[BTCC] Round One - Donington Park April 22-23 (Races 1, 2, 3)

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

It wasn't so much about the length of pit stop.
Those drivers who left it late to switch to wets were already being caught by the pack (and some had already been passed).

No I was talking about those that lost a lap under the SC, as I clearly said in my post

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

At the risk of being shot down again I gather when changing from slicks to rain tyres the car would fail ride height - ask Exceler8! - so the suspension has to be adjusted. It would seem some teams either took the risk or did it before the start and some didnt

Could that be what caught Halstead out? It would make a lot of sense and they wouldn’t have been able to use accident damage as an excuse

[cameronpoe]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Yea the guys starting on slicks in race 2, I really don’t get that decision. It was obvious that it was going to be wet and with the airport nearby even more so with the slippy aviation residue. I was practically screaming at the TV to come in for wets.

A few years ago can’t remember exactly which year, I was watching behind the Brands Pits, the Cars were on grid with the Grid walk going on , I am unfortunately bereft of hair so have a good rain monitor , I could feel the rain on my head so I said to James the Team Manager of TD that I could feel the rain and Dan might need a wet , the answer was we will see what our competitors are doing and that is the line also taken by the TM of Motorbase , most of the guys who you might consider to be in the Championship fight (no disrespect to anyone ) were on slicks , if anyone of those 7-8 guys had gone wets it would have triggered the others . Not fashionable , Not rocket science but two TM I have known in BTCC made same reasoned call , for what it is worth Dan knew he was done on the lap to the start , his mistake was not pitting soon enough to allow him to come through and get in the balls , pitted one lap too late, you can’t really chance to luck which is what we eventually had. Think Dan has done 118 races so pretty experienced but not in the plus 200 club of a lot of the other guys so this was good experience and not one to forget .
Onto BH.

[Spanner monkey]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Has anyone said why the pitstops took so long in R2? I know Donington is a shortish lap in that layout, but even so, it shouldn't have taken so long they lose a lap, in some cases under the SC. I know it took longer in the S2000 days when they had four nuts per wheel, but now they are back to one big nut it shouldn't be a problem

It's due to the wheel retainer. Has to be manualy taken out and put back in.

Some videos on youtube from wsr/dynamics etc of pitstop practice

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

No I was talking about those that lost a lap under the SC, as I clearly said in my post

The drivers who lost a lap under the SC went into the pits before the field had caught the SC, and so the majority of the field was still at full racing speed.
When they came out of the pits, the field was on the S/F straight and so the cars were held in pit-lane until the field had come through.

There was nothing significantly slower about their stops compared to any other, just the track position and timing of the SC.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Spanner monkey

It's due to the wheel retainer. Has to be manualy taken out and put back in.

Some videos on youtube from wsr/dynamics etc of pitstop practice

That’s probably it then. However it’s still amazing some lost a lap, despite being bunched up behind the SC came in

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

That’s probably it then. However it’s still amazing some lost a lap, despite being bunched up behind the SC came in

But also, they weren't bunched up behind the SC at the time they came in. The field was spread, and those that came in had already dropped a long way off the back.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

But also, they weren't bunched up behind the SC at the time they came in. The field was spread, and those that came in had already dropped a long way off the back.

That's not how I remember it. Butcher for example was near the front when he came in

[AnnoyedMoose]

The PDF book of the event can be downloaded from TSL Timing and has all the data on pitstop times, positions before and after etc.

https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=T.../231603trg.pdf

[Teletubby]

Originally Posted by Woolley

Does BTCC do that as well as F1? Yet another reason for giving them the swerve.

Make the drivers behave properly and let the marshals do their job properly.

No, they don't. It's down to the I/O or Post Chief and many are very risk averse.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by AnnoyedMoose

The PDF book of the event can be downloaded from TSL Timing and has all the data on pitstop times, positions before and after etc.

https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=T.../231603trg.pdf

Thanks for this, real interesting info

[BertMk2]

Is there a list anywhere of which drivers were penalised? I couldn't find anything other than Pearson's exclusion for failing the ride height check. I know Hill got penalised for the race 1 contact with Sutton (ridiculous considering what goes on and doesn't get penalised). I'm assuming there must have been more than just those over the 3 races?

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Is there a list anywhere of which drivers were penalised? I couldn't find anything other than Pearson's exclusion for failing the ride height check. I know Hill got penalised for the race 1 contact with Sutton (ridiculous considering what goes on and doesn't get penalised). I'm assuming there must have been more than just those over the 3 races?

https://www.barc.net/online_noticebo...k-april-22-23/

Not too many, surprisingly. Rowbottom copped a grid penalty. I know Lloyd was pretty aggrieved about getting taken off in R1 and no penalty was given, not quite sure how Thompson got away so lightly either!

[S griffin]

Yes, it does seem weird how Hill got a penalty for what seemed like minor contact, even if it had big consequences for Sutton, whilst others didn't get penalised. I kept expecting to hear afterwards that Thompson would get penalised for his R3 contact, but nothing was said

[Pdh]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Yes, it does seem weird how Hill got a penalty for what seemed like minor contact, even if it had big consequences for Sutton, whilst others didn't get penalised. I kept expecting to hear afterwards that Thompson would get penalised for his R3 contact, but nothing was said

Everyone seems to think it’s just the Sutton contact Hill gets the penalty for but if you read the official report it’s contact with car 32 and then car 116

[AnnoyedMoose]

Originally Posted by Pdh

Everyone seems to think it’s just the Sutton contact Hill gets the penalty for but if you read the official report it’s contact with car 32 and then car 116

32 fluffed the start and then moved left while Hill was moving right to avoid 116 that was aggressively moving right.

Watching the replays the penalty should have been listed purely for the secondary contact on 116 from the rear which wasn't needed, Hill should have lifted at that point. The side to side contact was pure racing incidents that are typical with different launches.