BTCC Brands Hatch: Rounds 1-3

[christophulus]

Great racing all weekend on the whole. Impressed with Tordoff and Jeff Smith especially. Still looks like Honda vs MG for the championship, at least this year Plato seems to have a decent team mate.

[BDunnell]

Yes, a refreshing lack of unnecessary contact, yet lots of passing and close action. I'm gutted for Rob Austin, though. The damage after that shunt — no-one's fault, I thought — will indeed be expensive to repair. As you say, Tordoff has been extremely impressive, and Jeff Smith seems to have turned into a true front-runner. So does Adam Morgan — the switch to his own family team has thus far worked wonders. By contrast, what is it with Speedworks' cars being such magnets for damage?

The disappointments of the day are clearly the BMWs and the Motorbase NGTC Fords. Early days yet, I know, but what a contrast with their performances and those of Plato in the similarly new MG at the opening meeting last year. At least the BMWs of Turkington and, eventually, Foster ran reliably, even if they lacked some pace. The Fords seemed to have neither.

Interesting to see three different winners in the Jack Sears Trophy, too. Wood, Kaye and Griffin seem quite evenly-matched. David Nye also did well to lead the class for some time in race three.

And a black mark for ITV4 missing the restart in race three during an ad break.

[Iain]

Shame the same couldn't be said of Wrathall. As far as I could see, he was definitely to blame for the incidents with Turkington and Austin

You could argue that had Wrathall not taken out Austin in the first place, then poor Rob wouldn't be ending the day with a heavily damaged car, as he would never have been in the position to get caught up in that crash with Newsham.

Not bad for a first raceday, driving standards slightly better apart from the aforementioned Wrathall. Looking forward to seeing them on a proper circuit next time though, I don't rate Brands Hatch for overtaking and providing good racing.

[BDunnell]

You could argue that had Wrathall not taken out Austin in the first place, then poor Rob wouldn't be ending the day with a heavily damaged car, as he would never have been in the position to get caught up in that crash with Newsham.

Well, you could, but he might still have been.

Wrathall's performances I found very odd. Two incisive, clean drives through the field sandwiching a drive in which he seemed to lose all awareness.

[JasonPotato]

Missed race 3, any chance of a small report of what happened?

And a black mark for ITV4 missing the restart in race three during an ad break.

Doesn't surprise me, the only thing i think they need to improve on is the coverage. Still missing some of the action but apart from that they have improved from last year.

[BDunnell]

Missed race 3, any chance of a small report of what happened?

BTCC :: Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship

[christophulus]

Yes, a refreshing lack of unnecessary contact, yet lots of passing and close action. I'm gutted for Rob Austin, though. The damage after that shunt — no-one's fault, I thought — will indeed be expensive to repair.

I think Austin summed it up pretty well after the race, he gambled on Newsham stamping on the brakes when in fact he floored it to bring the front round. The result was a pretty nasty accident. It was nice to see them shake hands after rather than whining about it.

And a black mark for ITV4 missing the restart in race three during an ad break.

Yeah, back to old form. It's frustrating, ITV clearly have full control over the cameras on track, unlike say the F1 coverage, so it could be so much better all round. For example, the commentators will mention a battle on the timing screens and the director can cut straight to those cars on screen rather than just following the leaders all the time.

[BDunnell]

I think Austin summed it up pretty well after the race, he gambled on Newsham stamping on the brakes when in fact he floored it to bring the front round. The result was a pretty nasty accident. It was nice to see them shake hands after rather than whining about it.

Indeed. Austin, I think, has a good attitude about this sort of thing, as shown by the way he didn't fly off the handle with Wrathall; instead, he said how he'd done the same to Dan Welch at Silverstone last year and ruined Welch's race just as Wrathall ruined his. Can't have been nice for Newsham — who was blameless — to see the result of the collision, either.

It's frustrating, ITV clearly have full control over the cameras on track, unlike say the F1 coverage, so it could be so much better all round. For example, the commentators will mention a battle on the timing screens and the director can cut straight to those cars on screen rather than just following the leaders all the time.

Especially now that the lead commentator is someone highly observant of such things.

[BDunnell]

Incidentally, Lea Wood was excluded from race three for failing the ride height check, so Griffin inherits the class victory.

[Alfa Fan]

What's happened to Motorbase who were absolutely nowhere on a circuit they usually excel?