BTCC Brands Hatch: Rounds 1-3

[BDunnell]

Thought it a good idea to start a thread for the opening BTCC meeting of the year.

Not the best start to qualifying, with Turkington, Goff and Griffin involved in a coming-together after just minutes. Track temperatures are clearly going to be a big problem both today and tomorrow.

[christophulus]

Temperatures peaking at about 3C tomorrow so could be quite an experience.

[BDunnell]

Final qualifying results:

1 77 I Andrew Jordan Honda Civic 48.387 15 +0.000 89.87
2 01 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 48.483 16 +0.096 89.69
3 99 Jason Plato MG6 48.571 15 +0.184 89.53
4 02 Matt Neal Honda Civic 48.614 17 +0.227 89.45
5 88 Sam Tordoff MG6 48.726 15 +0.339 89.24
6 17 I Dave Newsham Toyota Avensis 48.827 15 +0.440 89.06
7 13 I Rob Austin Audi A4 48.844 15 +0.457 89.03
8 55 I Jeff Smith Honda Civic 48.914 15 +0.527 88.90
9 18 I Nick Foster BMW 125i M Sport 49.201 16 +0.814 88.38
10 33 I Adam Morgan Toyota Avensis 49.203 17 +0.816 88.38
11 48 I Ollie Jackson Toyota Avensis 49.239 14 +0.852 88.31
12 07 I Mat Jackson Ford Focus 49.248 15 +0.861 88.30
13 05 I Robert Collard BMW 125i M Sport 49.319 17 +0.932 88.17
14 08 I Aron Smith Ford Focus 49.553 15 +1.166 87.75
15 14 I Will Bratt Audi A4 49.737 17 +1.350 87.43
16 43 I Lea Wood Vauxhall Vectra 50.011 15 +1.624 86.95
17 06 I Tom Onslow-Cole VW Passat CC 50.231 19 +1.844 86.57
18 15 I James Kaye VW Golf MK5 51.198 13 +2.811 84.93
19 66 I Liam Griffin Ford Focus 51.330 14 +2.943 84.71
20 90 I Joe Girling Chevrolet Cruze 51.415 15 +3.028 84.57
21 39 I Warren Scott SEAT Leon 51.439 17 +3.052 84.53
22 20 I James Cole Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 51.453 13 +3.066 84.51
23 12 I David Nye Ford Focus 51.616 23 +3.229 84.24
24 10 I Daniel Welch Proton Gen-2 55.179 13 +6.792 78.80
25 29 I Colin Turkington BMW 125i M Sport 1
26 31 I Jack Goff Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 0
27 11 I Frank Wrathall Toyota Avensis 22

The top four aren't much of a surprise; Tordoff is off to an excellent start with MG, and it was good work from Nick Foster to out-qualify Collard (for the first time?) and get his best ever BTCC qualifying position. The Motorbase NGTC Fords have struggled badly all day. By contrast, I'm impressed with Onslow-Cole's efforts in the VW. Having not turned a wheel before arriving at the circuit, setting a meaningful time is an achievement.

[christophulus]

Think Jordan might get a slap on the wrist for that move. Good race but what happened to the Hondas? Bit noisy in our house so missed the commentary.

[JasonPotato]

It was a good race with some decent action. If it carries on like this it'll be a great season.
So glad Toby has had the chop, his replacement is far better! The commentary is actually worth listening to now.

[BDunnell]

Yes, I was really impressed with the quality of the racing — good and clean — until Jordan's last-corner attack on Plato, which was never on. At least they managed still to cross the line first and second. A good run from Rob Austin until his soft tyres went away. The other stand-outs for me were Wrathall, coming from the back to fifth, and Turkington likewise to eighth. Otherwise, not a good race for the BMWs, nor the Motorbase Fords. Plus, who would have thought Team HARD would get both Goff's Insignia and Onslow-Cole's Passat into the points? That's some achievement after so little running.

christopholus, the Hondas both hit trouble at the same time. At the first corner, Shedden got into a massive slide but recovered, while Neal picked up some bodywork damage on the right rear (didn't see how) which led to the tyre being fouled and a lot of smoke. Neal was clearly struggling, and when Tordoff passed him going into Clearways there was a bit of contact. Neal then shut the door on Shedden as they entered the straight, forcing Shedden onto the grass next to the pit wall, where his car picked up a lot of grass in the air intake. The next lap, both were in the pits.

I agree with the remark about the commentary. David Addison is excellent — sensible, articulate, accurate, and with a good rapport with Tim Harvey. ITV should have gone for him last year, without a doubt.

[christophulus]

Thanks for the recap. Commentary was excellent (the bits I heard over kids/dogs running about), a very good appointment. Austin was on soft tyres wasn't he? Bit worrying if they won't last a cold race distance. Suppose they were OK for Turkington though, he made it to 8th.

[BDunnell]

Austin was on soft tyres wasn't he? Bit worrying if they won't last a cold race distance. Suppose they were OK for Turkington though, he made it to 8th.

And for Morgan ahead of him in seventh, although it was difficult to gauge how their tyres were standing up as we didn't really see a lot of them. Good for Morgan to get a solid, untroubled result — maybe this is the start of a calmer season for him, during which he can translate his obvious pace into results.

[BDunnell]

Full result of Round 1:

1 99 Jason Plato MG6 27 +0.000 49.023
2 77 I Andrew Jordan Honda Civic 27 +2.168 48.998
3 13 I Rob Austin Audi A4 27 +6.130 48.968
4 88 Sam Tordoff MG6 27 +7.781 49.393
5 55 I Jeff Smith Honda Civic 27 +8.245 49.338
6 11 I Frank Wrathall Toyota Avensis 27 +13.622 49.694
7 33 I Adam Morgan Toyota Avensis 27 +16.948 49.592
8 29 I Colin Turkington BMW 125i M Sport 27 +18.923 49.252
9 08 I Aron Smith Ford Focus 27 +20.253 49.843
10 48 I Ollie Jackson Toyota Avensis 27 +22.114 49.524
11 10 I Daniel Welch Proton Gen-2 27 +23.129 49.412
12 14 I Will Bratt Audi A4 27 +23.501 49.756
13 31 I Jack Goff Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 27 +27.349 49.937
14 06 I Tom Onslow-Cole VW Passat CC 27 +27.999 50.172
15 15 I James Kaye VW Golf MK5 27 +29.817 50.089
16 43 I Lea Wood Vauxhall Vectra 27 +31.366 50.353
17 66 I Liam Griffin Ford Focus 27 +37.067 50.665
18 12 I David Nye Ford Focus 27 +44.911 50.514
19 01 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 27 +45.441 49.068
20 07 I Mat Jackson Ford Focus 26 +1 Lap 49.788
21 02 Matt Neal Honda Civic 26 +1 Lap 49.848
22 39 I Warren Scott SEAT Leon 26 +1 Lap 51.166
Not Classified
- 18 I Nick Foster BMW 125i M Sport 4 +23 Laps 53.867
- 05 I Robert Collard BMW 125i M Sport 3 +24 Laps 53.310
- 17 I Dave Newsham Toyota Avensis 2 +25 Laps 52.522
- 20 I James Cole Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 1 +26 Laps 1:06.071
- 90 I Joe Girling Chevrolet Cruze 0 DNS

[BDunnell]

Plato is driving beautifully today; Shedden did likewise in race two to claim third, and Jeff Smith in taking fourth. 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, and then I thought he took himself out by moving over on Neal at Druids.

Adam Morgan on pole for race three.

[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 (http://www.btcc.net/html/generalnews_detail.php?id=3369)

[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?

[BDunnell]

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

No idea. They said they were struggling with set-up, but they weren't quick at the media day test either, and the cars were unreliable at Brands too.

[LotusF1]

I logged onto speed2 last evening and watched these races. These were the first BTC events I've watched and it was thoroughly entertaining! I'm hooked.