BTCC 2017

[Camel]

No BTCC 2017 thread?

 

I missed the first race weekend of the season and was hoping to be at Donington today but that didn't happen so I'm making up for it by watching it on TV.

 

F4 race stopped due to a horrific crash, just hope the young lad is okay. He went flat out into the back of and under a stopped/slow moving car. The worst part for viewers is the live TV feed showed him go under the car in front with the cars onboard camera. Not sure if he hit his head though.

 

Other than that there has been some good racing and mega crashes so far this weekend with a few more hours to go with the rain on its way. Got to love how simple Donington is but it always manages to cook up some great entertainment.

[Eudemon]

Well that was an eventful raceday!

 

Best wishes to Billy, that was an awful hit and I am glad to hear that the stationary car driver got away relatively unscathed I believe. Not heard much about Billy though apart from he suffered leg injuries. Hopefully nothing too disastrous meaning he can recover and get back to racing again.

 

As for the rest of the disciplines: BTCC as usual provided plenty of action and talking points. The first race set things up well for what to expect from the day, and thankfully that was hard racing throughout the pack. The BMWs showed their class and racecraft and it was excellent to see a new name on the winner's trophy of Aiden Moffat... the fact he's another Scot does help in my support of that win. :p Tingram is looking mighty speedy and is starting to take on board how taking points is the main objective of a race, however it's not fully sunk in as in a post race interview I do remember him saying something about wanting to go charging forward rather than take the secure points. I can respect that outlook, but at the same time this is a Championship and points mean prizes.

 

The support classes were also great fun as always, the Clio 'Crash' brilliantly keeping up to its name and showing us some unbelievable scenes where cars were 3-abreast in rows heading down areas that barely fit two cars! Then we have the Ginettas, in both Juniors and the main grouping. And it was the youngsters who as is fairly routine, showed us some amazingly close and frenetic racing action. I don't think there is ever a race where one of them doesn't lose the whole bonnet off the car!! :lol:

 

Love those Porsches, the sound they make and the speed they carry while jostling with one another is a real sight to behold. Was glad to see Cammish not running away with it as a contest and battle is what we want to see as spectators and that is what we got.

 

What can you say about the final race though? What a mess but also a glorious one at that! Going too early when the track is basically a covering of water was always a bit optimistic and naturally it did provide many cars going off, including Neal who I thought was going to make it back on track with the help of the Marshalls, but he seemed to put his foot down too hard, and the car dug in and mechanical assistance had to get him out.

 

Not sure what to think about Shedden's car failing the ride height and therefore being excluded. I can understand the whole it was damaged so what could he do about it but at the same time that is a really slippery slope to go down in future. I feel that his team maybe should have spotted this on the restart after the Red Flag. Was a shame to seal the win so emphatically, only to lose it by a technical infringement. Albeit, a big one.

 

Such a great day of racing apart from the horrific incident and I cannot wait for the next round in less than 3 week's time!

[Ryzza5]

Incident can be viewed here -

 

Reminds me of a tactic I once nearly pulled off in my first Gran Turismo league race. Very different reaction in real life of course.

[Eudemon]

Poor kid has had amputations to both of his legs. :(

 

There has been a justgiving set up to help him and his family get through this and it's already blasted past the £260k goal in less than 12 hrs!

[TimBud]

What an absolute tragedy, but its amazing to see how much support is being given.

[Eudemon]

It's picked up some major steam as some F1 drivers have now noticed and contributed to the cause. Button and Verstappen I've seen for sure, and I think I caught something being said by Hamilton too. I can understand JB and LH getting involved as they came up through the same (or similar) system as young Monger was doing. The people who are trying to get Alex Zanardi to get in contact with him have the right idea and I would love to see that happen!

 

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Looking to the BTCC: Subaru is a bit surprising this year. It looked like some new centre of gravity change that they were given made the car not as good but you haven't heard much from Plato (shocking!) or the team in regards to this. Plus, I read somewhere that the team admitted they got the setting wrong and so it's not as simple as the change causing any real problems after all.

 

Donington was a strange one, as every Subaru apart from Sutton seemed to have the pace they are capable of back as he and the car was looking really good. I hope it's just some teething problems or lack of testing that's got them off to a slow start and not some internal struggles. Despite how much I like to see Plato brought down a peg, I do want Subaru to stay in and be challenging for those podium places and wins.

 

I'd be absolutely thrilled if Sutton won the Championship as we all know how much Plato believes Subaru is his baby. Was so good when Turkington took the first win for the manufacturer as you just know Plato wanted that historic moment for himself.

[Ryzza5]

I've noticed a game developer studio contribute as well.

[Eudemon]

Well then, what can we say about yesterday's meeting? A whole lot actually!

 

For starters, I actually found the first BTCC race a bit boring and was worried that it would again turn into another follow-train type of race day but thankfully it didn't. Unfortunately it came about from a nasty crash and raised the question about how Thruxton should treat the run off and crashing capability of the edge of Church corner. And on that issue, I do agree with the drivers that there needs to be something less hard impact at it.

 

However after the red flag this caused, the shortened race was full of much excitement and racing action. I mean that three-car wide run into the final chicane with Collard, Goff and Shedden was brilliant to watch and the fact it never resulted in carnage was astounding and a testament to those drivers. And it's always such fun to watch those such as Ingram, Austin, Turkington, Jordan and others absolutely thrashing their cars and putting in the passes. Amazingly, despite the already shortened lap amount the race was again red flagged after yet another off and even though it wasn't as bad as the first incident that caused the delay, the time it would take to recover the cars and have the race run with the extra safety-car laps, race control decided to end the race and this made Collard the winner after completing 6 laps before the race was flagged. It's a shame that happened, as the charge by Shedden was on and Ingram was making up the distance too and could have resulted in a crazy final lap if no more issues happened.

 

And then we got to the end, the final BTCC race of the day and wow, this was a belter! Turkington easily won it of course but behind him a lot was happening and it was great to watch. The Subaru of Sutton was looking especially frisky and was showing where it was better, but also as Tim Harvey said during the commentary, the straight line speed of the car is lacking. I mean the Hondas are usually the ones that struggle to get away on the fast sections but here was Sutton having 2-3 car lengths put on him by the one ahead. I know there needs to be balancing but surely they should be able to work these things out if not before the season begins then shortly afterwards as it just makes it a shame when a car comes on strong and shows that it could have been a real contender, had it not been for the regulations or limits put on it.

 

I do enjoy seeing Plato struggling with his mind, not a big fan of him.

 

Got to give a special shout for the Ginetta Juniors. Those boys and girls sure know how to race and the way they do so could teach some of the old guard a thing or two. And there is no way I can forget to applaud the Clio Crash Cup [spoil] where because of the trying to catch up with the races, the race started while Steve Rider was introducing it, but before he had finished, it got red flagged LOL[/spoil]. The Clios is where a good number of future BTCC drivers come through and from what has been shown in the last few rounds, I wouldn't be surprised if there is some more to come in the next few years.

 

Can't wait for the next one at Oulton Park in less than two weeks, as I am really enjoying this season so far. I wish there was more races as that summer break is a killer! Would be good to see maybe at least 2 extra venues from Wales and Northern Ireland added to make it a true British series.

[Eudemon]

It's back! Anyone watching? The first BTCC race of the day wasn't really much to write home about, but the second was a really good one with everything that was going on behind the leader. And that Ginetta Juniors race was absolutely brilliant! There's some names in there to watch for the future for sure. :)

 

So glad that the summer break is over! :happyroll:

[Eudemon]

Race 3 is always a fun one and this was no different. Felt for Jordan, should have had the win but unfortunately gremlins in the BMW again. That result though means there is hardly any points in it between the top 3 and with the next race being up here at Knockhill, Shedden will be fired up!

[Eudemon]

Real excited about Knockhill today. Not sure what the weather is going to be like as it's been changeable over the last few days but this circuit does tend to throw in some good racing due to its high speed and tricky hidden apex corners. Just please don't be a follow train and I'll be happy! :nods:

[Eudemon]

What a crazy day the Silverstone weekend was in relation to the championship contenders. So many ups and downs that ended up with four potentials turning into a realistic two now. You can never really discount Shedden though, but unless Sutton and Turks have a really bad day at Brands in a fortnight I think his hopes are gone. I'm still not sure what to think about that Subaru: Plato can moan all he likes but the speedtraps and the ease in which a full of ballast car can carve up the field and catch up to the front runners must mean some sort of advantage is in that car somewhere.

 

Not to take away from what Sutton has done and to be honest I love that it will likely be Sutton and Turks who will end up Champion as that nicely sticks it to Plato who has been pretty useless this season (will we see him take out Turks at Brands?).

 

As Turks funnily said, he came into Silverstone 12 points behind the championship leader and so to end up finishing the weekend at just 12 points behind after all that happened is not something he really expected to happen.

 

Cannot believe how fast this year has gone; even the summer break seemed to breeze by and now we're at the end of it all in just two weeks! :eek:

[Eudemon]

:tw:

 

This weekend will decide who wins this year's championship. Who are you thinking will take it?

[Eudemon]

Well that was an eventful end to the championship.

 

Congrats to Sutton on taking the driver's title, I'm still a bit unsure how the Subaru was in regards to everyone else but cannot fault his driving ability and to have another name on the trophy is always good to see. Felt so sorry for Turkington, yeah his move on Moffat was overly strong and was not his usual style but I reckon he was going to get past the Mercedes s**ner rather than later anyway. Despite all that, Turkington winning that second race win set us up for a final race decider and if there being six points in it, the weather gods felt a little more drama was needed and so some rain was thrown down around the track to add an extra factor to it all.

 

Then it happened, Turkington unluckily got hit in his right rear wheel resulting in a broken suspension and therefore a retirement. Setting it up nicely for Sutton to just bring it home and take it!

 

Another great season when looked at completely. Looking forward to 2018 I just really hope they get a proper handle on parity for next year.