Btcc 2015

[BO55]

Thanks DanielSan, never knew to need to update their website

As I understand BTCC viewing figures and track day attendance has been reasonably strong, if not growing. The problem is, whilst I love it, it feels quite old fashioned and it is lacking a certain 'magic'. Whilst its easy to compare against the F1 giant, it really comes down to simply needing money. Everybody in BTCC seems to be scrabbling for every last penny - except Plato and Nonda Yuasa who seem to have it sussed. The circuits cant do much on their part because they don't have any either. It needs advanced further and the series need more promotion and actually needs more than 10 meetings - minimum 15 to get people engaged, and good prospect for a couple of street races

Edited by BO55 on Wednesday 31st December 03:46

[darren9]

Is Tony Gillham a fantasist or just using twitter to get people talking about him/team hard?

We've had the Volvo 'project' which as far as I can tell is just a computer rendering. Now, this morning he's tweeted "fans favourite" Paul O'Neill

“@tonygilham34: Happy birthday @PaulONeill29 big year ahead of you Got ur present here in an envelope Racing offer for 2015 #contract #comeback #teamHARD #?”

[EDLT]

ZX10R NIN said:

designndrive62 said:

I thought btcc was quite good this year, then I just watched the v8supercars season review and realised how far the btcc has to go to match up to it. Don't get me wrong, it is good entertainment, but they need to do so much more to bring in a wider audience and also improve the series. The variety of cars is there, but the racing isn't yet to the level it needs to be IMO. One weekend we can have brilliant racing and the next it's either dull as a muddy puddle or everyone just punts each other off. I still think btcc is crying out for a street race, especially now it's possible, as some sort of blue riband event a la Bathurst or surfers paradise. Hopefully the series continues to develop and organisers and competitors continue to get along.

I couldn't agree more I got into V8 Supercars about Four years ago & have to say that as a series it beats BTCC how good would it be to wach V8 MG's Mondeo's Passat's Insignia's V8 3 series rumbling around Donnington etc.

I have to say a Bathurst style event at Donnington (I'd love it to be at Brands but the people round here love to moan about the sky being blue let alone an endurance race!!) would be fantastic & raise BTCC's profile.

Try here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[ZX10R NIN]

EDLT said:

ZX10R NIN said:

designndrive62 said:

I thought btcc was quite good this year, then I just watched the v8supercars season review and realised how far the btcc has to go to match up to it. Don't get me wrong, it is good entertainment, but they need to do so much more to bring in a wider audience and also improve the series. The variety of cars is there, but the racing isn't yet to the level it needs to be IMO. One weekend we can have brilliant racing and the next it's either dull as a muddy puddle or everyone just punts each other off. I still think btcc is crying out for a street race, especially now it's possible, as some sort of blue riband event a la Bathurst or surfers paradise. Hopefully the series continues to develop and organisers and competitors continue to get along.

I couldn't agree more I got into V8 Supercars about Four years ago & have to say that as a series it beats BTCC how good would it be to wach V8 MG's Mondeo's Passat's Insignia's V8 3 series rumbling around Donnington etc.

I have to say a Bathurst style event at Donnington (I'd love it to be at Brands but the people round here love to moan about the sky being blue let alone an endurance race!!) would be fantastic & raise BTCC's profile.

Try here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Thanks I have that thread.

My point was BTCC would really benefit from a Prestige event along the lines of Bathurst, not at somewhere like Silverstone to flat & the spectators to far away hence the reason I said Donington.

Far from slaging BTCC I'm saying this would be a good direction for them to head towards 500bhp with a turbo 4 turbo or supercharged V6 or a N/A V8 the noise would bring more spectators & more TV interest if they could team up with the V8 Superstars series & join up with a round with them Maerati Quatraporte's Panarmera's Camero's racing with BTCC cars.

Doesn't this sound like something spectators would enjoy?

We know the engine noise is a big draw for people you only have to look at Nascar V8 Supercars etc.

For privateer teams running a V8 would make the most economic way to run a car Turbos are notorious for being expensive.

Finding a V8 to run at 500bhp is an easy task a team could take their pick these are suggestions for the future.

We know costs are a major factor in all motorsport at the moment by opening up the engine regs you then have more choice of cars which means a better chance of support from Importers if not manufactures.

[DanielSan]

darren9 said:

Is Tony Gillham a fantasist or just using twitter to get people talking about him/team hard?

We've had the Volvo 'project' which as far as I can tell is just a computer rendering. Now, this morning he's tweeted "fans favourite" Paul O'Neill

“@tonygilham34: Happy birthday @PaulONeill29 big year ahead of you Got ur present here in an envelope Racing offer for 2015 #contract #comeback #teamHARD #?”

On previous form this isn't a surprise.

[EDLT]

ZX10R NIN said:

Thanks I have that thread.

My point was BTCC would really benefit from a Prestige event along the lines of Bathurst, not at somewhere like Silverstone to flat & the spectators to far away hence the reason I said Donington.

Far from slaging BTCC I'm saying this would be a good direction for them to head towards 500bhp with a turbo 4 turbo or supercharged V6 or a N/A V8 the noise would bring more spectators & more TV interest if they could team up with the V8 Superstars series & join up with a round with them Maerati Quatraporte's Panarmera's Camero's racing with BTCC cars.

Doesn't this sound like something spectators would enjoy?

We know the engine noise is a big draw for people you only have to look at Nascar V8 Supercars etc.

For privateer teams running a V8 would make the most economic way to run a car Turbos are notorious for being expensive.

Finding a V8 to run at 500bhp is an easy task a team could take their pick these are suggestions for the future.

We know costs are a major factor in all motorsport at the moment by opening up the engine regs you then have more choice of cars which means a better chance of support from Importers if not manufactures.

GT racing is full of V8 RWD cars, there is also DTM and I'm sure there are others. Why not watch them instead of turning BTCC into a carbon copy? Single seater racing did not benefit from having a dozen identical championships.

[ZX10R NIN]

EDLT said:

GT racing is full of V8 RWD cars, there is also DTM and I'm sure there are others. Why not watch them instead of turning BTCC into a carbon copy? Single seater racing did not benefit from having a dozen identical championships.

I'm not say it has to be fwd or rwd the choice would be down to the teams

[MG CHRIS]

How are you going to run a fwd car with 500bhp or fit a v8 into a fwd car.

Apart from the 70s with the big v8 muscle cars btcc has always been about 2.0 or sub 2.0 touring car formula it has worked for 50+ years.
Increasing the races to 15 is not possible teams can only just afford 10 as it is, also where are these extra 5 races going to come from. Also scheduling the extra events btcc tries to avoid clashing with different events ie in the past with Wimbledon and the Olympics they didn't run a single meeting to avoid clashing. Also stuff like british f1 race and lemans also will be avoiding. So how are you going to fit in an extra 5 meeting and where too. Street races bore the crap out of me no thank you.

Also why the thing about comparing the btcc to v8 super cars they don't compare both have different rule sets, fan base etc etc a btcc formula wouldn't work down there and the v8s wouldn't work over here.
We have the brit gt for v8, gt racing which is growing in strength over the last few years why bring in something that will take teams out of that.

[AMD87]

MG CHRIS said:

Also stuff like british f1 race will be avoiding.

Or you know just do what the V8s do and what the btcc used to do?

[MG CHRIS]

AMD87 said:

MG CHRIS said:

Also stuff like british f1 race will be avoiding.

Or you know just do what the V8s do and what the btcc used to do?

What be a support package for the f1 race weekend?

[coppice]

MG CHRIS said:

Apart from the 70s with the big v8 muscle cars btcc has always been about 2.0 or sub 2.0 touring car formula it has worked for 50+ years.

And apart from the 50s, 60s and 80s too when Mk 2 Jaguars, Galaxies, Zephyrs , Westminsters , Falcons , GTV6s, Vitesses , Mustangs , Supras, Capris, Starions , Camaros and 635CSI's competed (and many other 2litre plus cars) .

[egor110]

Why the hell don't they get the historic touring cars in with the btcc.

You'd then attract audiences spanning the decades.

[ZX10R NIN]

MG CHRIS said:

How are you going to run a fwd car with 500bhp or fit a v8 into a fwd car.

Apart from the 70s with the big v8 muscle cars btcc has always been about 2.0 or sub 2.0 touring car formula it has worked for 50+ years.
Increasing the races to 15 is not possible teams can only just afford 10 as it is, also where are these extra 5 races going to come from. Also scheduling the extra events btcc tries to avoid clashing with different events ie in the past with Wimbledon and the Olympics they didn't run a single meeting to avoid clashing. Also stuff like british f1 race and lemans also will be avoiding. So how are you going to fit in an extra 5 meeting and where too. Street races bore the crap out of me no thank you.

Also why the thing about comparing the btcc to v8 super cars they don't compare both have different rule sets, fan base etc etc a btcc formula wouldn't work down there and the v8s wouldn't work over here.
We have the brit gt for v8, gt racing which is growing in strength over the last few years why bring in something that will take teams out of that.

I did say Turbo 4, Super?/Turbo Charged V6 N/A V8 I'm not trying to make BTCC into V8 Supercars but am merely suggesting some of the ideas like a blue riband Endurance race like Bathurst.

Also if the GT's are increasing then maybe there's lessons to be learned from them to.

As I said I'm not slagging BTCC I'm just saying if teams are struggling to do 10 races then maybe things need tweaking.

What do you think would improve BTCC you've rubbished my ideas what do you suggest?

[MG CHRIS]

ZX10R NIN said:

MG CHRIS said:

How are you going to run a fwd car with 500bhp or fit a v8 into a fwd car.

Apart from the 70s with the big v8 muscle cars btcc has always been about 2.0 or sub 2.0 touring car formula it has worked for 50+ years.
Increasing the races to 15 is not possible teams can only just afford 10 as it is, also where are these extra 5 races going to come from. Also scheduling the extra events btcc tries to avoid clashing with different events ie in the past with Wimbledon and the Olympics they didn't run a single meeting to avoid clashing. Also stuff like british f1 race and lemans also will be avoiding. So how are you going to fit in an extra 5 meeting and where too. Street races bore the crap out of me no thank you.

Also why the thing about comparing the btcc to v8 super cars they don't compare both have different rule sets, fan base etc etc a btcc formula wouldn't work down there and the v8s wouldn't work over here.
We have the brit gt for v8, gt racing which is growing in strength over the last few years why bring in something that will take teams out of that.

I did say Turbo 4, Super?/Turbo Charged V6 N/A V8 I'm not trying to make BTCC into V8 Supercars but am merely suggesting some of the ideas like a blue riband Endurance race like Bathurst.

Also if the GT's are increasing then maybe there's lessons to be learned from them to.

As I said I'm not slagging BTCC I'm just saying if teams are struggling to do 10 races then maybe things need tweaking.

What do you think would improve BTCC you've rubbished my ideas what do you suggest?

They had a big enough headache trying to keep parity between the turbod cars and n/a powered cars during the change over, added 3-4 different layout of engines will only increase cost and cause more arguments and headaches for teams and management.

They have pretty much a perfect formula yes a few things need sorting for next year as some races last year were a bit stale. We have just come into a new generation of touring cars with the ngtc cars it will hurt the series to change again.
Small changes are required and toca have announced a few changes already. It looks like we be going to get another full grid, we have new teams joining, new drivers and new car and still have half the grid to announce plans im also sure plato has something up is sleeves with a new car too.

Gow has had all these so called good ideas asked to him over on the btcc forum from pie in the sky ideas and every time he has replied with reason not to mainly on cost grounds to teams, and scheduling issues.

[designndrive62]

MG CHRIS said:

How are you going to run a fwd car with 500bhp or fit a v8 into a fwd car.

Apart from the 70s with the big v8 muscle cars btcc has always been about 2.0 or sub 2.0 touring car formula it has worked for 50+ years.
Increasing the races to 15 is not possible teams can only just afford 10 as it is, also where are these extra 5 races going to come from. Also scheduling the extra events btcc tries to avoid clashing with different events ie in the past with Wimbledon and the Olympics they didn't run a single meeting to avoid clashing. Also stuff like british f1 race and lemans also will be avoiding. So how are you going to fit in an extra 5 meeting and where too. Street races bore the crap out of me no thank you.

Also why the thing about comparing the btcc to v8 super cars they don't compare both have different rule sets, fan base etc etc a btcc formula wouldn't work down there and the v8s wouldn't work over here.
We have the brit gt for v8, gt racing which is growing in strength over the last few years why bring in something that will take teams out of that.

The comparison to v8 supercars in my mind is quite valid. The btcc and v8s are the biggest motorsport series in their respective countries, and both involve some form of tin top racing. I don't think btcc has to be v8 at all, but the level of fan involvement and excitement is ten fold higher for v8 supercars. And is is with three races a weekend, all far longer than any btcc 20 lap sprint. It will be interesting to see if this continues after both Holden and ford pull their manufacturer support from the series. I just think that the btcc, whilst probably the most successful it has been for a while has a lot to learn. To me at the moment it doesn't have as much creditability for talent as v8 supercars and dtm. By that's just my opinion

[coppice]

egor110 said:

Why the hell don't they get the historic touring cars in with the btcc.

You'd then attract audiences spanning the decades.

It'd never do; because then the Emperor's clothes might be revealed.Instead of a spec formula of pretty ugly cars which sound very similar you would get a diversity of looks and sounds which might upstage the main act.

[EDLT]

coppice said:

It'd never do; because then the Emperor's clothes might be revealed.Instead of a spec formula of pretty ugly cars which sound very similar you would get a diversity of looks and sounds which might upstage the main act.

They had classics racing at Knockhill a couple of years ago. It was a nice novelty but you couldn't have it all year long, some of the classes had about four cars in.

[samvia]

The Classics used to be on the support bill in the Super Touring era at one point, I remember watching a couple of races at Knockhill in '97.

[MG CHRIS]

A load of talk, opinions being posted about potential driver line up in the lead up to the autosport show guess we find out some news within the coming week.

[AJB88]

Most of it is due tomorrow I think.