ETCC news, BMW getting in more hot water!

[pink69]

BMW could end up in more hot water with their rivals. The Alfa and Volvo teams want to switch to a racing gearbox, rather than a road based transmission. But BMW want the rules to stay as they are, which they demanded as part of their entry to the series. It's the V8's all over again! Briton Chris Buncombe looks to have lost his RJN motorsport drive after failing to get the required sponsorship. he will be replaced by a fully sponsored driver soon. CibiEmme hope to have another civic availible for silverstone, with the second out in Brno, round 3. And Kia have shown interest in joining the series. They had representitives at magny Cours, but so did Renault/Nissan, SEAT and Opel. SEAT are building a super 2000 SEAT Toledo, which has yet to be approved. Sorry about the long post but I'm in a hurry with my DT coursework which has to be in tomorrow!

[kmchow]

A Toledo? Isn't that a rebadged/enlaregd VW Jetta/Bora? Now that is interesting. I'm encouraged to hear that Opel is once again interested in racing. I wonder they will race the smaller Astra or the larger Vectra? There's already quite a lot of Astras racing. OTOH, the larger Vectra may not be nimble enough?

[MaxSport]

Thanks for the info,Pink.

I was afraid of BMW not wanting sequential boxes as they made it clear last summer that they would not enter the series if the rules allowed them.

Maybe BMW see an advantage over the front drive cars if standard boxes are used.

With the gearbox failures that Alfa and Volvo suffered in France it is to be expected that these makes would demand them as they are more cost effective in the long run.

I do hope that they can meet in the middle to overcome this problem and that the other manufacturers you mention join the series as well.

Kurt

PS-Yes, the Toledo is a Jetta.
Opel??? Very interesting.

[racer69]

As far as i know the Astra is not long enough to fit the required length, the cars must be 4.2m long, like ST. I think Honda were given dispensation for this year only to run a Civic.

[MaxSport]

I think it would have to be the Vectra and Accord that are raced in 2003.

If Alfa and BMW can't come to an agreement on the gearbox issue, and one pulls out of this years series, it may all be moot.

Alfa and Volvo want racing boxes. BMW must be thinking that the reliability issues for these other two makes will force them to lower the hp to make the standard trans last. So what is BMW's motivation to agree to the changes?

Lets hope that a solution is found quickly.


KM