BTCC Races 19, 20 & 21 - Knockhill, Fife - 16th August 2009

**touringlegend** · 11 Aug 2009, 17:20 (Ref:2519663)

Entry List (Unofficial) for Knockhill

#	Driver	Team	Car
1	Fabrizio Giovanardi	VX Racing	Vauxhall Vectra
2	Mat Jackson	Racing Silverline	Chevrolet Lacetti
3	Jason Plato	Racing Silverline	Chevrolet Lacetti
4	Colin Turkington	Team RAC	BMW 320si
5	Matt Neal	VX Racing	Vauxhall Vectra
10	Tom Chilton	Team Aon	Ford Focus
11	Rob Collard	Airwaves BMW	BMW 320si
12	Jonathan Adam	Airwaves BMW	BMW 320si
17	Harry Vaulkhard	Bamboo Engineering	Chevrolet Lacetti
29	Paul O'Neill	Sunshine.co.uk/Techspeed	Honda Integra
35	James Thompson	Team Dynamics	Honda Civic
44	Stephen Jelley	Team RAC	BMW 320si
50	John George	TH Motorsport with JAG	Honda Integra
52	Gordon Shedden	Cartridge World Carbon Zero	SEAT Leon
55	Dave Pinkney	Team Dynamics	Honda Civic
63	Martin Johnson	Boulevard Team Racing	Vauxhall Astra
77	Andrew Jordan	VX Racing	Vauxhall Vectra

No Shows - As far as I know

#	Driver	Team	Car
9	Adam Jones	Cartridge World Carbon Zero	SEAT Leon
15	Martyn Bell	Sunshine.co.uk/Techspeed	Honda Integra
23	James Nash	RML	Chevrolet Lacetti
27	Liam McMillan	Maxtreme	SEAT Toledo
20	Alan Morrison	Team Aon	Ford Focus

Car graphics courtesy of AndyBlackmoreDesign | SpotterGuides.com

BTCC Timetable:

Time	Session	Day
09.55 - 10.35	Free Practice	Sat
12.20 - 13.00	Free Practice	Sat
15.55 - 16.25	Qualifying	Sat
11.55	Round 19	Sun
14.50	Round 20	Sun
17.00	Round 21	Sun

Predictions Competition: Enter Here

* Knockhill will be the last outing for James Thompson this season due to commitments in the World, Danish and Australian V8 championships. Have read elsewhere Johnny Herbert has stated he is in the final discussions of tying up a deal to replace Thompson.

* No word yet on the second AON Focus as far as I know?

* I see Plato has said the title is gone for him now and all he wants is race wins. Some banzai manouvres at Duffus then perhaps?!

Alfa Fan · 11 Aug 2009, 17:34 (Ref:2519670)

Morrison is supposed to be back out at Knockhill. We shall see. Maybe a bit premature having him on the no-shows list though.

Hazard · 11 Aug 2009, 18:22 (Ref:2519690)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alfa Fan

Morrison is supposed to be back out at Knockhill. We shall see. Maybe a bit premature having him on the no-shows list though.

Aon confirmed they were down to one car as they were working on new parts to improve the performance of the car during the summer break.

Since they haven't made the car much faster, not sure whether that means he's more likely to race at Knockhill, or less!

kerrmanningjarv · 11 Aug 2009, 18:45 (Ref:2519706)

Has Jason Hughes given up for the season?

Aunt Sally · 11 Aug 2009, 21:41 (Ref:2519813)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerrmanningjarv

Has Jason Hughes given up for the season?

I think it is more of a case that we have given up on him!

Craner Curves · 11 Aug 2009, 21:04 (Ref:2519779)

Quote:

Originally Posted by touringlegend

* I see Plato has said the title is gone for him now and all he wants is race wins. Some banzai manouvres at Duffus then perhaps?!

Most definitely.

Icebaby · 13 Aug 2009, 12:12 (Ref:2520767)

I have a bad feeling if Morrison does not return for knockhill we wont see him again. I disagree that Herbert will do well in BTCC and see him running behind Pinkney, a strange choice considering the talent available as Herbert cannot be paying for the drive or bringing any sponsers i would have thought, I can see this being a Derek Warwick senario at Alfa in 95.

KA · 13 Aug 2009, 12:27 (Ref:2520784)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icebaby

I have a bad feeling if Morrison does not return for knockhill we wont see him again. I disagree that Herbert will do well in BTCC and see him running behind Pinkney, a strange choice considering the talent available as Herbert cannot be paying for the drive or bringing any sponsers i would have thought, I can see this being a Derek Warwick senario at Alfa in 95.

Though in Warwick's case the car was off the pace which didn't help- As I remember, when Tarquini came back to replace Simoni mid-season, he couldn't do that much with it either....

The Herbert deal is interesting- as you say, I can't imagine he's paying for the drive, so have TD been able to line up an additional sponsor on the strength of a 'high-profile' signing? I really hope he goes well- I first saw him in FF1600 back in the 80's and he's a driver I've always rated highly.

redshoes · 13 Aug 2009, 12:25 (Ref:2520782)

Warwick wasn't helped by the 95 Alfa being a bit poor. Even defending champion Tarquini couldn't do much better when he returned.

Herbert may not be bringing sponsorship money himself but his presence there might. He's is well known enough to get coverage in the mainstream press, even if it's only for the first meeting, which is exactly what a potential sponsor is looking for.

Craner Curves · 13 Aug 2009, 16:12 (Ref:2520879)

Herbert was saying today in Edinburgh that it's not a done deal yet, they're still talking. Being very tight lipped.

crmalcolm · 13 Aug 2009, 20:03 (Ref:2521001)

Were there any drivers spotted in Edinburgh that were a surprise to see, or might confirm potential drivers for remainding rounds?

Craner Curves · 13 Aug 2009, 20:26 (Ref:2521004)

Not that I know if. I only saw Giovanardi, Jordan, Turkington, Jelley, Pinkney, Thompson, Herbert, Adam, Shedden (car didn't run surprisingly...), George, Johnson and Chilton.

crmalcolm · 13 Aug 2009, 20:44 (Ref:2521013)

Sounds like TD (including Herbert) put in the biggest appearance.
To my mind (although I'm probably reading too much into it) it appears that TD are still pushing hard to get regular results again.

**touringlegend** · 13 Aug 2009, 21:02 (Ref:2521020)

Well TD's car they ran today in Edinburgh was a road car, IIRC at the last Edinburgh event the Integra was also a road car. It doesn't bother me it's not a touring car but it's a bit of a poor show it's made out it is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Were there any drivers spotted in Edinburgh that were a surprise to see, or might confirm potential drivers for remainding rounds?

Cleland was having a good look around Gio's Vectra. Also heard him mention if he had a team the two guys he'd employ would be Turkington and Adam, as I seen this mentioned in a BTCC.net article the other day, is this something that has potential, is Cleland still thinking of trying to see if a Volvo team can be put together?

On talking about the AON Focus he also stated that whats holding this team back is the lack of factory involvement and it would be great if that could happen. (although with the funds Chilton apparently has access to I wonder if Ford involvement would make a difference)

Icebaby · 14 Aug 2009, 07:12 (Ref:2521175)

Quote:

Originally Posted by touringlegend

Well TD's car they ran today in Edinburgh was a road car, IIRC at the last Edinburgh event the Integra was also a road car. It doesn't bother me it's not a touring car but it's a bit of a poor show it's made out it is.

On talking about the AON Focus he also stated that whats holding this team back is the lack of factory involvement and it would be great if that could happen. (although with the funds Chilton apparently has access to I wonder if Ford involvement would make a difference)

Interesting, Arena new the score that Ford had no interest so they can't really complain and ask for involment from them now, I think they have made a mistake taking the focus on and would have saved time and resource taking the 08 Chevy. I can see the focus cars being replaced next year and the project put in a dark corner.

I am reluctant to believe the reason behind the second car not running as simply aero development work when they have run it for the first half of the season developing the car at race meetings, the Croft affair with Morrison was all to last minute to think he will be back IMO, hope Im wrong.

**touringlegend** · 14 Aug 2009, 07:37 (Ref:2521180)

Arena did say they were near to a deal with Ford up until the financial problems became clear last year. They also say the Focus is a terrific chassis. We have to believe that what they say is true enough.

I don't think it would ever be Arena's style to buy another car and run it and be held to ransom for parts when they have the facilities to build their own car.

Craner Curves · 14 Aug 2009, 10:56 (Ref:2521288)

Full credit to them for taking that option and not going for the safe choice of buying a car off the shelf, of which there are several around already.

Craner Curves · 14 Aug 2009, 12:21 (Ref:2521323)

Surprise surprise......Nash to miss Knockhill due to "budgetary issues".

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77653

Alfa Fan · 14 Aug 2009, 13:13 (Ref:2521350)

Can scrub Bell from the entry too.

Matt_S · 14 Aug 2009, 13:36 (Ref:2521359)

And Jones....

http://www.crash.net/btcc/news/15099...out_jones.html

Alfa Fan · 14 Aug 2009, 13:42 (Ref:2521361)

So down to a less than impressive 16 cars..

**touringlegend** · 14 Aug 2009, 14:37 (Ref:2521393)

Dissapointing indeed.

I was sure both Leon's were in the teams transporter yesterday in Edinburgh.

MikeH · 14 Aug 2009, 14:43 (Ref:2521395)

Quote:

Originally Posted by touringlegend

Dissapointing indeed.

I was sure both Leon's were in the teams transporter yesterday in Edinburgh.

Probably going to use the Jones car as a parts mule for this meeting.

Craner Curves · 14 Aug 2009, 16:02 (Ref:2521425)

Yes I saw the Jones car too. I hope Vaulkhard's car has been fixed in time, given that he didn't appear yesterday as scheduled.

I'm sorry, I know teams have reasons, but it's a farce. Every time that Knockhill comes around we hear all the excuses. I feel we're being shortchanged up here, given that the support races from Renault don't attend and the remaining TOCA regulars have fields in the mid teens.

**touringlegend** · 14 Aug 2009, 17:58 (Ref:2521488)

I can definitely appreciate belters point having paid to have a car moved round the country - it aint cheap!

Perhaps the problem is just how accesible the BTCC is. I don't mean this to be dis-respectful to anyone, it might just sound like it, but given that the championship is more affordable to independants than it was in ST days, I guess a lot of drivers have a budget thats near enough to compete, but when it comes to doing far away rounds such as Knockhill, they scrap them so they can spend more on a meeting closer to home.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
BTCC KNOCKHILL 15TH/16TH AUGUST	andyrjt1	Marshals Forum	3	24 Jul 2009 13:59
Pembrey 19/20 August	SCOBER11	Club Level Single Seaters	22	4 Sep 2006 21:45
Pembrey Classic 19 and 20 August	Peter Mallett	Trackside	34	23 Aug 2000 17:13