BTCC BTCC

F1Brits_90

F1Brits_90

World Champion
in case we have any fans, British Touring Car Championship starts tomorrow at Brands Hatch on itv 4 & finishes as usual at 12 October. but for the 1st time it wont be visiting Rockingham instead Thruxton twice 19th may /18th August. along with other Croft 16th june, Oulton park 30th june, Snetterton 4 august, Knockhill 15 Sept & Silverstone 29th Sept

The series still has some of the well known names Defending champion Colin Turkington, 2017 champion & polesitter Ashley Sutton, Tom Ingram Andrew Jordan, Sam Tordoff, Adam Morgan despite being over 50 Jason Plato (who has qualifed 2nd), Rob Collard & Matt Neal still fighting but the 1st 2 teams are in the new Vauxhall team after leaving/ pushed from Subaru & BMW respectively. but we have some very intresting Newcomers in Nicolas Hamilton & Mark Blundell

but ive got my eyes on 2nd round at Donington Park when Ill be in hospitality (ooh la la) joining my dad for his Christmas present
 
FB said:
Thanks for posting this F1Brits_90 I'd not spotted the calendar for this season and am now inflicting the Ginetta race on my wife.
Click to expand

i forgotten too until yesterday evening as with boat race, football (league & fa cup), grand national. it slipped my mind so i thought id do it in case of others in that boat. although with work ill probally not be able to watch got through all 3 races til Tuesday

but looked interesting as i leaving fog was lifting but rain was starting. lovely british spring weather :D
 
its how ive watched races ive missed, like if if clashes with F1 for few years because the highlights are useless not til next Saturday. whats point of that
 
we had a interesting trio of races in BTCC, espcially as being at the front of the grid was almost pointless with the winner coming from 10th 15th & 6th.

Race 1 it was too wet for slicks & too dry for wets. so was a real gamble on what tyre to go on as the 1st 4 & last 5 favoured wets but middle favoured the slicks. but on the whole if you weren't on the slicks you were siting ducks & Plato you wouldve though with his expierence. he wouldve gone with gut feeling on go on the slicks, but he paid for that mistake

Race 2 was the weirdest championship wise, because all the championship contenders were ballast free & all outsiders were at the front, with a fantastic drive through the field from Jordan. then Race 3 was more normal a few stupid moves which sutton was right in his complaints & Chilton finishing off a great weekend for himself 3rd & 1st. all sets it up nicely for Donington park In 3 weeks, as it like race 2 because all the championship contenders are ballast free with Turkington, Ingram, Jordan, Sutton, Neal all 8th or below
 
sorry for the delay on this & my visit to the BTCC at donighton park on sundfay but you what its like, busy weekend with football BTCC & the crucible snooker. on Saturday sunday & Monday. then covering holidays at work Tuesday & Wednesday

in short it was fantastic I couldnt fault anything. despite watching various motorsport for over 20yrs. I was a rookie its 1st time id ever seen the action live. the 1st thing that hit me was noise & rumble of the cars that just go through your chest, smell of the petrol. everytime even in race 3 I was still taken aback. I can fully understand the clamour of the V8 & V10's. I was a convert & the speed of the cars I would equate this to Usain bolt when I saw him at the Olympics I knew he was quick (understatement LOL) but in person he found another gear. same with BTCC at 102mph cant imagine 134mph average bottas pole lap in baku. loved the racing. I want to give a mention to alverez in F4 such quality display of defensive driving to keep the lead of the race despite pressure from behind. might be 1 to keep an eye as he has Telcel backing like Sergio perez

on non racing terms, it was a Christmas present & we decided to go for the trackside package at £129 now I know its steep. but I would if you can, go for it because I feel its the best way to do it because for the extra £95 you get so many extras. that I would almost say we broke even. because we got priority parking in separate car park saved 25/30mins of extra queuing in the general admission as well as the hr long queue to get that point so certainly leave plenty of time, but thats the same for any big sporting event I guess. then we got golf buggy to our lounge. then inside we had probally 10 other people all lovely. we had a fantastic vantage point probally 10m from the track. TV in front of us for the rest of the action & replays. track commentators on tannoy next to us. so no need to buy ear piece, programme free, food & drink all free. we must have had a about 5 cups of tea to stay warm in that cold breeze earlier in the day, Food was 1st class where do I start pork pies sauage rolls 2 types of mini quiches, brownies & fresh fruit. so nice I couldnt stop eating. didnt have any tea I was still stuffed.

also what is priceless is bar entrance & exit. we never had to queue for anything it was all there when you wanted it. whether it was drink food toilets. which is just a blessing at a big sporting event because even at bramall lane you can be waiting 15mins for the toilet not good when you've got through about 3 cups of tea to avoid frostbite :D then there others things dont have to lug around camping chair or big bags if you want to explore. just great freedom. talking about Freedom the paddock acess was unbelievable we decide there was 90min gap with a race we could miss & be back for final 2 F4 then BTCC at 5.15pm. we got great view of the podium. then we just kept walking we ended up behind the garages at times just feet away from the likes of Turkington Neal Plato . I whispered to my Dad saying are we supposed to be here so we just kept walking until someone stops us which never happened we got to neals car & took picture, 1 of mechanics or garage staff asked if id like to get closer which shocked me & I think I said I didnt want to intrude as felt abit uncomfortable being so close. almost made me sorry to dislike neal all these years with his various excuse how its never his fault

(also I will get some videos & photos up soon as well. but I might have gone on long enough all ready)
 
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Wow, you had a great time! Good to see what a deal you had......I've followed BTCC since early 90s but never been, I'm very jealous.
 
if you can either through itv btcc website monday/tuesday or highlights on itv4 Saturday 10.30pm

do, it was incredible drama im struggling to think of last time i saw such drama in BTCC in last 18yrs over all 3 races but particularly finale. incredible sporting drama
 
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obvious goes without saying but dont read if you want to catch highlights as above

we started the day with defending champion championship leader & favourite on pole with 17pt advatange. with jordan 3rd & Cammish 12th

Race 1 - Turkington loses the lead to Sutton on a drying track. but regains it looking comfortable for the win. big advantage over his 2 rivals. then safety car & rain returns everyone 13th below pit for wets. in 8 laps remaining turkington struggles drops down 5th Jordan 8th but Cammish suited to conditions wins from 12th with fast charging teammate matt neal on wets in 2nd

Race 2 - turkington gets a demon start from 5th alongside rival Cammish. but on opening lap Cammish Honda teammate matt neal from 3 spins BMW of Turkington dropping him right to back accidently or deliberately (depends on your paranoia) gambles on slicks doesnt work finishes 25th while his 2 rivals were 2nd & 3rd.

Race 3 -.all of sudden Turkington is now 8pts behind 17 places behind. despite having pole & double figure advantage just 5 hrs previous

Cammish 8th - 318pts
Turkington 25th - 310 pts
Jordan 9th - 308pts

we get going on lovely sunny evening. Jordan gets a great start up 7th with cammish 8th & turkington 15th on 1st lap. with 5 laps to go Jordan is 4th Cammish 7th, Turkington is 9th. 3 laps to go turkington overtakes Cammish drops to 9th but still 5pts clear of Turkington & 9pts clear of Jordan. the 2 BMW just look as if they cant overtake the cars needed to overhaul the deficit. as Jordan struggling to overtake for 3rd & turkington cant close 8 seconds in 2 & half laps. then halfway around the penultimate lap of the season. the champion in waiting brakes fail in braking zone for Hawthorns. sending cammish crashing out of race & destroying his championship hopes. when he was 3 miles from being crowned Canmish had finished every lap of previous 29 rounds & 14 laps of 15 laps of round 30. then his brakes failed & the only lap he failed to complete cost him his championship

Turkington understandably over the moon & punching the air & very emotional as anyone would be in almost brazil 2008 vibes lap 14th despair to lap 15 elation. just can beat highs & lows of sport. which the right man probally did win at times he drove amazingly. espically that drive from 25th to 6th to clinch victory

Turkington - 320pts
Cammish - 318pts
Jordan - 318pts
 
on sunday. i finally after 4 rescheduled dates due to covid in the last 19 months LOL. i finally went to the BTCC at Donington park. which is as usual a great day out. we saw some great racing with the F4s, Porsche's, Mini's, Ginetta Juniors & GTs. of course BTCC. which it can never prepare you for how loud they are you can feel it through the chest when they are coming down the straight. in race 1 we saw Gordon Shedden rescue a poor return season to take his 1st win of the year & 50th overall from pole. with Plato potentially outqualifed himself in 3rd despite no weight struggled to fend off the title rivals in Sutton, Turkington & Cook.

Race 2 was the best race of the day & had me gripped an outstanding drive from Tom Ingram started 11th as he struggled with the weight in race 1. overtook 5 cars on lap 1, then from 6th steadily got himself upto 3rd, then made a great overtake into T1 to take Rory Butcher in the Toyota Ingram drove in 2020
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then few laps later into Turn 1. he went to overtake around outside Gordon Shedden & made it stick. normally fortune favours the brave but not in BTCC, because for some reason they penalised Ingram for some unnecessary contact that nobody but them seem to see:dunno:>:( . but further down Plato got push into gravel 5th > 18th & his weekend never recovered. then we had at 1 point Turkington Sutton & Cook 3rd 1st & 5th in championship, but Turkington in trying to make onto the podium & further cut into Sutton championship lead. attempted an overtake on outside of the old hairpin. put 2 wheels on the grass spinning from potential 3rd to a eventful 11th

Race 3 Turkington at least had a silver lining to horrendous Race 2 that ended any hope of keeping the title in his own hands. because 11th place meant he inherited pole for the final race of the day. & boy he did show his class. took off at the start & won by a country mile. with utterly dominant drive, class is permanent. but BTCC is lucky as we probably have the 3 best touring car drivers in the world all in the same series in Turkington, Sutton & Ingram
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in my opinion Sutton is champion elect with his 32pt lead & would be hugely worthy as he was been the best driver on the grid all season. providing he finishes all 3 races in top 10 i dont see him being caught but get taken out by someone at Paddock then at back for race 2. who knows. but they know sutton has 1 hand on retaining the trophy. he won in such dramatic fashion 12 months ago
 

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