BTCC - Round Three - Thruxton
Discussion
ols said:
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.
Charisma is basically in the eye of the beholder. 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.
But the solid work ethic implication is a ballsy statement to make....
ols said:
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.
Olly are you suggesting JP is the deficient person in this? Just curious...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.
rubystone said:
ols said:
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.
Olly are you suggesting JP is the deficient person in this? Just curious...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.
Some stuff here about Church corner.
I was at Thruxton in March/April and you could see what a mess the ground works were at Church and it was no surprise to see things were still not sorted when the BTCC arrived. If any of us had gone off at Church last month it would have been a huge crash.
https://beta.motorsport-news.co.uk/columns/why-thr...
I was at Thruxton in March/April and you could see what a mess the ground works were at Church and it was no surprise to see things were still not sorted when the BTCC arrived. If any of us had gone off at Church last month it would have been a huge crash.
https://beta.motorsport-news.co.uk/columns/why-thr...
Rob Austin's views on Thruxton:
(taken from http://robaustin.co.uk/thruxton-saftey)
"What’s that I hear you say? “what’s your take on the Thruxton safety issues Rob?” well ok, I’ll tell you.
I’ve read all sorts of nonsense about this and to be honest it straight up pisses me off! Especially when they say that “all” the drivers complained, because I didn’t!
I, like many (even the ones complaining about it) love Thruxton and don’t want to see a chicane being put in there or it removed from the BTCC calendar. So it makes me wonder what those people are hoping to achieve by publicly complaining about the run off at Church, because literally all their efforts can lead to is increasing public pressure on the circuit to put a chicane in or TOCA to remove Thruxton from the calendar.
“They just want to see safety improvements at Church” yeah, but they can and that’s the problem. The barrier is now at the same level as the circuit and nolonger covered by trees so it’s a lot more obvious and looks closer even though its not. Besides, what do they think is happening? After 2015 when we saw two cars go over that wall it suddenly became very clear that something needed to be done, the easiest, quickest and cheapest solution would be to add a chicane. But the management at Thruxton are racers and they knew that literally no one wanted to see that so instead they went to work at the daunting task of raising the hundreds of thousands of pounds required to update the run off area to suit modern motorsport. They then implemented plans to literally move the earth (well, many many tons of it anyway) to raise the run off to the point it is now.
Just imagine how much material is required to raise that whole area of land 10ft… it’s not the work of a moment! Neither is dealing with councils and planning authorities. In my personal experience my family owned a plot of land and it took us 7 years of relentlessly trying before the authorities let us knock down the derelict old house that was on it to build something liveable in its place, Thruxton have been very efficient in overcoming huge planning issues extremely quickly.
As it stands now the barrier is the same distance from the track that it was, it’s just a lot higher so it’s a good step forward and work will continue. More earth is being moved so the run off will become uphill additionally there will be a lot more of it as well because the barrier will move another 50m further back. By the time we come back next year it will be safe as houses.
This was and is happening anyway, regardless of people moaning that it’s not good enough yet, and yes I hear you “why didn’t they have a tyre wall there” well I wouldn’t want to hit a tyre wall at a 45 degree angle nose first (which would be the likely result of a tyre blow out) I would much rather slide down the Armco then undergo the forces that a tyre wall would incur, thankfully the MSA agree.
What about a street race? Lots of people would love to see a BTCC street race and I think it would be popular with the drivers as well, I personally would love the championship to do a one-off event at Macau. This has made me wonder why. At Macau every other corner is a Church corner, insanely fast, bumpy, no room for error and you’re not just going to “have an off” no, if you make a mistake it’s only going to be a big one! So, is it the danger that’s appealing? Is it that extra bit of bravery that’s required, that extra bit of adrenaline? Whatever it is, if street circuits are OK then why is Church such a big deal when you actually have a relatively large margin for error there.
Having said all that I do really feel for Dan [Lloyd], that was in no way his fault or avoidable by him and it was the worst possible scenario. But that can happen at lots of places on UK circuits, check out my effort https://youtu.be/hLlnG1N8i1U
The work is happening anyway, next year it will be fine but I wonder if those who are so quick to criticise the circuit will stop, as I will, and say thank you to the Thruxton management, thank you for going above and beyond to improve safety for us and in doing so saving one of the greatest corners in the UK."
(taken from http://robaustin.co.uk/thruxton-saftey)
"What’s that I hear you say? “what’s your take on the Thruxton safety issues Rob?” well ok, I’ll tell you.
I’ve read all sorts of nonsense about this and to be honest it straight up pisses me off! Especially when they say that “all” the drivers complained, because I didn’t!
I, like many (even the ones complaining about it) love Thruxton and don’t want to see a chicane being put in there or it removed from the BTCC calendar. So it makes me wonder what those people are hoping to achieve by publicly complaining about the run off at Church, because literally all their efforts can lead to is increasing public pressure on the circuit to put a chicane in or TOCA to remove Thruxton from the calendar.
“They just want to see safety improvements at Church” yeah, but they can and that’s the problem. The barrier is now at the same level as the circuit and nolonger covered by trees so it’s a lot more obvious and looks closer even though its not. Besides, what do they think is happening? After 2015 when we saw two cars go over that wall it suddenly became very clear that something needed to be done, the easiest, quickest and cheapest solution would be to add a chicane. But the management at Thruxton are racers and they knew that literally no one wanted to see that so instead they went to work at the daunting task of raising the hundreds of thousands of pounds required to update the run off area to suit modern motorsport. They then implemented plans to literally move the earth (well, many many tons of it anyway) to raise the run off to the point it is now.
Just imagine how much material is required to raise that whole area of land 10ft… it’s not the work of a moment! Neither is dealing with councils and planning authorities. In my personal experience my family owned a plot of land and it took us 7 years of relentlessly trying before the authorities let us knock down the derelict old house that was on it to build something liveable in its place, Thruxton have been very efficient in overcoming huge planning issues extremely quickly.
As it stands now the barrier is the same distance from the track that it was, it’s just a lot higher so it’s a good step forward and work will continue. More earth is being moved so the run off will become uphill additionally there will be a lot more of it as well because the barrier will move another 50m further back. By the time we come back next year it will be safe as houses.
This was and is happening anyway, regardless of people moaning that it’s not good enough yet, and yes I hear you “why didn’t they have a tyre wall there” well I wouldn’t want to hit a tyre wall at a 45 degree angle nose first (which would be the likely result of a tyre blow out) I would much rather slide down the Armco then undergo the forces that a tyre wall would incur, thankfully the MSA agree.
What about a street race? Lots of people would love to see a BTCC street race and I think it would be popular with the drivers as well, I personally would love the championship to do a one-off event at Macau. This has made me wonder why. At Macau every other corner is a Church corner, insanely fast, bumpy, no room for error and you’re not just going to “have an off” no, if you make a mistake it’s only going to be a big one! So, is it the danger that’s appealing? Is it that extra bit of bravery that’s required, that extra bit of adrenaline? Whatever it is, if street circuits are OK then why is Church such a big deal when you actually have a relatively large margin for error there.
Having said all that I do really feel for Dan [Lloyd], that was in no way his fault or avoidable by him and it was the worst possible scenario. But that can happen at lots of places on UK circuits, check out my effort https://youtu.be/hLlnG1N8i1U
The work is happening anyway, next year it will be fine but I wonder if those who are so quick to criticise the circuit will stop, as I will, and say thank you to the Thruxton management, thank you for going above and beyond to improve safety for us and in doing so saving one of the greatest corners in the UK."
I think that's a generous interpretation of the situation by Rob, I've never felt there's an attitude of actively wanting to improve the safety, in fact I think they were more or less shamed into it after mine and Simon's accidents.
Also a lot of the drivers were kicking off about it and at the very least agreeing with what was being said, Rob himself didn't disagree about it being a bit dodgy and only clarified what we already know about the barrier not actually being any closer
Also Macau IS dangerous, in fact the only recent death in a touring car I'm aware of happened there a couple of years ago with exactly the sort of impact we're talking about, but there isn't an opportunity to improve it without spoiling the track unlike Thruxton. Also Macau is narrow and makes it unlikely that the two or three abreast chain reaction shunts, which have become prevalent in BTCC since it's become so close, will occur
I also hate the way they continuously use the threat of a chicane spoiling the track to excuse the lack of safety, it's like blackmail.
had some good racing on Sunday, thankfully it was still Audi shaped at the end of it too!
Also a lot of the drivers were kicking off about it and at the very least agreeing with what was being said, Rob himself didn't disagree about it being a bit dodgy and only clarified what we already know about the barrier not actually being any closer
Also Macau IS dangerous, in fact the only recent death in a touring car I'm aware of happened there a couple of years ago with exactly the sort of impact we're talking about, but there isn't an opportunity to improve it without spoiling the track unlike Thruxton. Also Macau is narrow and makes it unlikely that the two or three abreast chain reaction shunts, which have become prevalent in BTCC since it's become so close, will occur
I also hate the way they continuously use the threat of a chicane spoiling the track to excuse the lack of safety, it's like blackmail.
Allyc85 said:
Was meant to say Wookie, cracking pass on the Mg going into Allard in race 1. Looked pretty tight!
Cheers had some good racing on Sunday, thankfully it was still Audi shaped at the end of it too!Edited by The Wookie on Saturday 13th May 12:58
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff