The _TCC Series Thread

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 16 Oct 2014, 11:47

Haha Ataxia that's exactly what I thought of when they announced the name!

As for the driver line-up - very odd, and they will obviously be no-where near the front. I have to wonder who they'll be replacing on the grid if Gow sticks to the 32 grid slots. United Autosports maybe? Maybe a couple of two car teams will downsize?

It's good to have another manufacturer involved, and it's obviously a great cause, but what a terrible pair of drivers. The fact the news article in the BTCC site didn't even mention the drivers until more than halfway down the article (which was a long one!) says it all. They'll be lucky to get a top 10 finish next year.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 16 Oct 2014, 12:08

AndreaModa wrote: I have to wonder who they'll be replacing on the grid if Gow sticks to the 32 grid slots. United Autosports maybe? Maybe a couple of two car teams will downsize?

It's good to have another manufacturer involved, and it's obviously a great cause, .

From the Autosport article that I linked to on the last page of this thread:

Series boss Alan Gow will loan two TOCA BTCC Licenses for Infiniti's first season.

"I keep two TBLs up my sleeve for a two-car manufacturer team," Gow told AUTOSPORT. "It's great for the championship to have a new manufacturer and particularly a premium brand such as Infiniti.

"There's a great initiative behind the team too, with the Support Our Paras charity being such a worthwhile cause."

I read this as Alan Gow giving out two additional licences, unless I misunderstood it?

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 16 Oct 2014, 18:06

Ah I missed that, you must be right. Bit pointless having the 32 limit though. Looks to me like he's made that one up on the spot! :lol:

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 20 Oct 2014, 17:32

East Londoner wrote:ROTR has to be Gordon Shedden, refusing to give Gio any space going into Paddock Hill at the start, gets himself spun, and ends up causing a multi-car pile-up. I used to support him, but he's becoming more like Plato every bloody race.

So many damaged cars in that race.

Forgive me for being a bit late to the party on this, but it's taken me ages to get through all the racing last weekend.

But...you are joking right? I love Giovanardi to bits, but he drove like an idiot at Brands I'm afraid. For me, he's been the biggest disappointment of the whole season - only rarely showing glimpses of the old Gio.

I was extremely disappointed that the Hondas were bashed around yet again, so delighted that Sheds got the last win of the day (and on a different note, very pleased for Bennani in WTCC as well!) and nice to know that they CAN actually throw Plato out of a race result. Now do it when the title race is still open!

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 20 Oct 2014, 17:34

East Londoner wrote:Meanwhile, Alan Gow's threatening to dick over WSR and RAR next season

Why doesn't he understand the reason WSR cleaned up this year is because Turks is a world class driver. Last season, the BMW was brand new and pretty awful for most of the season, yet Turks almost won the championship with it. Why is such a surprise to Gow that Turks would dominate in a sorted car? Rob Collard's a decent hand behind the wheel, and he was nowhere for most of 2013.

What an idiot. Turks won the title entirely on merit. Is Gow getting megalomania tips from Bernie on a weekly basis?

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 20 Oct 2014, 17:39

While I'm posting about BTCC, I think I would give my Reject Of The Year award jointly to Marc Hynes, Warren Scott and Martin Depper for making it blindingly obvious why they were on the grid by driving appallingly and regularly crashing into others and / or pushing them off on a regular basis.

Nick Foster was doing that a fair bit too (nothing new there) and at one stage I would have put Jack Clarke in with the above 3 as he was having too many accidents, but he redeemed himself at the last meeting I think.

On the other hand, the 'why did they bother?' award goes to Dan Welch's team - totally anonymous at every meeting. The man himself even managed to end up on -40 points though I've no idea why!

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 20 Oct 2014, 17:49

Barbazza wrote:While I'm posting about BTCC, I think I would give my Reject Of The Year award jointly to Marc Hynes, Warren Scott and Martin Depper for making it blindingly obvious why they were on the grid by driving appallingly and regularly crashing into others and / or pushing them off on a regular basis.

Nick Foster was doing that a fair bit too (nothing new there) and at one stage I would have put Jack Clarke in with the above 3 as he was having too many accidents, but he redeemed himself at the last meeting I think.

On the other hand, the 'why did they bother?' award goes to Dan Welch's team - totally anonymous at every meeting. The man himself even managed to end up on -40 points though I've no idea why!

You get a points penelty for engine changes

Post by **Londoner** » 22 Oct 2014, 22:07

Some more BTCC silly season news, as Aiden Moffat is ditching the shitty ex-Andy Neate Chevy he's had to toil with all year, and will instead be racing a Mercedes A-Class for 2015, built by Adam Morgan's team. Which, as the latter half of this season proved, is a bloody good little car. Good luck to the lad.

Pointrox · Post by **Pointrox** » 26 Oct 2014, 08:37

What a great finish to a largely unexciting season in WTCC.
Tarquini! wins Race 2, followed by DUSAN BORKOVIC! and Norbert Michelisz. That's also the second time we have no Citroens on the podium this season.
A shame about Hugo Valente, though. He could get that second place in Race 1. But then, he would take the Top 10 spot from MEHDI BENNANI! and that would be a real shame

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:22

An official thread on the World Touring Car Championship has been missing so far on this forum. Named after one of the Series' greatest champions, here it is! And there is a reason for it appearing now, too: former USF1 driver Jose Maria Lopez has won the WTCC round at Suzuka today and has thus become the World Touring Car Champion. Congratulations!

(And if this thread exists already, please merge this into it, dear moderators. Thank you.)

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:25

Yannick wrote:(And if this thread exists already, please merge this into it

[url="http://www.f1rejects.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4863"]Aye, that it does[/url]

Yannick wrote:dear moderators. Thank you.)

Unfortunately, the WTCC is so boring they've all fallen asleep before they could complete the task.

Post by **Londoner** » 26 Oct 2014, 22:29

Who cares about Lopez winning the title, when Franz Engstler won the Engstler Cup in his ancient BMW!

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 27 Oct 2014, 03:46

Yannick wrote:An official thread on the World Touring Car Championship has been missing so far on this forum. Named after one of the Series' greatest champions, here it is! And there is a reason for it appearing now, too: former USF1 driver Jose Maria Lopez has won the WTCC round at Suzuka today and has thus become the World Touring Car Champion. Congratulations!

(And if this thread exists already, please merge this into it, dear moderators. Thank you.)

What a redemption for Lopez, but he still a F1 reject... oh wait, he wasn't able to start a race. :lol:

Post by **Londoner** » 27 Oct 2014, 19:16

Handy Motorsport are all but confirmed on the 2015 BTCC grid, but it seems Simon Belcher will be stepping down from driving duties, if this article is to be believed. Proven BTCC winners though, that makes me excite. Perhaps they could bring back someone like Steven Kane or Stephen Jelley, or even TOC (although by the sounds of things, TOC's got a good thing going in British GT atm). Hey, I can dream.

One team that's in strife though is United Autosports - the boss is selling his share of the BTCC team. And from what I've read on some forums (TenTenths), a lot of cash came from Glynn Geddie's family, and now that he's got himself a DUI, he's probably not driving in the series for a good while...

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 27 Oct 2014, 19:29

East Londoner wrote:Handy Motorsport are all but confirmed on the 2015 BTCC grid, but it seems Simon Belcher will be stepping down from driving duties, if this article is to be believed. Proven BTCC winners though, that makes me excite. Perhaps they could bring back someone like Steven Kane or Stephen Jelley, or even TOC (although by the sounds of things, TOC's got a good thing going in British GT atm). Hey, I can dream.

One team that's in strife though is United Autosports - the boss is selling his share of the BTCC team. And from what I've read on some forums (TenTenths), a lot of cash came from Glynn Geddie's family, and now that he's got himself a DUI, he's probably not driving in the series for a good while...

What about bringing back Gareth Howell or Tom Chilton? One guy who always excited me but will probally never come back is Adam Jones.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 27 Oct 2014, 20:33

I would like to see Paul O'Neill make a return, would be good to see those with hidden health issues (diabetes, like Charlie Kimball in IndyCar) do well on the public stage.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 28 Oct 2014, 10:41

pasta_maldonado wrote:
Yannick wrote:(And if this thread exists already, please merge this into it

[url="http://www.f1rejects.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4863"]Aye, that it does[/url]

Yannick wrote:dear moderators. Thank you.)

Unfortunately, the WTCC is so boring they've all fallen asleep before they could complete the task.

Thank you for merging threads. I have to admit I had to go though the "view your posts" option to find it. Never ever would I have gotten the idea of looking for a _TCC thread. That term is not googleable either because people who look for the thread just don't think of the term. And it doesn't fit the format of the other motorsports series thread titles either: The Official "Your Logo Here" _TCC Thread just doesn't sound familiar at all. However, I understand why there are no separate threads for each of those series: they all run cars according to basically the same rulebook.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 28 Oct 2014, 13:32

I wouldn't say basically the same rulebook; the BTCC has the best rulebook and every other series has a crap one.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 28 Oct 2014, 13:48

Salamander wrote:I wouldn't say basically the same rulebook; the BTCC has the best rulebook and every other series has a crap one.

V8 Supercars's rule book isn't that bad surely?

madmark1974 · Post by **madmark1974** » 28 Oct 2014, 14:08

My company has just had an interesting email, selling advertising space on a 2015 BTCC car, run by Andy Wilmot Racing, thought some of you might like a look. The link to the portfolio is here (I've checked it's safe):

http://design.filemovers.co.uk/design/andywilmotracing/pdf/Andy%20Wilmot%20BTCC%202015%20Sponsorship%20Packages.pdf

If nothing else, it shows just how much cash is needed to run a car in the series ...

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 28 Oct 2014, 18:40

Rule changes for btcc next year http://www.touringcartimes.com/2014/10/ ... -for-2015/

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 28 Oct 2014, 18:55

The boost removal - a good thing, provided they are set fairly at the beginning (ie not the usual 'accidental' penalty for any cars made by manufacturers beginning with 'H' and ending in A' and a free-for-all for any using the letters 'M' and 'G')

The ballast changes - too early to say, but it did seem at times last season that the ballast wasn't making too much difference so potentially a good thing.

Equalising front and rear wheel drive cars through mechanical means. Why do that? Part of the fun is seeing where rear wheel drive cars have advantage, and vice versa.

Shaking up the Race 2 grid is probably a good thing, but doing it based on lap times is a bit arbitrary.

And as for using the soft tyres equally in all 3 races. Um...it says that drivers tend to leave them until Race 3 all the time, except that last season they didn't *actually* do that!

Post by **Londoner** » 12 Nov 2014, 13:54

Clio Cup champion Mike Bushell joins AmD for 2015, replacing Dave Newsham

Bushell had a one-off entry in 2013 in Andy Neate's Chevy (and arguably was much better than him, but that's a debate for another day

), and very nearly scored points, so he should be a decent addition to the BTCC grid for 2015.

Wonder where Newsham goes from here, he's a decent driver and has money behind him, but he is one of the older drivers on the grid, so who knows...

Post by **Miguel98** » 15 Nov 2014, 12:11

Meanwhile, I think the death (or at least, the sure of it) of the WTCC has been signed. Why?

Citroen have announce that they're fielding the three manufacturer cars for next year for Lopez, Muller and Loeb.. And two private cars for... Sebastien Loeb Racing. Inb4 1-2-3-4-5 for Citroen's.

:roll:

Post by **Londoner** » 20 Nov 2014, 10:57

Alex Martin is confirmed at Motorbase for 2015, racing under the Dextra Racing banner

The end is nigh for Giovanardi. Shame he was such an old fart this season.

Post by **Londoner** » 25 Nov 2014, 22:08

Honda remain in the BTCC for 2015, however the Civic Tourer is no more. By the sounds of things, they're moving to the new Type-R Civic.

Matt Neal's confirmed, and I think we can all expect Shedden to be back as well.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 26 Nov 2014, 07:59

I didn't expect Neal to retire after just one bad season, but if he can't match Shedden again next year, it could very well be his last.

Post by **Londoner** » 30 Nov 2014, 14:02

You can tell it's the silly season alright

I mean seriously, who on earth has linked Turkington to drive a privateer Chevy for Munnich in the WTCC, when he's got arguably the best car in the BTCC field, a top team behind him in WSR, and has already said he's planning on defending the BTCC title next year. And why the hell would Turks want to be a midfielder in a second-rate series, when he can remain a frontrunner in a great series like the BTCC?

Of course, WSR could drop the ball spectacularly next season, but considering Turks is probably the best touring car driver in the world at the moment, it probably won't make much difference.

Post by **Londoner** » 01 Dec 2014, 09:49

Yet another débutante is on the BTCC grid next season - Clio Cup title contender Josh Cook is joining new team Racing For Heroes

So someone on the grid last season is gone with the transfer of a TBL, unless Gow does the sensible thing and increases the grid slots for this season, considering the amount of interest in the series at the moment.

Post by **Londoner** » 03 Dec 2014, 11:34

More BTCC silly season news - Andy Wilmot has joined Welch Motorsport, replacing Ollie Jackson. Let's hope the Protons have a much better year than they did this year.

Uh oh, Jeff Smith is back at Pirtek. Whether this means Depper's gone, or shock horror, Andy Jordan's left his family team, remains to be seen...

Dom_Wings · Post by **Dom_Wings** » 03 Dec 2014, 15:17

We need Welch staying at BTCC to score another -40 points

Post by **Londoner** » 03 Dec 2014, 16:33

Reject_Dom wrote:We need Welch staying at BTCC to score another -40 points

But they're one of my favourite teams in the series. :cry:

Anyway, I think it's time for a look at how the 2015 BTCC field is shaping up.

Team Dynamics - 2x Honda Civic Type-R
Matt Neal, Gordon Shedden

Almost certainly no driver changes here, not until Neal eventually retires.

Triple 8 - 2x cars of some shape or form

, 1x MG6?
Jason Plato?, Marc Hynes?, Andrew Jordan?

Hynes apparently inked a 2 year deal for his MG6 last year, but I wonder if it was dependant on the Quantel Bifold sponsorship, as they were Marussia sponsors. The far more interesting stuff is where Plato's gonna go for next season, and what cars they will be running. I'm not entirely sure MG will be back, and even if they did come back for 2015, the MG6 has maxed out its development. I'm fairly sure Plato will scrape out a deal somewhere. Tordoff probably has moved on to another team, considering he was getting increasingly peeved at the car costing him big results this year.

West Surrey Racing - 2x/3x BMW 1-series
Colin Turkington, Rob Collard, Sam Tordoff? Nick Foster

Turkington would have be on some kind of illicit substance to be considering moving to a midfield WTCC team. Collard bounced back after his terrible 2013 season, so he'll probably be back. I'm not entirely sure Foster will though, as he was mentioning that he's done 4 years at WSR when he only expected to do 3. Maybe Tordoff could take over the 3rd BMW, or perhaps WSR have loaned out their TBL.

Motorbase Performance - 2x Ford Focus
Mat Jackson? Jack Clarke?

The loss of Airwaves sponsorship almost certainly spells the end of Giovanardi's BTCC return. I could probably see Crabbies expand their sponsorship to two cars, which would keep Clarke on the grid, and hopefully ensure that Jackson stays. Two cars in those colours though, eurgh.

Pirtek Racing - 2x Honda Civic
Jeff Smith, Andrew Jordan?, Martin Depper?

Watch out, Jeff Smith's back in BTCC this season. The panel beaters will be pleased at this news. The question is, who's driving the other car? Surely it's got to be Andy Jordan, but he isn't confirmed yet...

Speedworks Motorsport -1x Toyota Avensis
Tom Ingram

Can't see any change here, Ingram's got a good thing going at the moment.

Rob Austin Racing - 2x Audi A4
Rob Austin, Hunter Abbott?

Austin says the team will be back again next year, the question is, will Abbott be back? I think he will.

Ciceley Motorsport - 1x Mercedes A-Class
Adam Morgan

Buoyed by his first BTCC victory, Adam Morgan's team will be back even stronger. That Merc is a fantastic little car.

Team BMR - 4x VW Passat
Aron Smith, Warren Scott, Alain Menu?, Jack Goff?

I think it's more a question of when, not if, Menu and Goff are confirmed for next year. Smith was confirmed way back in August.

Welch Motorsport - 2x Proton Persona
Dan Welch, Andy Wilmot

Wilmot is replacing Ollie Jackson at the team. He had a one-off outing in 2013 for Tony Gilham's madhouse, so it's hard to know if he's any good behind the wheel. The interesting thing here is that the team have yet to decide whether to continue with their own-build engine, or switch to the TOCA standard unit. Personally, as a big fan of the team, it's a hard decision to make, because although the own-build engine has proven to be a pile of excrement, the Welchs have spent a lot of time and money on it. However, the TOCA unit will put the cars back into the midfield, where it belongs. I'll say that they'll go back to the TOCA unit for this season, it'll be nice to see them back in the points again.

Aiden Moffat Racing - 1x Mercedes A-Class
Aiden Moffat

Adam Morgan's team is building a new A-Class for the young chap, which should immediately see him in better stead than the awful Andy Neate Chevy could ever do for him.

AmD Tuning - 1x Ford Focus
Mike Bushell

Dave Newsham has been replaced by the reigning Clio Cup champion Mike Bushell. They should be there or thereabouts.

Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing - 2x Infiniti Q50
Derek Palmer Jr, Richard Hawken

A new manufacturer effort is always nice to see, and I hope this team do well. But I can't really see these drivers doing much next season. Really think they should've signed Sam Tordoff.

Dextra Racing - 1x Ford Focus
Alex Martin

This is effectively the Motorbase satellite team this season. Decent car, but I've never heard of the driver until he was confirmed.

Handy Motorsport - 1x Toyota Avensis
Simon Belcher

Simon Belcher will continue to plug away in the lower depths of the field for another season.

#RacingForHeroes - 1x car of some shape or form, definitely not a motorbike.

Josh Cook

Another charity team, they've signed the Clio Cup runner up for 2014, so he'll be a decent hand behind the wheel.

By my (hopeless maths), that's 30 cars at least on the grid next year. I think it's pretty much a given that United Autosports will not be back next season, so this may be a way that some of the new entrants have got TBLs. BTC Racing and Chris Stockton may or may not be back, depending on budget. And I'm not entirely sure Rotek Racing will be back, considering they missed the last meeting of the year. Given Robb Holland's attitude and actions during the season, especially at the Silverstone round, this won't be a huge loss...

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 03 Dec 2014, 18:02

WTCC calendar

March 6-8 Argentina (Termas de Rio Hondo)
April 17-19 Morocco (Marrekech)
May 1-3 Hungary (Hungaroring)
May 15-16 Germany (Nurburgring Nordschleife)
June 5-7 Russia (Moscow Raceway)
June 19-21 Slovakia (Slovakiaring)*
June 26-28 France (Paul Ricard)
July 10-12 Portugal (Vilareal)
September 11-13 Japan (TBC)
September 25-27 China (Shanghai)
Oct 30 - Nov 1 Thailand (Buriram)
November 20-22 Qatar (Losail)*
* Subject to Event Promotion Agreement

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 03 Dec 2014, 18:46

andrew wrote: WTCC calendar

March 6-8 Argentina (Termas de Rio Hondo)
April 17-19 Morocco (Marrekech)
May 1-3 Hungary (Hungaroring)
May 15-16 Germany (Nurburgring Nordschleife)
June 5-7 Russia (Moscow Raceway)
June 19-21 Slovakia (Slovakiaring)*
June 26-28 France (Paul Ricard)
July 10-12 Portugal (Vilareal)
September 11-13 Japan (TBC)
September 25-27 China (Shanghai)
Oct 30 - Nov 1 Thailand (Buriram)
November 20-22 Qatar (Losail)*
* Subject to Event Promotion Agreement

Which means that Macau will not feature at all, let alone as season finale. Now that was a final round that could have been worthy of double-points.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 03 Dec 2014, 19:00

dr-baker wrote:
andrew wrote: WTCC calendar

March 6-8 Argentina (Termas de Rio Hondo)
April 17-19 Morocco (Marrekech)
May 1-3 Hungary (Hungaroring)
May 15-16 Germany (Nurburgring Nordschleife)
June 5-7 Russia (Moscow Raceway)
June 19-21 Slovakia (Slovakiaring)*
June 26-28 France (Paul Ricard)
July 10-12 Portugal (Vilareal)
September 11-13 Japan (TBC)
September 25-27 China (Shanghai)
Oct 30 - Nov 1 Thailand (Buriram)
November 20-22 Qatar (Losail)*
* Subject to Event Promotion Agreement

Which means that Macau will not feature at all, let alone as season finale. Now that was a final round that could have been worthy of double-points.

Well, at least the Nordschleife is confirmed.

Post by **Miguel98** » 03 Dec 2014, 19:06

andrew wrote:WTCC calendar

March 6-8 Argentina (Termas de Rio Hondo)
April 17-19 Morocco (Marrekech)
May 1-3 Hungary (Hungaroring)
May 15-16 Germany (Nurburgring Nordschleife)
June 5-7 Russia (Moscow Raceway)
June 19-21 Slovakia (Slovakiaring)*
June 26-28 France (Paul Ricard)
July 10-12 Portugal (Vilareal)
September 11-13 Japan (TBC)
September 25-27 China (Shanghai)
Oct 30 - Nov 1 Thailand (Buriram)
November 20-22 Qatar (Losail)*
* Subject to Event Promotion Agreement

Seriously? The best race of the year is cut off. Good job WTCC, good job.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 03 Dec 2014, 21:58

Yes, not the best calendar. It remains to be seen whether the Nordschleife is just a gimmick. The night race in Qatar certainly is - Macau is ridiculous but I'd much rather have that for the laugh factor.

No Spa either I notice. And I wish they would return to Italy as well. No room with all the mickey mouse circuits in the Far East and Eastern Europe to visit I guess.

Post by **Londoner** » 05 Dec 2014, 12:35

Bathplug, another big sponsor leaves the BTCC.

And suddenly, those rumours linking Turkington to the WTCC start to make sense. It would be a travesty if history repeats itself, and he's unable to defend the BTCC title again.

We can only hope WSR's success this season has brought in a big new title sponsor.

Post by **Londoner** » 10 Dec 2014, 10:02

MG are returning for 2015, meaning the BTCC has three manufacturers for 2015, and Sam Tordoff is confirmed at WSR.

Reading between the lines of that MG statement, it seems to suggest that Plato will not be driving for them next season. Now there's a bombshell. :shock:

Post by **Londoner** » 07 Jan 2015, 08:55

Aaaaand it's official,Andrew Jordan is an MG driver for 2015