[BTCC] BTCC 2017 Rumours & Silly Season

[pagey318]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Is some of the association with Renault connected to Jolyon Palmer?
If so, does his F1 seat have any bearing on Renault's potential to tie up with Clarke?

Couldn't tell you bud, I just know a driver approached Renault prior to the new Megane being released and they showed an interest but advised to come back later in the year and see what is what.

[porsche962fan]

new Megane has such an UGLY front end !!!! which is a shame as the rear looks quite nice , but would be good to have a new brand on the grid


and speaking of Renault

1999 – The last season when Jason Plato only took a single win

[S griffin]

That doesn't surprise me what Chilton says, he was one of the few who didn't suck up to Plato's pony. His reasoning explains why he's getting more credit in the WTCC

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by pagey318

Are you ready for this?

The Infiniti deal was brought about by... a driver. The driver sold them the idea and the reasoning, and the manufacturer liked the idea. However, the driver had put trust in a family and group of people who he had built a relationship with over months of discussions, maybe even more than a year. And these people fiddled with it and pushed said driver out. To quote the unnamed family/team boss, "its my train set and I will play with it how I ******* like". That was in response to said driver questioning the way the car was being built.

I must say no more.

Jack Clarke has been doing a lot with Renault, and I know Renault are considering entering with the new Megane. We shall see what happens I suppose.

But don't believe me, I know nothing.

Great insight, thank you.

[Steel Wheels]

Originally Posted by Ry44

just read an article discussing how Tom Chilton would return given the correct offer


http://www.touringcars.net/2016/11/t...tions-for-2017


I do feel what he has said in the article probably rules it out though

I think while it looks like he'd rather stay where he is, if he got a top drive offered in the BTCC he'd take it, just obviously not with BMR & Mr P!

Outsider for a 3rd Dynamic's maybe?

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by pagey318

Jack Clarke has been doing a lot with Renault, and I know Renault are considering entering with the new Megane. We shall see what happens I suppose.

not quite.
Jack Clarke works for their F1 driver Jolyon Palmer helping look after his personal sponsors thats all.

[pagey318]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

not quite.
Jack Clarke works for their F1 driver Jolyon Palmer helping look after his personal sponsors thats all.

thanks for clearing that up bud. Weren't sure on the Renault connection. The Renault info I have is another driver.

[850Estate]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

except according to the rules nobody else can use a boxer engine cos they don't have one in their road car range

so it's unfair and impossible to everyone else on the grid

Well, yes, unless they run another Subaru. In the same why that Motorbase couldn't run the Championship winning Honda unit in their Focus because Ford don't run Honda engines in their road cars.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Steel Wheels

Outsider for a 3rd Dynamic's maybe?

For sure Jack Clarke is 1st in line for any Dynamic's seat that becomes available?

[Jiiiiiiim]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

For sure Jack Clarke is 1st in line for any Dynamic's seat that becomes available?

Well he didn't get the gig with them last year, with Mr Neate taking the seat so many thought was his. I believe he was in the running at a couple of other teams for this season, PMR being one. Not seen him doing any Honda work this year, but may of just missed that!

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by 850Estate

Well, yes, unless they run another Subaru. In the same why that Motorbase couldn't run the Championship winning Honda unit in their Focus because Ford don't run Honda engines in their road cars.

apples and oranges

Boxer engine has low center of gravity , it's not about power and torque that TOCA can simply adjust via boost

you want a grid of Subarus ? surely nobody sane or/and champion organizers would really want it

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by pagey318

Are you ready for this?

The Infiniti deal was brought about by... a driver. The driver sold them the idea and the reasoning, and the manufacturer liked the idea. However, the driver had put trust in a family and group of people who he had built a relationship with over months of discussions, maybe even more than a year. And these people fiddled with it and pushed said driver out. To quote the unnamed family/team boss, "its my train set and I will play with it how I ******* like". That was in response to said driver questioning the way the car was being built.

I must say no more.

This is precisely my point, a driver has little or even no knowledge of a team situation, so if I was a manufacturer I would want to deal with a recognised team and do all the due diligence before commiting myself.

The same goes for teams that build a car off their own back and then go to a manufactuer and say 'look what we've built for 'you', will you support it now? I won't name the team or car but there was an example of a team that did just this and got the response, no we won't support it, that model is not want we want to see racing and in fact we would rather you didn't do it at all and 'advised' their dealers not to get involved either...

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

not quite.
Jack Clarke works for their F1 driver Jolyon Palmer helping look after his personal sponsors thats all.

That sounds a tough gig....

[850Estate]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

apples and oranges

Boxer engine has low center of gravity , it's not about power and torque that TOCA can simply adjust via boost

you want a grid of Subarus ? surely nobody sane or/and champion organizers would really want it

*Sighs*

Your original point was "except according to the rules nobody else can use a boxer engine cos they don't have one in their road car range, so it's unfair and impossible to everyone else on the grid"

The point is that the Subaru is within regulations, of course nobody wants to see a full grid of them - nor will we - however there's nothing to stop other teams building their own Levorgs if they want to use a boxer engine. In the same way as there's nothing to stop them building Civics and using the Honda unit, or 1 series' and using their NBE BMW (IIRC) unit or building an A3 and taking advantage of the fact it's gloriously aerodynamic or building a whatever.

The Levorg is undoubtedly a good car - but evidently not good enough to take (no disrespect intended) the lower mid-table runners Cole and Scott beyond that level. That says to me that it doesn't have a massive advantage over everyone else. It still comes down to driver talent.

For me the best car and team combination deserves to win the series. If that's through some engineering genius - which the Levorg is, as anyone who has seen it up close will testify - combined with some top driving (Turkington in this case, who was excellent last season) then they deserve to win. Last season Shedden had an excellent reliable engine, in a car which was outstanding on the brakes and drove with the sensible aggression that a champion should. Hence he (and Dynamics) deserved to win the title.

[porsche962fan]

my point is it's not pure engineering genius to use the boxer engine, it's something limited for the other teams by the rules

engineering genius is what Dynamics has done making their car brake so well and handle so well too on things which are not dependent on the road car base

so in essence what Dynamics has done every other team on the grid could do

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

my point is it's not pure engineering genius to use the boxer engine, it's something limited for the other teams by the rules

engineering genius is what Dynamics has done making their car brake so well and handle so well too on things which are not dependent on the road car base

so in essence what Dynamics has done every other team on the grid could do

But motor racing has always been about pushing the rules to their absolute limit without going over it. That's what the subaru has done. Of course the rest get cheesed off because they didn't come up with it first.

[Rob877]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

my point is it's not pure engineering genius to use the boxer engine, it's something limited for the other teams by the rules

engineering genius is what Dynamics has done making their car brake so well and handle so well too on things which are not dependent on the road car base

so in essence what Dynamics has done every other team on the grid could do

LOL, Team Dynamics are the best and everyone else sucks. Having the money to throw a new set of brakes at the car every race is engineering genius. Any other team that manages to drag some more speed out of their car are obviously cheating and should immediately be removed from the championship. Especially if it's being driven by a certain double champion.

Would be good to see Chilton back in the BTCC, however unlikely that may be. I think he would struggle though. The championship has moved on a hell of a lot since he was last in it, getting in the top ten isn't a given anymore. Obviously it would depend on the car he would rock up in.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Rob877

LOL, Team Dynamics are the best and everyone else sucks. Having the money to throw a new set of brakes at the car every race is engineering genius.

So does that mean that Plato, Turkington, Collard, Tordoff, Jordan, Jackson et al. are using the same pads and discs for an entire weekend?

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by Rob877

LOL, Team Dynamics are the best and everyone else sucks. Having the money to throw a new set of brakes at the car every race is engineering genius. Any other team that manages to drag some more speed out of their car are obviously cheating and should immediately be removed from the championship. Especially if it's being driven by a certain double champion.

Would be good to see Chilton back in the BTCC, however unlikely that may be. I think he would struggle though. The championship has moved on a hell of a lot since he was last in it, getting in the top ten isn't a given anymore. Obviously it would depend on the car he would rock up in.

No gas power anymore to heighten his self-belief.

[jimothy84]

Anyone know any more on Osamu Kawashima's test with Speedworks? Looking towards 2017 or just fancied a test in the car?

[Jiiiiiiim]

Originally Posted by jimothy84

Anyone know any more on Osamu Kawashima's test with Speedworks? Looking towards 2017 or just fancied a test in the car?

Only that his Facebook page has a posted referring to 2016.2017 BTCC, so he could well be sampling a car with a view to next year?

[Ry44]

Originally Posted by Jiiiiiiim

Only that his Facebook page has a posted referring to 2016.2017 BTCC, so he could well be sampling a car with a view to next year?

http://www.btcc.net/2016/11/04/kawas...eedworks-test/

very much the case by the sounds of it. wonder what team he would join though i feel somewhere such as AMD alongside Ollie Jackson would be perfect given previous Ginetta experience

[Ry44]

https://www.autosport.com/news/repor...d-hurt-subarus


Not suprised at all but wonder if this means we will see four Strong drivers in them next year in BMR and BKR running 2 slightly less experienced drivers. I wonder if this will help BKR get around the issue of TBL allocations should it arise as they were only using the loaned TBLs and simply splitting the BMR allocation between the 2 teams freeing up 2 licences

[CarsCarsCars]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

No gas power anymore to heighten his self-belief.

And he'd need to find a teammate that is willing to move over for him.

[Jiiiiiiim]

Originally Posted by Ry44

https://www.autosport.com/news/repor...d-hurt-subarus


Not suprised at all but wonder if this means we will see four Strong drivers in them next year in BMR and BKR running 2 slightly less experienced drivers. I wonder if this will help BKR get around the issue of TBL allocations should it arise as they were only using the loaned TBLs and simply splitting the BMR allocation between the 2 teams freeing up 2 licences

Could be more of two strong drivers in a two car works team & two run under a different umbrella!!! BKR might choose a different car now the Levorg has been 'adjusted', though they seemed quite sure the CC's would be gone!