A vintage year?

I may be jumping the gun a little, but I think 2007 could prove to be the best BTCC season for almost a decade.

Why? Well, there are probably about nine drivers who are definite potential race-winners (I'm thinking of Plato, Turner, Neal, Shedden, Giovanardi, Chilton, Turkington, Onslow-Cole and Jackson), and others (Jordan, Jones and Howell, to name but three) could do it in the right circumstances. While there may be relatively few 'big names' like there were in the '90s, the young talent that's come through is quite exceptional — I think we saw that yesterday — and far better than the various ex-F1 drivers who came into the BTCC for want of anything better to do. The grid is a good size, which makes the championship look good, and there's a real mix of makes and models, not to mention types of driver.

The only downsides I can think of are the loss of Silverstone, which is after all the best-known circuit in the country, and the rather patchy TV coverage. Other than that, it's all good.

What do you think?

I was present at the 2005 season opener when there were 11 cars on the grid, one or two of which were terribly under-prepared, and I feared for the future of the BTCC. Alan Gow has done a fantastic job in the last two years to turn things round. Fair enough, there are still only two full works outfits but the climate has changed since the mid-1990s with regards to manufacturer involvement in touring car racing, abd his moves to attract strong privateers has been extremely succesful.

I agree, this season could prove to be a classic, and I'll be trying to get to Croft and Oulton Park to see it in action.

I think it will be a very good year of racing. The field looked extremely evenly matched at Brands Hatch. The big four teams SEAT, VXR, WSR and Dynamics all look good and there is Jackson, Jones, Jordan, Howell, Allison and Murray right in with them. Dave Pinkney in his A-Tech Alfa Romeo is bound to get better and should be able to get on terms with them. And another surprise was the competitiveness of Chris Stockton in the Lexus. This looks to be a very good season.

I think it could be the best season since the new rules came in.We got the experianced guys, young chargers and the enthusiast.

I can think of a possible 15 potential points scorers in each race/front-runners, if everyone sorts themselves out.

Plato
Turner
Giovanardi
Chilton
Neal
Shedden
Turkington
Onslow-Cole
Howell
Allison
Jones
Murray
Jackson
Jordan
Pinkney

Hughes and Stockton are also potentially able to go on that list as well, making it 17!

Stockton already has scored points, so I think he deserves to be on there. Certainly they look the best sorted Lexuses (Lexi?) we've seen in the series so far.

And yes, the BTCC looks in the best health it has for a decade or so. It helps that there's an unusually strong field of privateer and semi-privateer teams, including WSR, Motorbase, GR Asia and Jacksons Motorsport. And, depending on who you believe, Team Dynamics, too....

compared to recent seasons (which have been good) i think this year has all the makings of a classic, all the top teams look pretty equal on pace, plus several of the privateers look capable of winning races at the very least.

on top of that the depth of the quality of the field appears to be good, with cars down to the likes of Stockton and Bell pretty much on the pace and some further down who look like they will improve.

all in all it should be a cracker, based on Brands

I agree that we could be in for a cracking season. It's refreshing to see that so many of the new faces look like they've a real chance of being competitive and up the front with the usual suspects.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that's the first time a BTCC Lexus has finished in the top 10 on merit, not based on small grids and/or a high attrition rate.
Agree?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winchester

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that's the first time a BTCC Lexus has finished in the top 10 on merit, not based on small grids and/or a high attrition rate.
Agree?

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I would say so. I don't see the car as being a potential race-winner, realistically, but in Stockton's hands it seemed to have some real pace at Brands.

Stockton and Hughes won't win a race. Top 6 at the best. The Lexus always struggles on tracks with long straights so don't expect to see Stockton in the top 10 at Rockingham.

Indeed, things certainly have progressed over the last couple of years. I agree with Beans about works teams but I think to an extent those days have gone.

I didn't think Hughes and Stockton could win races, but they are potentially front runners (probably from reverse grids) which was the point I was making, and they could stay there for a lap or two. For the Lexus, leading for a lap would be a dream result but it is possible.