ToCA13 SEASON PREVIEW
So we are less than 36 hours away from the start of a new season, and there have been changes up and down the paddock. The biggest presence comes from Audi, who's turbocharged TTS has been over a year in development. No fewer than 9 of the 4WD quattro's are entered, but picking a winner from them alone is tough.
@Ninners wears #1 again looking for a ToCA hat trick, with
@Andil alongside him. The major difference is that they are now both part of
@LancerEvo7 East Coast Motorsports organisation. Ninners however is running for the Jack Sears Trophy, and bidding to be the first person in 10 seasons (and only second ever) to do a Overall/Jack Sears double in the same season. They come into the season as overwhelming favourites.
If Nin wins the title, he will be joint top with
@Spurgy 777 for all time titles (3). However the bad news for Nin is
@Spurgy 777 returns full time for the first time in 5 seasons, also in an Audi. However these Audis are part of the SYM operation, who have had a reshuffle with
@snowgt retiring to a managerial position within the team.
@Yeratel84 however does remain, and a third Audi branches out to Jack Sears for
@raceorama123432
Reigning champions Furi Autosports come into this season with a totally fresh look behind the wheel. Team boss
@Furinkazen has elected to not defend his Jack Sears title and instead will be back scoring for the main team, alongside another returning veteran -
@Carbonox comes out of retirement to drive the second FAS Citroen, FAS being the works team for Citroens first ever ToCA season. A Jack Sears entry for
@AudiMan2011 is also there, and all 3 Citroens have looked to have some good speed and the whole driver line up has been extremely solid in testing.
The only other team entered is a squad of Renaults, but not from Humberside Racing -
@Scaniabebe 's squad take a sabbatical after a torrid ToCA12 season, and the two licenses go directly to
@cnd01 with
@CAMikaze under the "Aigle Guerre Racing" banner. Both cars have been built quite late (indeed
@cnd01 's car was getting painted at the track on Media Day!) and as a result only
@CAMikaze will attend the season opener. Both drivers have worked together in FRL V8 SUPERCARS before however, and Cami has moved towards a consistent top 10 challenger over the past season. A third independent Renault is entered by
@GTracer98 .
This leaves a large Jack Sears contingent. A few may have been mentioned above but a majority are there own solo efforts. An interesting two is
@xZAMGMarmite and
@nascarfan1400 , who were allegedly a team just two weeks ago but since then for reasons unknown they are now both solo entries, in two more Audis. Two time JST champion
@chrisjohnson93 is also in a quattro for the coming season, seeking his own illusive hat-trick.
Privateer Citroens are entered for
@SkengD and
@FlyingFox . Both chassis were built by FAS, indeed Skeng was going to be a FAS driver until sponsorship woes at last minute scuppered the deal. Fox makes a full time return for the first time in 7 seasons, and looks comfortable in the C4.
Honda's Civic is a perennial ToCA favourite and arguably a dark horse for both Overall and JST titles is
@hsv . After a couple seasons in mediocre equipment, HSV seems to have found a car for him, consistently lapping at the top of timesheets pre season. Expect a title challenge from him. Just over four years after his debut,
@DK returns to a Honda Independent entry after a underwhelming spell with Nissan in ToCA12. His team mate from that campaign, @gtpanoz has also entered a Civic, indeed some are surprised to not see them back together as DarkHorse Sports. A final two Civic entries go to series débutante
@Damon Hill and
@megg230 , who made his ToCA debut at the Brands Hatch finale last season and barely missed qualifying for the races.
A familar growl returns as the Mazda Atenza bodyshells have been revamped and upgraded. Arguably ToCA's most reliable car of its early years, a number of Independent entries are in the Mazda6 Atenzas.
@PatrisS136 looks to build on experience gained in his debut season, whilst
@Michelin may be entering a few rounds. New cars are also being built for rookie
@sb360 ,
@The Stig Farmer (fresh from a FRL V8 SUPERCARS campaign), and
@Roflwaffle is scheduled to return to the cockpit from Willow Springs onwards.
Worth noting the Audi is OP in sector #1.
