[BTCC] Silverstone National, 23/24 September, Rds. 25/26/27

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by CarfanLUFC

looked to me in that first lap incident that held up Ingram that Sutton ran into the back of him, surprised more wasn't made of that.

Great drive by Sutton though, got some luck but made it count.

I think that was because Ingram, trying to avoid the mayhem going on around him, then slowed significantly and Sutton was so close behind that he he gave him a slight nudge in the rear. It was a consequence of what Ingram had to do, and not a deliberate push to pass. And not uncommon on the first or very early laps of a race.

In answer to the query about the safety car and why it was deployed, it was because there a fairly substantial piece of bodywork right on the racing line which could have caused significant damage to another car if it hit it. And with the lap so short, it would have been to dangerous for the marshals to remove it just under yellow flags. It was a safety issue, not anyone's evil plot to bunch up the cars even though that is what happened.

[AnnoyedMoose]

The Ingram incident was caused by Butel who got a 3 place grid penalty which the commentators don't seem to have realised with their comment at the start of the 3rd race.

[thlbtcc]

Apologies for the ignorance, is there any way of looking at speed traps for the second and third races today, please?

Sent from my A063 using Tapatalk

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by thlbtcc

Apologies for the ignorance, is there any way of looking at speed traps for the second and third races today, please?
k

https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/233803
They will be in the PDF Book. Give it a while to be updated for R3

[Matt K]

Wonder what's going to happen with Turkington's investigation. Shame if he was excluded after crossing the finish line first, that's never nice. If this was something potentially punishable with exclusion, drive-through, etc, couldn't they hand the penalty while the race was still ongoing, I wonder?

[Evantra]

Incredible how far ahead Sutton, Ingram and Hill are from the rest of the field. Seems like their starting position is irrelevant, unless weather dramatically interrupts play they’re going to be on the podium. Deservedly so, but it definitely feels like another few names are needed up there, especially with rumours of Turkington retiring.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Can someone crunch the numbers as to how many times number 12 has been pulled! Feels like it happens every other round!

More to the point, how many times has Sutton picked No.12 this season; he seems to do it about every time he wins the second race!

[Spanner monkey]

Think the DRS on Ash's car was broken... Took ages to get past Robow. The team will have to look at that before Brands so he can win back the title.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Matt K

Wonder what's going to happen with Turkington's investigation. Shame if he was excluded after crossing the finish line first, that's never nice. If this was something potentially punishable with exclusion, drive-through, etc, couldn't they hand the penalty while the race was still ongoing, I wonder?

It was mentioned that they were investigating a potential technical infringement; possibly they need to see the car and/or Turkington and/or the team to resolve the matter. Unfortunately, sometimes these things cannot be done during the race.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Spanner monkey

Think the DRS on Ash's car was broken... Took ages to get past Robow. The team will have to look at that before Brands so he can win back the title.

Ash Sutton said: “Ultimately, [Rowbottom] didn’t need to give up a podium so we raced for it instead. Dan helped me in qualifying this weekend and we’ve got enough of a margin now to not need favours. I’m more than happy to race for it.

“I had more hybrid than Dan towards the end and I tried a move at Brooklands and it paid off.

“The aim is to get some points in race one at Brands Hatch and then plan the rest of the day, but we have a 45-point margin for the lead so I can’t ask for much more than that.”

[thetool]

In terms of championship standings for the top 10 going into the final meeting, this has to be one of the least exciting the BTCC has ever had?

398, 353, 330, 293, 237, 220, 198, 187, 182, 172.

It would be a major shock for there to be any change amongst the top 4, the gap between 4th and the rest is almost unassailable and then even 5th-10th isn't that tightly bunched.

[redshoes]

https://www.barc.net/wp-content/uplo...dam-Morgan.pdf
Morgan gets a slap on the wrist for the accident with Butcher. That seems a bit harsh

[Matt K]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

It was mentioned that they were investigating a potential technical infringement; possibly they need to see the car and/or Turkington and/or the team to resolve the matter. Unfortunately, sometimes these things cannot be done during the race.

Oh I see, thanks for clarifying this!

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Matt K

Oh I see, thanks for clarifying this!

Nothing has been published by the Stewards so far about this, so it is possible that all has been resolved. Time will tell.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Nothing has been published by the Stewards so far about this, so it is possible that all has been resolved. Time will tell.

Obviously this is more evidence of favouritism towards Sutton. If they exclude Turkington, then the gap between Sutton and Ingram closes.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by redshoes

https://www.barc.net/wp-content/uplo...dam-Morgan.pdf
Morgan gets a slap on the wrist for the accident with Butcher. That seems a bit harsh

It did look like he crept over prematurely from the onboard, but yeah when it’s three abreast I think it’s difficult to assign blame.

No idea how he finished 10th or something like that?

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by thetool

In terms of championship standings for the top 10 going into the final meeting, this has to be one of the least exciting the BTCC has ever had?

398, 353, 330, 293, 237, 220, 198, 187, 182, 172.

It would be a major shock for there to be any change amongst the top 4, the gap between 4th and the rest is almost unassailable and then even 5th-10th isn't that tightly bunched.

All eyes on the JST then!

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by thetool

In terms of championship standings for the top 10 going into the final meeting, this has to be one of the least exciting the BTCC has ever had?

398, 353, 330, 293, 237, 220, 198, 187, 182, 172.

It would be a major shock for there to be any change amongst the top 4, the gap between 4th and the rest is almost unassailable and then even 5th-10th isn't that tightly bunched.

Fully agree.

I could maybe see Cammish jumping Cook (Cook 237 vs Cammish 220) if he has a decent weekend. Other than that, the Collard (187), Morgan (182), Butcher (172), Taylor-Smith (160) group is a big spread although could move around a bit if someone has an especially good run. Looking a bit further back there's a tight cluster for P13 (Lloyd 95, Watson 91, Chilton 90) and a largely JST-related battle for P17 (Pearson 69, Osborne 65, Doble 60, Gamble 60).

With the Independents won by Cook and everyone else strung out in that championship, there's not really much up for grabs (although Watson, Lloyd, Moffat, and Doble are relatively close in P3-P6).

The battle for the JST is fairly open (Watson 410, Doble 392, Osborne 378, Patterson 365, Pearson 359) although Patterson and Pearson are a long way adrift. It seems to be a PMR battle for that title with Osborne as the outsider.

The Teams is largely wrapped up I think for NAPA Racing UK. The Manufacturers/Constructors could easily change - BMW currently have 730 and Motorbase/Ford have 711.

[mick bennett]

Well done Ash , superb driving.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Spanner monkey

Think the DRS on Ash's car was broken... Took ages to get past Robow. The team will have to look at that before Brands so he can win back the title.

You are not seriously suggestions the NAPA team
And Robow in particular are not playing an impressive team game? Robow threw away a shoot out place to keep Sutton in and then it looks like let him past in race 3 when it was safe to do so. unlike other teams that have spent the season crashing into each other!

[mick bennett]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

You are not seriously suggestions the NAPA team
And Robow in particular are not playing an impressive team game? Robow threw away a shoot out place to keep Sutton in and then it looks like let him past in race 3 when it was safe to do so. unlike other teams that have spent the season crashing into each other!

Totally agree , the only team that is really proffesional .

[Mike Harte]

Something that I have admired about Sutton ever since he came to prominence in the BTCC - I must admit that I hadn't noticed him while he was in the TOCA support series - is that he appears to be able to build a whole team around him; and I don't mean just the engineers, but the other drivers in the team as well. This is helped by the fact that he is very obviously an extremely sociable fellow and is almost universally liked up and down the pit lane.

It also helps massively that he is an extremely talented driver; his record stands for itself. He doesn't come across as a prima donna, and I think that his fellow team drivers appreciate that he is, in reality, there number one driver at this time. It therefore makes sense, at this critical time in the championship, that as they are not anywhere near in contention, that they give him support.

And it seems as though he doesn't abuse that position; he said that the reason that he didn't pass Rowbottom for quite a while was because he went on the radio to the team to say, "let's race". And I think that that attitude plays huge dividends within a team.

Unfortunately for Ingram, not all his team mates play the team game, although he did say that he appreciated Pearson for making it easy to pass.

Most of the teams are made up of individual drivers, out for themselves, no matter how chummy they might seem. I don't believe that is the case within the NAPA team, and they are reaping the benefits, and I am sure that the boss shows his gratitude.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Unfortunately for Ingram, not all his team mates play the team game, although he did say that he appreciated Pearson for making it easy to pass.

His other two teammates are in fact being very helpful to Ingram by letting him have all the points-scoring positions to himself!

Not sure where all the Chilton comments are stemming from today, certainly in recent rounds I don’t think he’s been much near Ingram at all? And obviously Pearson gave up his maiden podium for him.

[richy01908]

Originally Posted by redshoes

https://www.barc.net/wp-content/uplo...dam-Morgan.pdf
Morgan gets a slap on the wrist for the accident with Butcher. That seems a bit harsh

just watched the race and my impression was Butcher alongside Crees, drifted right, Crees nowhere to go, squeezed by Morgan from the right, Crees taping Morgans rear causing him to spin, then collected by Butcher, who had nowhere to go, but could have caused the crash in the first place - I would have though just a racing incident

[BTCC frog]

Originally Posted by redshoes

In the words of Charlie Cox, it's like holding off the Terminator with a water pistol

And from the same lap of the same race (Snetterton 1999), if Morgan had t-boned another car by coming back on track after he went off in race three: ‘IT’S A GOAL!’