[BTCC] BTCC 2023 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by ScottS

Does anyone know if ITV will be streaming the races following the qualifying at Brands on Saturday? I know this has been the norm for the past couple of years or so, but I'm not sure how many championships there are to be decided still.

I haven't seen an official yes or no - the ITV livestream remains a 15.30 start. All championships are undecided except the Porsche Carrera Cup Pro title. The timetable for Saturday afternoon shows a pair of races (Sprint Challenge and MINI JCW) followed by PCCGB qualifying, then BTCC qualifying, and finally an F4 race. I'd hope ITV will show all 3 Sat support races but the timetable doesn't help matters.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by SSmith

I haven't seen an official yes or no - the ITV livestream remains a 15.30 start. All championships are undecided except the Porsche Carrera Cup Pro title. The timetable for Saturday afternoon shows a pair of races (Sprint Challenge and MINI JCW) followed by PCCGB qualifying, then BTCC qualifying, and finally an F4 race. I'd hope ITV will show all 3 Sat support races but the timetable doesn't help matters.

“Every RACE on the full schedule will be broadcast LIVE by ITV Sport this weekend, whether that be via TV, streamed or both.”

Saturday stream starts at 1:45. Sunday morning races will also be streamed.

Sounds good!

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by Evantra

“Every RACE on the full schedule will be broadcast LIVE by ITV Sport this weekend, whether that be via TV, streamed or both.”

Saturday stream starts at 1:45. Sunday morning races will also be streamed.

Sounds good!

Definitely! Looking forward to it

[rdjones]

Tom Ingram with drive the MKH Aston Martin Vantage in the GT4 at the last round of this years British GT Championship at Donington the weekend after Brands.

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/...UyxFXNBNc7qI_k

It will be interesting to see how he get's one

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by Evantra

“Every RACE on the full schedule will be broadcast LIVE by ITV Sport this weekend, whether that be via TV, streamed or both.”

Saturday stream starts at 1:45. Sunday morning races will also be streamed.

Sounds good!

Brilliant. I can watch it on the phone during the brother-in-laws wedding on Saturday before going to Brands on Sunday!
I'm turning up late to get a back row seat during the ceremony so nobody spots covert support race watching!

Hopefully won't cause the same upset as listening to the Belgian Grand Prix radio comms through earphones at a family christening a few years back.....

[Evantra]

Teammate point comparisons:

NAPA
446 - Sutton
253 - Cammish
226 - Rowbottom
65 - Osborne

Excerl8
400 - Ingram
97 - Chilton
69 - Pearson
-5 - Halstead

WSR
372 - Hill
312 - Turkington
199 - Morgan
141 - Jelley

One
268 - Cook
87 - Moffat
0 - Powell*
-5 - Edwards

Speedworks
217 - Collard
173 - Butcher
50 - Gamble

PMR
165 - Taylor-Smith
93 - Watson
62 - Doble

HARD
111 - Lloyd
74 - Thompson*
41 - Patterson
13 - Crees*
10 - Hamilton*
6 - DeLeon*
5 - Huff*
1 - Gornall*
0 - Butel

*missed more than one meeting

[Matt_123]

Ricky Collard finished 8th
He had one podium
THAT is consistency

[BTCC frog]

I beat Jade Edwards and Nick Halstead in the championship!

I think the surprise of the season comes at Speedworks. Didn’t expect Ricky Collard to deservedly beat Rory Butcher in the championship but he did, and George Gamble struggled a lot more than expected. Mikey Doble did a lot better than I thought he would, and I was surprised also that Bobby Thompson generally outperformed Dan Lloyd.

Not a classic season but a truly remarkable one for Ash Sutton, the greatest BTCC driver of the modern era.

[SSmith]

Its interesting that only 3 drivers failed to finish a race in the top-15 this year - Edwards, Butel, Powell.

[Adamcas87]

Originally Posted by SSmith

Its interesting that only 3 drivers failed to finish a race in the top-15 this year - Edwards, Butel, Powell.

Says everything you need to know about these 3 drivers

[BTCC frog]

Here are the qualifying 'supertimes' for the 2023 BTCC season. This takes the fastest qualifying lap for every driver and car, and ranks them against the fastest overall for the weekend as a percentage to estimate the order of the drivers and cars for overall speed.

For the cars, the results are:
1 Ford 100.011
2 BMW 100.289
3 Hyundai 100.410
4 Toyota 100.623
5 Honda 100.631
6 Vauxhall 100.865
7 Cupra 100.953

This supports the general idea that the Ford was the fastest car this season. They did take nine poles out of ten, after all! The BMW was faster than the Hyundai, which is probably what you would expect despite Ingram's brilliant second in the championship, and this difference in pace shows just how well Ingram did this year. Of course, this doesn't take into account the difference in driver ability, so it could just be Sutton making the difference. This is the result for the drivers, with anomalous results highlighted:

1 Ash Sutton 100.074
2 Jake Hill 100.337
3 Tom Ingram 100.410
4 Colin Turkington 100.457
5 Josh Cook 100.631
6 Dan Cammish 100.688 (drops to 100.371 - 3rd - without Knockhill)
7 Rory Butcher 100.770
8 Dan Rowbottom 100.833
9 Ricky Collard 100.911
10 Aron Taylor-Smith 100.977
11 Bobby Thompson 101.109
12 Dan Lloyd 101.111
13 Tom Chilton 101.133
14 Ronan Pearson 101.171
15 Andrew Watson 101.210
16 Adam Morgan 101.213 (drops to 100.832 - 8th - without Brands Hatch)
17 Stephen Jelley 101.262
18 Aiden Moffat 101.275
19 Mikey Doble 101.362
20 Sam Osborne 101.527
21 George Gamble 101.539
22 Dexter Patterson 101.640
23 Michael Crees 101.777
24 James Gornall 101.807
25 Jack Butel 102.085
26 Jade Edwards (Honda) 102.130
27 Rob Huff 102.503
28 Jade Edwards (Cupra) 102.862
29 Nic Hamilton 103.569
30 Daryl DeLeon 103.724 (drops to 101.989 - 25th - without Knockhill)
31 Nick Halstead 103.775
32 Will Powell 104.960

The big gap between Sutton and the rest demonstrates how good he is, although I think the results overall still suggest that the Ford is the best car.

Also, if a driver has the same score as their car (Tom Ingram and Josh Cook), it means they were the fastest in that team at every event this season.

[swooshiain]

Originally Posted by Adamcas87

Says everything you need to know about these 3 drivers

Edwards was in with a very good chance of points in the last race on Sunday until Gamble chose to make that ridiculous lunge up the inside. And if memory serves, I think there had been similar incidents earlier in the season. I would put Halstead and Powell in a class of their own as the worst on the grid this year, with Halstead in particular showing a particular knack for leaving the road.

[Adamcas87]

Originally Posted by swooshiain

Edwards was in with a very good chance of points in the last race on Sunday until Gamble chose to make that ridiculous lunge up the inside. And if memory serves, I think there had been similar incidents earlier in the season. I would put Halstead and Powell in a class of their own as the worst on the grid this year, with Halstead in particular showing a particular knack for leaving the road.

Yeah Halstead spent a lot of time in the gravel
But I don’t buy into the “oh poor Jade and her bad luck”
She’s just as average as a lot of those at the back

[swooshiain]

Originally Posted by Adamcas87

Yeah Halstead spent a lot of time in the gravel
But I don’t buy into the “oh poor Jade and her bad luck”
She’s just as average as a lot of those at the back

Oh, for sure, she's not great - I just think Halstead and Powell are worse.

[billy bleach]

Is Sutton’s / Motorbase Performance the most dominant since Frank Biela in the Audi?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Is Sutton’s / Motorbase Performance the most dominant since Frank Biela in the Audi?

I would suggest that 1997 Alain Menu was more dominant than this season.

I think the perception of dominance is skewed by the number of wins. The title wasn't secured until R28 which suggests the dominance may be over emphasised?
And the Manufacturers' going to the final round also suggest the car was not overly dominant.

[mick bennett]

Add presumed average points for Sutton if he had'nt retired in Three races and he would be miles ahead !!

[thetool]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I think the perception of dominance is skewed by the number of wins. The title wasn't secured until R28 which suggests the dominance may be over emphasised?

The BTCC has always had a points system that favours consistency rather than race wins.

For example, ignoring bonus points,

11111R = 100 points
222222 = 102 points

Even if you won every race, if the same driver kept coming 2nd, you wouldn't win the championship until the eighth meeting of the year.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by thetool

The BTCC has always had a points system that favours consistency rather than race wins.

For example, ignoring bonus points,

11111R = 100 points
222222 = 102 points

Even if you won every race, if the same driver kept coming 2nd, you wouldn't win the championship until the eighth meeting of the year.

Also, the gap between 1st and 2nd points is three points now, and was three points in 1997.
But each place is now worth five points more, so the percentage difference is much smaller.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by sceptic

Also, the gap between 1st and 2nd points is three points now, and was three points in 1997.
But each place is now worth five points more, so the percentage difference is much smaller.

And that is probably why the championship fight nearly always goes right through to the final meeting. Was this year the first time for a few years that it was decided in Race 28 rather than Race 29?

[billy bleach]

Interesting that the pace of the Vauxhall and SEAT has stepped up this year - both powered by MSport…

[billy bleach]

Interesting that the Vauxhall and Seat have upped there pace this year - both powered by MSport…

[auroan]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Interesting that the Vauxhall and Seat have upped there pace this year - both powered by MSport…

Because they had a boost increase during the season

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by auroan

Because they had a boost increase during the season

Is there any kind of resource that has these changes laid out in a easy to reference form?

Like;

2022

- Boost decreased on BMW
- Boost increased on Hyundia

2023

- Boost increased on MSport

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Is there any kind of resource that has these changes laid out in a easy to reference form?

Like;

2022

- Boost decreased on BMW
- Boost increased on Hyundia

2023

- Boost increased on MSport

They will all be detailed in TOCA Technical Bulletins - but not all of those are in the public domain.