[BTCC] BTCC Rounds 1, 2 and 3 - Thruxton - 03/04 April 2010

[emicen]

Originally Posted by trebor901

like he hasnt got loads with his huge demolition business and to be quite frank if they cant afford it they shouldnt be there

This kind of comment really annoys me.

I am a club racer and everything the BTCC do as the pinacle of tin tops in this country filters down.

I can afford to buy the car and enter the races. But if someone takes a leaf out the Matt Neal book, cant pass me so just stuffs me and my car in to the barriers, that'll probably see me miss a good few rounds of the season.

Unless your name is Rothschild, nobody can afford to approach motorsport with that kind of attitude.

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by emicen

This kind of comment really annoys me.

I am a club racer and everything the BTCC do as the pinacle of tin tops in this country filters down.

You're too right. I just watched the 750MC Stock Hatches on Motors a few hours ago and that was a bit rough.

[Dani Filth]

Originally Posted by safc_fan89

I don't understand how Neal could even claim that Collard should have seen him coming. It was at best a hopelessly-midjudged move from Neal, but unfortunately it's what I have come to expect from him.

as far as I remember .. Neal only said Collard probably didn't see him . and without by far being a fan of Neal I quite accept his "explanation" of no way to "back off" when going on the outside..
in my opinion just a racing incident .. and would be ridiculous if Neal gets penalised for it .. i've seen much much worse from both of them

[Craner Curves]

He won't get penalised anyway. It'll get swept under the carpet and put down as a racing incident as usual, because it keeps the crash monkeys happy.

[Dani Filth]

there were a lot of incidents last year that I thought deserved a (big) penalty .. but I don't know . just not this time .. for me at least

[Icebaby]

Neal should be penalised in my view, I think back to 2005 (I think) when Collard hit the back of Neals Integra at Brands and put him in the wall and was subsequently penalised for this. Its difficult to say what punishment should be given although I fail to understand why they need to wait three weeks before Rockingham.

Any penalty given should effect Neal directly rather than the team, a grid drop, licence endorsed suitable. If nothing happens then it simply opens the door that other drivers will do the same. In a year where budgets are tight stopping this sort of driving is the best way forward.

[duke_toaster]

I have to agree, it's time to start taking bad driving seriously - marching him back ten places on the grid at Rockingham would be something. Hopefully it wouldn't be needed to start giving drivers the weekend off ...

[Craner Curves]

Put him further back in the pack? It'd be like watching a pinball machine......

I can't believe Phil Bennett and Gavin Pyper got bans back in 2001 and 2002 respectively for the things they did, which were angelic in comparison to everything Neal has totted up over the years.

[Icebaby]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

Put him further back in the pack? It'd be like watching a pinball machine......

I can't believe Phil Bennett and Gavin Pyper got bans back in 2001 and 2002 respectively for the things they did, which were angelic in comparison to everything Neal has totted up over the years.

Both your points are valid their Craner and agree with you

[Ben at AmD Essex]

Afternoon All,

Wow what a weekend that was and not bad for our first outing!

I have updated our blog, hope you enjoy it.

http://www.amdessex.com/btcc.blog.cfm

Ben

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by awrb

What made me even more angry though was Neals attempt to blame Collard for the crash.

And would the situation have been the reverse, Collard would have done the same. Just remember e.g. last(?) year how Collard threw a fit when he shoved Jelly wide in 1 corner, but Jelly kept his foot in and was still there on the inside for the next corner, and Collard just turned into him and then blamed Jelly for not rolling over and play dead after he unfairly shoved him off the track.

Nah, Neal and Collard, it was just poetic justice. A "...shall perish by the sword" kind of thing.
Hope they keep pushing only each other of the track the rest of the season and don't get into the way of any of the other drivers. They are just as bad as Pl... hold on, even Plato apologized for the race 2 incident. So I guess even he doesn't qualify in that category any more.

And I don't think Collard gets in to that many more accidents than most, he just had a bit of an agressive run a few years back when he was last with WSR and the reputation stuck, I certainly don't think he's a dirty driver.

Seriously?? Surely that was irony? Since my opinion of Collard definitely is based on his time at MB, I'll just go ahead and laugh as if it was irony whichever way you meant it.

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by Hazard

Amazed the team's didn't work out how likely the tyres were to blow in practice. It's not as though the team's aren't aware how much Thruxton is a threat to tyres.

Indeed, especially the Civics keep, year after year, to show up with way too optimistic camber settings. I know I critisised them harsly for setting up the cars wrong yet again last year and then blame tiredamage on the drivers. Lets see if they this time manage to remember till next year what they need to do. With the speed they had they really threw away several podium finishes this weekend by getting flat tires after only half race 1.

All in all though, a really good racing weekend.

[White flag man]

Originally Posted by Ben at AmD Essex

Afternoon All,

Wow what a weekend that was and not bad for our first outing!

I have updated our blog, hope you enjoy it.

http://www.amdessex.com/btcc.blog.cfm

Ben

Well done guys.
Great to see you out there, think Shaun enjoyed his race with Mr Goerge in race 2.
All you need now is a little more power, although Snetterton is probaly the fastest circuit the BTCC use.
Good luck at "The Rock".

[Spanner monkey]

Amazed the team's didn't work out how likely the tyres were to blow in practice. It's not as though the team's aren't aware how much Thruxton is a threat to tyres

FP1 was damp/wet & FP2 was dry & Gordon managed a 16 lap race run. The tyre specs are also a different compound this year - not just the thruxton spec tyre but the general tyre aswell

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Spanner monkey

FP1 was damp/wet & FP2 was dry & Gordon managed a 16 lap race run. The tyre specs are also a different compound this year - not just the thruxton spec tyre but the general tyre aswell

The tyre specs. are different this year, but the Thruxton tyre Dunlop brought along is the same as the one they've used in previous years.

[Icebaby]

Officials punish Neal

Matt Neal has been fined £250.00 and had three penalty points added to his competition licence as punishment for his collision with Robert Collard at Thruxton three weeks ago.

Honda Racing Team driver Neal and WSR's Collard clashed in the middle of the chicane in the third of Thruxton’s three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races. Both drivers retired with damage to their cars, Collard’s BMW being spun round into a barrier.
However, BTCC official have this evening reviewed the incident and punished former double champion Neal for “causing an avoidable collision”.



Just laughable, sure the three points go some way to punish him but the fine is a joke and simply encourages further bad sportmanship.

[awrb]

I'm not sure. That is a fair bit of money, and the points mean that if he doesn't change his behaviour there will be consequences. I think that's a decent penalty, and I'm just glad they haven't ignored it like they have similar incidents in the past.

[Rockmunky]

Yeah, that's a pretty standard sort of thing. This isn't F1 after all!
He deserves it though, that was shocking driving.

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by awrb

I'm not sure. That is a fair bit of money,

??? Compared to the costs of running 1 car in a TCC it's lose pocket change.

and the points mean that if he doesn't change his behaviour there will be consequences.

Yeah, if he does the same thing 3 more times this year, he can't do more racing... this year... Very deterring...

[davyboy]

He should have been made pay for the damage to Collard's Bimmer. That'll have been slightly more than GBP250 !

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by davyboy

He should have been made pay for the damage to Collard's Bimmer. That'll have been slightly more than GBP250 !

That reminds me of the time Steve Neal invoiced Collard for the damaged sustained to Matt's Integra in a clash between the pair at Brands.

[trebor901]

for some reason some idiots have it in their heads that £40k worth of damage was done to the BMW but all i say to that is bs. That car isnt even worth that anymore, the impact wasnt even that heavy and it didnt even hit the barrier hard. Pathetic from WSR crying like little babies. If they dont like it then get out of BTCC.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by trebor901

for some reason some idiots have it in their heads that £40k worth of damage was done to the BMW but all i say to that is bs. That car isnt even worth that anymore, the impact wasnt even that heavy and it didnt even hit the barrier hard. Pathetic from WSR crying like little babies. If they dont like it then get out of BTCC.

Are you suggesting that anyone who doesn't like incurring damage in a completely avoidable collision should leave the category?

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by trebor901

for some reason some idiots have it in their heads that £40k worth of damage was done to the BMW but all i say to that is bs. That car isnt even worth that anymore, the impact wasnt even that heavy and it didnt even hit the barrier hard. Pathetic from WSR crying like little babies. If they dont like it then get out of BTCC.

Are you serious?! Perhaps you join the official forum instead, that welcomes mature serious debate like that.....

There was plenty of damage to that car, both sides needed a lot of work done to them. Maybe not as much as 40 grand, but it will have cost a fair bit anyway. Especially with BMW and their expensive part prices. And of course the car is worth more than that, it's a 2009 spec BMW for goodness sake. You can't buy one of those for £30k.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by trebor901

for some reason some idiots have it in their heads that £40k worth of damage was done to the BMW but all i say to that is bs. That car isnt even worth that anymore, the impact wasnt even that heavy and it didnt even hit the barrier hard. Pathetic from WSR crying like little babies. If they dont like it then get out of BTCC.

BMW Motorsport know how to charge for parts. I've seen some Munich invoices from a BritCar competitor that are positively eye watering. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if Collard's 'excursion' was in the tens of thousands.