BTCC 2020 Rumour Mill

BTCC 2020 Rumour Mill

Author
Discussion

Kraken

1,710 posts

199 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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acer12 said:
Wouldn't surprise me if Turks had the same contract change, except Turks knows that he can race clean (with little or no damage) and win whereas this is not always the case for Jordan so its a bigger financial risk for Jordan.
It's totally out of the drivers hands most of the time though. Look at the incident last season at Donington which you could argue cost Jordan the championship. As soon as you have other drivers around you you're relying on them totally to not lose control or have a mechanical failure etc.

agent006

Original Poster:

12,029 posts

263 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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It's a shame but not entirely surprising that he's been the first casulaty. Big doubts over him even being in 2020 at all from last season, so you have to assume that the maths were pretty tight regardless, and in what must be one of the most expensive seats in the championship. All it takes is for the situation to move in on you from both sides, the deal with the team, and then sponsors getting cold feet. You could deal with one, but not both.

Speed Badger

2,667 posts

116 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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Being in the BTCC is kind of a hiding to nothing really. Even if you win the championship that doesn't mean you win riches beyond compare. There must be only a handful of drivers actually getting paid, most are probably funded mostly by sponsors / team subsidies (can anyone confirm - Wookie?) or by a mixture of the above with additional family or personal funding. Do drivers even get win bonuses any more?

DanielSan

18,745 posts

166 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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Speed Badger said:
Being in the BTCC is kind of a hiding to nothing really. Even if you win the championship that doesn't mean you win riches beyond compare. There must be only a handful of drivers actually getting paid, most are probably funded mostly by sponsors / team subsidies (can anyone confirm - Wookie?) or by a mixture of the above with additional family or personal funding. Do drivers even get win bonuses any more?
No prize other than a trophy for teams or drivers. It's a brilliant business model for TOCA, terrible for everyone else.

The Wookie

13,909 posts

227 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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Speed Badger said:
Being in the BTCC is kind of a hiding to nothing really. Even if you win the championship that doesn't mean you win riches beyond compare. There must be only a handful of drivers actually getting paid, most are probably funded mostly by sponsors / team subsidies (can anyone confirm - Wookie?) or by a mixture of the above with additional family or personal funding. Do drivers even get win bonuses any more?
Yeah it’s basically a sliding scale of the above with the top few being able to earn a salary out of their sponsorship after the budget and the other end being 100% personal sponsor and family funded.

Most are in the middle where the team sponsors fill some and they have to bring the balance

There is an independent teams championship prize fund, both cash and tyres, but it’s fairly modest and usually goes to the teams, although I’ve had a deal before where I took the prize money home... as long as I was under the driver weight target set by the team at the start of every weekend rofl

These days the winnings are more likely to have the queens head rather than Dunlop Goodyear written on them so it’s more of a get nagged or shouted at if I’m a bit fat and get the boot at the end of the year if I start looking like I did pre 2015 hehe

The normal expectation is that any winnings get spent on extra tyres for testing etc

Just to add I think AJ is a real loss to the series. Good bloke and a top driver, he deserves to be there.

Speed Badger

2,667 posts

116 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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Yeah that sucks, can't believe you don't even get a couple of quid for a win. Should try like mad from an early age to get over to the States and get into Indycars - get in the 500 and even if you finish last you get around $200,000! Depending on the pot, around $2.5million for winning.

Dynion Araf Uchaf

4,422 posts

222 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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I think the btcc needs a budget cap. IIRC it costs around £110k to do Clios with a front running team but you could do it yourself with a couple of mates for £30k , after you’ve sold the car at the end of the year.

So if you stripped BTCC back to the absolute minimum, limited tyres, engines, mechanics etc I wonder how cheap you could do it? <100k?. Basically set it up like posh club racing and maybe it would be a goer. The tele fans don’t care what goes on in the garage!

The Wookie

13,909 posts

227 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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Dynion Araf Uchaf said:
I think the btcc needs a budget cap. IIRC it costs around £110k to do Clios with a front running team but you could do it yourself with a couple of mates for £30k , after you’ve sold the car at the end of the year.

So if you stripped BTCC back to the absolute minimum, limited tyres, engines, mechanics etc I wonder how cheap you could do it? <100k?. Basically set it up like posh club racing and maybe it would be a goer. The tele fans don’t care what goes on in the garage!
Funny enough when I first started doing it there were plenty on here moaning about it being posh club racing

I’d say it’s about right, it’s supposed to be the top level of U.K. motorsport and it’s not orders of magnitude above even Clio’s or Ginettas

Munter

31,319 posts

240 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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The last few years the grids have been full. If people didn't think it was worth it we wouldn't see that.

This year will be a test, and things might change, but up to now TOCA have been selling a product enough people wanted to buy the lot.

BMR

944 posts

177 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
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PMR have paused their campaign and rolled over to ‘21. They’ve confirmed Plato will be back and Mat Jackson has first option on the other drive.. I had heard Jackson had lost a sponsor.

They are aiming to run some guest drivers this year.

emicen

8,558 posts

217 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
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No PowerMaxed Racing now, just guest car appearances this year.

Like him or loathe him, BTCC isn’t the same without JP.

https://powermaxedracing.com/blogs/news/pmr-press-...

Kraken

1,710 posts

199 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
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I'll be surprised if they're the last team that pulls out and I'd be gobsmacked if every driver who starts the season finishes it.

100% the right decision by PMR in my book and hats off to Alan Gow for giving them the flexibility to make the best long term decision for the team.

DanielSan

18,745 posts

166 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
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BMR said:
PMR have paused their campaign and rolled over to ‘21. They’ve confirmed Plato will be back and Mat Jackson has first option on the other drive.. I had heard Jackson had lost a sponsor.

They are aiming to run some guest drivers this year.
Jackson was the driver I'd heard a rumour about a couple of weeks ago, I'm guessing it was either just run Plato in one car at a loss or move all contracts forward a year to run the team properly next season. Plato was asking in April if TOCA could just bin this season off and let all the drivers move their deals forward a year to prevent exactly what's happening now.

acer12

956 posts

173 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
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Terrible timing for the team considering they were finally at the right end of the grid late last year so were looking good to build on this momentum.

I'd worry about the long term prospects of this team.

This team has an odd sponsor structure with a large amount of sponsors / "partners" (relative to other teams) and the burden of paying a big wage (how the wage is paid to Plato is irrelevant, whether Plato gets a cheque each month from powermaxed or they get less sponsorship £s because Plato gets to hold back a big %, they are at a disadvantage to other teams who don't have this burden). Will Plato continue to have influence with sponsors to get the big deals, that win last year could be the most important win of his career as its good for marketing.

I also wonder how much of a disadvantage will they be at relative to other teams missing out on the benefits of regular racing improving the cars.

Not to mention the elephant in the room, Plato at 52 isn't getting any younger and when / if her returns in 2021 it will be 18 months away from competitive racing. Maybe he will be the biggest loser out of this, if he didn't have that win last year I think it would undoubtedly be curtains on his career (3 podiums in his last 70 races is nothing to shout about). He is already touting for media work on twitter.

Edited by acer12 on Wednesday 8th July 08:48

Kraken

1,710 posts

199 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
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Not sure I'd agree about Plato. If he goes out and gets £600k in sponsorship and the team want £300k to run the car how is him keeping £300k damaging the team? That's how it works for many drivers in all forms of motor racing. Very, very few actually get paid directly by the team.

Of course he's touting for media work. Do you expect him to sit on his backside and do nothing? He didn't become as wealthy as he is purely through racing.

Plato is still a huge draw. You only have to look on social media to see that. A story about Plato gets far more comments and views than any other driver.

Rob197

781 posts

145 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
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Robow out at cicely, no mention of him in their social media as in wishing him well for the future as many teams do when a driver leaves, so maybe it wasn't a happy split?

Rockatansky

1,697 posts

186 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
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No spectators at Donington this weekend..

https://news.msv.com/20896.aspx

Munter

31,319 posts

240 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
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I had tickets. Boo hiss etc.

Ah well!

Sebring440

1,926 posts

95 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
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Out of order for MSV to be taking all that ticket money with no actual reassurances that spectators would be allowed. I wonder how long it will take for refunds?

Sebring440

1,926 posts

95 months

Thursday 30th July 2020
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Rob197 said:
Robow out at cicely, no mention of him in their social media as in wishing him well for the future as many teams do when a driver leaves, so maybe it wasn't a happy split?
It was a big (very big) sponsor that pulled out.