BTCC 2018 in-season discussion

[S griffin]

So yet another driver replacement. Nothing wrong with that, we'll have to see how Josh goes

[porsche962fan]

maybe they should have kept Boardman and didn't have this nonsense in the first place


it makes AMD look like HARD Jr

[porsche962fan]

could anyone here really imagine Dick Bennets doing this crap in his team or the Neals ? other teams which had to replace drivers like BTC Norlin did a much job without much of a fiasco



it doesn't look professional at all what AMD and HARD are doing

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

maybe they should have kept Boardman and didn't have this nonsense in the first place


it makes AMD look like HARD Jr

My sentiments exactly.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

could anyone here really imagine Dick Bennets doing this crap in his team or the Neals ?

2009, 3 drivers in one car at TD?

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

2009, 3 drivers in one car at TD?

2009 was the crisis year and even then it wasn't as bad as HARD and AMD seem doing it

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by btccbloke

Agreement in place with Hill or not, I still don't see why they were not able to secure a decent driver till the season end.

AmD thought they had Hill. He'd left Team HARD, the funding was in place, and he'd tested the car.

Then Tony Gilham decided that he wasn't going to let Hill out of his contract, despite one of Jake's sponsors having already paid until the end of the year.

So AmD offered to buy Jake out of his contract. Gilham refused. Everyone went to talk to their lawyers.

Realising that this wasn't going to get resolved before Snetterton (as it was now Wednesday), AmD asked Alan Gow if they could use a substitute driver. He said they could for one meeting while they sorted out Hill's contract.

So Whorton-Eales was drafted in as a substitute, with the intention that Hill would do the rest of the season.

After Snetterton the situation remained unresolved, with the lawyers seeming to slow things down rather than resolve them. So AmD had to find a replacement driver.

I don't see why people aren't being as critical of Hill trying to engineer a way into another team.

All drivers are trying to get better drives all the time. Any driver who isn't probably doesn't have the right motivation to be in a race car.

To me at least, Amd should have had a better plan lined up than sacking a driver before having a replacement

They did have a replacement. What they didn't bargain on was the replacement's former team boss being so petty.

[Matt K]

Amid all this AMD-Hill-constant-replacements mess, I think Caygill is a good choice given his impressive racing CV. Maybe he'll be able to remain in BTCC for 2019 if he goes reasonably well.

[btccbloke]

i think my post in the 2019 thread about Shaun needing MG to come on board for budget reasons or they may not be able to run the cars explains the AMD revolving door well enough.

[3marinadrive]

Originally Posted by sceptic

AmD thought they had Hill. He'd left Team HARD, the funding was in place, and he'd tested the car.

Then Tony Gilham decided that he wasn't going to let Hill out of his contract, despite one of Jake's sponsors having already paid until the end of the year.

So AmD offered to buy Jake out of his contract. Gilham refused. Everyone went to talk to their lawyers.

Realising that this wasn't going to get resolved before Snetterton (as it was now Wednesday), AmD asked Alan Gow if they could use a substitute driver. He said they could for one meeting while they sorted out Hill's contract.

So Whorton-Eales was drafted in as a substitute, with the intention that Hill would do the rest of the season.

After Snetterton the situation remained unresolved, with the lawyers seeming to slow things down rather than resolve them. So AmD had to find a replacement driver.




All drivers are trying to get better drives all the time. Any driver who isn't probably doesn't have the right motivation to be in a race car.



They did have a replacement. What they didn't bargain on was the replacement's former team boss being so petty.

I have spoken with the Hill-clan and their sponsors at length.

Hill left Team HARD because there were countless issues with preparation and reliability ...and the performance had been promised to be 'a front-running car consistently'.

Whilst he got a podium at Brands and a Jack Sears win at Donington, the car's pace compared to 2017 was significantly slower, plus the issues as mentioned earlier.

His sponsors were very unhappy with things, he was unhappy with countless things behind the scenes, so he wanted to leave.

It was AFTER this that things changed at AmD. He has a previous relationship with the team, with them knowing what he could do, that they wanted him to test at Snetterton.

His pace was remarkable considering the lack of time in the car, P3 on the day, and they wanted him to do the balance of the year...the funds were in place...but he wasn't allowed to move teams.

Hill's sponsors had paid 80% of the budget - so he wasn't 'behind'.

Plus Team HARD retained ROLEC (Jake's sponsor) .

Basically the reason AmD have had three drivers in the car since Snett is because Hill wasn't allowed to race for them.

Surprised to see him referred to as 'steady'

Think most would agree he has impressed in everything he has ever raced, especially with a lack of regular funding.

If he gets a decent drive in 2019 then I reckon he will surprise a few folks - look at what his 2016 team-mate Smiley has done in a proper team and a proper car.

[btccbloke]

Your missing the point they knew they didn't have or couldn't get Hill, so why not sign someone for the second half?
There are countless drivers from lower series, or without drives with availability rather than the embarrassing revolving door of random drivers in for odd rounds. As another poster suggested, could you imagine Dynamics doing this when they couldn't get Jackson in the car?

Shaun said vociferously at the time that Boardman was not dropped on financial reasons but its now looking like the drive is getting leased out to the season end before they have to stop running the cars unless MG give them manufacturer support for a car they no longer produce!
Just strikes me as over stretching themselves almost Team Hard style

I referred to Hill as steady as a couple of races aside I've never sat up and thought wow there's a star for the future. I know a lot will disagree but to me he's good, but I just don't see him as a megastar...yet! Tho admittedly he has been stuck in a team hard car

[antnee]

The 'revolving' door is more likely down to the lack of drivers sat around mid-season with a budget big enough to complete the remainder of said season. They have to have someone in the seat to keep the TBL, so getting 2 or 3 drivers paying their way does that.

Is there any truth in the AMD budget issues? I personally think that the MGs have had a decent season, I'm sure Shaun and the team have found some areas that can be further improved which will happen over the winter. It would be good to see Jake announced way before christmas so they can get loads of pre-season prep in place.

[btccbloke]

Originally Posted by antnee

Is there any truth in the AMD budget issues?

I can only go from Shaun post on thee teams Facebook group stating u less MG support them we won't see the MG on the grid in 2019.


Tho he knows how to play social media games

[S griffin]

If Gow's happy with them doing it, they can. It's just they need to be careful if they are to be taken seriously

[porsche962fan]

^ it actually sounds good that lawyers are to be replaced by computers in the future, then things will move swiftly ....


https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/17/lawy...elligence.html

[52Paddy]

Originally Posted by antnee

The 'revolving' door is more likely down to the lack of drivers sat around mid-season with a budget big enough to complete the remainder of said season. They have to have someone in the seat to keep the TBL, so getting 2 or 3 drivers paying their way does that.

Is there any truth in the AMD budget issues? I personally think that the MGs have had a decent season, I'm sure Shaun and the team have found some areas that can be further improved which will happen over the winter. It would be good to see Jake announced way before christmas so they can get loads of pre-season prep in place.

Yeah, I think this is the most likely scenario. It keeps a bit of income floating in while they prep for 2019 and, hopefully, get Jake Hill on board.

[PDS]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

2009, 3 drivers in one car at TD?

That was slightly different circumstances. Although 2004 was a difficult start of the year for Dynamics..

[porsche962fan]

also how come AMD copied the idea to run 4 cars with limited budget from HARD.... ???

if 4 cars was such a great thing the likes of WSR, Dynamics, Motorbase etc would have run them long ago

[porsche962fan]

regarding ride height check I have a question


are only the top 3 finishing cars checked ???? so if Tingram finished 4th or higher he would have gotten away with it ?

[Jiiiiiiim]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

also how come AMD copied the idea to run 4 cars with limited budget from HARD.... ???

if 4 cars was such a great thing the likes of WSR, Dynamics, Motorbase etc would have run them long ago

The offer of 2 TBL’s and two cars from the owner (for nothing) just the need to cover the running costs, was too good to pass up. The TBL’s would be worth a bit the way they trade! AmD had the staff already running their GT programme, plus a good relationship with the cars owner, it wasn’t such a ‘gamble’ or expansion that other teams have tried to do or not in the bigger teams case. There is a bit of a difference investing in buying or building new cars to go to a 3 or 4 car team compared to just covering the rebuild and running costs.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

regarding ride height check I have a question


are only the top 3 finishing cars checked ???? so if Tingram finished 4th or higher he would have gotten away with it ?

No, all the other cars are checked, but in parc ferme. The podium winners are checked in the pit lane only because they do not go immediately into parc ferme.

[porsche962fan]

ahh , that's good


thought this cos it isn't shown in the coverage, just the podium finishers you see checked

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

No, all the other cars are checked, but in parc ferme. The podium winners are checked in the pit lane only because they do not go immediately into parc ferme.

Not everything is checked on every car though. They certainly don't check ride height on every car after every race.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by porsche962fan

regarding ride height check I have a question


are only the top 3 finishing cars checked ???? so if Tingram finished 4th or higher he would have gotten away with it ?

Generally yes. They hold the rest in part ferme in case of protest etc., and may sample a few.

Also, the roller test seen on TV is purely indicative. It can only accurately be measured on the calibrated scrutineers patch.

[Alfisti]

So Rob Austin has been peddling a van round the Nurburgring and beatean Sabine Schmidts time.

Rob in a VW van next year?