[BTCC] Croft, 29/30 July 2023, Rds. 16/17/18

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by EastonNeston

I understant the the sum involved was c£50,000 over the contractually agreed figure.

That's the amount I heard, but didn't put in my response above - I thought it was a bit of a mad number. Same people said he'd made a payment of £75,000 prior to Oulton as part of the contractual invoice (second of four - which seems right at £300,000 for a season.)

Thing that puzzles me is this. I admire Nic for getting his hands on sponsorship alone without help from Lewis, but by association I imagine brands are more likely to come onboard because of who he is related to - that's just the nature of things. (incidentally, someone did mention the car had a new sponsorship logo of 44 or forty four - is it a company or charity related to his brother?) but if this is all true and the team want to shoot themselves in the foot then this is the way to do it.

I was gutted for Bobby leaving, and can understand why Jade went (I think she slipped up when Steve Ryder interviewed her on Saturday) but in a way they are nothing. Both are just tiny columns in Autosport. When it's Hamilton, by extension it's a story for The Sun or The Mirror. If he has a contract saying £300,000 the family lawyers will be able to take the team apart reputation wise.

Then again, we could all just be failing our PI exams with poor research and believing porkies!!

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Regarding the Croft RWD 'advantage' I'm sure I remember something about the track being resurfaced and the new tarmac negating some of the RWD advantage?

I heard Turkington saying beside the podium to a guy from TOCA interviewing him that the RWD advantage was killed off with the resurfacing.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by EastonNeston

I understant the the sum involved was c£50,000 over the contractually agreed figure.
I also understand that Hamilton's car had no preperation work done during the break since the last meeting and would not have been in a fit, or indeed safe, state to drive on Saturday.
The other teams in the series would have done a full rebuild of the cars before setting off for Croft.
While all teams have some staff changes over a season, it's not a good sign when a team appears to have a massive staff turnover every meeting!

Thompson was asked for an extra £30k at the tyre test, but when he came up with the cash HARD said they actually needed £60k from him.

Of course they had already done a deal with Crees to run in that car, so whatever extra Thompson brought would never be enough.

Incidentally, I'm told HARD are already in breach of their contract with Crees, so we'll see how long that lasts.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Adamcas87

ok probably didn’t cost much but wasting money on having a one of livery at goodwood

That was a wrap that would have been funded by Rosland, and not from the team's operating budget.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

(incidentally, someone did mention the car had a new sponsorship logo of 44 or forty four - is it a company or charity related to his brother?) but if this is all true and the team want to shoot themselves in the foot then this is the way to do it.

On the car last time out - or on the car ready for Croft?

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

I heard Turkington saying beside the podium to a guy from TOCA interviewing him that the RWD advantage was killed off with the resurfacing.

Harvey mentioned during the pit walk with Rider on both Saturday and Sunday that it has now become a neutral track as far as FWD and RWD.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

On the car last time out - or on the car ready for Croft?

I didn't see either. I wonder if there was more to him missing Croft than there is to meet the eye

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

On the car last time out - or on the car ready for Croft?

A quick look at a few photos from Oulton and I don't see anything 44 related on the car.

I didn't notice myself, the car was right at the back of the awning all weekend.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by sceptic

The problem is your belief that the FWD cars are "pretty far ahead", when there's nothing to support that fallacy.

Of the five drivers who can realistically win the championship now, two are RWD and three are FWD. That's as equal as you can get dividing 5 by 2.

And four of the last six races have been won by RWD cars.

Lets not kid ourselves. We both know there is zero chance that a RWD car will win the championship this year.

[DaviePHD]

ITVx

[S griffin]

Let me just say it was great to have the BTCC back and thanks to ITV for once again broadcasting it all live. This series is too good for me to miss

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Lets not kid ourselves. We both know there is zero chance that a RWD car will win the championship this year.

2 of the 4 circuits left should favour RWD, and the leading RWD is only 34 points off the lead of the championship.

[coffinpilot]

On the British Touring Car Chat facebook page with a post "Anyone know what happened with Hamilton this weekend? Nothing on his socials" someone replied with a photo of the #28 car.
On the door side you can see '44 coll....' which wasn't there at Oulton.

[SR18]

Originally Posted by Adamcas87

If true this backs up what Paffett Jr was saying at end of last season when he said he had a different engineer every race weekend

Bit of a mess Team Hard at moment

Considering These circumstances, it is even more remarkable that Crees scored some points in R3

[5five]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

On the British Touring Car Chat facebook page with a post "Anyone know what happened with Hamilton this weekend? Nothing on his socials" someone replied with a photo of the #28 car.
On the door side you can see '44 coll....' which wasn't there at Oulton.

44 Collection? https://www.44collection.com

Person with significant control: Mr Anthony Carl Arthur Hamilton
https://find-and-update.company-info...ficant-control

Hopefully he can find a way up the grid with another team - everyone at least deserves a fair and honest shot at it.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by 5five

Hopefully he can find a way up the grid with another team - everyone at least deserves a fair and honest shot at it.

He had a year or two in a Motorbase Focus.

[Pdh]

Originally Posted by Evantra

He had a year or two in a Motorbase Focus.

He did 8 Rounds with Motorbase in 2019

[Pickles]

Don't forget that Nic had 3 and a half years with HARD, why stick around for that long?

[AnnoyedMoose]

Originally Posted by Pickles

Don't forget that Nic had 3 and a half years with HARD, why stick around for that long?

If he's enjoying it why not? It seems to be a friendly environment from what other drivers say.

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by AnnoyedMoose

If he's enjoying it why not? It seems to be a friendly environment from what other drivers say.

This is my point, if everything is so terrible at the team, why hasn't he gone elsewhere sooner?

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Pickles

This is my point, if everything is so terrible at the team, why hasn't he gone elsewhere sooner?

Because it's cheap and he can't find the budget to go elsewhere.

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by sceptic

Because it's cheap and he can't find the budget to go elsewhere.

This exactly, Hence not finishing the year with Motorbase in 2019. As much as I like Nic, the fact that Michael Caine hopped in the car for two rounds, scored points and a top 10 didn't make it easy for 2020 for upping his budget and progressing forward.

[Rowbo01]

Originally Posted by FFSM

Was getting bored of F1 with Verstappen's dominance, and was looking forard to BTCC this weekend. Missed quali due to looking after pets for holidaying family member, and logged on to find a NAPA 1-2-3!

Groan.

Ash is definitely the best driver in the series - and one could make a case for Cammish. But when Rowbottom is up there too... at Croft... oh dear.

Wasn't going to bite, but well, you only live once...

Go on, enlighten me? Why would you not expect me to be up with the other two?

Am I being thick?

[hen henths]

Just ignore them Rowbo. You were great to watch. Nice defensive drive in the third race as well.

I found the racing more exciting than some of the earlier races this year and I'm enjoying seeing NAPA at the top of their game.

Ash and Jake must both be kicking themselves after that third race but I bet Gow is happy with the standings!

Something that wasn't mentioned in the commentary I think is I thought De Leon was doing really well in the third race until he got that penalty. Looks like he's learning fast.

[Rowbo01]

Originally Posted by hen henths

Just ignore them Rowbo. You were great to watch. Nice defensive drive in the third race as well.

I found the racing more exciting than some of the earlier races this year and I'm enjoying seeing NAPA at the top of their game.

Ash and Jake must both be kicking themselves after that third race but I bet Gow is happy with the standings!

Something that wasn't mentioned in the commentary I think is I thought De Leon was doing really well in the third race until he got that penalty. Looks like he's learning fast.

Ha, I don't give a single toss, but it's always nice to hear why people think certain things.

The team have just put the work and effort into the right areas and we are now in receipt of that :-)

Yea, De Leon did a great job, its not an easy championship at all, especially coming in half way through!