British GT 2020

[Anyopenroad]

New calendar. Like others, going for an Aug start and running into Nov.

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2020/0...-revealed.html

Aug 1/2 Oulton Park 2x1hr
Aug 15/16 Donington Park 1x1hr & 1x2hr
Aug 29/30 Brands Hatch 1x2hr
Sep 19/20 Donington Park 1x3hr
Oct 3/4 Snetterton 2x1hr
Nov 7/8 Silverstone 1x3hr

[bella]

two three hour events and the mix of 1 and 2 hours at donington are a nice change to get the lost track time back. shame about still going back to donington twice but spa isn't workable any more i guess.

is that the walter heyes weekend they've taken at silverstone?

[kipper]

Originally Posted by bella

is that the walter heyes weekend they've taken at silverstone?

In pre-lockdown times, the WHT was scheduled to be the week before.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by bella

two three hour events and the mix of 1 and 2 hours at donington are a nice change to get the lost track time back. shame about still going back to donington twice but spa isn't workable any more i guess.

is that the walter heyes weekend they've taken at silverstone?

Shame they can't go to Thruxton or Combe?

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Shame they can't go to Thruxton or Combe?

Coombe too small I Guess, Thruxton would be cool

They were always planning a Donnington double, been like that since Rockingham went under

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Coombe too small I Guess, Thruxton would be cool

They were always planning a Donnington double, been like that since Rockingham went under

I was going to mention the late lamented Rock. Many a decent GT race held there. ☹

[tux]

The issue with Castle Combe now is the lack of facilities. I seem to remember that the series wants garages, Combe has none. Agree with Thruxton.

[bella]

yeah, aside from the logistical pain in the arse of transporting the setup backwards and forwards with quads, i'm not sure all the british gt teams actually have awnings any more. pirelli won't do thruxton, which is maybe a good and a bad thing.

big fan of knockhill, and it's a huge shame it's not considered any more presumably for garage reasons. it's a really unique challenge for drivers in the faster cars, and if british motorsport is about anything it's proper circuits that offer real challenges, not tilkedromes. those are for the gt world challenge

[GCCheddaris]

Why will Pirelli not do Thruxton ? Surely not the technical challenge maybe the cost ? Another problem with Thruxton is the pit lane and small garages which caused problems the last time the GTs visited. A great shame as I have seen several very entertaining GT races at Thruxton and I suppose it wouldn't be possible to have separate Pro and Am races to avoid the Pit Stop problem.

Castle Combe is sadly a non starter as apart from the fact that the circuit has little run - off they do have a serious noise issue due to their proximity to a village which is frequently voted one of the prettiest in England and contains several nimby's most of whom have moved in since the circuit opened just after the Second World War. The Autumn Classic Meeting features demonstrations ( from cars not nimby's !) and the quicker, noisier cars have to creep round to avoid exceeding the noise limit.

[bella]

regarding thruxton and tyres, it's not like the dunlop/goodyear racing tyre, where the circuit is a bigger percentage of their racing programme. it's one race a year across all of their racing activity with gt3/gt4. apparently it's not worth the ballache which is probably an attitude that prevails across the entire series.

it must be not at all viable if they'd rather go to donington twice, look at it that way

[Bcarr6]

AF corse - Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo - Griffin / Cameron

Given that we had a capacity grid, I assume this is replacing A forgone entry

EDIT: TF Sport GT3 entries are both withdrawn. GT4 cars both continue

[Bcarr6]

Per DSC, the second withdrawn TF Sport slot has also been filled, by a returning GT3 team. Announcement soon

Can only assume it’s another British team that runs in Europe usually but has chosen to stay domestic for the year like Cameron/Griffin have

[Bcarr6]

As it stands, GT3 looks like it will start the season mostly unchanged from the media day entry list pre lockdown. Most teams have been out testing already, or active on social media giving indication of no changed plans. Only a few that are unsure due to travel issues, but we look set to have 15-19 GT3's this year if all goes well

(CONFIRMED)
AF Corse - Ferrari 488 GT3 - Duncan Cameron / Matt Griffin
1 Additional entry TBC

(LIKELY)
2 Seas Motorsport - Mclaren 720s GT3 - Dean Macdonald / Angus Fender
Balfe Motorsport - Mclaren 720s GT3 - Shaun Balfe / Rob Bell (been testing)
Barwell Motorsport - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 - Adam Balon / Phil Keen (been testing)
Barwell Motorsport - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 - Sandy Mitchell / Rob Collard (been testing)
Beechdean AMR - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 - Valentin Hasse-Clot / Jack Mitchell
Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage GT3 - Andrew Howard / Ross Gunn
JMH Auto - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 - John Seale / (Adam Hatfield / Jordan Witt)
JRM - Bentley Continental GT3 - Kelvin Fletcher / Martin Plowman
Ram Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Ian Loggie / Yelmer Buurman (been testing)
Ram Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3 - San De Haan / Patrick Kujala (been testing)
Team ABBA Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Richard Neary / Sam Neary (been testing)
Team Parker Racing - Bentley Continental GT3 - Nick Jones / Scott Malvern (been testing)
WPI Motorsport - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 - Michael Igoe / Franck Perera (been testing)

(MAYBE)
2 Seas Motorsport - Mclaren 720s GT3 - Isa Al Khalifa / TBA (Khalifa travel issue like Al Harthy?)
Optimum Motorsport - Mclaren 720s GT3 - Nick Foster / Martin Berry (Travel issues makes this lineup look unlikely, but Optimum car is testing a lot)
Stellar Motorsport - Audi R8 LMS GT3 - TBA / TBA (no word here)
G-Cat Racing - Porsche 911 GT3 - Shamus Jennings / Greg Caton (no clue)

(WITHDRAWN)
TF Sport - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 - Graham Davison / Tom Canning
TF Sport - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 - Ahmad Al Harthy / Jonny Adam

[S griffin]

Shame no TF Sport, shame for Jonny Adam, but we should still have a close season ahead of us

[BertMk2]

It's not a surprise to see some entries dropping out given the financial situation, I'd be pleasantly surprised if the TF Sport cars are the only ones to drop out.

[Truckosaurus]

Has anyone seen any noises about allowing crowds at BGT events?

I know UK races in July are all behind closed doors, but has a decision been made on August yet?

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

Has anyone seen any noises about allowing crowds at BGT events?

I know UK races in July are all behind closed doors, but has a decision been made on August yet?

Im hopeful for some of the later races being open to public, Im about an hour from Snet, so hoping for what will probably be my only race visit of the year.

You'd imagine an event like Snetterton BGT, with a capacity limit, no grid walk, no open paddock, and mask rules, would be viable to be open to public.

Ive never known the attendance figures for Snetterton as an example, but there is certainly enough space, and the crowd is a respectful one who would abide by a lot to be able to be at the track.

[Bcarr6]

2 Seas Motorsport have reconfirmed both 720s GT3's, running the numbers 9 and 10.

Curious if Khalifa is able to commit to the season, not sure if hes residing in the UK or not

[bella]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

Has anyone seen any noises about allowing crowds at BGT events?

I know UK races in July are all behind closed doors, but has a decision been made on August yet?

afaik they’ll be doing it behind closed doors for the foreseeable.

[JTN358AT]

Originally Posted by bella

afaik they’ll be doing it behind closed doors for the foreseeable.

I do feel sorry for some of the young drivers like Tom Canning, who have had their careers affected by the virus.

On the subject of spectators, I am still hopeful of being allowed in. In practical terms, the social distancing is easy to maintain and MSV would have no problem organising queueing at the loos etc. Of course, numbers would have to be limited. I understand that allowing spectators would set a precedent and other sports would want to let people in. But hopefully, MSV, can make the case for spectators and the government will stop blanket banning spectating at events like British GT. If not, then I'll have my season ticket money back and watch the live stream.

[bella]

it’s a tricky one to be honest.

like i’ve said elsewhere on here, the biggest problem is policing. this thing doesn’t spread at nearly the same rate if you follow the rules, and yet we have a fairly steady level of deaths atm. a significant number of people can’t be trusted to do what they’re told, and those are the ones we have to legislate for.

which is why we’re not going to see spectators at events for a while, i think. it’s important to bear in mind that the sport has restarted not for spectators, but for the huge industry around it, and i think any admission to circuits will be done for the benefit of that rather than fans.

if they were driving the restart with spectators at the front of their minds there’d be no 2020 season at all for everybody, not just the unfortunate young drivers like canning and the mclaren juniors at tolman who are going to miss out.

it’d be nice to have some spectators back by the end of the season if the stats allow it, but the priority is keeping everyone safe really, from fans to circuit staff to competitors. part of the joy of working in the sport is the big events, and it’s pretty depressing to think that every race is going to be like a test day in terms of atmosphere. hopefully they can up the tv side a bit to compensate for not being able to attend.

[Anyopenroad]

We're in. Tickets for Brands and Donington already purchased.

[Bcarr6]

Donnington and Snet done

[Alfaholic]

Looks like I can make the first Donington meeting, Brands Hatch, Snetterton and, providing they are admitting spectators, Silverstone in November (break out the thermals!)

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by Alfaholic

Looks like I can make the first Donington meeting, Brands Hatch, Snetterton and, providing they are admitting spectators, Silverstone in November (break out the thermals!)

Thought about Silverstone as its that little bit nearer to me than donington, but Silverstone WEC and Blancpain races in April/May have been frostbite worthy, so not sure about chances in November!!!!