BTCC: Thruxton, rounds 7, 8 & 9

[MrMetro]

Well moving on from Donington, we move to the fastest circuit on the calendar;Thruxton.

New boost limit for turbos (http://www.btcc.net/html/generalnews_detail.php?id=2373)

Lets hope we have some good racing that dosen't involve mindless carnage ;)

[JasonPotato]

I am going to thruxton and as its my first time could anyone recommend the best spot for me to go? I was thinking the last chicane would probably be the best for action.

[Allyc85]

It is a great spot, but you have to get there fairly early as it gets very busy!

Im not sure if im going yet as il be out the night before and might not be feeling so well lol.

[Torg22]

Theres not that much of a spectator area at Thruxton, you can only walk around about a third of it. Like said the chicane is good but i also like Campbell Cob and Segrave and probably easier to find a spot to plonk your bum.

[AndySpeed]

It's just a small airfield so don't expect much in the way of viewing. The spectator banks are biggest at the complex however.

Binoculars might be a good idea too.

[Allyc85]

Have they finished the new spectator area leading up to the chicane that they were building last year?

[Wasted Talent]

Well moving on from Donington, we move to the fastest circuit on the calendar;Thruxton.

New boost limit for turbos (http://www.btcc.net/html/generalnews_detail.php?id=2373)

Lets hope we have some good racing that dosen't involve mindless carnage ;)

They needed to do something but I'm not sure this is 100% fair - it says that the turbo cars will have their individual boost limit reduced by 0.1bar compared to that recorded in the Donington meeting but that builds in any variation - ie if one car was running at 1.8 bar it gets a new limit of 1.7, but if for whatever reason you were only running 1.65bar, say, then your limit is now 1.55bar even if you have developed the engine and now feel okay running at 1.7bar.........

WT

[F1boat]

I hope that the race will be more even with the new limit and we'll see a duel between Neal and Plato. And of course, I hope for a lot of action and overtaking, although, to be fair, I am not sure that such track as Thruxton can provide the thrills of Brands Hatch and Donington Park.

[Allyc85]

Tony Hughes wont be at Thruxton.

http://www.crash.net/btcc/news/168649/1/wrathall_to_go_solo_at_thruxton_hughes_to_skip_it. html

[Allyc85]

Nor Nick Hamilton, he binned his car big style today.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90996

[MrJan]

Nor Nick Hamilton, he binned his car big style today.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90996

He's just tweeter that he's okay and will be out on track tomorrow

[Allyc85]

Glad to hear it, was looking forward to seeing him race :)

[Allyc85]

Fp1 Times.

Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Tom Chilton Arena Ford 1m18.551s
2. Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT 1m18.764s + 0.213s
3. Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 1m19.047s + 0.496s
4. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Vauxhall 1m19.206s + 0.655s
5. Gordon Shedden Honda 1m19.342s + 0.791s
6. Matt Neal Honda 1m19.443s + 0.892s
7. Tom Onslow-Cole AmD Volkswagen 1m19.450s + 0.899s
8. Jason Plato Chevrolet 1m19.497s + 0.946s
9. Rob Collard WSR BMW 1m19.956s + 1.405s
10. Alex MacDowall Chevrolet 1m20.062s + 1.511s
11. James Nash Triple 8 Vauxhall 1m20.092s + 1.541s
12. Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford 1m20.519s + 1.968s
13. Jeff Smith Eurotech Vauxhall 1m20.615s + 2.064s
14. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota 1m20.680s + 2.129s
15. Paul O'Neill Tech-Speed Chevrolet 1m20.786s + 2.235s
16. Tony Gilham Triple 8 Vauxhall 1m21.097s + 2.546s
17. Andy Neate Arena Ford 1m21.156s + 2.605s
18. Nick Foster WSR BMW 1m22.019s + 3.468s
19. John George Tech-Speed Chevrolet 1m22.595s + 4.044s
20. Chris James ES Chevrolet 1m25.795s + 7.244s
21. Rob Austin Rob Austin Audi
http://cdn.images.autosport.com/space.gifTop N/a car is Plato in 8th place and 3mph down in the speed traps.

Great time by Wrathall in the Toyota to be 14th.

[VkmSpouge]

Frank Wrathall putting in a good time to get to 14th. Chris James is very, very slow further off the pace than he has been previously. Pretty poor time by Paul O'Neill too. Tom Boardman making that SEAT fly.

[Alfa Fan]

Based on the current order of FP2, it looks like the NGTC/S2000 balance is much better!

[Alfa Fan]

And I'm starting to think this field is a bit stronger than I initially did. Jeff Smith is turning into a pretty decent touring car driver, and Jordan, Boardman & Nash have really stepped it up this year (helped perhaps by NGTC engines).

[VkmSpouge]

Second practice over with Matt Neal on top. Tom Chilton still up there in second place. Jeff Smith looking pretty damn good in 3rd and Jason Plato in fourth place. Good performance by Andy Neate up in 8th place, hope he can replicate that in qualifying. Tom Onslow-Cole for the second session in a row inside the top 10.
Paul O'Neill again looking pretty slow. Wrathall only did six laps and all before the red flag in the session, are the two linked? Chris James upped his pace and good see Rob Austin putting some laps on the Audi.

[BDunnell]

And I'm starting to think this field is a bit stronger than I initially did. Jeff Smith is turning into a pretty decent touring car driver, and Jordan, Boardman & Nash have really stepped it up this year (helped perhaps by NGTC engines).

When I re-watched the Donington rounds, I was struck how well Jeff Smith drove in race three. He raced extremely hard and, by the looks of it, entirely cleanly. Bit of a far cry from his one-off performance last year. Good luck to him. Nash and Jordan are clearly both turning into the real deal. As for Boardman, I'll wait and see. He's shown little in the races so far.

[Allyc85]

Anyone else not got any sound from the qualifying?

[VkmSpouge]

No sound at all from ITV.com in qualifying, a bit useless.

Qualifying

1 Gordon Shedden
2 Andrew Jordan
3 Matt Neal
4 Tom Chilton
5 Jason Plato
6 Tom Onslow-Cole
7 Jeff Smith
8 Mat Jackson
9 Tom Boardman
10 James Nash
11 Alex MacDowall
12 Tony Gilham
13 Paul O'Neill
14 Rob Collard
15 Andy Neate
16 Liam Griffin
17 Nick Foster
18 John George
19 Frank Wrathall Jr.
20 Rob Austin
21 Chris James

Great lap by Gordon Shedden to take pole position. Andrew Jordan again right at the front. Impressive performance by Tom Onslow-Cole in the Golf and Jeff Smith in his Vauxhall.
Shame Frank Wrathall could not replicate his time from the first practice session, it would have seen him comfortably ahead of Nick Foster and John George.
I can't help wonder if the BTCC should introduce an F1 style 107% qualifying rule, Chris James is at over 108% of the pole time.

[Allyc85]

Summed it up there pretty well tbh!

Any news on why TOC stopped out on track? I was thinking that he should have pulled into the pits after his grassy moment at Church to get the radiator and intercooler cleared!

Chris James time is bloody slow. He did seem to have faster cars passing around him during the session, but even still 6.3 seconds is alot!

[MattL]

Summed it up there pretty well tbh!

Any news on why TOC stopped out on track? I was thinking that he should have pulled into the pits after his grassy moment at Church to get the radiator and intercooler cleared!


He stopped because his car was full of grass - well spotted!

[VkmSpouge]

Race 1 Result:
1 Gordon Shedden
2 Matt Neal
3 Andrew Jordan
4 Tom Chilton
5 Tom Boardman
6 Mat Jackson
7 Tom Onslow-Cole
8 James Nash
9 Jeff Smith
10 Alex MacDowall
11 Tony Gilham
12 Rob Collard
13 Paul O'Neill
14 Liam Griffin
15 Nick Foster
16 Andy Neate
17 John George
18 Chris James
DNF Jason Plato
DNF Frank Wrathall Jr.
DNF Rob Austin

Hondas just walked this race and they have the cheek to grumble about having their engines pegged back. Great result for them :) Finally a good result for Tom Boardman in 5th place. Another fine result for Tom Onslow-Cole in 7th. Jason Plato just pushing his tyres too hard and that cost him dearly, it will be interesting to see his charge through the field in race two. Both NGTC cars retire early, oh dear.

[BDunnell]

Hondas just walked this race and they have the cheek to grumble about having their engines pegged back. Great result for them :) Finally a good result for Tom Boardman in 5th place. Another fine result for Tom Onslow-Cole in 7th. Jason Plato just pushing his tyres too hard and that cost him dearly, it will be interesting to see his charge through the field in race two. Both NGTC cars retire early, oh dear.

After the carnage at Donington, it was actually a relief to have a very boring race. Clearly, the Hondas will absolutely dominate if nothing happens to them. Wrathall's Avensis again looked quick at the start, which is something, at least.

[VkmSpouge]

Yes, it was good to see the couple of overtaking moves, Plato and Boardman on Jackson, and Neal on Jordan were done without contact. Plato going around the outside of Jackson at the chicane was very good.

[BDunnell]

There was a tiny bit of contact in both, I thought. Nothing untoward though.

[jeffmr2]

What time is the next round (round 8?)? i cant find a timetable of events. Its my main complaint of itv4 they dont really advertise the race times very well,im only interested in the touring cars not the ginettas,renaults etc.Thanks

[VkmSpouge]

The timetable is here http://www.btcc.net/pdf/ci_12.pdf

Race 2 Result:
1 Matt Neal
2 Andrew Jordan
3 Gordon Shedden
4 Tom Chilton
5 Mat Jackson
6 James Nash
7 Alex MacDowall
8 Jason Plato
9 Tom Boardman
10 Tony Gilham
11 Paul O'Neill
12 Jeff Smith
13 Andy Neate
14 Rob Collard
15 John George
16 Nick Foster
17 Liam Griffin
DNF Chris James
DNS Tom Onslow-Cole
DNS Frank Wrathall Jr.
DNS Rob Austin

Pretty dull race. Shedden let Neal through and Jordan managed to get the heavy Honda for second. The only other overtaking was done by Jason Plato but ITV weren't interested in that. Shame Tom Onslow-Cole suffered a broken exhaust manifold, would have been good to see him have two good races in a row.
It really doesn't get any better for the NGTC teams does it? What was the problem with them this time?

Tom Boardman on pole for race three.

[VkmSpouge]

Andrew Jordan has been demoted to third place after gaining an unfair advantage when he passed Gordon Shedden by cutting the chicane. http://www.btcc.net/html/generalnews_detail.php?id=2396
Another Honda 1-2.

[Alfa Fan]

Boardman's a crap racing driver. He can be very quick, but he's not a good racing driver. I'll eat my proverbial hat if he ever wins a race.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I'd be surprised if Boardman isn't demoted for his safety car restart. I'd be gutted for him as he is my most local driver. I've a lot of friends who raced against him in Stock Cars,

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I'd like to add that todays racing was far cleaner than what we saw last time out. Good job by all of the guys! :up:

[VkmSpouge]

Race 3 Result:
1 Jason Plato
2 Mat Jackson
3 Tom Boardman
4 James Nash
5 Matt Neal
6 Gordon Shedden
7 Andrew Jordan
8 Alex MacDowall
9 Tony Gilham
10 Tom Onslow-Cole
11 Jeff Smith
12 Andy Neate
13 Rob Collard
14 Paul O'Neill
15 Liam Griffin
16 John George
17 Nick Foster
18 Chris James
DNF Tom Chilton
DNF Frank Wrathall Jr.
DNS Rob Austin

Convincing win for Jason Plato and well done to Tom Boardman for his first BTCC podium (outside of the Production Class). Tom Chilton didn't get a single puncture all day defying my expectation unfortunately he needlessly binned the Focus at Allard. Nice recovery drive by Tom Onslow-Cole to get into the top ten. Not sure what Tom Boardman was playing at the restart, he gave himself no chance of passing Mat Jackson by being that far behind and there might be a case for those finishing behind to complain to the race stewards for failing to stay close enough to Jackson.
I will point out one bright spot for Frank Wrathall today. In the two laps he completed in race three, he set a lap time that was only 0.9s slower than the fastest race lap of the day. That time would have seen him 16th in qualifying and of course that was set with full race fuel on board. So the Toyota is getting towards the rear of the midfield, if only it can do a race distance.

[Sarah]

Much better driving today.

[Allyc85]

They wernt the most exciting BTCC races I have ever seen but I still had a brilliant day at Thruxton http://www.pistonheads.com/inc/images/biggrin.gif

I ended up watching the first Ginetta G50 and BTCC race from turn 1 before moving onto the complex which saw some decent racing, and pretty good driving standards for a change! Even the Formula Renault race with only a few cars was good with some brave passes on the brakes and the Porsches had their moments too!

Do the 911's in this country run a different exhaust system to that at F1 events as I thought they cars were now identical and the cars I saw at Spa last year were so much louder and better sounding!

[BDunnell]

I'd like to add that todays racing was far cleaner than what we saw last time out. Good job by all of the guys! :up:

Maybe there is nothing between utter carnage, as seen at Donington, and three races of which two were amongst the dullest I've seen in a long time, as at Thruxton?

[BDunnell]

Not sure what Tom Boardman was playing at the restart, he gave himself no chance of passing Mat Jackson by being that far behind and there might be a case for those finishing behind to complain to the race stewards for failing to stay close enough to Jackson.

I must say I'm always surprised at the large gaps maintained on restarts by a lot of drivers, not just Boardman today. Not something you ever see a driver like Plato or Neal do.



I will point out one bright spot for Frank Wrathall today. In the two laps he completed in race three, he set a lap time that was only 0.9s slower than the fastest race lap of the day. That time would have seen him 16th in qualifying and of course that was set with full race fuel on board. So the Toyota is getting towards the rear of the midfield, if only it can do a race distance.

I'm not surprised at all that Wrathall is by far the best of the NGTC runners, given that he's a classy driver and has a good team behind him. But the lack of reliability amongst these cars is still concerning. Contrast this with AmD Milltek and the Golf last season — yes, it was slow, but it could get through a race.

[VkmSpouge]

They have a five week break now, hopefully Dynojet, Speedworks and RAR can get their reliability issues sorted and a lot more testing done. It will be interesting to see how the Welch Proton Gen-2 goes when it comes out considering it will be the first non-GPR NGTC car.

[F1boat]

I have to admit that I absolutely loved the races... for me they were pretty exciting, especially races 2 and 3. The results are also interesting and this is quickly becoming my favorite racing series!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Maybe there is nothing between utter carnage, as seen at Donington, and three races of which two were amongst the dullest I've seen in a long time, as at Thruxton?

Thruxton usually produces dull racing, but it was refreshing to see racing that was clean and fair after the Donington shambles.

[AndySpeed]

Chris James is particularly slow isn't he...

[Captain VXR]

They wernt the most exciting BTCC races I have ever seen but I still had a brilliant day at Thruxton http://www.pistonheads.com/inc/images/biggrin.gif

I ended up watching the first Ginetta G50 and BTCC race from turn 1 before moving onto the complex which saw some decent racing, and pretty good driving standards for a change! Even the Formula Renault race with only a few cars was good with some brave passes on the brakes and the Porsches had their moments too!

Do the 911's in this country run a different exhaust system to that at F1 events as I thought they cars were now identical and the cars I saw at Spa last year were so much louder and better sounding!

I think the Porsches are new this year, which may explain why they sound different

[Allyc85]

Yea I thought they were basically what was run at the F1 last year. note to organisers, make the cars some where near as loud as the tourers please they are too quiet!


Chris James is particularly slow isn't he...

Yea just a bit, and the car he is in is hardly bad either! Did anyone see how he broke his splitter in race 1, im guessing he ran wide at the chicane and mullered the kerbs!?

On a positive note though I got to say how well I thought Rob Collard drove the BMW at the weekend, it really didnt look like he could get any extra speed out of it from what I saw :)

[BDunnell]

On a positive note though I got to say how well I thought Rob Collard drove the BMW at the weekend, it really didnt look like he could get any extra speed out of it from what I saw :)

He is absolutely driving the wheels off it for very little reward, and indeed deserves credit for that.

[Torg22]

He is absolutely driving the wheels off it for very little reward, and indeed deserves credit for that.

Ive got quite a bit of respect for him this year so far, i was laughing at Donny watching him drift through the corners and chucking up the dust everywhere. He really is driving that beemer at a 100%.