[BTCC] BTCC 2020 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[DaviePHD]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Exactly. He missed the first meeting in 09, got a late deal for Thruxton with little to no testing beforehand, yet still grabbed a R3 victory when the opportunity was there. He proved that he could keep up with Plato thereafter and then had some mid season bad luck. But then he had a very good run between Knockhill, Silverstone and the Rock, showing he could do just a good a job as Plato and sometimes beat him. That you cannot argue against, no matter how much you try and use stats

Anyway let’s see if the car and MJ are up to the job

True Dat! Anyone with a pair of eyes in their head knows that the stand out best driver in the series at the moment is Ash Sutton, but the stats don't back that up.

Stats can't account for outside influences like luck and lack of opportunity.

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by DaviePHD

True Dat! Anyone with a pair of eyes in their head knows that the stand out best driver in the series at the moment is Ash Sutton, but the stats don't back that up.

exactly how do you know for sure that he is better than say Turkington , Tingram or Jordan ?


having said that let's see how will he pass other cars now that his super tight cornering advanatge is gone

[Jiiiiiiim]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

exactly how do you know for sure that he is better than say Turkington , Tingram or Jordan ?


having said that let's see how will he pass other cars now that his super tight cornering advanatge is gone

Probably just as well as he did in the ageing MG!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

exactly how do you know for sure that he is better than say Turkington , Tingram or Jordan ?

Ahh - simples innit?

Who is the best driver in BTCC at the moment? Let's see, by starting with the date that Neal joined the BTCC (longest serving driver on the grid in 2019).

Neal didn't get a fair run against a team-mate in '91.
Neal was not beaten by a team-mate over a season until '02, when he finished behind James Thompson and Yvan Muller.
In '03, Muller took the title from Thompson.
'04 - Thompson beat Muller.
Thompson lost the crown of best driver on the grid to Plato in '06.
Turkington took this title from Plato in '16, denying the chance of Sutton to claim this honour in '17.

So, in the UFWC method of deciding who is best on the current grid:
Turkington is currently the best driver on the grid.
Sutton would place second, having most recently beaten a former holder of the crown.
Plato is third, having only been beaten by Turkington and Sutton.
Thompson is fourth, having only been beaten by Plato.
Tied for fifth are Cammish and Jordan, based on their results against drivers who have never held the crown.
Neal seventh, Jackson eighth, Butcher, Cook and Ingram tied ninth.

[JDMROB]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Drivers who last appeared in the BTCC in a Motorbase Ford Focus (and who may or may not be retired):

Caine,
Hamilton,
Cole,
Depper,
Davenport,
Clarke,
Giovanardi,
Griffin,
Thompson

How about Tom Onslow Cole?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by JDMROB

How about Tom Onslow Cole?

He's already confirmed he's driving somewhere in 2020, so I don't think there was ever a thought that he may have retired.
The drivers I listed are (I think) all 'possibles' on the retired front.

[DaviePHD]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

exactly how do you know for sure that he is better than say Turkington , Tingram or Jordan ?


having said that let's see how will he pass other cars now that his super tight cornering advanatge is gone

OK Perhaps I should have said IMHO, but I stand by it.

I don't think any other driver could have made the fight of 2018 that he managed with a hand tied behind his back. 2019 was pretty crap for him but he still performed way better than the car should have.

If I had to rank a current Top 5 (in talent only)...
1 - Sutton
2 - Turkington
3 - Cook
4 - Jordan
5 - Plato

I do hope that the Infiniti is well screwed together and Ash can show them all a clean pair of heels in 2020.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by DaviePHD

If I had to rank a current Top 5 (in talent only)...
1 - Sutton
2 - Turkington
3 - Cook
4 - Jordan
5 - Plato

I think this list demonstrates how varied opinions can be of the talent on the BTCC grid.
A case could be made for Cammish, Ingram, Jackson, Goff, Hill and Neal to appear on that list ahead of others. In some peoples eyes, they possibly are.

It bodes well for the 2020 season that we such a long list of recognised, high-quality, talented drivers to discuss.

[mj088]

Is there anything in this excelr8 are bringing a driver out of retirement idea or is it just a "guess which ex motorbase driver I'm thinking of" game?

[DaviePHD]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I think this list demonstrates how varied opinions can be of the talent on the BTCC grid.
A case could be made for Cammish, Ingram, Jackson, Goff, Hill and Neal to appear on that list ahead of others. In some peoples eyes, they possibly are.

It bodes well for the 2020 season that we such a long list of recognised, high-quality, talented drivers to discuss.

There is definitely a great depth of talent on the grid, no facepalm signings (like the Dynamics/Neate signing). It's no wonder the racing is so bloody good.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by mj088

Is there anything in this excelr8 are bringing a driver out of retirement idea or is it just a "guess which ex motorbase driver I'm thinking of" game?

The post read:

Originally Posted by sceptic

I'd like to reverse my position on Rob Smith and say he's definitely not going to be at ExcelR8.

I'm also going to predict a return to the BTCC for someone we all thought had retired.

The driver who we thought had retired may not be at Excelr8.

[JDMROB]

Originally Posted by DaviePHD

If I had to rank a current Top 5 (in talent only)...
1 - Sutton
2 - Turkington
3 - Cook
4 - Jordan
5 - Plato

Absolutely 100% agree.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

The post read:



The driver who we thought had retired may not be at Excelr8.

Absolutely.

ExcelR8 will be a 20-something driver with more BTCC experience than Smith.

The person who we all thought had retired is at a different team. And not necessarily as a driver.

[mj088]

Well that can only be Luke Davenport then.
Mid 20s, been working with Speedworks on and off since the accident at Croft when he was driving the motorbase car, and could easily have been thought of as retired even if its not been officially said.
Tho he doesn't have more btcc race experience

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by sceptic

Absolutely.

ExcelR8 will be a 20-something driver with more BTCC experience than Smith.

The person who we all thought had retired is at a different team. And not necessarily as a driver.

Indeed, it will make sense with other comments in relation to the later once announced.

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by mj088

Well that can only be Luke Davenport then.
Mid 20s, been working with Speedworks on and off since the accident at Croft when he was driving the motorbase car, and could easily have been thought of as retired even if its not been officially said.
Tho he doesn't have more btcc race experience

Barking up the wrong tree, there seems to be a cross over of stories somewhere.

[Steel Wheels]

Originally Posted by sceptic

Absolutely.

ExcelR8 will be a 20-something driver with more BTCC experience than Smith.

The person who we all thought had retired is at a different team. And not necessarily as a driver.

So Smiley at Excelr8? A retired driver either coaching or running a team (hmmm Simpson was looking for a buyer, but that might be 2+2=5) I’d guess. Can think of one that could easily fit that bill.

Intrigued as to the former Motorbase driver link, is this linked to the last Motorbase seat or the Simpson entry or something completely different?

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by sceptic

The person who we all thought had retired is at a different team. And not necessarily as a driver.

Has Ian Harrison returned from his boating trip again?

[Jiiiiiiim]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

Has Ian Harrison returned from his boating trip again?

He was back in the paddock last year with BMR on weekends he wasn’t floating around offshore

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Jiiiiiiim

He was back in the paddock last year with BMR on weekends he wasn’t floating around offshore

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/bmr...083233889.html - so I wouldn't have thought he was in the 'retired' category.

[crmalcolm]

I know it's repeating a previous point - but Autocar carried out a '50 year celebration of the RS' yesterday, marking the anniversary of the 1970 Escort RS1600.

They are still saying this about the Mk4:

'Ford is planning an even faster, more powerful and more efficient Focus RS for 2020 or 2021 and will use the new mega-hatch to showcase a suite of 48-volt mild-hybrid technologies the company is introducing across its global medium and large-car ranges.'

[Jiiiiiiim]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/bmr...083233889.html - so I wouldn't have thought he was in the 'retired' category.

Absolutely, plus ‘H’ isn’t a driver.

[RS67]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I know it's repeating a previous point - but Autocar carried out a '50 year celebration of the RS' yesterday, marking the anniversary of the 1970 Escort RS1600.

They are still saying this about the Mk4:

'Ford is planning an even faster, more powerful and more efficient Focus RS for 2020 or 2021 and will use the new mega-hatch to showcase a suite of 48-volt mild-hybrid technologies the company is introducing across its global medium and large-car ranges.'

The only 48V mild hybrid development Ford have done that I am aware of is on the 1.0 engine. The Puma SUV being the first available.
The engine is also being evaluated by Neil Brown Engineering to power the F4 cars.

[S griffin]

I like the idea of Smiley at Excelr8, they could use his experience to develop the car.

Certainly I agree that the seats taken on the grid so far haven't been squandered by drivers who shouldn't be there. Let's hope the rest of the grid fills up with more capable drivers

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by RS67

The only 48V mild hybrid development Ford have done that I am aware of is on the 1.0 engine. The Puma SUV being the first available.
The engine is also being evaluated by Neil Brown Engineering to power the F4 cars.

It will be interesting to see if they can develop that technology into a 'performance' model. They are introducing the same 48V/1.0Litre power-train into the 2Tonne transit and Tourneo nine-seater, which suggest there is enough 'grunt' in the power-train for further exploitation.

How far can they push the larger turbos that BISG allows them to use?