BTCC 2024 News & Rumours

[Spanner monkey]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

For the avoidance of doubt any testing or competing by any registered Driver, team or Entrant of any kind whatsoever and regardless of the type of vehicle cannot be undertaken at a venue using a circuit configuration which largely consists of that which is used at a Meeting of the 2024 Championship until after that Meeting, unless with the specific written authorisation of the Administrator or if the test is an Official organised test day open to all Entrants.

I think it is X amount of weeks before a BTCC meeting. Otherwise some drivers would not be able to do any other sort of racing.

[SV8Predator]

Originally Posted by Spanner monkey

I think it is X amount of weeks before a BTCC meeting. Otherwise some drivers would not be able to do any other sort of racing.

^^^^This.^^^^

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Spanner monkey

I think it is X amount of weeks before a BTCC meeting. Otherwise some drivers would not be able to do any other sort of racing.

I have quoted the 2024 regulations. A certain amount of weeks does not feature.

[Pickles]

You'd guess that they have the specific written authorisation then. It's not exactly an oversight, the teams know the rules.

[Robin Marriott]

Oh yeah, not trying to call them out on it, just wondering.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Robin Marriott

Oh yeah, not trying to call them out on it, just wondering.

I would add, unless I'm going totally gaga, that this very same conversation was also had last year about the very same meeting.

[coffinpilot]

The last time a driver entered a race at a track that hadn't been raced on that season was Mark Smith in 2019.
He entered a 750 Motor Club endurance race in a Seat Leon Supercopa (effectively a TCR car) at Croft two weeks before the BTCC round, but because he hadn't been cleared by TOCA he was banned from the first practice session on the Saturday morning for the BTCC meeting.
I remember reading at the time that the rules were as crcmalcom quoted, and that it was kind of on a case by case basis at the discretion of the championship.
I do remember in 2020 that James Gornall and Bobby Thompson were testing Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107 for the new City Car Cup at Croft, but they said were given dispensation because it was thought the cars gave no 'step up' for someone racing an NGTC machine.
I've also seen the likes of Butcher and Cook in cars as driver coaches (including behind the wheel) for Fiesta Jr and Fiesta Snr cars - but I'm not sure if coaching at a track without permission is a thing?

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

The last time a driver entered a race at a track that hadn't been raced on that season was Mark Smith in 2019.
He entered a 750 Motor Club endurance race in a Seat Leon Supercopa (effectively a TCR car) at Croft two weeks before the BTCC round, but because he hadn't been cleared by TOCA he was banned from the first practice session on the Saturday morning for the BTCC meeting.
I remember reading at the time that the rules were as crcmalcom quoted, and that it was kind of on a case by case basis at the discretion of the championship.
I do remember in 2020 that James Gornall and Bobby Thompson were testing Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107 for the new City Car Cup at Croft, but they said were given dispensation because it was thought the cars gave no 'step up' for someone racing an NGTC machine.
I've also seen the likes of Butcher and Cook in cars as driver coaches (including behind the wheel) for Fiesta Jr and Fiesta Snr cars - but I'm not sure if coaching at a track without permission is a thing?

Think you mean Rob Smith.

IIRC Dexter Patterson missed FP1 at Knockhill last year because he competed in a Legends race, or something like that?

[thetool]

Given the quality of high-end sim experiences that can't be regulated these days the restrictions on racing other series are extremely silly.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by thetool

Given the quality of high-end sim experiences that can't be regulated these days the restrictions on racing other series are extremely silly.

As already mentioned by crmalcom, the only restriction placed on drivers in the BTCC is that they need to receive written confirmation from TOCA if they wish to take part in a race in another type of competition car at a circuit or circuit layout that haven't yet been to in the championship.

That is it, and that doesn't seem to me to be too onerous; I would imagine that a quick phone call to TOCA to notify them, and then they send you an email confirmation. No big deal provided that they don't consider the car to be driven is similar to a BTCC car.

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Think you mean Rob Smith.

IIRC Dexter Patterson missed FP1 at Knockhill last year because he competed in a Legends race, or something like that?

Ha, yeah, I was watching some TCR when I was posting, and Mark Smith was on being interviewed!

[tocatrucky]

Additionally in 2016, JJ Ross was excluded from the Clio Cup Rockingham results because it later was discovered he'd raced his Clio Cup car in CTCRC Classic Thunder at Rockingham earlier that year so I believe the rule is blanket across most of the TOCA package (or was back then).

[v8supes]

Is it true that Team Hard will be back at the end of the season?

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by v8supes

Is it true that Team Hard will be back at the end of the season?

Where have you seen that?

[Pickles]

On the subject of drivers not being allowed to race at circuits in other series, not sure if the rules are more lenient if they're in other cars? I was at a Team HARD hot lap day a few years ago with Nic Hamilton and a big group of his sponsors, it was only as the day was due to start that they realised he couldn't drive his NGTC Volkswagen CC around Brands GP for the same reason...

[MarcusH26]

Napa teasing a 10am team announcement tomorrow it seems? Assuming it will just be a livery or something like the charity partnership they had for Knockhill last season.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by MarcusH26

Napa teasing a 10am team announcement tomorrow it seems? Assuming it will just be a livery or something like the charity partnership they had for Knockhill last season.

Or a new car for 2025?

[rdjones]

Originally Posted by MarcusH26

Napa teasing a 10am team announcement tomorrow it seems? Assuming it will just be a livery or something like the charity partnership they had for Knockhill last season.

It's a multi year contract extension for Dan Cammish

https://btcc.net/dan-cammish-inks-mu...-uk-extension/

[MarcusH26]

That's a nice surprise! Hopefully Dan can have a proper tilt at the title this year and not be besieged by the worst luck possible. Smart from Alliance to get their 2 key drivers on long term deals.

[Mike Harte]

You have to read right to the last sentence in the very last paragraph to understand that multi-year means a two year extension. Why not say that right from the start?

[S griffin]

And of course the contract doesn’t mean he will stay, things can easily change like that

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by S griffin

And of course the contract doesn’t mean he will stay, things can easily change like that

Oh dear…..

[thetool]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Oh dear…..

He's not wrong in this case.

[tee.1s]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Oh dear…..

We've seen it with hamilton at Mercedes (obviously a bigger case) but these contracts can always have stipulations which we the viewers are completely unaware of!

[ScottS]

A few nuggets of information got released from Croft.

• PMR got a slight boost increase which translates into anyone with a TOCA engine has got a slight boost increase. TOCA look back on the first half of the season and work out if any equalisation needs to take place and in this case the TOCA engine benefit from this.
• Excelr8 are running a new boot lid to redistribute some of the weight to different places on the car.
• I think it was also mentioned that the Toyota team are running a new exhaust on their cars.