BTCC - Round Three - Thruxton
Discussion
The Wookie said:
Not sure what's going on with him, I actually went round the outside of him at Noble, I was half backed out of it at the turn in expecting him to give me some grief but he was already out of it and pretty much let me have it.
Not sure if he's lost his mojo or he's trying to make a point, but it doesn't really work when your team mate is up the field
As for the barriers... I'm amazed that they've managed to make it at least as dangerous as it was before
I couldn't believe it when I saw the new barriers and the giant earth 'launch pad.' I think I would rather plough through the field into a ditch before rolling into the bushes than hit them like Dan did. It's not the spectacular rolls that get you, it's the sudden stops.Not sure if he's lost his mojo or he's trying to make a point, but it doesn't really work when your team mate is up the field
As for the barriers... I'm amazed that they've managed to make it at least as dangerous as it was before
37chevy said:
acer12 said:
Is that an apology for his poor driving?
Sutton(who is new to rwd touring cars) is driving very well both in qualifying and the 3 races and giving plenty of exposure to the sponsors and brand so his whinge about Toca rules doesn't hold water.
Problem is your argument doesn't hold water either...a driver of Jason's experience doesn't simply forget how to drive overnight....Sutton(who is new to rwd touring cars) is driving very well both in qualifying and the 3 races and giving plenty of exposure to the sponsors and brand so his whinge about Toca rules doesn't hold water.
...Jason has played games in the past but simply sandbagging/ throwing the towel in until the rules are reversed couldn't be the case here...could it?!
I was there yesterday just in front of the Rob Austin fan club, hello to the 9-3 with a Carlsson and PH badge 
Must say contrary to the above the Ginetta's were not that fun to watch but the Clio's (although they are so boring on tv) and the F4's were amazing with so much close racing!
Really happy for Tom Ingram's haul of points, the way he chucked his car in the complex was amazing to watch especially with all the ballast he was carrying! Wished Morgan & Jordan could've been nearer the sharp end though they had some good passes. Rob Austin's avensis was sooooo wide in the 2nd & 3rd races!
Neal could not carve his way through the field as far as I thought he would despite his pace in the first race.
Can't understand why the MG in race 3 didn't get a penalty, he was crawling along mid race but he got it wrong and ended up slowly driving onto the racing line into complex and took out one of the Shredded Wheat Focus' as they avoided the heavy braking of the car in front of him avoiding the same MG. Could've been a terrible smash
Another enjoyable day watching motorsport overall though
Must say contrary to the above the Ginetta's were not that fun to watch but the Clio's (although they are so boring on tv) and the F4's were amazing with so much close racing!
Really happy for Tom Ingram's haul of points, the way he chucked his car in the complex was amazing to watch especially with all the ballast he was carrying! Wished Morgan & Jordan could've been nearer the sharp end though they had some good passes. Rob Austin's avensis was sooooo wide in the 2nd & 3rd races!
Neal could not carve his way through the field as far as I thought he would despite his pace in the first race.
Can't understand why the MG in race 3 didn't get a penalty, he was crawling along mid race but he got it wrong and ended up slowly driving onto the racing line into complex and took out one of the Shredded Wheat Focus' as they avoided the heavy braking of the car in front of him avoiding the same MG. Could've been a terrible smash
Another enjoyable day watching motorsport overall though
37chevy said:
The Wookie said:
Not sure what's going on with him, I actually went round the outside of him at Noble, I was half backed out of it at the turn in expecting him to give me some grief but he was already out of it and pretty much let me have it.
Not sure if he's lost his mojo or he's trying to make a point, but it doesn't really work when your team mate is up the field
As for the barriers... I'm amazed that they've managed to make it at least as dangerous as it was before
That's what I don't get. The cynical side of me says he is trying to make a point that without him doing as many interviews, being up at the sharp end, without suburus competitive the BTCC brand is damaged somehow, so by going slowly he is taking his image away from Gow/ toca/ the btcc.. problem is like you say when 1 teammate is near the front it defeats the object....but I can't see Jason being stupid enough to play games like that with sponsors, the team etc. Hes too old and wise to play those sort of games and let one of your team mates do so well (surely the team would ensure all cars were that slow)Not sure if he's lost his mojo or he's trying to make a point, but it doesn't really work when your team mate is up the field
As for the barriers... I'm amazed that they've managed to make it at least as dangerous as it was before
As for the barriers I'm surprised the MSA didn't pick it up prior to the event and insist on tyre walls
Platos stock trade seem to be attracting new sponsors/manufactures and then getting Gow to look favourably on them putting Plato at the front to enhance the show.
BTCC don't need him anymore and I don't suppose he needs them either.
From what I've heard regarding the Plato / BMR situation. BMR aren't exactly flush with cash right now and for one reason or another Plato and BMR have had a bit of a falling out about this. Plato is now in talks with Subaru about going elsewhere with his factory deal so BMR have lost all interest in making Platos car anything close to competitive and are ploughing everything they have into Ash Suttons car.
Of course this is all what I have heard from hanging around in the right places and listening to various conversations between people but I have no concrete proof of any of it I hasten to add.
Of course this is all what I have heard from hanging around in the right places and listening to various conversations between people but I have no concrete proof of any of it I hasten to add.
Speed Badger said:
I couldn't believe it when I saw the new barriers and the giant earth 'launch pad.' I think I would rather plough through the field into a ditch before rolling into the bushes than hit them like Dan did. It's not the spectacular rolls that get you, it's the sudden stops.
To be fair I had the sudden stop in a tree before so I don't think it's worse in that respect but it certainly takes away any chance of getting away with it lighterDoesn't bear thinking about if a single seater hit it though
DanielSan said:
One argument could be that he just isn't very good in a rear wheel drive car. Look at events like Goodwood where a lot of other BTCC drivers are battling at the front and he's nowhere, and that's pretty much always a field of rear wheel drive cars and with much more sideways behaviour than the Subaru will have.
Say what you like about Plato but make no mistake he's not a mug in any car. He might struggle for the last couple of tenths on someone like Turks in RWD but even with how close things are he's not himself for whatever reasonThe Wookie said:
Say what you like about Plato but make no mistake he's not a mug in any car. He might struggle for the last couple of tenths on someone like Turks in RWD but even with how close things are he's not himself for whatever reason
I don't disagree something is definitely off with the whole situation but with how close the field is this season those couple of tenths between him and Sutton are the difference between 5th and 20th at the moment. There definitely seems more behind the scenes than just his lack of pace though, I'm not a Plato fan but he's one of the best drivers in the series and really should be at least matching the quickest car in the team. It does have a sniff of him not wanting to perform for whatever reason...
The big question then, if he is indeed planning to take his factory Subaru deal elsewhere who would be a good candidate? I'm sure Motorbase would welcome some factory cash and can run cars competitively.
He must've thrown his toys far out of the pram for the final race. I didn't catch if the commentary mentioned if anything happened to the car beforehand but he seemed to come out of the pits after the rest of the cars had left the complex. Then he made 1 or 2 pitstops in the race before the finish, I would say though he did look proper rapid going into the complex every lap, the only ones who looked as quick were Ingram/Turkington and Sutton and only Ingram could match the perfect line time after time from the top few.
ribiero said:
TCR 
Subaru already have an entry in an TCR championship with Menu driving, can't remember which one though. I'd be surprised if Plato went that way though to be honest. rscott said:
Has the Silverline Tools sponsorship deal ended - I don't see the logo on the cars this year.
They were a sponsor Plato brought along, weren't they?
Seems so, Adrian Flux have taken that space up, and Ticketmaster are still on Coles car as per last season. They were a sponsor Plato brought along, weren't they?
A couple of minutes of the view from the pits during qualifying:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oaj9sFJ250w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oaj9sFJ250w
DanielSan said:
ribiero said:
TCR
Subaru already have an entry in an TCR championship with Menu driving, can't remember which one though. I'd be surprised if Plato went that way though to be honest.
Looking at the breakdown of sectors and speed traps from the weekend it seems pretty clear that the Subaru needs to be in with fast cars to get a good laptime. Ash has managed to qualify well for two meetings now which has got him with cars that are quick in a straight line so he can get a tow and aren't too bad in the corners. Plato has got stuck with cars that he can't get by before the corners because of the Subaru straighline speed deficit and then gets held up through the corner where the Subaru is the class of the field.
Going to be interesting to see what happens at the spate of RWD friendly circuits coming up.
Going to be interesting to see what happens at the spate of RWD friendly circuits coming up.
Sammo123 said:
I was speaking to a friend yesterday and they confirmed that Plato is looking for a way out of BMR. Apparently he's not liked by anyone in the team and him and Warren Scott just blank each other now.
Does this friend work for BMR, or another team with insight into the inner workings of BMR?If true, it doesn't surprise me. You have to have a modicum of charisma and a solid work ethic to work as part of any team, let alone a racing team.
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