[BTCC] Rounds 10, 11, 12 - Oulton Park

[pagey318]

Oulton Park this weekend...

What do we think will happen? Will the BMW dominate at what is normally kind to RWD? Will Subaru begin their fight back as we approach RWD friendly circuits? Will Tom Ingram continue his good form and mature drives to extend or maintain his title push? Will Honda be in the mix?!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by pagey318

Oulton Park this weekend...

What do we think will happen? Will the BMW dominate at what is normally kind to RWD? Will Subaru begin their fight back as we approach RWD friendly circuits? Will Tom Ingram continue his good form and mature drives to extend or maintain his title push? Will Honda be in the mix?!

Mixed messages from Plato in the latest blog. We found a problem with the chassis - or it was a radical setup change that fixed the front end?

The car has a great CoG due to the boxer engine - or it was only a perceived advantage due to lack of ballast.
It still seems to me that they are unsure why Plato is off Sutton's place, and they want more boost from TOCA to compensate.

Will Honda go well, Neal hopes so with little ballast going into the weekend.

Who will take the most points, I wouldn't be surprised to see a BMW podium shutout in R2.

[S griffin]

Jordan needs to get his mojo back, he seemed to have lost it after a good season opener at Brands. Plato needs a good weekend too, can't make many more excuses and Motorbase need to have a clean weekend

[luckn002]

Hopefully the MGs will do better too, and another strong circuit for the VWs which dissapointed at Thruxton. It would be great to see Mat Jackson get a few top tens though I can't remember the Focus having strong form at Oulton compared to other teams.

[skells22]

there another question that needs answering, will we safety get past this round without a visit from the red flag? we seen 4 of them this year plus will the weather play a part

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by luckn002

Hopefully the MGs will do better too, and another strong circuit for the VWs which dissapointed at Thruxton. It would be great to see Mat Jackson get a few top tens though I can't remember the Focus having strong form at Oulton compared to other teams.

If 888 or Motorbase have another poor weekend, you wonder where they go next. Both teams should be putting in podium results.

[Rob877]

First time visit to Oulton Park this weekend for me, some free tickets helping make up my mind to travel. Heading down from Newcastle and in two minds whether or not to drive down on the Saturday and camp at the track or just drive down on Sunday morning. What's it like for traffic etc on race day? I'm guessing busy as I think it's the busiest weekend of the year BTCC wise. Also looking at Google maps it looks like there are 3 separate entrances to the circuit, any tips on which one is best for a quick exit? Really looking forward to it, haven't been down since 1996! Sorry if this has been asked before, have tried to look through other threads but couldn't find much info.

[thetool]

Originally Posted by Rob877

First time visit to Oulton Park this weekend for me, some free tickets helping make up my mind to travel. Heading down from Newcastle and in two minds whether or not to drive down on the Saturday and camp at the track or just drive down on Sunday morning. What's it like for traffic etc on race day? I'm guessing busy as I think it's the busiest weekend of the year BTCC wise. Also looking at Google maps it looks like there are 3 separate entrances to the circuit, any tips on which one is best for a quick exit? Really looking forward to it, haven't been down since 1996! Sorry if this has been asked before, have tried to look through other threads but couldn't find much info.

Traffic will be very bad in the morning, it's quite rural and the roads aren't the best access wise. Also it tends to draw huge crowds which exacerbate the problem. I wouldn't worry about exit/entry choice, you likely won't get one as there tends to be police/stewards directing people on race day.

[5five]

BTCC Race 3 is before the last race of the day at Oulton. Last year, if you parked on the infield part of the track via the main entrance, we were stuck in a queue you couldn't get out until all the racing of the day had finished, as cars were being directed out via the track.

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Mixed messages from Plato in the latest blog. We found a problem with the chassis - or it was a radical setup change that fixed the front end?

The car has a great CoG due to the boxer engine - or it was only a perceived advantage due to lack of ballast.
It still seems to me that they are unsure why Plato is off Sutton's place, and they want more boost from TOCA to compensate.

Will Honda go well, Neal hopes so with little ballast going into the weekend.

Who will take the most points, I wouldn't be surprised to see a BMW podium shutout in R2.

A very interesting read indeed.

"We found a problem at Thruxton with the chassis which was a carry over from the shunt at Brands Hatch. It’s a big problem but a very small thing to find. I now know why there’s a 0.5 second gap between me and Ash."

https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/blog/20...ru-riddle.html

[BLiTZ]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

A very interesting read indeed.

"We found a problem at Thruxton with the chassis which was a carry over from the shunt at Brands Hatch. It’s a big problem but a very small thing to find. I now know why there’s a 0.5 second gap between me and Ash."

https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/blog/20...ru-riddle.html

Would that problem with the chassis be the Jason Plato shaped bit in the driver's seat?

That said, it can't be as Price and Cole's chassis dont have the same part fitted

But in all seriousness, If Plato is playing some sort of long game, he's leaving it too late into the series to claw his way back unless the Subaru dominates again like it did last year. If we have a post-Thruxton repeat of 2016 then I'm sure TOCA would step in sooner to level things out again (though they do like having Plato in with a shout of the title going into Brands so who knows!).

[Akrapovic]

I don't think he's playing a game, because otherwise Sutton is ruining it.

However it's pretty easy to poke holes in that blog post. They claim the CoG adjustment ruined their car, but then he says they were fastest through S1, which is where the CoG would hurt the most. Also says that Sutton was gaining round the bends too. So this CoG clearly didn't hurt the car as much as claimed, since it still handles fine. And are all cars meant to be equal? Or have different strengths and weaknesses? Because the Subaru appears to have most of its strength in the corners. What exactly is the problem with that?

It's also not that terrible in a straight line to get a decent position at Thruxton.

All just smoke and mirrors, but the mirror is broken and the wind is blowing the smoke away. The car isn't that bad, the CoG didn't kill it, the straight line speed is not a game changer. It appears they did have a problem with the chassis, so we'll see if that makes a difference at Oulton. Realistically, he should be up with Sutton.

[VIVA GT]

Well, I admit that I've never been a Plato fan (I always think it's a good idea to get your 'understatement of the day' out of the way early), but I do admire the sense in the idea of using time in the races for testing. (Of course, it could have been his engineer that suggested it). Where he was at Thruxton there was no chance of salvaging any kind of result, so at least they made use of being there...

[Urinal2001]

Originally Posted by Rob877

First time visit to Oulton Park this weekend for me, some free tickets helping make up my mind to travel. Heading down from Newcastle and in two minds whether or not to drive down on the Saturday and camp at the track or just drive down on Sunday morning. What's it like for traffic etc on race day? I'm guessing busy as I think it's the busiest weekend of the year BTCC wise. Also looking at Google maps it looks like there are 3 separate entrances to the circuit, any tips on which one is best for a quick exit? Really looking forward to it, haven't been down since 1996! Sorry if this has been asked before, have tried to look through other threads but couldn't find much info.

Oulton is one of the best campsites in the BTCC calender imo. I can recommend staying over on that basis.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by BLiTZ

Would that problem with the chassis be the Jason Plato shaped bit in the driver's seat?

That said, it can't be as Price and Cole's chassis dont have the same part fitted

It would be interesting to hear his explanation for why Price and Cole are performing to about the same level if their chassis' are fine?

If his car is off the pace due to a chassis fault (that can be fixed with a radical set-up) - then how much better could Sutton go with the same radical set-up, when Scott said the car is already 'handling extremely well but the straight line speed deficit is certainly curtailing the efforts from our drivers'?

Perhaps the argument for a CoG amendment is no longer relevant and the car is now on a par with others for weight distribution?

[Sodemo]

Weather looks very "mixed" for the whole UK over the week and into the weekend...

Could be another cool and wet one at Oulton.

[AdrianM]

Cole was nowhere near Plato and Turkington for most of last season so that's comparing apples and pears. Plato hasn't suddenly gone from being one of the best drivers in BTCC to an also ran in the off season.

They're saying the CoG ruined the car as it was and they're still working out how to set it up from there.

The straight line speed deficit is real and was obvious from the Thruxton onboards and the speed trap. In a series like the BTCC it shouldn't be possible for the car in front to pull a gap on the car behind in a straight line.

It's going to be really interesting to see what happens at Oulton. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Plato and Sutton qualifying in the top 6.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by AdrianM

Cole was nowhere near Plato and Turkington for most of last season so that's comparing apples and pears. Plato hasn't suddenly gone from being one of the best drivers in BTCC to an also ran in the off season.

They're saying the CoG ruined the car as it was and they're still working out how to set it up from there.

If Cole was a second a lap slower than Plato last year, and the CoG has been changed for both cars, then shouldn't Cole still be a second a lap slower?

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by redshoes

If Cole was a second a lap slower than Plato last year, and the CoG has been changed for both cars, then shouldn't Cole still be a second a lap slower?

Exactly.

[BLiTZ]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I don't think he's playing a game, because otherwise Sutton is ruining it.

Perhaps Sutton, is going against 'team orders' and racing his heart out, because that's what he's paying to do! I know if I was paying for a seat I'd want to get my moneys worth!

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

It would be interesting to hear his explanation for why Price and Cole are performing to about the same level if their chassis' are fine?

If his car is off the pace due to a chassis fault (that can be fixed with a radical set-up) - then how much better could Sutton go with the same radical set-up, when Scott said the car is already 'handling extremely well but the straight line speed deficit is certainly curtailing the efforts from our drivers'?

Perhaps the argument for a CoG amendment is no longer relevant and the car is now on a par with others for weight distribution?

Originally Posted by redshoes

If Cole was a second a lap slower than Plato last year, and the CoG has been changed for both cars, then shouldn't Cole still be a second a lap slower?

Exactly, though we're not allowing for the scenario that Jason is still at the same level as last year and Cole has improved by a second this year.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Well, I admit that I've never been a Plato fan (I always think it's a good idea to get your 'understatement of the day' out of the way early), but I do admire the sense in the idea of using time in the races for testing. (Of course, it could have been his engineer that suggested it). Where he was at Thruxton there was no chance of salvaging any kind of result, so at least they made use of being there...

It would have made even more sense to run your tests on the actual test days at Thruxton......

[S griffin]

It is still a mystery why they didn't test at Thruxton, considering they didn't race there last season

[porsche962fan]

the series has demonstrated it could thrive without them so if they dissapear from the grid no big loss

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

the series has demonstrated it could thrive without them so if they dissapear from the grid no big loss

Exactly. When the racing is as good as it always, you don't tend to notice who's not there

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

It would have made even more sense to run your tests on the actual test days at Thruxton......

I agree, but they didn't, so at least the 'race day' wasn't a totally wasted exercise.