[BTCC] BTCC 2022 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Another week of unsurprising confirmations.

Chilton in at EXCELR8 - no information on any pairings for team entries.
Team BMW's pairing confirmed as Jelley and Turkington.
Still a small JST field.

Any engine news for the Hyundai?

[crmalcolm]

Must mean Addison in at Speedworks:

https://twitter.com/addison_djra/sta...5KU8UnbLw&s=19

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Must mean Addison in at Speedworks:

https://twitter.com/addison_djra/sta...5KU8UnbLw&s=19

In one of their new Mazdas

[S griffin]

I am quite glad Speedworks have continued with the Toyota, although I wonder if it can be as competitive as it has been

[Ant25]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I am quite glad Speedworks have continued with the Toyota, although I wonder if it can be as competitive as it has been

Hopefully they announce everything soon! Keeping us waiting

[S griffin]

Yes, they have been quite quiet tbh and Idk why. I was hoping they would have announced something in January. Maybe they’ve got a bit of star quality to announce?

[Ant25]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Yes, they have been quite quiet tbh and Idk why. I was hoping they would have announced something in January. Maybe they’ve got a bit of star quality to announce?

That might be why they are holding it off

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Ant25

That might be why they are holding it off

Or it is just normal for Speedworks?

In 2021, they announced their first driver 8 weeks before the scheduled start of the season. In 2022, the scheduled start is 10 weeks away......

[Millvi]

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bert-...508041216-c343

Bert Taylor racing and their driver Chris Smiley mentioned in this post. I’ve not a clue in what car and team this might all be based/hosted or a standalone outfit.

[porsche962fan]

^

they don't have enough money

[Ant25]

There’s a private event at brands from the 23-25 could this be related to touring cars or something completely different?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Ant25

There’s a private event at brands from the 23-25 could this be related to touring cars or something completely different?

https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=t...022/220850.pdf

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by Millvi

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bert-...508041216-c343

Bert Taylor racing and their driver Chris Smiley mentioned in this post. I’ve not a clue in what car and team this might all be based/hosted or a standalone outfit.

Assuming Smiley is back in BTCC, I'm intrigued to see where he'll end up. AFAIK Bert's latest reincarnation of a team never really got off the ground, thought for a second he could be in the fourth BTC Honda but that would just be silly Surely he'll still be at Excelr8 just now with Bert hanging on?

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Pickles

Assuming Smiley is back in BTCC, I'm intrigued to see where he'll end up. AFAIK Bert's latest reincarnation of a team never really got off the ground, thought for a second he could be in the fourth BTC Honda but that would just be silly Surely he'll still be at Excelr8 just now with Bert hanging on?

If BTC aren't having a fourth Honda would they have since sold or loaned the TBL? To Bert? Presumably he has a good connection with the team!

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by Evantra

If BTC aren't having a fourth Honda would they have since sold or loaned the TBL? To Bert? Presumably he has a good connection with the team!

Never thought of that, is their 4th car really that much in doubt? I was under the impression that Bert's split from Dudman was particularly acrimonious

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Pickles

Never thought of that, is their 4th car really that much in doubt? I was under the impression that Bert's split from Dudman was particularly acrimonious

Only from Autosport saying they had the 4th Civic build cancelled, and hinting Cook, Proctor and Edwards would be their drivers this year. And (apparently!) the failed bid for an Infiniti suggests car 4 isn't exactly a stable proposition. My thought was, if suddenly this new opportunity has arisen, that could be a space on the grid that's become available.

I'm sure I'm way off the mark as usual! And not sure what car would be available to run this late in the game.

Also thank you, I learnt a new word today

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Only from Autosport saying they had the 4th Civic build cancelled, and hinting Cook, Proctor and Edwards would be their drivers this year. And (apparently!) the failed bid for an Infiniti suggests car 4 isn't exactly a stable proposition. My thought was, if suddenly this new opportunity has arisen, that could be a space on the grid that's become available.

I'm sure I'm way off the mark as usual! And not sure what car would be available to run this late in the game.

Also thank you, I learnt a new word today

Gotcha, I wasn't aware of a build being cancelled.

And you're welcome, I did just have to Google it to make sure it was the word I thought it was. I hate it when people use big words they don't understand just to sound more photosynthesis.

[Steel Wheels]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Only from Autosport saying they had the 4th Civic build cancelled, and hinting Cook, Proctor and Edwards would be their drivers this year. And (apparently!) the failed bid for an Infiniti suggests car 4 isn't exactly a stable proposition. My thought was, if suddenly this new opportunity has arisen, that could be a space on the grid that's become available.

I'm sure I'm way off the mark as usual! And not sure what car would be available to run this late in the game.

Also thank you, I learnt a new word today

Now bear with me on this. I believe Dynamic’s have built 2 new Civic’s for themselves, so if they run those two plus one from last year, that does leave one spare. Maybe that’s heading to BTC or to Bert?

[S griffin]

I’m not so sure. I think there is a high chance we will see 3 Dynamics Hondas. Why should they gibe a seat to BTC?

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I’m not so sure. I think there is a high chance we will see 3 Dynamics Hondas. Why should they gibe a seat to BTC?

That's not what SW was saying. If Dynamics are building 2 new cars, that would mean they have 4 cars, and 3 drivers. Which means they have a spare car which could be sold to BTC or Bert.

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by sceptic

WSR were testing at Brands Hatch this week. I think even the team was surprised with which driver was fastest.

Someone's local track in greasy conditions, I'm less surprised

[Steel Wheels]

Originally Posted by Pickles

That's not what SW was saying. If Dynamics are building 2 new cars, that would mean they have 4 cars, and 3 drivers. Which means they have a spare car which could be sold to BTC or Bert.

Yep exactly! Just because Dynamics said the new build was cancelled doesn’t mean BTC won’t run a 4th car. It was rumoured a while back that two of the BTC cars would be branded differently from the other two.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by Steel Wheels

Now bear with me on this. I believe Dynamic’s have built 2 new Civic’s for themselves, so if they run those two plus one from last year, that does leave one spare. Maybe that’s heading to BTC or to Bert?

Just speculating here. Were they originally intending to build 2 new cars for themselves, or was one started to sell to BTC before they cancelled the order? TD already had a spare car from a couple of years ago so if they were expanding to 3 entries then it would make sense to buy a new spare, and easier to do so if they were already building a customer car at the same time.

[antnee]

Remember that Dynamics already had 3 cars (well at least 2 cars plus a shell) - they were planning on 3 cars for 2021. If they are building 2 new cars is that to replace the 2 existing cars and complete the shell - leaving 2 used cars to sell (or keep as a spare)?

EDIT:
Dynamics have NGTC-18-001 & 002, with 006 being the shell originally built in 2020, then looked to race with in 2021
BTC have NGTC-18-003, 004 & 005 currently

[crmalcolm]

IMO, the discussion point here is not about how many cars TD have / have not built - but the cancellation of the ordered build by BTC.

'Meanwhile, the other Honda team BTC Racing has cancelled its order for a brand-new Civic to be built by Dynamics after acquiring a fourth TBL for the 2022 season.'

There are a range of speculations resulting from TD making this information public, including:

BTC's funding has reduced, and they are reducing their entry to 3 cars.
BTC's funding has reduced, and they are planning to run 'older' FK8s.
BTC have decided to run a different make/model for their 4th TBL.
BTC have sold/loaned their 4th TBL to another team.

In terms of this thread - it opens up the amount of speculation we can make regarding the 4th BTC TBL. So for starters, here's one:

Plato has brokered a deal to drive a brand new FK8. With TD already allocating their two new builds to Rowbo and Flash, the BTC TBL looked like the most viable option. An agreement has been reached for this to be loaned to TD for the season, with Plato in the car.
Many want to see Plato vs Neal in identical machinery - so when Neal talks about the third drive being up for grabs, that is TD working internally to see if a 4th new build is achievable in time for the start of the season.
If everything aligns - we will have the following 4-car entry on the grid from TD:
Halfords Cataclean - Rowbo and Flash - 2x new FK8
Adrian Flux sub-brand - Plato and Neal - 2x new FK8