cross was...
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Well obviously I'm not old enough to have watched many races pre-1995. But from the recordings I have watched, BTCC has had bumps and shoves for a long time. I can recall, for example, Andy Rouse "friendly" tapping Tim Harvey in the behind just to unsettle his car and allow him to overtake in the 1989 Birmingham Superprix. I'm pretty sure that kind of thing has gone on for a while, even if it wasn't recorded or noted. There were probably less dramatic, championship deciding collisions of the Cleland/Soper sort but I'm sure there was still a lot of bumping and shoving even back into the early 80s.

I think its unfair to suggest that three cars can't go side-by-side these days. They have and do, there are clean drivers in the BTCC still, most of the time O'Neill, Boardman, Collard and Jackson seem to try and be clean as much as they can, which is sometimes to their detriment. Plato and Neal can drive clean when they aren't being twits, but they do have punting tendencies.

There is still plenty of clean, side-by-side racing in BTCC, its just there is also plenty of dirty driving. Its become somewhat accepted these days "thats Touring Cars".
 
I haven't seen the races yet, but the brands indy circuit doesn't exactly lend itself to clean racing. The overtaking points, such as they are, are not clear cut and are easily defendable so a bit of tapping is really inevitable there.
 
Ardius
Well obviously I'm not old enough to have watched many races pre-1995. But from the recordings I have watched, BTCC has had bumps and shoves for a long time. I can recall, for example, Andy Rouse "friendly" tapping Tim Harvey in the behind just to unsettle his car and allow him to overtake in the 1989 Birmingham Superprix. I'm pretty sure that kind of thing has gone on for a while, even if it wasn't recorded or noted. There were probably less dramatic, championship deciding collisions of the Cleland/Soper sort but I'm sure there was still a lot of bumping and shoving even back into the early 80s.
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But none of it was done to gain places by DNFing others. That's the point. Since Muller, the tendency and willingness to drive dirty has become quite widespread - almost intrinsic.

Ardius
I think its unfair to suggest that three cars can't go side-by-side these days. They have and do, there are clean drivers in the BTCC still, most of the time O'Neill, Boardman, Collard and Jackson seem to try and be clean as much as they can, which is sometimes to their detriment. Plato and Neal can drive clean when they aren't being twits, but they do have punting tendencies.

There is still plenty of clean, side-by-side racing in BTCC, its just there is also plenty of dirty driving. Its become somewhat accepted these days "thats Touring Cars".
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It's not that they can't - it's that they don't (or at least don't often). A lot of the 80s-90s BTCC was characterised by multiple simultaneous lines and a lot of paintswapping. Even occasional bodywork swapping - I recall a magazine ran a competition to win the missing rear bumped from the green and gold Ultron-sponsored Peugeot 406 :lol:

You'd expect to see cars going into corners two and three abreast and coming out in a completely different order (until the next corner), still three abreast and all still going. These days, whenever cars go into a corner even two abreast you expect one to come out backwards.
 

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