[BTCC] BTCC 2023 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

“Given” who pays then? Any idea what a BTCC costs to run for a weekend?

Sorry I was being facetious. I'd already seen social media people starting the clamour for Jack Goff.

[AnnoyedMoose]

Originally Posted by Redron

Not sure if Hawkins is racing or not.
Shame for them both

She's in the Praga cup.

[Redron]

Originally Posted by AnnoyedMoose

She's in the Praga cup.

Is that still going?

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by Redron

Is that still going?

It was merged back into the Britcar Prototype Cup this year. First round saw 6 entries (5x Praga, 1x Radical). Round 2 was cancelled. I've not seen any more but looks like the whole series has been quietly dropped.

[coffinpilot]

I'd seen something about the Praga Cup being prepared for a return next year. I also saw Britcar talking about bringing back the 24 hours - can't see that happening, one of their BEC rounds only had 15 cars, Britcar looked really strong last year, would love to see a 24 hour race that wasn't those daft C1's at Silverstone again with GT/TC classes.

[Alessio]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

I'd seen something about the Praga Cup being prepared for a return next year. I also saw Britcar talking about bringing back the 24 hours - can't see that happening, one of their BEC rounds only had 15 cars, Britcar looked really strong last year, would love to see a 24 hour race that wasn't those daft C1's at Silverstone again with GT/TC classes.

Given the economy, and the general price of motorsport in itself to begin with, they're hardly daft. £5000 for a racing car where the cost can be split between several drivers. Similar to the ethos of what Britcar was when it was far more successful, also similar to the continuously successful FunCup, and no surprise that they consistently bring in 30+ grids.

RE: The Pragas. They're getting much better use in the BRSCC's Prototype Cup - grids of up to 20 and they have the infamous ex-GP2 Rodolfo Gonzalez running with them too.

Anyway, this is a BTCC thread, so I'll mention that I've been enjoying the season so far so as to stay on topic

[SSmith]

With the season resuming in under a fortnight, here's a nice breakdown of the first half of the season by TouringCarTimes

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2023...s-and-figures/

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by SSmith

With the season resuming in under a fortnight, here's a nice breakdown of the first half of the season by TouringCarTimes

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2023...s-and-figures/

Seems absolutely unbelievable that Sutton is only 6 points ahead of Ingram, who has led only 7 laps!

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Seems absolutely unbelievable that Sutton is only 6 points ahead of Ingram, who has led only 7 laps!

Many of the top drivers now take a page out of the Turkington race-craft book i.e. that not being first across the line can still win you a championship as long as you keep racking up points. On day Hill will recognise this policy works, and he will be a better driver for it.

[hen henths]

There are ways they could encourage drivers to fight for more wins. They could slighty increase the points awarded for a win or for leading a lap. They could even change the rules so a DNF doesn't send you all the way to the back for the next race (though that could have unforeseen consequences).

These aren't serious suggestions though as I'm fairly sure they would make the championships less close.

[S griffin]

I think every driver wants to win, so increasing the points gap wouldn’t make a difference as long as the gap between 1st and 2nd is bigger than 2nd and 3rd. Of course we don’t have to have R2 and R3 decided by earlier results, they could at least occasionally have a second quali to decide the grid for one or both of those.

But the championship is still close and the cream does tend to rise to the top

[Pickles]

Bobby Thompson to step down for the second half of the season:

https://www.team-hard.com/thompson-t...ujhFJsjild1Rek

[Robin Marriott]

https://www.team-hard.com/thompson-t...inder-of-2023/

This isn’t a great read.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Robin Marriott

https://www.team-hard.com/thompson-t...inder-of-2023/

This isn’t a great read.

It reads as though the team is struggling financially and so are reducing the number of cars that they will be running. That would suggest that they consider that the financial gains that they receive from their less inspiring drivers is more important than the driver who performs the best.

[Evantra]

Dammit….

Really hope he gets snapped up somewhere soon, too talented to not be on the grid. All down to money of course.

[5five]

Looks like they saved money on their webhosting too as the site won't even load for me.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by 5five

Looks like they saved money on their webhosting too as the site won't even load for me.

Yeah me neither.

[coffinpilot]

Seems to be high traffic on the HARD announcement.
We all knew both he and Lloyd entered the season short, hoping to make the budget up along the way. It's a terrible way to do business.
I do know a couple of TCR drivers were approached by HARD before the season started about a full, or later in the year, part season. And from what I understand they all said they'd love to, but if they're struggling for a TCR budget then BTCC isn't a chance.
I wonder how much it would cost for a half season in one of the two cars that seem competitive.
If they drop to five cars it would be better for Patterson, I think he's got some decent pace, would like to see what he could do in a team higher up the grid.

[AnnoyedMoose]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

It reads as though the team is struggling financially and so are reducing the number of cars that they will be running. That would suggest that they consider that the financial gains that they receive from their less inspiring drivers is more important than the driver who performs the best.

They said on Instagram that they will be announcing the replacement driver at 10am so it will be the same number of cars but I'm assuming they are switching to drivers who can bring more money.

At the end of the day it costs X amount of money to run a car and if the team can't provide that then it has to come from somewhere.

Company insolvencies are running at the highest level since 2009. It's tough for many out there at the moment which reduces the sponsorship spend.

[thetool]

The BTCC has shown remarkable resilience to the financial environment over the last five years, far stronger than in previous downturns (end of the 90s/end of the 00s). I wonder if we are going to see more overt signs of the current turmoil affecting the grid next season. To date the biggest effect has been a slight increase in cheque-book drivers, most notably this season where, head-to-head, it can be argued that the 4 replacements for the drivers lost from 2022 are all downgrades.

[Evantra]

Crees in for Thompson.

Jake Hill was a similar position a few years back (although perhaps it wasn’t so much for financial reasons) dropping out mid season, so hopefully Thompson has a similar resurgence.

[thetool]

https://www.btcc.net/2023/07/19/mich...m-hard-racing/

"Creesy" back. So a cringey second half of the season.

[Pickles]

Michael Crees steps in for the rest of the season:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...00063738122430

[Robin Marriott]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

It reads as though the team is struggling financially and so are reducing the number of cars that they will be running. That would suggest that they consider that the financial gains that they receive from their less inspiring drivers is more important than the driver who performs the best.

Yeah, that’s exactly how I read it but apparently not as they’ve just announced the return of Crees

[thetool]

Originally Posted by Robin Marriott

Yeah, that’s exactly how I read it but apparently not as they’ve just announced the return of Crees

Running more cars is cheaper per-car generally. Generally the biggest savings come from pairs of cars, which is why 2 or 4 car teams are so popular.