[BTCC] Rounds 25-27 Brands Hatch Indy

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by redshoes

Was I the only one to be a tiny bit disappointed that it was nowhere near as dark as predicted for the last race.

Predicted by who - not the people who made the plans that’s for sure....

[Alfisti]

TV cameras these days can suck in light from nowhere.

I once watched a GT race at Donny in "the dark", with only headlight shape/ pattern and engine noise giving me a clue who was where. Days later the TV highlights looked like daylight.

Cricket on TV can look broad daylight but the batsman can barely see the bowler running up, and have nay chance of spotting the red ball.

Whoever said the camera never lies was talking twaddle. Or hadn't seen a modern TV camera!

[BillWiskins]

Originally Posted by redshoes

Was I the only one to be a tiny bit disappointed that it was nowhere near as dark as predicted for the last race.

If race three had been at the normal time i.e. five o'clock or later, I'm sure it would have been but the schedule was revised presumably to avoid that exact thing. Shame, I'd have liked a 'night race' as well, but what we had was pretty good too so I'll allow it.

[medius]

The Infiniti's are eligible until 2025 so they may take another title if Ash stays with them next season or beyond.

I think the way Hexathron has tickled the base design and rethought how an NGTC car shpupd be designed had left most of the paddock with detailed winter testing plan i.e making the thing as soft as possible structurally dtiff cars might not be the way to go in future with the hybrid era dawning. Being kind on the tyres over a race distance might need to be sacrificed for being able to switch on the rubber by turn 1.

[Alfisti]

Wonder if any team owners looking to change motors are having conversations with the Moffats? Four years of eligibility to run and a proven winner with the right wheelman...

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Wonder if any team owners looking to change motors are having conversations with the Moffats? Four years of eligibility to run and a proven winner with the right wheelman...

Who would want a Swindon engined car? The reliability has been poor although one won the Championship

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by medius

I think the way Hexathron has tickled the base design and rethought how an NGTC car shpupd be designed had left most of the paddock with detailed winter testing plan i.e making the thing as soft as possible structurally dtiff cars might not be the way to go in future with the hybrid era dawning.

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Wonder if any team owners looking to change motors are having conversations with the Moffats? Four years of eligibility to run and a proven winner with the right wheelman...

If teams are going to pursue this route, I think it would be shortsighted.

As you say - the right wheelman. The Infiniti as it is currently set up works well in Sutton's hands, but it may not be usable by many other drivers on the grid.
When Sutton won the title in 2017 - did everyone rush out to get themselves in an estate car?
WSR have been prepping BMWs for a number of years now with a lot of success - I can't see them going down a different route overnight because of one season's results.
How much of the Infiniti 'softness' would even work on a FWD car?

Ultimately, you have to look at how others have fared in the same machinery to understand the potential merits of an approach.
In the same machine as Sutton, Moffat and previously Plato have struggled to match his results. Both of them are proven drivers of high quality, so it is as much about how Sutton drives the car as it is the car itself being the best set up.
In the same machine as Turkington, Jordan has shown that the set up works as much as the driver.

It shouldn't be underestimated how much Sutton's driving is a factor in the Infiniti being successful. Every other team on the grid have been able to get results with different drivers - it is only in the cars that Sutton has driven that he is the only one able to get consistent results.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Who would want a Swindon engined car? The reliability has been poor although one won the Championship

No-one after 2021.

Although right now - anyone who doesn't want to (or can't) spend their money on developing their own engine, or runs a marque for which there isn't a suitable engine available.

[medius]

Pandemic permitting, this winter will be a very busy off season testing wise with teams experimenting with ideas well outside the box I think.

Anyways that's a subject for the 2021 silly season thread.

[antnee]

I was surprised at how clean the racing was - only 1 safety car?

[ATF]

Congratulations to Ash. I was rooting for Turks, so not the outcome I wanted, but you have to hand it to Ash - he is a cracking driver. Ominous that he's won 2 titles in his first 5 seasons and beaten Colin both times the title fight has been between those two ('17 and '20).

Hopefully all the main players will be back for 2021 and we can get back trackside!

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by antnee

I was surprised at how clean the racing was - only 1 safety car?

Yeah I picked up on that too - given how awful the conditions were in 2 of the races there could've been a massive incident, but everyone drove very well.

Not sure what happened between Jelley & Neate but looked like a sizeable impact there. Winced when Morgan was headed for the stricken car.

[S griffin]

Maybe they just didn't need a safety car, but I agree, good driving standards, shows how well they've been this year, despite the odd incident that will always happen when you have this close racing. Just a normal day at the office

As for Jelley and Neate, I think maybe Jelley lost it on his own, but not sure how Neate caught up in it. What a shame for Neate. Despite the less than stellar job he's done, he could have picked up somthing in that third race. Lucky that we had no one else off there, even if it was out of the line of fire, someone else could have hit that Beemer. But luckily the racing continued without major incident

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by S griffin

As for Jelley and Neate, I think maybe Jelley lost it on his own, but not sure how Neate caught up in it.

Didn’t Jelley’s car have a big dent in the back??

[crmalcolm]

'On lap four Stephen Jelley went off at Druids after a collision with Andy Neate, meaning both ended the season in retirement.'

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Didn’t Jelley’s car have a big dent in the back??

I would guess Neate missed his braking point or put a wheel on the grass and slid into the back of Jelley. Though it seemed to happen a long way round the corner.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

It shouldn't be underestimated how much Sutton's driving is a factor in the Infiniti being successful. Every other team on the grid have been able to get results with different drivers - it is only in the cars that Sutton has driven that he is the only one able to get consistent results.

True, very true. The kid has a special talent. Ash's car always looks twitchy like it's about to breakaway and send marshalls running for cover. The only other current driver that I have noticed thriving in such a setup is Tingram - that Toyota looks even twitchier, but that could be it's more compact size exaggerating it. No idea how Speedworks engineer the thing or if anyone else could live with a Tingram setup and I do not believe we'll be finding any answers to that one any year soon.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Evantra

I would guess Neate missed his braking point or put a wheel on the grass and slid into the back of Jelley. Though it seemed to happen a long way round the corner.

Surely Steven snagged reverse by accident and went into Andy? I can't believe Andy would have made a mishsteak.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Surely Steven snagged reverse by accident and went into Andy? I can't believe Andy would have made a mishsteak.

About as likely as the post saying he went off by himself. Despite the massive dent in the back.

[touringcarnut]

Originally Posted by peebee2

About as likely as the post saying he went off by himself. Despite the massive dent in the back.

Nope Stephen backed it into some bollards in the Swanley Asda and rejoined the race.