BTCC 2024 News & Rumours

[porsche962fan]

^ Hill himself at TTT

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

Jake Hill speculates that Hyundai engine has some secret qualy setup because it's always the fastest in speed traps

Not quite what he said.

He said "it's like they have another engine mode or something they can go to for qualifying".

It seemed to me that it was just the perception he gets from the outside. I think the reality is that the Hyundai just has a better aero profile at high speed. It didn't come across as a suggestion of anything untoward.

I also think that it's a bit of a strange item to bring up about your rival (their qualifying speed) when you look at the performance Turkington had in the same car as he did for qualifying through the season.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Not quite what he said.

He said "it's like they have another engine mode or something they can go to for qualifying".

It seemed to me that it was just the perception he gets from the outside. I think the reality is that the Hyundai just has a better aero profile at high speed. It didn't come across as a suggestion of anything untoward.

I also think that it's a bit of a strange item to bring up about your rival (their qualifying speed) when you look at the performance Turkington had in the same car as he did for qualifying through the season.

Don’t TOCA monitor the engine performance of every car? If a motor was outside of its BOP then surely they would see it. Or are we back to “it’s been turned up” again despite there being no proof of it ever happening

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Don’t TOCA monitor the engine performance of every car? If a motor was outside of its BOP then surely they would see it. Or are we back to “it’s been turned up” again despite there being no proof of it ever happening

Exactly that - there is nothing to see here.

It might be true that they have a different map for qualifying. But it will still be fully within the permitted parameters.
It might also be that the car is just better on aero.

Either way, there will be nothing 'secret' about it or anything devious going on.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Exactly that - there is nothing to see here.

It might be true that they have a different map for qualifying. But it will still be fully within the permitted parameters.
It might also be that the car is just better on aero.

Either way, there will be nothing 'secret' about it or anything devious going on.

It was a silly, throwaway comment that he really shouldn't have made. I say that because when you look at the simplified explanations of the rules from the BTCC website - not even in the detailed technical regulations - then you see the following:

Electronics:

• The entire vehicle strategy system has been packaged into one unit from 2022. This means that the battery management, motor control strategies, cooling and all of the control surrounding the internal combustion engine is managed by the Cosworth Antares 8 ECU (Electronics Control Unit)

• Common power management box and switch panels
• Common Cosworth wiring loom design

• Judicial camera system to be run by all cars

I would imagine that, like the engines themselves, all the electronics are sealed and monitored by the BTCC scrutineers, and that any special settings would also be available to all the teams.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I would imagine that, like the engines themselves, all the electronics are sealed and monitored by the BTCC scrutineers, and that any special settings would also be available to all the teams.

You are right - but there is still a little bit of freedom to amend the maps by the teams. These maps are also specific to each engine, although the common ECU is used to provide this.

Note the comments from Christian Dick in 2023 when they moved to their own power unit:
“It’s little bits of detail. If we want to take a risk in terms of how close we run to the actual boost limit or temperatures and suchlike, that’s up to us – we’re not told by our engine company. We’ll [now] be advised by our engine company, but we can override that if we want to.”

And it could simply be this 'freedom' that Excelr8 are using in qualifying. They might be pushing the boundaries in terms of boost and temperatures, and having to dial back for their race setting?

[redshoes]

Or it could just be that car and driver are quick over a single lap. Turkington was constantly quick in qualifying but I don't see anyone suggesting that he was using a super secret extra boost setting