BTCC 2012 Season
Discussion
The climax to another great season and i think Flash was a deserved winner at the end of it all.
Plato has done a great job all season in an under developed car and if it had been dry at brands hatch at the weekend might have been a bit closer.
The only thing thats harmed this season if anything is the altered boost level between all the cars all season long i know its a balancing act till they get them equal if thats possible but its in danger of making the racing false if you know what i mean.
Had the privilege of attend 4 meetings this year Donnington Park, Oulton Park, Croft and Knockhill and its great to be there live really good atmosphere and where else can you stumble across drivers just walking around in the paddock and not fenced off to Joe public.
Hope next year is another great year and some different cars and drivers find there way on to the grid
Donnington Park
Oulton Park
Croft
Knockhill
Plato has done a great job all season in an under developed car and if it had been dry at brands hatch at the weekend might have been a bit closer.
The only thing thats harmed this season if anything is the altered boost level between all the cars all season long i know its a balancing act till they get them equal if thats possible but its in danger of making the racing false if you know what i mean.
Had the privilege of attend 4 meetings this year Donnington Park, Oulton Park, Croft and Knockhill and its great to be there live really good atmosphere and where else can you stumble across drivers just walking around in the paddock and not fenced off to Joe public.
Hope next year is another great year and some different cars and drivers find there way on to the grid
Donnington Park
Oulton Park
Croft
Knockhill
Having read the article around the Insignias - I couldn't disagree more. Proper fighters those guys at Thorney - wish them every bit of luck in the world.
Great to see Flash and Team Dynamics take the flag. Flash as he seems a proper bloke, and Team Dynamics as we come from the same part of the world.
MG have punched above their weight all things considered IMHO.
I don't disagree on Andy Neate though...
Chris James has been a bit...odd...though I feel that may be due more to knowing what sells than what he is actually like.
Great to see Flash and Team Dynamics take the flag. Flash as he seems a proper bloke, and Team Dynamics as we come from the same part of the world.
MG have punched above their weight all things considered IMHO.
I don't disagree on Andy Neate though...
Chris James has been a bit...odd...though I feel that may be due more to knowing what sells than what he is actually like.
This is my set from Thruxton 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allyc85/sets/72157629...
Couldnt bloody believe it when Toby Moody described Thruxton as damp the other day! Should of made him stand out in it!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allyc85/sets/72157629...
Couldnt bloody believe it when Toby Moody described Thruxton as damp the other day! Should of made him stand out in it!
Allyc85 said:
This is my set from Thruxton
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allyc85/sets/72157629...
Couldnt bloody believe it when Toby Moody described Thruxton as damp the other day! Should of made him stand out in it!
Yes i was thinking that aswel when he said it thuxton was wetter than brands damp my arse i was socked that day.http://www.flickr.com/photos/allyc85/sets/72157629...
Couldnt bloody believe it when Toby Moody described Thruxton as damp the other day! Should of made him stand out in it!
indigorallye said:
DanDC5 said:
And the only guy to prove the Avensis is actually any good.
What about Paul O'Neill? 6/4/6 at Knockhill, his second race day in the car IIRC.Not a bad effort.
Thought I would post one from each round I have attended this year. Only missed 2 due to other commitments at British GT.
Media day at Silverstone:
Brands Hatch Indy:
Donington Park:
Thruxton:
Snetterton:
Knockhill:
Rockingham. I am going to post 2 images for this. One to show how wet it was and the second is my personal highlight of the 2012 season, Adam Morgan leading a BTCC Race:
Silverstone:
Brands Hatch GP:
Roll on 2013!
Many thanks,
Media day at Silverstone:
Brands Hatch Indy:
Donington Park:
Thruxton:
Snetterton:
Knockhill:
Rockingham. I am going to post 2 images for this. One to show how wet it was and the second is my personal highlight of the 2012 season, Adam Morgan leading a BTCC Race:
Silverstone:
Brands Hatch GP:
Roll on 2013!
Many thanks,
Awesome pictures. Missus takes all ours so not got any to hand but this year we went to and camped at quite a few:
Media Day - Cold
Brands Hatch - My favourite and nearest circuit. Andy Neate crashed.
Thruxton - Still haven't completely dried out. Bit sick of Thruxton TBH. Always rains or blows a gale or both and the facilities are "archaic" at best. Andy Neate crashed.
Oulton Park - Long old trek (6 hour drive with a roof box to get there!!) but worth it and missus covered it as a Birthday present. Rained all Friday and into the night, lots of people got VERY stuck or their tents fell down because they hadn't put them up properly. But not ours. Ho ho ho. Andy Neate crashed.
Snetterton - Perfect campsite, great viewing. Andy Neate???
Silverstone - Not sure about Silverstone. Always lots of hiking, have to use a private campsite miles away and it's so big that it's a bit lacking in atmosphere. Neate building sand castles.
Brands Hatch again - Only one of the year we didn't camp at as it's only half hour drive. I was pleased as it was very damp but made for awesome viewing without the dread of having to pack everything in the car afterwards! Great atmosphere, really exciting stuff and as always the last is always the best race of the season. Andy Neate took out half the grid because he forgot to look in his mirror. Then he probably fell over or crashed on his way home.
Roll on 2013!
Media Day - Cold
Brands Hatch - My favourite and nearest circuit. Andy Neate crashed.
Thruxton - Still haven't completely dried out. Bit sick of Thruxton TBH. Always rains or blows a gale or both and the facilities are "archaic" at best. Andy Neate crashed.
Oulton Park - Long old trek (6 hour drive with a roof box to get there!!) but worth it and missus covered it as a Birthday present. Rained all Friday and into the night, lots of people got VERY stuck or their tents fell down because they hadn't put them up properly. But not ours. Ho ho ho. Andy Neate crashed.
Snetterton - Perfect campsite, great viewing. Andy Neate???
Silverstone - Not sure about Silverstone. Always lots of hiking, have to use a private campsite miles away and it's so big that it's a bit lacking in atmosphere. Neate building sand castles.
Brands Hatch again - Only one of the year we didn't camp at as it's only half hour drive. I was pleased as it was very damp but made for awesome viewing without the dread of having to pack everything in the car afterwards! Great atmosphere, really exciting stuff and as always the last is always the best race of the season. Andy Neate took out half the grid because he forgot to look in his mirror. Then he probably fell over or crashed on his way home.
Roll on 2013!
I only went to Croft this year, took the Mrs for her birthday and we both loved all the racing.
Highlights for me were -
Rob Austin getting a podium at Croft.
Dave Newsham's performances and generally being an all round nice bloke.
Aron Smith and Frank Wrathall getting their first BTCC wins
New Focus NGTC car
Dick Bennetts after Collard won at Brands
The Doctor's car driver getting the Cayenne sideways, and appearing to lap as quickly as the Ginetta Juniors at Croft!
Low lights -
Plato VS Newsham at the first round at Brands. Disgraceful driving by Plato.
Andy Neate managing to crash into everything possible.
Chris James crashing into what was left after Andy Neate had finished crashing into things.
Really looking forward to 2013, hopefully we will get to a few more rounds!
Highlights for me were -
Rob Austin getting a podium at Croft.
Dave Newsham's performances and generally being an all round nice bloke.
Aron Smith and Frank Wrathall getting their first BTCC wins
New Focus NGTC car
Dick Bennetts after Collard won at Brands
The Doctor's car driver getting the Cayenne sideways, and appearing to lap as quickly as the Ginetta Juniors at Croft!
Low lights -
Plato VS Newsham at the first round at Brands. Disgraceful driving by Plato.
Andy Neate managing to crash into everything possible.
Chris James crashing into what was left after Andy Neate had finished crashing into things.
Really looking forward to 2013, hopefully we will get to a few more rounds!
As I'm a touring car nerd and like writing about the sport, I thought I'd have a go at a season review of my own...
"If it ain't bust, don't fix it" the saying goes, and that was just what Honda Racing Team set out to do in 2012 with their retained driver lineup. Despite the protracted arguments over turbo boost levels and an associated slump at points of the year, the new NGTC Civic proved the most consistently quick car in the field and Gordon Shedden proved a worthy champion with plenty of hard-fought performances over the year.
Matt Neal meanwhile suffered several moments of bad luck after showing typical early season pace, the worst being a non-score at Silverstone in the penultimate round, and these plus his regular spats with Jason Plato meant he was in a support role to Shedden at the end of the year.
Many expected the new MG6 project and MG KX Momentum to not be much of a success and even more were surprised at Jason Plato's decision to join the squad, but the Triple Eight team proved that an untried car can work wonders when run by a team that knows what it's doing. Several jaws dropped when Plato scored a win at the opening round at Brands Hatch and he continued to impress from there on in, even if his usual habit of colliding with Matt Neal reared its head once again on several occasions. Poor wet-weather pace proved the MG's downfall on a couple of occasions, notably the last round at Brands when he could not match the Hondas.
Andy Neate meanwhile once again displayed the lack of pace he had shown for Ford in 2011 and spent most of the year getting into numerous scrapes, his nadir coming at the final round when a kamikaze rejoining manoeuvre left three other cars wrecked and summed up a poor season for the second MG.
Redstone Racing continued their upward strides with their Ford Focuses, and while Mat Jackson effectively sacrificed his own title chances in order to develop the new NGTC Focus ST, he was right on the pace at season's end even if reliability did cause problems in a couple of races. Jackson's pace and that of the new car are undoubted following his impressive form in the second half of the year.
Aron Smith meanwhile was one of the surprise packages of the year in his first year in a Ford, his form improving visibly as the season went on as he proved more than capable of dicing with the front runners and finished his year in style with an excellent maiden win at Brands Hatch.
Liam Griffin meanwhile proved off the pace and often accident-prone in a second successive year of struggle.
The eBay Motors BMWs were snapping at the heels of the fastest teams for much of the year, the occasional breakthrough usually led by Rob Collard who was consistently quick at most rounds in 2012 and usually able to fight for podiums including three wins.
Tom Onslow-Cole was seen by many as the "nearly man" of the year, coming close to success on many occasions but ultimately ending the year without a victory, his best turns of pace often coming in qualifying.
Nick Foster continued to learn his BTCC craft in his second year in the class and showed plenty of improvement in an accomplished season, only just missing the top ten in the championship.
Works support greatly helped the Pirtek Racing team in a successful season which saw lead driver Andrew Jordan regularly in the fight for overall wins and a deserving Independents champion, although the boost issues that sometimes hampered the works cars did affect them too. Jordan confirmed his status as a touring car star, while Jeff Smith looked quick in several rounds but had his mishaps too including a big shunt at Rockingham.
It was a disjointed year for the other Civic on the grid campaigned by Team HARD. Team boss Tony Gilham began the year behind the wheel and showed decent pace on a few occasions but rarely had the luck to go with it including spearing off while leading at a wet Thruxton. At the halfway point of the season he stepped aside to try his hand in the Thorney Motorsport Vauxhall (see below) and Robb Holland was the first to take over the Civic thus becoming the first American to compete in the BTCC for many years. He gave a reasonable account of himself in two rounds before passing the baton to VW Cup graduate Howard Fuller who showed slightly better pace over his two rounds. The last meeting of the year saw former F2 Stockcar and Ginetta racer Aaron Williamson make his debut and he surprised everyone by qualifying eighth and finishing in the points in race one, only to be written off by Andy Neate in race two.
Rob Austin's Audi A4 had shown good pace towards the end of 2011 and bigger things were expected this year, but some felt that the Audi somewhat flattered to deceive despite a few top five finishes for Austin early in the year, other projects also taking precedence for Rob away from the championship and possibly taking away valuable development time for this relatively new project. Former single seater racer Will Bratt replaced Austin when he was unavailable in mid-season and eventually joined the team in a second car, proving impressive with top-ten pace despite a relative lack of saloon car experience.
One of the biggest surprises of the year was the form of Dave Newsham and ES Racing. The team had been off the pace with an old Lacetti during 2011 but the purchase of two Vectras from Triple Eight marked their intentions for 2012, but even the team themselves were shocked when Newsham went fastest in the pre-season test at Silverstone and then took pole for the opening round at Brands. Newsham quickly became a fan favourite and battled against bad luck to regularly fight with the front runners, finally taking his first BTCC win at Snetterton. He and Aron Smith were certainly the most improved drivers of the year.
Team owner Chris James meanwhile endured a tough season with the other Vectra, getting involved in numerous scrapes in a year of struggle.
Lea Wood had worked miracles with an ancient Honda Integra in past years so when he announced the purchase of a Vectra from Pirtek Racing and revealed new sponsorship from Binz many predicted great things for the budget racer. He certainly delivered too with several flashes of brilliance, the highlight coming at Snetterton where he led the reverse grid race for several laps, but sadly on this occasion his luck was out as it was many times in 2012. Lea's wet-weather pace was always impressive in what was a great year for the hard-working little team.
Speaking of small-scale teams, it was a great year of improvement for Frank Wrathall and his family-run Dynojet team as their Toyota Avensis showed more and more pace throughout the season. Rapid qualifying at several rounds and a few podium spots signalled their upturn in form in their second year in the series and they were rewarded with a maiden win in the final race of the year - the first BTCC win for a Toyota since 1993. Frank is certainly marked as a touring car star of the future.
It wasn't such a good year for the other Toyotas on the grid as the two Speedworks-run Avensises struggled. Tony Hughes raced purely for enjoyment as always and did not often trouble the points scorers in his last year as a BTCC driver, while Adam Morgan was for many the unluckiest driver of the year. His ability was never in doubt following his Ginetta title success in 2011 but he spent most of his debut BTCC year either with mechanical problems or being caught up in other people's incidents. A frustrating season for this talented driver.
The Speedworks cars did enjoy some successful results however as fan favourite Paul O'Neill made a welcome BTCC comeback for the Croft and Knockhill rounds, showing his usual entertaining style and proving well on the pace too with three top ten finishes in Scotland.
For the second year in a row, AmD Milltek's VW Golf did not quite live up to expectations although Ollie Jackson's first year with the car saw him put in a few decent races especially in wet conditions. The team has already stated its intention to use a new car if they continue in the BTCC in 2013.
The small family-run Welch Motorsport team enjoyed an improved season with their Proton Persona, owner-driver Daniel Welch's highlight being a superb fourth place at Oulton Park. For the relatively small outlay this budget team has they achieved plenty in 2012 but did not always have the luck their determination deserved.
John Thorne's squad displayed boundless enthusiasm and determination as they finally got their Vauxhall Insignia onto the grid for 2012, but endless teething troubles led to Thorne himself only competing at the opening round, the car missing several rounds before Tony Gilham gave it a go and similarly struggled. Chris Stockton's BTCC return never happened after he was taken ill and Gilham had to step in, eventually buying the Insignia off Thorne for the last round but still no results were forthcoming in an interrupted and disappointing season.
Hope that didn't bore everyone too much - and please note that is my own opinion and any disagreements are welcome.
"If it ain't bust, don't fix it" the saying goes, and that was just what Honda Racing Team set out to do in 2012 with their retained driver lineup. Despite the protracted arguments over turbo boost levels and an associated slump at points of the year, the new NGTC Civic proved the most consistently quick car in the field and Gordon Shedden proved a worthy champion with plenty of hard-fought performances over the year.
Matt Neal meanwhile suffered several moments of bad luck after showing typical early season pace, the worst being a non-score at Silverstone in the penultimate round, and these plus his regular spats with Jason Plato meant he was in a support role to Shedden at the end of the year.
Many expected the new MG6 project and MG KX Momentum to not be much of a success and even more were surprised at Jason Plato's decision to join the squad, but the Triple Eight team proved that an untried car can work wonders when run by a team that knows what it's doing. Several jaws dropped when Plato scored a win at the opening round at Brands Hatch and he continued to impress from there on in, even if his usual habit of colliding with Matt Neal reared its head once again on several occasions. Poor wet-weather pace proved the MG's downfall on a couple of occasions, notably the last round at Brands when he could not match the Hondas.
Andy Neate meanwhile once again displayed the lack of pace he had shown for Ford in 2011 and spent most of the year getting into numerous scrapes, his nadir coming at the final round when a kamikaze rejoining manoeuvre left three other cars wrecked and summed up a poor season for the second MG.
Redstone Racing continued their upward strides with their Ford Focuses, and while Mat Jackson effectively sacrificed his own title chances in order to develop the new NGTC Focus ST, he was right on the pace at season's end even if reliability did cause problems in a couple of races. Jackson's pace and that of the new car are undoubted following his impressive form in the second half of the year.
Aron Smith meanwhile was one of the surprise packages of the year in his first year in a Ford, his form improving visibly as the season went on as he proved more than capable of dicing with the front runners and finished his year in style with an excellent maiden win at Brands Hatch.
Liam Griffin meanwhile proved off the pace and often accident-prone in a second successive year of struggle.
The eBay Motors BMWs were snapping at the heels of the fastest teams for much of the year, the occasional breakthrough usually led by Rob Collard who was consistently quick at most rounds in 2012 and usually able to fight for podiums including three wins.
Tom Onslow-Cole was seen by many as the "nearly man" of the year, coming close to success on many occasions but ultimately ending the year without a victory, his best turns of pace often coming in qualifying.
Nick Foster continued to learn his BTCC craft in his second year in the class and showed plenty of improvement in an accomplished season, only just missing the top ten in the championship.
Works support greatly helped the Pirtek Racing team in a successful season which saw lead driver Andrew Jordan regularly in the fight for overall wins and a deserving Independents champion, although the boost issues that sometimes hampered the works cars did affect them too. Jordan confirmed his status as a touring car star, while Jeff Smith looked quick in several rounds but had his mishaps too including a big shunt at Rockingham.
It was a disjointed year for the other Civic on the grid campaigned by Team HARD. Team boss Tony Gilham began the year behind the wheel and showed decent pace on a few occasions but rarely had the luck to go with it including spearing off while leading at a wet Thruxton. At the halfway point of the season he stepped aside to try his hand in the Thorney Motorsport Vauxhall (see below) and Robb Holland was the first to take over the Civic thus becoming the first American to compete in the BTCC for many years. He gave a reasonable account of himself in two rounds before passing the baton to VW Cup graduate Howard Fuller who showed slightly better pace over his two rounds. The last meeting of the year saw former F2 Stockcar and Ginetta racer Aaron Williamson make his debut and he surprised everyone by qualifying eighth and finishing in the points in race one, only to be written off by Andy Neate in race two.
Rob Austin's Audi A4 had shown good pace towards the end of 2011 and bigger things were expected this year, but some felt that the Audi somewhat flattered to deceive despite a few top five finishes for Austin early in the year, other projects also taking precedence for Rob away from the championship and possibly taking away valuable development time for this relatively new project. Former single seater racer Will Bratt replaced Austin when he was unavailable in mid-season and eventually joined the team in a second car, proving impressive with top-ten pace despite a relative lack of saloon car experience.
One of the biggest surprises of the year was the form of Dave Newsham and ES Racing. The team had been off the pace with an old Lacetti during 2011 but the purchase of two Vectras from Triple Eight marked their intentions for 2012, but even the team themselves were shocked when Newsham went fastest in the pre-season test at Silverstone and then took pole for the opening round at Brands. Newsham quickly became a fan favourite and battled against bad luck to regularly fight with the front runners, finally taking his first BTCC win at Snetterton. He and Aron Smith were certainly the most improved drivers of the year.
Team owner Chris James meanwhile endured a tough season with the other Vectra, getting involved in numerous scrapes in a year of struggle.
Lea Wood had worked miracles with an ancient Honda Integra in past years so when he announced the purchase of a Vectra from Pirtek Racing and revealed new sponsorship from Binz many predicted great things for the budget racer. He certainly delivered too with several flashes of brilliance, the highlight coming at Snetterton where he led the reverse grid race for several laps, but sadly on this occasion his luck was out as it was many times in 2012. Lea's wet-weather pace was always impressive in what was a great year for the hard-working little team.
Speaking of small-scale teams, it was a great year of improvement for Frank Wrathall and his family-run Dynojet team as their Toyota Avensis showed more and more pace throughout the season. Rapid qualifying at several rounds and a few podium spots signalled their upturn in form in their second year in the series and they were rewarded with a maiden win in the final race of the year - the first BTCC win for a Toyota since 1993. Frank is certainly marked as a touring car star of the future.
It wasn't such a good year for the other Toyotas on the grid as the two Speedworks-run Avensises struggled. Tony Hughes raced purely for enjoyment as always and did not often trouble the points scorers in his last year as a BTCC driver, while Adam Morgan was for many the unluckiest driver of the year. His ability was never in doubt following his Ginetta title success in 2011 but he spent most of his debut BTCC year either with mechanical problems or being caught up in other people's incidents. A frustrating season for this talented driver.
The Speedworks cars did enjoy some successful results however as fan favourite Paul O'Neill made a welcome BTCC comeback for the Croft and Knockhill rounds, showing his usual entertaining style and proving well on the pace too with three top ten finishes in Scotland.
For the second year in a row, AmD Milltek's VW Golf did not quite live up to expectations although Ollie Jackson's first year with the car saw him put in a few decent races especially in wet conditions. The team has already stated its intention to use a new car if they continue in the BTCC in 2013.
The small family-run Welch Motorsport team enjoyed an improved season with their Proton Persona, owner-driver Daniel Welch's highlight being a superb fourth place at Oulton Park. For the relatively small outlay this budget team has they achieved plenty in 2012 but did not always have the luck their determination deserved.
John Thorne's squad displayed boundless enthusiasm and determination as they finally got their Vauxhall Insignia onto the grid for 2012, but endless teething troubles led to Thorne himself only competing at the opening round, the car missing several rounds before Tony Gilham gave it a go and similarly struggled. Chris Stockton's BTCC return never happened after he was taken ill and Gilham had to step in, eventually buying the Insignia off Thorne for the last round but still no results were forthcoming in an interrupted and disappointing season.
Hope that didn't bore everyone too much - and please note that is my own opinion and any disagreements are welcome.
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