[BTCC] Silverstone National Rds. 25/26/27

[Mike Harte]

What is surprising this season is that Ingram hasn't been able to establish a clear points advantage going in to the final, as he has been the dominant driver within his team. This has not been the case at either BMW or NAPA, where team mates have taken points away each other.

At BMW, either Turkington or Hill could be far away in the points if it wasn't for the other driver taking points away, whilst in the Fords, both Sutton and Cammish have been taking points away from each other. The same cannot be said over at Bristol Street Motors although Chilton, when not at the scene of one of his many incidents, has accumulated 171 points, but I'm not sure if any of those were at the expense of Ingram.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Matt K

IMO everyone should have full hybrid in qualifying throughout the entire season.

Ideally that’d be great, but I think then the top 4 at almost every round would be Ingram, Sutton, Hill and Turkington in some order!

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by mick bennett

Totally agree , sadly Sutton has had the most diabolical luck for the virtually the whole year. A drive through penalty was a simply dreadful decision. Rules are rules etc but that doesnt fit/justify what actually happended. All the mechanic/team member had done was?? he did'nt close the door quick enough by a few seconds. How would that affect the race in any shape of form?.

It wasn't that he didn't close the door, the door was already closed, and he reopened it after the 3 minute board. The regulation broken is that there was more than one team member touching the car after the three minute board (because another team member was leaning into the open door on the other side of the car. The rule is clear, the penalty is clear and they broke it. Same penalty has been applied a few times to other teams over the last few years.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

What is surprising this season is that Ingram hasn't been able to establish a clear points advantage going in to the final, as he has been the dominant driver within his team. This has not been the case at either BMW or NAPA, where team mates have taken points away each other.

At BMW, either Turkington or Hill could be far away in the points if it wasn't for the other driver taking points away, whilst in the Fords, both Sutton and Cammish have been taking points away from each other. The same cannot be said over at Bristol Street Motors although Chilton, when not at the scene of one of his many incidents, has accumulated 171 points, but I'm not sure if any of those were at the expense of Ingram.

This has always intrigued me - as to whether a strong team mate really does take points off your challenge.
There will always be the unknown (and unproveable) situation of what would have happened if the team mate was not on the track. Another train of thought suggests that a strong team-mate also takes points away from your rival.

So - and I do not know yet how it will pan out - I have looked at what would happen if the team mate did not take points away from you.

[crmalcolm]

In assessing the removal of team mates, I have not factored in Fastest Laps, Poles or Lead Lap bonus points.

The simplest way to approach it is to just remove the team mates from the results. When this is done, the championship scores would be:

Hill - 399
Ingram - 399
Sutton - 386

[crmalcolm]

A slightly more refined approach is to remove the team mates that finished ahead of the title contenders.

This makes two big assumptions
A - the teams selected a clear #1 before the first race of the season.
B - the team mate drops out of the race entirely if the #1 has not retired.

In this case, the final standing would be:

Jake Hill - 382
Tom Ingram - 369
Ashley Sutton - 363

[crmalcolm]

The final way I have looked at it, is to assume that if a driver is 1 or 2 places ahead of their team mate, they drop back and allow them past.

In this scenario, the standing would be:
Jake Hill - 365
Tom Ingram - 350
Ashley Sutton - 339

[crmalcolm]

Looking at the different scenarios, it seems to me that team orders would have given Hill a clear lead going into the final rounds.

But - at what point in the season would you expect a Team BMW driver to move aside for the title challenge of a Laser Tools driver?

Ingram has not needed team orders to boost his position.

But - is he the designated #1, or has just established that position through his own performance?

And in putting together a team - how can you convince Cammish or Turkington to play a supporting role before the first lights go out?

[porsche962fan]

I think it's all down to weather at Brands

scorching heat advantage Hill

rainy conditions title goes to Tingram

BTW Turkington already openly pledged support to Hill " We head to Brands Hatch still firmly fighting for the Manufacturers’ Championship and will be there to support Jake as well"

[SV8Predator]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

I think it's all down to weather at Brands

scorching heat advantage Hill

rainy conditions title goes to Tingram

Interesting opinion, when Jake Hill clearly prefers a wet track!

[porsche962fan]

^ after race 3 I doubt he prefers it given how bloody fast Ingram is in it