Btcc 2016

[steveaki13]

I know this part of the forum is a true ghost town, but just in case anyone wants to say anything.

I watched the first rounds at Brands and enjoyed the racing. Although I never enjoy the Indy circuit as much.

Missed round 2 at Donnington. Luckily ITV has a catch up the week after.

Anyone else on here watching?

[inimitablestoo]

Yep - managed to see it live apart from when the Grand Prix was on at the weekend, leaving WEC for later and rallycross that I'm catching up on in stages - that was a busy weekend...

It does seem a shame that the touring car forum in particular is dead these days; this used to be the busiest place of the lot and that was in an era when the BTCC was struggling. Can't say I'm a great fan of the ballast rules and I've never liked partially reversed grids, but I can't complain about a full grid of 30+ cars. And the racing these days is good and close without being as dirty as it has been in the past (although maybe that's why nobody else is here?...)

Motorsport UK began last night too, and usually has a repeat on at the weekend, so you'll be able to catch up on the support races as well, which were some of the best I've seen at the weekend. A goose agreed; he came to watch in the gravel trap at the Old Hairpin, until somebody tried to fire an upside-down Renault Clio at him :)

[ATF]

Missed round 2 at Donnington. Luckily ITV has a catch up the week after.

The Donington races are available to watch online now here:
http://www.itv.com/btcc/races

Yes it is a shame that this once great forum is as quiet as it is now. I must be still in the habit of checking it once in a while. I think the first thread I ever contributed to was titled "James Thompson's hair"!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Race 3 at Donington was ruined by the soft tyre rule. It makes the racing so predicable.

[geordiecraig101]

Had another cracking day at Donington for the BTCC, got there just before the tourers first race so missed all the fun of the Clio's first race which a pitty but the rest of the day was spot on.

Here's my vid of the days action, skip to 24:45 to see Neal's overtake for the lead in the final race shot from the newly opened infield as u can see from the start of the Craners all the way to exit of McLeans in one one go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyLIwsXMNnA&feature=gp-n-y&google_comment_id=z13tvlfidszstzu0r225tvqrqneutd0i x04

[BDunnell]

Race 3 at Donington was ruined by the soft tyre rule. It makes the racing so predicable.

Yes, it's unnecessary. A shame, as I'm otherwise enjoying the BTCC this year more than I have for a very long time. A terrific field and largely clean racing.

However, whether Thruxton, after the shenanigans just now, is a suitable venue for the championship these days I'm not so sure. I know some of it's down to people being too aggressive with set-ups and driving styles, but every year ends up with punctures deciding the result and it's getting rather tiresome. A pity, as the first few laps were awesome.

[steveaki13]

Thruxton was a bit of a joke. Whether it was circuit, tyres or teams/drivers, to have so many issues with punctures etc. is pretty scary.

As you say BDunnell the first laps of race 1 especially were some on the best I have seen.

[Nathan Basil Hine]

Just 1 week to Snetterton: motorsport updates on motorsportinfo.weebly.com where you can contact me if you want to write motorsport articles as well as via my blog www.hineinternationalmotorsport.wordpress.com

[BDunnell]

Goodness me. Can't help but feel that Snetterton needs to make some safety-related changes along the pit straight after today. Not just Hunter Abbott's frightening accident, but also the then leader in the Clio race taking out his own pit board. Taller barriers needed?

[tommy2k8]

Goodness me. Can't help but feel that Snetterton needs to make some safety-related changes along the pit straight after today. Not just Hunter Abbott's frightening accident, but also the then leader in the Clio race taking out his own pit board. Taller barriers needed?

I've been watching motorsport for 19 years, and that was the worse accident I have ever seen. It'll be a major talking point before Knockhill!
Did you agree with Jordan's views that some drivers were to blame? I do, in a way

[inimitablestoo]

Taller barriers would help, but perhaps the positioning of the camera stand needs to be considered too. It's an MSV circuit, and they do tend to be pretty hot on these things, so if there need to be changes they will be made quickly.

There might be something in the driving standards criticism too though. I would never criticise a championship for having too many cars, but perhaps in filling a grid of 30+ there are a few drivers who might be advised to go and race somewhere else. None of the crashes happened towards the front of the field after all... I think it was Jordan who said the same people seem to get caught in the incidents, and he's right on yesterday's evidence (although I think Hunter Abbott can be considered unlucky). I don't think the BTCC's reputation for crashes helps; it's been a while since we saw anything like yesterday's carnage, let alone twice in one meeting, but when contact is accepted these things are bound to happen sooner or later. Unfortunately we didn't get a proper view of what triggered the accident, so it's difficult to apportion blame or suggest what needs to be done as a result.

I don't think the Clio pit board incident really needs any changes other than: Make sure you move your pit board out of the way of oncoming traffic. Certainly there's not a lot they can do to relocate the pit wall.

A lucky escape though for all concerned; if Abbott's car had been sent right rather than left it could have gone over the pit wall. Similarly, while it was unfortunate the camera stand got hit, if it hadn't been there could we have had a car in the crowd?

[tommy2k8]

It was good to see no spectators were injured!!

[BDunnell]

Taller barriers would help, but perhaps the positioning of the camera stand needs to be considered too. It's an MSV circuit, and they do tend to be pretty hot on these things, so if there need to be changes they will be made quickly.

Indeed. As for what those changes should be, if it's not deemed a suitable site for a camera stand, I'd say that area ought not to contain any spectators either, unless a tall fence is put in.



There might be something in the driving standards criticism too though. I would never criticise a championship for having too many cars, but perhaps in filling a grid of 30+ there are a few drivers who might be advised to go and race somewhere else. None of the crashes happened towards the front of the field after all... I think it was Jordan who said the same people seem to get caught in the incidents, and he's right on yesterday's evidence (although I think Hunter Abbott can be considered unlucky). I don't think the BTCC's reputation for crashes helps; it's been a while since we saw anything like yesterday's carnage, let alone twice in one meeting, but when contact is accepted these things are bound to happen sooner or later.

Yes, I agree. It's a shame, because the driving standards at the front of the field have generally been excellent in the last few seasons — certainly, much better than the 2004-06 period, which was the lowest point I can recall. They were very good yesterday, too, Morgan's constant punting of Shedden in race two aside.

I'd add that, generally, we see far fewer big pile-ups than used to be the case in the early-to-mid-1990s, when the field was full of professional drivers. Generally there was at least one a season back then — Snetterton 1993, Silverstone GP 1994 and Brands 1996 spring to mind.

Jordan is right — it is the same few drivers getting caught up, race after race. Respect to him for saying so in public. Alex Martin seems to be a liability. Ollie Jackson isn't much better. Mark Howard and Kelvin Fletcher seem to go off-track at most meetings, but their mishaps don't tend to involve other drivers.


Unfortunately we didn't get a proper view of what triggered the accident, so it's difficult to apportion blame or suggest what needs to be done as a result.

There is a YouTube clip showing the race two crash from a slightly better angle, though you still don't see the whole thing. Welch didn't seem to do anything to justify Jackson running into him, but it would be unfair to apportion blame on this basis. In both cases, a look at the TOCA driving standards camera footage would certainly be instructive...



I don't think the Clio pit board incident really needs any changes other than: Make sure you move your pit board out of the way of oncoming traffic. Certainly there's not a lot they can do to relocate the pit wall.

Or erect a wire debris fence on the pit wall.



A lucky escape though for all concerned; if Abbott's car had been sent right rather than left it could have gone over the pit wall. Similarly, while it was unfortunate the camera stand got hit, if it hadn't been there could we have had a car in the crowd?

Very definitely. It certainly makes me think that a rolling start really isn't the answer; that same incident would still have happened, but with the cars at a higher speed.

[BDunnell]

I've been watching motorsport for 19 years, and that was the worse accident I have ever seen. It'll be a major talking point before Knockhill!
Did you agree with Jordan's views that some drivers were to blame? I do, in a way

Yes I do.

Not the worst I've seen in that time. The accident at this year's Goodwood Members' Meeting, where a car ended up in the (thankfully empty) spectator tunnel, was just as frightening.