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

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by Steel Wheels

Nah he’ll be on the phone to Dick Bennett’s.

I'm sure Dick would love to have him on board after his last RWD efforts went so well 👍

[medius]

Originally Posted by Pickles

I'm sure Dick would love to have him on board after his last RWD efforts went so well 👍

A variety of reasons for that, very few can attributed to the bloke. Thes still fast, hes still a current race winner, moreso than one WSR driver signed up for 2020.

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by medius

A variety of reasons for that, very few can attributed to the bloke. Thes still fast, hes still a current race winner, moreso than one WSR driver signed up for 2020.

Agreed, my comment was more in jest... Big loss if he's not on the grid this season, I have a feeling he could still be though

[RS67]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

That's assuming the limit on driver changes is being enforced this season.
We've already had confirmation that other TBL requirements are not being enforced, so why would that element?

A limit is being enforced. A Gow made the announcement on the back of AJ dropping out. AG said he would allow two changes per car instead of the standard one change.

[Crazyknight]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I read it that Plato has been released from his obligations to PMR and it's backers/sponsors for the 2020 season, and as such he is free to seek an alternative seat elsewhere if he so chooses.

I could be wrong in my interpretation, though.

I had the same thought when reading that


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RS67]

0.7 seconds between 1st and 2nd in the morning session. Not bad seeing as they are concentrating on just various set ups to learn more about the car instead of just going for fastest lap.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by RS67

0.7 seconds between 1st and 2nd in the morning session. Not bad seeing as they are concentrating on just various set ups to learn more about the car instead of just going for fastest lap.

Genuine question - because I tend to place little value in a testing session time - why is that a 'not bad' thing?

[RS67]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Genuine question - because I tend to place little value in a testing session time - why is that a 'not bad' thing?

Because they are finding set ups that are working for them. As it is a tyre test, we don't really know how the tyres will be comparing against the Dunlop tyres, but as there is no soft tyres this year, it is looking promising for the new car.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by RS67

As it is a tyre test, we don't really know how the tyres will be comparing against the Dunlop tyres,

I'd imagine they'll behave exactly the same as the Dunlops. Because they're the Dunlops with different writing on.

[RS67]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

I'd imagine they'll behave exactly the same as the Dunlops. Because they're the Dunlops with different writing on.

Isn't the idea of a tyre test to test new compounds? Otherwise it's just an official test session. So they aren't likely to be the same as the Dunlop but with different writing on the sidewalks.

[HarryBrown]

Originally Posted by RS67

Because they are finding set ups that are working for them. As it is a tyre test, we don't really know how the tyres will be comparing against the Dunlop tyres, but as there is no soft tyres this year, it is looking promising for the new car.

I've heard the tyres are exactly the same, in some photos you can see that they have Dunlop markings on but the Goodyear branding

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

[RS67]

Originally Posted by HarryBrown

I've heard the tyres are exactly the same, in some photos you can see that they have Dunlop markings on but the Goodyear branding

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

So it's not a tyre test then.

[AnnoyedMoose]

Just spent my lunch hour looking at the official BTCC facebook page. The comments on there about the hybrid make me want to lose the will to live. Why go to the trouble of joining a page about a sport that you're supposedly a fan of and then know absolutely nothing about a subject that they've posted on several times?

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by Racing Harz

No PMR!
https://powermaxedracing.com/blogs/n...-btcc-campaign

Shame but when the majority of sponsorship in BTCC is driven by hospitality it’s sadly no great surprise.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by RS67

So it's not a tyre test then.

It's never been a fully fledged tyre test where teams get to try a range of compounds. Occasionally Dunyear will get some teams to run laps in a proposed new compound for next year but that's about it.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by RS67

Because they are finding set ups that are working for them. As it is a tyre test, we don't really know how the tyres will be comparing against the Dunlop tyres, but as there is no soft tyres this year, it is looking promising for the new car.

OK - so I'm not sure if you think Butcher's time is seen as a good thing because it is an outlier compared to the rest of the the cars, despite them running different settings / tyres?

How does that conclusion stack up against the times between O.Jackson and Neate being closer than the times between O.Jackson and Butcher? Or that the times set by Oliphant and Turkington are 11 and 15 seconds off the pace?

Cammish was 5th, 1.1 secs back, Neal was 18th 2.2 secs back. The cars at the front of the grid are not close to the rest of the field in terms of time, in fact there is a much greater spread amongst the front 6 cars than there is amongst the next 14, so I would suggest taking any inference of Butcher's time as being indicative of true performance as a fallacy.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by RS67

So it's not a tyre test then.

SNETTERTON TYRE TEST SIGNALS BTCC RESTART

'The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will hit the track for a two-day Goodyear tyre test at Snetterton next week (7/8 July)'

'Goodyear is the sole nominated tyre supplier for the Championship. Only tyres supplied by Goodyear to the approved compounds may be used at any test session or shakedown.'

[HarryBrown]

https://www.autosport.com/btcc/news/...tyres-for-2020

"The new Goodyear BTCC tyre will retain the same construction as the Sport Maxx during a short-term "transition period", prior to the introduction of hybrid drive.

From the 2021 season onwards, it will develop its own specialised compound."



Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by Pickles

I'm sure Dick would love to have him on board after his last RWD efforts went so well ��

better choice would be Mat Jackson or say Rob Austin

[GT6]

Some of the comments on hear make me wonder about why people follow motor racing, cheering if someone they do not like loses a seat and the field needs up short of 2 cars, would they prefer only drivers they like were allowed to race and then only if they continue to be their favourite. Any sport needs different people racing and everyone will have people they follow but if you only allow people you like then the racing will be poorer and it will eventually die as sponsors and fans look else where.

What ever sport you are in for good competition and to survive it needs people you love and people you maybe are less fond of make it interesting. Plato might not be everyones favourite but without him BTCC will have lost something and i suspect the same people who post comments about him will now pick on someone else. I will miss him and hopes he secures another drive.

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by GT6

Plato might not be everyones favourite but without him BTCC will have lost something and i suspect the same people who post comments about him will now pick on someone else. I will miss him and hopes he secures another drive.

can we finish up this moral high ground nonsense already ?

when Giovanardi lost his drive in 2010 afte leading the championship I can't recall so much indignation about that

or when Turks lost his WSR drive after winning the title on 2 occassions

[RS67]

Originally Posted by AnnoyedMoose

Just spent my lunch hour looking at the official BTCC facebook page. The comments on there about the hybrid make me want to lose the will to live. Why go to the trouble of joining a page about a sport that you're supposedly a fan of and then know absolutely nothing about a subject that they've posted on several times?

I especially like all the comments about the hybrid and that people will lose interest in the sport as they will never sound the same again.

[RS67]

Originally Posted by GT6

Plato might not be everyones favourite but without him BTCC will have lost something and i suspect the same people who post comments about him will now pick on someone else.

The championship wasn't any poorer when he went missing before.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

when Giovanardi lost his drive in 2010 afte leading the championship I can't recall so much indignation about that

or when Turks lost his WSR drive after winning the title on 2 occassions

There were many posts at the time along the theme of:

'It will be a real pity if the championship's missing its title holder through lack of funds. It'll be even worse if Gio and Plato won't be there either.'

Although maybe the reasons you can't recall as much indignation are:

• Both drivers were replaced, meaning the grid was still populated with a driver who was competing?
• No-one was posting that they were glad that a driver and their entire team were not going to be taking part?
• The 2010 rumour thread was closed before you were a member of the forum?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by RS67

The championship wasn't any poorer when he went missing before.

Part of that depends on if a departing driver is replaced, or the grid is reduced in size.

In this case, one example of why the championship will be poorer is that there are two fewer cars/drivers competing for titles.