[STCC] STCC 2012 News & Rumors

[PorscheFanNo1]

Originally Posted by DS"

Maybe they'll allow Leon Supercopa and Mini Challenge cars, just like ETCC.

But no-one in sweden have either of them, and no-one will buy either of them only to race one or two seasons at the back of STCC, like throwing away the money.

As you say, there should be plenty of E90s for sale all over europe really cheap, I hope a few guys can pick them up and race in STCC, altho I see it quite unlikely since they will only be somewhat competetive for this season only. I think the reality is, there will only be 7 fast cars in STCC this season, with 2-5 slow cars in addition to that. Very similar to how DTC was in its last season.

[Pettersson]

The thing is that Jan Nilsson has said (mid March) that all TTA teams have sold their S2000 cars and none of them had Swedish buyers, and Jan himself had sold 2 of the 3 E90's he had. Not a surprise if TTA don't want to sell to Swedish teams (that's only a rumour and nothing Jan has said from what I've read/heard), but for me it sounds just crazy. Especially since Jan and TTA goes out and says they wish STCC well and are sorry for this situation (that's what he writes at the racingbarcup forum). The fun part of it is that there are still 2 E90's for sale from Flash, Brovallen had both of their cars out on another ad from March 6th on racecarsdirect.com, Ebbesson has his E90 for sale, Mattias Andersson's Alfa is also for sale and West Coast Racing has one E90 for sale. Or they are just lazy at removing their ads...

If their cars aren't sold (and while there are still ads hanging around you can only consider them still for sale, right?) and Jan goes out and says things like this, you'll have to start thinking about what you are saying. I know this is a tiny thingy, but it's an easy way of damaging your credibility. So TTA tams, go delete your ads, or I'll start calling late nights as a foreign buyer, haha

The point is that things like above are my problems with TTA, the fact that they say one thing (in media and public) but acts totally the opposite. They have their own way of making business and I as a fan don't like their way, but who cares honestly... You have to be either blind or just plain stupid to not understand that all TTA want is to get the rights to crown the "Swedish Champion" and they couldn't care less if that meant STCC will go down (which it means). All this is the normal way of making business, but I fear for how the fragile Swedish Racing scene can cope with it.

One of the reasons the TTA teams left is because STCC AB is run by business men. But in TTA everyone are business men and they are also profit-driven companies, so it will be fun to see how it all can be better between the teams that normally are friends until the first corner. For instance, what happens when a driver/teams writes off a TTA car? And when a team is not considered as "elite" (out of funds) anymore? Can their ego's take that? Sorry for going off topic at the end.

[FIRE]

Start a revolution against the ruling elite, take power en become the elite yourself...

[DS"]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Start a revolution against the ruling elite, take power en become the elite yourself...

That's hardly a surprise. The system didn't change, only the people in charge did. It's a normal occurence when a "revolution" is started.

[Obizzz]

First official STCC test: http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7467

Only VW, Chevy and Honda. The others will join for the next test day at Mantorp the 25th.

[thlbtcc]

Anyone know what engine is in the Chevy?

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

Anyone know what engine is in the Chevy?

Same engine as in the WTCC cars , the 1,6T.

Look at this link: http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7470

[morningview66]

Whats the deal in Sweden with many teams being able to secure 'manufacturer' support or 'dealer team status'??

Volkswagen, Chevrolet, SEAT and Honda in STCC and Citroen, BMW and Volvo in TTA.

In Britain with the BTCC, they struggle to have 2 manufacturer supported teams on the grid any year in what (without too much knowledge of the Swedish series) is well publicised, well attended and a more competitive series.

[PorscheFanNo1]

Originally Posted by Obizzz

First official STCC test: http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7467

Only VW, Chevy and Honda. The others will join for the next test day at Mantorp the 25th.

And the other being the two 7 year old Audis and two SEATs.

Only 11 cars for STCC unless we get some late entries. Not looking very bright at the moment. One or two cars for selected races only could also be expected (Hoffsten & Alx).

Clio Cup is running 13 cars as it stands now, Carrera Cup Scandinavia is hoping for 15 cars but only have about half of that signed up yet.

The only class worth watching this season will be Camaro Cup with new strong drivers and a feild of close to 30 cars.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by PorscheFanNo1

And the other being the two 7 year old Audis and two SEATs.

Only 11 cars for STCC unless we get some late entries. Not looking very bright at the moment. One or two cars for selected races only could also be expected (Hoffsten & Alx).

Clio Cup is running 13 cars as it stands now, Carrera Cup Scandinavia is hoping for 15 cars but only have about half of that signed up yet.

The only class worth watching this season will be Camaro Cup with new strong drivers and a feild of close to 30 cars.

Maybe they should merge the STCC grid with the Clio grid. There, problem solved...sort of.

[PorscheFanNo1]

Originally Posted by DS"

Maybe they should merge the STCC grid with the Clio grid. There, problem solved...sort of.

Nah, that wont be anymore fun to watch since the Clios will be several seconds slower.

Its interesting this new change that Chevy are allowed 1.6t engine, is this a step towards using both NGTC and new S2000 in the years to come? I cant see either Chevy or VW being interested in NGTC cars for next season. STCC will really have to think about what route to take, going NGTC only could mean loosing both top teams for next season, leaving the feild even more depleated. And I think the big risk is that if a team (like KMS) lose their manufacturer support they will easily end up in TTA instead that will hopefully be a more stabe serie not so dependent of just manufacturer support.

[thlbtcc]

Originally Posted by morningview66

Whats the deal in Sweden with many teams being able to secure 'manufacturer' support or 'dealer team status'??

Volkswagen, Chevrolet, SEAT and Honda in STCC and Citroen, BMW and Volvo in TTA.

In Britain with the BTCC, they struggle to have 2 manufacturer supported teams on the grid any year in what (without too much knowledge of the Swedish series) is well publicised, well attended and a more competitive series.

Honda & MG have backing from Honda UK & MG UK (with healthy sponsorship too). The Dealer Teams are not supported by say Citroen Scandinavia, but money is put forward by many individual Citroen dealers. Two very different ways of going about things, it's up to the teams to go out and secure that funding in a sponsorship-like capacity. But yes, why there aren't Dealer Teams in the BTCC is something that always surprises me.

[Sodemo]

What status did the BMW E30's of the BTCC have in 1987-1990?

I know certainly some of them were ran by Prodrive, and they had "BMW Finance" sponsors on them (as well as Mobil 1). Were they a bona-fide works team, or as has been previously mentioned, a dealer effort?

[gregc]

Mat Jackson ran under the "BMW Dealer Team UK" banner a few years ago, and I believe that before Dynamics became the works Honda team they received some support from the dealers (not 100% on that though, something I heard somewhere).

It happens from time to time in BTCC.

[thlbtcc]

Oh yes, it certainly happens in the BTCC from time to time and other series too, but specifically in Sweden, it seems to be the norm and to me a really nice way of going about things as it adds an air of authenticity to proceedings.

[PorscheFanNo1]

12th entry confirmed: http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7487

First STCC test at Mantorp: http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7486


Oh, and 6 cars for Carrera Cup Scandinavia... Yeah sure it got alot better when KMS took over it...

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

If the car is good enough, it's good enough. For reference, see Andersson's results last year. These are the confirmed entries as for now:

Yeah well the two Audis where 7-8 sec off the pace... and the two SEATs 3 sec off the pace...

Well I'm off to write in the TTA topic instead, looks like that will be the serie to follow this year! (if anyone hadnt already figures that out)

[Obizzz]

Originally Posted by PorscheFanNo1

Yeah well the two Audis where 7-8 sec off the pace... and the two SEATs 3 sec off the pace...

To be fair the Audis only did 11 and 4 laps each. But being that much off pace would only be more reason to do more laps... oh well, apparently they don't benefit from the free tires deal during testing.

Price money in Semcon Cup is pretty good and with only three cars taking part...

[Pettersson]

The Civic is really eye candy with this livery

[FIRE]

Nice livery indeed.

[FIRE]

Entry list STCC 2012
#1 Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden
#2 Jordi Gené, Volkswagen Team Biogas
#3 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Team Biogas
#4 Michel Nykjaer, Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden
#15 Patrik Olsson, IPS Team Biogas
#17 Tomas Engström, Honda Racing Sweden
#21 Johan Stureson, IPS Team Biogas
#22 Robin Appelqvist, SEAT Team Sweden
#23 Santosh Berggren, SEAT Team Sweden
#97 Joakim Ahlberg, BMS Event
#98 Andreas Ahlberg, BMW Event
#90 Niclas Olsson, NP Racing
#89 Claes Hoffsten, TBA
#91 Tony Johansson, G-Rex

http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7495

[morningview66]

Originally Posted by Pettersson

The Civic is really eye candy with this livery

So, is the Honda the new Civic built to S2000 regulations?

If so, who built it??

[jsmee]

Originally Posted by morningview66

So, is the Honda the new Civic built to S2000 regulations?

If so, who built it??

Where have you been living for the past 3 years, under a rock?!

This is Matt Neal's BTCC car from last year: Team Dynamics built it...

Just out of interest where did this picture come from? Does anyone know any good sites for finding pictures from the Media Day?

James

[morningview66]

Originally Posted by jsmee

Where have you been living for the past 3 years, under a rock?!

This is Matt Neal's BTCC car from last year: Team Dynamics built it...

Just out of interest where did this picture come from? Does anyone know any good sites for finding pictures from the Media Day?

James

Hahah harrsh But yeah its Neal's old civic is it, i just though it was one of the new shape ones for some reason.

Now i think of it i remember reading the story saying it had been sold to the swedish. Obviously had a mental block...

[Pettersson]

Originally Posted by jsmee

Just out of interest where did this picture come from? Does anyone know any good sites for finding pictures from the Media Day?

James

Try this link: http://www.svartamasken.com/visa_gal...642&view_image=

Luckily you can't read the forum on that page, it's the home of bull**** in Swedish motorsport

[Craner Curves]

Quite unusual to see a right hand drive car in a foreign touring car series. It's usually the other way round!