BTCC BTCC 2011 Season

The third race is a reverse grid and the actual system used seems to change quite frequently

I must admit I'm not a fan of it and the spinning wheel/bag of balls is very amateurish and unprofessional.

The last race felt a bit hollow after the ball plucking, and Plato felt very much the underdog with his lack of power.

Rumour has it that mystic meg will be making an appearance at Donington Park.
 
I caught up with the races later on last night. I had expected a Plato bluewash this season, but there is a glimmer of hope with the Hondas.

Trouble is, if Chevrolet have an advantage, Plato wins by miles as McDowell isn't up to scratch, whereas if Honda are in front, at least we get some decent racing between Neal and Shedden.

The turbos pay for their torque with tyre wear, it would seem. If I was Alan Gow I wouldn't touch the regulations yet. Thruxton should be interesting...
 
A pretty fair assessment there G.

It was great to watch a lap yesterday where Plato would have the edge through the twisty bits but the turbos would more than compensate for that on the straight.

Why did you expect Plato to do so well this season?
Are the Chevrolets doing particularly well in WTCC? I still need to try and watch that if I can find a channel with it on :disappointed:

I'm surprised McDowell got the drive again to be honest. He didn't exactly make a good case for it last season.
Yes it helps Plato's title challenge but it doesn't really benefit the team overall.
 
I wouldn't bother with the WTCC if I were you. BMW have pulled out, leaving Chevy as the only works team left, and they seem to be comfortably in front. There's a lone Volvo but it's very under-developed at this stage.

Since it's the same team running the Chevys in both series I assumed the dominance would translate across, but I confess I forgot that Honda UK are supporting Dynamics again this year. Did they mention on commentary whether Chevrolet are going to get the turbo engine later in the season?
 
I wouldn't bother with the WTCC if I were you. BMW have pulled out, leaving Chevy as the only works team left, and they seem to be comfortably in front. There's a lone Volvo but it's very under-developed at this stage.
Oh dear, that's a shame.
BMW seem no longer to be interested in motorsport, although they did recently announce they would be competing in the DTM from 2012, so perhaps that's why.

Did they mention on commentary whether Chevrolet are going to get the turbo engine later in the season?
I didn't hear anything.
As far as I'm aware, they're sticking with an NA engine this season.

It's going to be interesting this season as Mat Jackson's Ford is just as quick as the Honda, as evidenced by his 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place finishes.
 
BMW have got the M3 GT car as well, but yes, the DTM programme is going to be a direct replacement for WTCC.

The Motorbase Ford did look pretty quick. Not sure what happened to the Arena cars (I'm afraid I think they hung on to the wrong driver in Chilton). With the ballast and reverse grids it's hard to get a clear picture though.
 

Hi Brogan,
Never thought I'd get a rallying call from someone here to a comment of mine on another forum, how surreal! LOL

I'm very glad to see that someone else shares my opinion of Matt Neal. :censored:
As I said in the 606 thread, it did seem on Sunday as if teammate Gordon Shedden decided to take up the cudgels on Matt's behalf, the way he liked to barge his way past through people. I know BTCC is a bit like dodgems anyway, but he was taking it too far on occasions.

Also it was interesting, in light of events the weekend before at Melbourne, to note all the warning flags for drivers putting all four wheels off the track. It didn't seem to result in any penalties though. Are motor sports stewards generally being a bit too soft on this issue?

Hats off to Nicolas Hamilton too, who was very unfairly punted off from behind by his teammate of all people! >:(but still soldiered gamely on to finish the race. I see that there is another thread open on the subject of Nic, so I should go and post there now.
 
Yes, the black and white flags seems to be a new thing - I certainly don't recall seeing many (any?) of them last year.

Should be interesting at Knockhill :D
 
Love BTCC and Plato's the one I always support. Matt Neal not so I'm afraid. Against those using turbo's it's going to be a hell of a fight throughout the season and that's what makes it for me, with a little rubbing for good measure. Well done Jason on his performance over the weekend. These 7 hours on a Sunday make my day inbetween GP's.....
 
THE BTCC left me a little cold at the weeknd (well freeview plussed it [im Cheap!] finally watched it all). I dunno perhaps a little of over expectation there. Looks like it could be an intresting season though. Hondas look pretty mighty though.

Personally i like paul o'Neil for some reason, hope he does well now his car isn't half a century old :p.

The other classes still were as great as ever though and nice to see somebody other then Harvey and Caine up-front in the Porshce Super Cup.
 
Matt Neal was good years ago as a priviteer and had to pay for his own parts, but as soon as he got a works drive, he turned into an asshole..
 
At least he's managing not to shunt somebody every race so far this season.

What happened to Johnny Herbert competing? I forget whether it was in 09 or '10 but he showed flashes of brilliance.
 
EvilWhippet, yeah mate 09, last three rounds of the championship in place of Thompson and was ok.
Next stop for him, SPA, Total 24hr race at the end of July.......
 
Aarghh!
Puncture for Plato.

The power and performance of the turbo cars is going to make it impossible for those without them to compete on an equal footing for most of the year it looks like.
 
The turbos just look stupidly faster here this weekend, at least they'll get some ballast for the next race.

Pluto wasn't happy was he.
 
They may even need to look at rebalancing if it carries on like this.
Despite Plato's wins at the previous meet, it was actually Neal on pole for the first race.
 
They may even need to look at rebalancing if it carries on like this.
Despite Plato's wins at the previous meet, it was actually Neal on pole for the first race.

Yeah, I'd wondered about that, it's all a bit weird having NA vs Turbos, I know about the engine regs but to have that gulf in class is a bit troubling, might as well have 2 championships.
 
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