2026: BTCC chat & discussion

[greeny12]

You'd have to have a heart of stone not to feel a little emotional watching Nic Hamilton's reaction to being up on the podium on Sunday...

[TommoAE86]

Milkyway said:

Tim Harvey saying that the Toyota, being the only hatchback now, needs another 25bhp to compete with the saloons.
Maybe they will have to look for a new model next season.
(Come on Mr Gow...sort it out).

Edited by Milkyway on Saturday 23 May 20:37

They still sell the saloon in Japan so they could use that, bonus if they care for racing that the wheel is on the 'UK' side already.

[PartsMonkey]

TommoAE86 said:

Milkyway said:

Tim Harvey saying that the Toyota, being the only hatchback now, needs another 25bhp to compete with the saloons.
Maybe they will have to look for a new model next season.
(Come on Mr Gow...sort it out).

Edited by Milkyway on Saturday 23 May 20:37

They still sell the saloon in Japan so they could use that, bonus if they care for racing that the wheel is on the 'UK' side already.

The problem is they are a works team (or at least half the team is). I can't see Toyota continuing to fund what is essentially a marketing exercise if the car on the grid isn't available in UK showrooms.

[Milkyway]

Maybe they can just graft the back end on... it would just blend in with all the others then.

[cuprabob]

SHIFT: Filmmaker Christopher Torretto Announces First-ever BTCC Feature Film • BTCC https://share.google/bMkKiptlFfsnL6Kwf

[NoUserNameAvailable]

Given that Toyota is the only manufacturer giving support left in the BTCC I wouldn't think it would be long before they pull the plug. Especially if the car continues to be outpaced overall.

[Speed Badger]

I still don't really understand why NAPA, Plato etc are manufacturer entries, yet WSR, Power Maxed etc are independent. Anyway, I think Nic Hamilton is doing really well this year considering there are no useless pay drivers, fat old company bosses or slow underdeveloped cars cluttering up the back of the grid.

[DanielSan]

cuprabob said:

SHIFT: Filmmaker Christopher Torretto Announces First-ever BTCC Feature Film BTCC https://share.google/bMkKiptlFfsnL6Kwf

The cinematic version of the TOCA game that never happened.

[NoUserNameAvailable]

Speed Badger said:

I still don't really understand why NAPA, Plato etc are manufacturer entries, yet WSR, Power Maxed etc are independent. Anyway, I think Nic Hamilton is doing really well this year considering there are no useless pay drivers, fat old company bosses or slow underdeveloped cars cluttering up the back of the grid.

Unless they are true manufacturer supported teams it's basically down to them which championship they enter unless they are buying the cars such as Restart Racing as far as I understand it.

[w1ltsu]

Some rumours online that the officials (Alan Gow) has decreased boost levels on the Mountune engines in the NAPA cars for this weekend.

Surely not...?

[NoUserNameAvailable]

They monitor the performance of all the engines and the boost can be raised or lowered as needed to maintain balance. Happened multiple times in the past. They review all the data every two events.

[w1ltsu]

The Hyundais had zero boost adjustments last season...

[NoUserNameAvailable]

The Hyundai had the advantage of it's body shape that Alliance themselves said was worth 25bhp over their hatchback shape so it looked very fast compared to the others but that wasn't necessarily because of the engine. There is a whole procedure for balancing the engines with multiple people involved. It's not just Alan Gow saying so as many seem to imply.

The Fords were hit with a similar reduction in 2023 (still haven't heard anything official that it's happened in 2025) but Ash still dominated the championship.

Edited by NoUserNameAvailable on Saturday 6th June 09:39

[MB140]

Qualifying just starting on YouTube

[Milkyway]

MB140 said:

Qualifying just starting on YouTube

A nicely mixed up grid for the 'race to pole'.

[Milkyway]

A nice interview with Nic Hamilton.
He was open & honest... I hope that some people see him in a different light now.
(Hope it's the first of many).

[NoUserNameAvailable]

The ones that post on the socials won't change their views. They insist that he finishes last in every race (he doesn't), that he crashes in every race (he doesn't) and he is funded by his brother (he isn't) so they aren't going listen to anything Nic says.

[Milkyway]

Both Legends races... Mega

Shame they aren't on the regular Support package... they never fail to entertain.
(Unlike a few other series.)

Now looking forward to the Classics.

Edited by Milkyway on Sunday 7th June 18:04

[BadOrangePete]

Loved the pre 83 racing!

[Skodapondy]

BadOrangePete said:

Loved the pre 83 racing!

They were brilliant. Does a pre 90 Series exist? The stuff eligible for that era would be fun Cossie RS500'S, R32 GTR's, E30 M3 etc. Us Dad's would love to see that.