[BTCC] Round 5 - Croft, 1st June 2008

[Hazard]

Incredible race two there in the BTCC.

Race 2 Result

Pos	Driver	Nat	Team	Car	Class	Time
1	Colin Turkington	GBR	Team RAC	BMW 320si E90	S2000	26:24.098
2	Mat Jackson	GBR	BMW Dealer Team UK	BMW 320si E90	S2000	0.101
3	Matt Neal	GBR	VX Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	S2000	3.712
4	Rob Collard	GBR	Motorbase Performance	BMW 320si E90	S2000	4.295
5	Fabrizio Giovanardi	ITA	VX Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	S2000	7.783
6	Adam Jones	GBR	Team Air Cool / GR Asia	SEAT Leon	S2000	8.546
7	Mike Jordan	GBR	John Guest Racing	Honda Integra Type-R	BTCC	0.026
8	Jason Plato	GBR	SEAT Sport UK	SEAT Leon TDI	S2000D	12.102
9	Darren Turner	GBR	SEAT Sport UK	SEAT Leon TDI	S2000D	12.409
10	Stephen Jelley	GBR	Team RAC	BMW 320si E90	S2000	14.818
11	Tom Onslow-Cole	GBR	VX Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	S2000	18.053
12	Jason Hughes	GBR	Team KWR	MG-ZS / Honda Integra	BTCC	21.777
13	Harry Vaulkhard	GBR	Robertshaw Racing	Chevrolet Lacetti	S2000	24.569
14	Tom Chilton	GBR	Team Halfords	Honda Civic Type-S	S2000	53.155
15	Erkut Kizilirmak	TUK	Arkas Racing	Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch	BTCC	55.612
16	Martyn Bell	GBR	Arkas Racing	Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch	BTCC	1:10.211
17	John George	GBR	TH Motorsport	Honda Integra Type-R	BTCC	1:15.089
18	Chris Stockton	GBR	BTC Racing	SEAT Toledo	S2000	1:35.013
19	Steven Kane	GBR	Motorbase Performance	BMW 320si E90	S2000	DNF
20	Stuart Oliver	GBR	BTC Racing	SEAT Toledo	S2000	DNF
21	Andrew Jordan	GBR	John Guest Racing	Honda Integra Type-R	BTCC	DNF
22	Michael Doyle	GBR	In-Tune Racing	Honda Civic Type-R	BTCC	DNF
23	Gordon Shedden	GBR	Team Halfords	Honda Civic Type-S	S2000	DNF
24	Alan Taylor	GBR	Robertshaw Racing	Honda Integra Type-R	BTCC	DNS

Race 3 Grid

1 - Mike Jordan - John Guest Racing - Honda Integra Type-R - 0.026


2 - Adam Jones - Team Air Cool / GR Asia - SEAT Leon - 8.546


3 - Fabrizio Giovanardi - VX Racing - Vauxhall Vectra - 7.783


4 - Rob Collard - Motorbase Performance - BMW 320si E90 - 4.295


5 - Matt Neal - VX Racing - Vauxhall Vectra - 3.712


6 - Mat Jackson - BMW Dealer Team UK - BMW 320si E90 - 0.101


7 - Colin Turkington - Team RAC - BMW 320si E90 - 26:24.098


8 - Jason Plato - SEAT Sport UK - SEAT Leon TDI - 12.102


9 - Darren Turner - SEAT Sport UK - SEAT Leon TDI - 12.409


10 - Stephen Jelley - Team RAC - BMW 320si E90 - 14.818


11 - Tom Onslow-Cole - VX Racing - Vauxhall Vectra - 18.053


12 - Jason Hughes - Team KWR - MG-ZS / Honda Integra - 21.777


13 - Harry Vaulkhard - Robertshaw Racing - Chevrolet Lacetti - 24.569


14 - Tom Chilton - Team Halfords - Honda Civic Type-S - 53.155


15 - Erkut Kizilirmak - Arkas Racing - Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch - 55.612


16 - Martyn Bell - Arkas Racing - Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch - 0.001


17 - John George - TH Motorsport - Honda Integra Type-R - 0.001


18 - Chris Stockton - BTC Racing - SEAT Toledo - 0.001


19 - Steven Kane - Motorbase Performance - BMW 320si E90 - DNF


20 - Stuart Oliver - BTC Racing - SEAT Toledo - DNF


21 - Andrew Jordan - John Guest Racing - Honda Integra Type-R - DNF


22 - Michael Doyle - In-Tune Racing - Honda Civic Type-R - DNF


23 - Gordon Shedden - Team Halfords - Honda Civic Type-S - DNF


24 - Alan Taylor - Robertshaw Racing - Honda Integra Type-R - DNS

[cos]

What did happen to Kane on that last lap?

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by cos

What did happen to Kane on that last lap?

Looked like it broke something after going off the track. Last we saw he was racing Giovanardi.

[kristof14]

something broke, he pulled straight into the pit after the final hairpin

[cos]

Shame. Fastest lap will be some consolation hopefully.

[awrb]

Good third race, but some questionable driving.

What was Plato thinking, he just drove into Turkington without a hope af getting through, there was no room at all. I think Jackson was just a little over-agressive, though I think the incident was his fault. Not sure about the Jones Collard thing though, Jones seemed to drive into him to get round the corner, and a shame for Collard after such a good weekend.

[Icebaby]

Eventful third race and somewhat appropriate the first and second places were taken by my tip for both titles.

Jackson looked a bit eratic and should incure a penalty for taking out Turner

Collard just unlucky as Jones had the move done

Plato, move was never on with Colin and tried driving through him rather than past so appropriate Plato suffered most.

Onslow Cole very low key this weekend, Neal a bit dirty taking Shedden out so hopefully his Dad will stop his pocket money to pay for reapirs.

Jelley scored 3 points...im shocked..was it really him driving in race 2 and three?

Chilton seems not to be able to pull a good weekend of results together with Shedden really the lead driver.

Seat have had a bad weekend but they only need to look at Jones to see how they should have done it, maybe Scott Dennis will re-think next years drivers line up and put Jones in there.

Turkington had a good weekend and drove well.

[awrb]

Originally Posted by Icebaby

Jelley scored 3 points...im shocked..was it really him driving in race 2 and three?

He's thill just one point ahead of Stockton. And thats pretty dire given the cars they're driving, but maybe Jelleys starting to get the hang of this.

I agree with Jackson getting a penalty, and I think Plato should get something cos he obviously ruined Turkington's race.

Still not sure about Jones, would liked to have seen that from another angle really, but it looked like he was a bit over-optimistic, but if there was just another cm of tarmac...

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by Icebaby

Seat have had a bad weekend but they only need to look at Jones to see how they should have done it...

With a petrol engine, you mean?

[touringlegend]

Total disaster for Seat today.

They'd have been way out in front had they had the petrol engined Leon I believe. Thats not to say the TDi was a bad choice, they just don't seem to have got on top of it at all yet.

[Icebaby]

Originally Posted by Super Hans

With a petrol engine, you mean?

More the driver in being able to put together solid results in all three races and staying out of trouble.

[rdjones]

My god it was wet during race 1, I think I have just dried out. Race 2 was discribed as the greatest touring car race every. Race 3 was a bit dull.

[JamesH]

Probably just me - but I thought the camera work and production was a bit crap - continually cutting away from exciting things to look at unexciting things - cutting to recording of previous bits whilst something was happening on track etc. Esp. at end of race 3 - cut away to the pit wall, missing action on the finish line.

Still, on the whole, ITV4 are doing a good job with motorsport.

James

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by touringlegend

Total disaster for Seat today.

They'd have been way out in front had they had the petrol engined Leon I believe. Thats not to say the TDi was a bad choice, they just don't seem to have got on top of it at all yet.

It seems to have all gone wrong when they put the wrong brake-pads in for R1.

[tator2001uk]

RACE 2 was the best btcc race i have seen in ages and i own every race tape since 1987
fair enough jackson was on a charge after his daft mistake in race 1 and race 3 drove hard and aggressive but a big CONGRATS to him

Matt neal again taking people off, hes just a slimey guy now dont rate him anymore quick car under him but only seems to do well when others struggle in rain etc

seat diesels are pants in the wet as the engines on diesels dont slopw the car down, the brake pads seemed a very lame excuse!

[Tibs]

Where can i find pics from today?

[cos]

Originally Posted by Tibs

Where can i find pics from today?

http://btcc.net/html/fansphotos.php
http://btccpages.com/gallery/v/btcc2008/croft/

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by tator2001uk

seat diesels are pants in the wet as the engines on diesels dont slopw the car down, the brake pads seemed a very lame excuse!

Diesels didn't seem to have any issues in the rain at Pau.

[Knowlesy]

Well, to be fair it is hard to pass at Pau and they had good grid positions I assume.

I say this having seen nothing of the WTCC weekend, so stand to be corrected.

[trebor901]

Lets tone it down with the idiot-talk, please. /JMeissner

[BootsOntheSide]

The second race was a classic - well done to everybody involved in ensuring that the meeting could continue. Farcical that full points should be awarded for 6 laps of racing (some of it under the pace car); the rulebook needs some fixing there.

A lot of contact in race 3 - Plato's move was disappointing, and it looked like Jackson was at fault for taking Turner out. Such a pity that Kane had problems so late in race 2. SEAT Sport UK need to shape up, their performance with the diesel car generally hasn't matched the WTCC teams.

I'm surprised at how well the BMWs coped with the wet-dry parts of race 2, compared to their previous struggles.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

The second race was a classic - well done to everybody involved in ensuring that the meeting could continue. Farcical that full points should be awarded for 6 laps of racing (some of it under the pace car); the rulebook needs some fixing there.

A lot of contact in race 3 - Plato's move was disappointing, and it looked like Jackson was at fault for taking Turner out. Such a pity that Kane had problems so late in race 2. SEAT Sport UK need to shape up, their performance with the diesel car generally hasn't matched the WTCC teams.

I'm surprised at how well the BMWs coped with the wet-dry parts of race 2, compared to their previous struggles.

Surely TOCA should invoke the 75% completed rule before awarding full points.

R3 - agreed, some disappointing attempts at overtaking. This year has been strange so far in that the BMWs haven't performed well in changeable conditions along with the TDis. It will be interesting to see their true potential over a dry weekend.

Kane seemed to have some electrical issues throughout R2, (his lights were flashing on/off throughout) which seemed to reach the engine by the end of the race. A huge disappointment for Motorbase who seem the most improved team at present.

[stedevil]

OMG... What on earth went through those marshals heads? All 4 of them where running out from behind the barriers like a bunch of suicidal rabbits. Boy are they lucky neither of them got seriously injured. Somebody needs to tell them a orange vest doesnt make you bullet proof so they shouldnt run out headlessly before half the field of cars has passed in the horrible weather conditions. Marshalling is serious (and dangerous) work, not just free tickets.

Full points for 2 + 1 laps of full speed racing... the stewards office rarely fails to disappoint. And of course we wont see anybody get any kind of penalty for any action made on the racetrack by anybody in any of the 3 races.

Other than that, some great racing in race 2.

BTCC = Good tracks, good drivers, interesting car lineup... but the rules and rulings are sub standard. Would be a GREAT series if there was just some sensible rulings, now it's just average.

[touring fan01]

If you dont like the BTCC then why do you even bother to watch it?
Just about every post you write on the series is negative in some way about it.

There's a common saying that goes; "Those that can do it, do it - and those than can't just write about".

The world is full of 'keyboard experts' that think they know better than those in charge. And I'm guilty of doing that often too.

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

If you dont like the BTCC then why do you even bother to watch it?

It's been asked and answered before. In fact I even mention why in the post above.

So for the last time... Some really good drivers in BTCC, most notably Gio, IMO one of the best drivers today in all of motorsports. I enjoy watching good drivers show their stuff.