BTCC 2024 News & Rumours

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I long thought the BTCC budgets were comparable to that of an F3 season, but maybe those views are skewed somewhat or point toward a different era…?

In any case, those budgets for a single season are eye wateringly high. Anyone have any ideas on what could be realistically done to lower the budget requirements?

british gt budget for gt3 is about the same as btcc
and thats with nowhere near the high profile and tv coverage and spectator numbers etc etc

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

british gt budget for gt3 is about the same as btcc

and thats with nowhere near the high profile and tv coverage and spectator numbers etc etc

But also can also be shared between drivers budgets.

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[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

But also can also be shared between drivers budgets.

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Excerpt the Gentelmen driver normally finds the car and gets a hot shoe in on wages to make him look good

[MarcusH26]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Excerpt the Gentelmen driver normally finds the car and gets a hot shoe in on wages to make him look good

That makes sense, I wonder how much a works hot shoe like a Dan Harper or Raf Marciello costs for a season? Doubt they come cheap.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by MarcusH26

That makes sense, I wonder how much a works hot shoe like a Dan Harper or Raf Marciello costs for a season? Doubt they come cheap.

Depends who's paying - if they're a works driver then they might get placed into British GT alongside their other commitments. So Marciello/Harper for example may have an annual salary paid by the manufacturer - and races as often as they're told to, in whatever championship they're told to. So the cost to the British GT team is either nothing or a reduced rate.

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Depends who's paying - if they're a works driver then they might get placed into British GT alongside their other commitments. So Marciello/Harper for example may have an annual salary paid by the manufacturer - and races as often as they're told to, in whatever championship they're told to. So the cost to the British GT team is either nothing or a reduced rate.

Whilst this whole discussion is not relevant to the BTCC 2024 News & Rumours thread and should be in the British GT 2024 thread, my understanding is that Marciello is paid by John Ferguson, although there may be some input from BMW M. The whole reason John Ferguson's RAM Racing team bought a BMW M4 GT3 was so that he could continue working with Marciello after Marciello left Mercedes-AMG late last year.

In more relevant BTCC-related news - Stephen Jelley has finally been officially confirmed in PCCGB with Team Parker Racing, several weeks after Autosport released the story. Not the prettiest of liveries IMO. https://teamparkerracing.com/post/st...tle-2024-04-08

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by SSmith

Stephen Jelley has finally been officially confirmed in PCCGB with Team Parker Racing, several weeks after Autosport released the story. Not the prettiest of liveries IMO. https://teamparkerracing.com/post/st...tle-2024-04-08

Abbie Eaton to race in PCCGB this year with Team Parker Racing

https://teamparkerracing.com/post/ab...ing-2024-04-08

[Daverb]

Originally Posted by SSmith

Abbie Eaton to race in PCCGB this year with Team Parker Racing

https://teamparkerracing.com/post/ab...ing-2024-04-08

That will be good to see

[coffinpilot]

Croft going all out tomorrow. Test days usually run 9.30 - 4.30. But with the big boys it's 9.30 - 5.45. Will it matter? Wet afternoon it looks like.....

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

Croft going all out tomorrow. Test days usually run 9.30 - 4.30. But with the big boys it's 9.30 - 5.45. Will it matter? Wet afternoon it looks like.....

Unfortunately it may well be wet all day according to the app that I use which usually is pretty accurate; it certainly was a few years ago when I did a test at Croft.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

Croft going all out tomorrow. Test days usually run 9.30 - 4.30. But with the big boys it's 9.30 - 5.45. Will it matter? Wet afternoon it looks like.....

Sure about that ? I remember there being a weekday noise curfew there

[MarcusH26]

Am assuming we aren't expecting Bobby T again tomorrow as it stands but we could have DeLeon and the Cupra if Hard have got their act together.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Sure about that ? I remember there being a weekday noise curfew there

From the circuit's FB page:

'Get ready for the official testing here tomorrow ahead of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Croft ?
All you need to know:
?? FREE entry granted to spectators and gates open at 9.00am.
?? As it’s a test day there is no schedule or timetable. The testing starts on track at 9.30am until 12.30pm . There’s a 1 hour break for lunch. Testing will resume at 1.30pm and will finish at 5.45 pm.
??Cafe will be open.
??Spectators can get up close and personal with the latest line-up in an open paddock area throughout the day.
??We are asking for donations on the gate to Croft’s chosen charities: Race Against Dementia and North East Air Ambulance.'

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by MarcusH26

Am assuming we aren't expecting Bobby T again tomorrow

He’s doing a livestream / interview thingy at 8:00pm tomorrow (I think) for those interested, not sure if that was purposely scheduled to coincide with the test day for any particular reason.

https://x.com/thehardcompound/status...T11pmdgnSSDQzA

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

From the circuit's FB page:

'Get ready for the official testing here tomorrow ahead of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Croft ?
All you need to know:
?? FREE entry granted to spectators and gates open at 9.00am.
?? As it’s a test day there is no schedule or timetable. The testing starts on track at 9.30am until 12.30pm . There’s a 1 hour break for lunch. Testing will resume at 1.30pm and will finish at 5.45 pm.
??Cafe will be open.
??Spectators can get up close and personal with the latest line-up in an open paddock area throughout the day.
??We are asking for donations on the gate to Croft’s chosen charities: Race Against Dementia and North East Air Ambulance.'

Amazed what with all the local noise aggro they have.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Amazed what with all the local noise aggro they have.

The current legal position is for 40x N1 to N4 days a year, no time is included in the restrictions.
There is no noise curfew at the circuit (AFAIK).

[SSmith]

PCCGB Media Day today at Donington.

11 Pros, 8 Pro-Ams, 2 Ams set lap times.

PRO
#8 - Hugo Ellis - Team Parker Racing
#12 - Stephen Jelley - Team Parker Racing
#35 - Matthew Rees – Team Parker Racing
#14 - Will Burns – Rosland Gold by Century Motorsport
#42 - George Gamble – Rosland Gold by Century Motorsport
#16 – Harry Foster – Eden Race Drive
#90 - Josh Malin – Eden Race Drive
#40 - Andrew Rackstraw - JTR
#50 - James Wallis - JTR
#99 – Charles Rainford – Cognition Land & Water with CCK Motorsport
#123 - Dan Lloyd - Toro Verde GT

PRO-AM
#29 – Ross Wylie – Toro Verde GT
#96 - Jack Butel - Toro Verde GT
#44 – Abbie Eaton – Team Parker Racing
#66 - Sid Smith - Team Parker Racing
#48 – Ollie Jackson – JTR
#59 - Josh Stanton - JTR
#52 - Angus Whiteside – Century Motorsport
#94 - Oliver White – Eden Race Drive

AM
#55 – Richard Hosking – Cognition Land & Water with CCK Motorsport
#80 - Lee Mowle - Team Parker Racing

A really strong entry this year. Its really hard to predict a champion in PRO and PRO-AM, and whilst one AM is more experienced than the other I hope that class is also a competitive battle. At present it is numerically down on 2023 (which peaked at 25 entries for Rd. 1).

Cognition Land & Water with CCK Motorsport has to be one of the longest team names imaginable. Cognition Land & Water founder Richard Hosking is racing for CCK in the Am class.

I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of entries move up or down between Pro and Pro-Am.

[thetool]

Not sure about a multipe race winning BTCC driver being listed as only a "Pro-Am" amongst that lot. Especially considering the relative calibre of some of the others who have been classified as "Pro".

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by thetool

Not sure about a multipe race winning BTCC driver being listed as only a "Pro-Am" amongst that lot. Especially considering the relative calibre of some of the others who have been classified as "Pro".

It is an interesting decision, although he did run as a Pro-Am last year as well and achieved no Pro-Am class wins. Sid Smith is a name I'm surprised to see as a Pro-Am given his pace in testing and in the Porsche Southern Europe winter series.

I wouldn't be surprised if a little bit of reclassification goes on between now and the season opener. On the whole, I feel Porsche do a pretty good job of categorising people. Part of the problem nowadays is that cars only score points in their class (whereas pre-2018 it was outright points + special points tables for PA1 and PA2) which makes it more important for Porsche to do a good job.

Whilst testing times count for little, and I think only their final session was representative, here is the order:
1. Hugo Ellis (Pro)
2. Matthew Rees (Pro)
3. Charles Rainford (Pro)
4. Sid Smith (Pro-Am)
5. James Wallis (Pro)
6. George Gamble (Pro)
7. Oliver White (Pro-Am)
8. Josh Malin (Pro)
9. Angus Whiteside (Pro-Am)
10. Ollie Jackson (Pro-Am)
11. Harry Foster (Pro)
12. Daniel Lloyd (Pro)
13. Andrew Rackstraw (Pro)
14. William Burns (Pro)
15. Jack Butel (Pro-Am)
16. Josh Stanton (Pro-Am)
17. Stephen Jelley (Pro)
18. Abbie Eaton (Pro-Am)
19. Ross Wylie (Pro-Am)
20. Lee Mowle (Am)
21. Richard Hosking (Am)

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by thetool

Not sure about a multipe race winning BTCC driver being listed as only a "Pro-Am" amongst that lot. Especially considering the relative calibre of some of the others who have been classified as "Pro".

I guess it's because racing is his hobby as he has a full time job?

[thetool]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

I guess it's because racing is his hobby as he has a full time job?

But the same also goes for at least a number of those who are classified as "Pro"?

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by thetool

But the same also goes for at least a number of those who are classified as "Pro"?

Might it be more about what those drivers do outside of their 9-5 jobs; for example, if when they are not engaged in the day to day job, they also do driver mentoring and/or coaching etc?

I don't know any of the drivers or what they do, so this is purely a guess on my part.

[redshoes]

Don't be surprised if we don't see Team Hard at Croft tomorrow, I understand they are struggling to get the parts to even complete one car. Apparently suppliers are now asking to be paid up front, I can't imagine why.

And don't expect them to be known as 'Team Hard' on the entry list.

[Speedysnapper]

Originally Posted by redshoes

Don't be surprised if we don't see Team Hard at Croft tomorrow, I understand they are struggling to get the parts to even complete one car. Apparently suppliers are now asking to be paid up front, I can't imagine why.

And don't expect them to be known as 'Team Hard' on the entry list.

This is an absolute joke, and the team And associated personnel shouldn’t be allowed
Any where near a touring car grid again

[Streethawk]

Originally Posted by MarcusH26

Am assuming we aren't expecting Bobby T again tomorrow as it stands but we could have DeLeon and the Cupra if Hard have got their act together.

Don't think Bobby is out tomorrow.
As for Hard that's highly unlikely.