[BTCC] Round One - Donington Park April 22-23 (Races 1, 2, 3)

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Looking at Tsl reckon Motorbase we’re right on it. I heard they practiced stops in testing

Someone i know in Minis told me BTCC cars have to change ground clearance between slick and wet tyres which explains the long stops

[JDMROB]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Must’ve been brake failure? Very lucky it wasn’t left-hand drive, that impact was right on the passenger door.

No the Minis are Right hand drive so Zelos took it straight in the drivers door!

[rdjones]

I see from social media this morning that Lewis Hamilton was at Donington yesterday support his brother.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by rdjones

I see from social media this morning that Lewis Hamilton was at Donington yesterday support his brother.

There’s something I find amusing about Lewis Hamilton being in a Team Hard garage! (I know the pictures show him around the track)

[S griffin]

Yes, you would not expect him to be there! But fair play to him for coming along, he probably had other things he could have done

[Trebor902]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Someone i know in Minis told me BTCC cars have to change ground clearance between slick and wet tyres which explains the long stops

Well that's rubbish. That would mean adjusting the height of the car by adjusting the suspension. Not a chance they do that.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Trebor902

Well that's rubbish. That would mean adjusting the height of the car by adjusting the suspension. Not a chance they do that.

I think that the wet tyres are slightly larger in diameter than the slicks. If the ride height has been optimised to suit wets, and then they change to dries, it would have to be raised otherwise the car would fail the post-race checks.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Trebor902

Well that's rubbish. That would mean adjusting the height of the car by adjusting the suspension. Not a chance they do that.

From your derisory comment, can it be safely assumed that you engineer one or more BTCC cars that are currently on the grid. After all, nearly 60 years ago, we always adjusted the suspension on my Special Saloon Anglia to make it softer for when it was wet., and I know that they also do so for the BTCC.

Just like F1, setups are changed, when it's at all possible, for a wet track.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

I think that the wet tyres are slightly larger in diameter than the slicks. If the ride height has been optimised to suit wets, and then they change to dries, it would have to be raised otherwise the car would fail the post-race checks.

To add to that, the teams also have to, or should do, make allowances for the fact that the track may become dryer during the race and by the time of the chequered, the tyres will wear out considerably.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

To add to that, the teams also have to, or should do, make allowances for the fact that the track may become dryer during the race and by the time of the chequered, the tyres will wear out considerably.

...unless you are BMW, then your rear tyres are toast by lap 6.

I thought if the wet tyres are naturally larger, that alone would raise the ride height slightly.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Someone i know in Minis told me BTCC cars have to change ground clearance between slick and wet tyres which explains the long stops

thats 100% correct and the wets actually give a lower ride height than the slicks

so some of the cleverer teams adjusted their ride height pre race to allow for a possible change to wet tyres so didnt have to do it during the pit stop

[Spanner monkey]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

From your derisory comment, can it be safely assumed that you engineer one or more BTCC cars that are currently on the grid. After all, nearly 60 years ago, we always adjusted the suspension on my Special Saloon Anglia to make it softer for when it was wet., and I know that they also do so for the BTCC.

Just like F1, setups are changed, when it's at all possible, for a wet track.

I think he was talking about changing the ride height. If they know it may be a race to swap to wets then the ride height maybe set to allow for the different sized wet tyre. It's also a gamble if you change any of the other things (Camber/Dampers/Roll bars) in view of the conditions changing before starting the race.

Also if it was a red flag then this could give the opportunity to make small changes if they already haven't... Like ride height.

Shedden lost out due to this at Donington some years ago.

Also pit stops are not just a quick thing like F1, BTCC has limited no of personel allowed to work on the car, Also they have a wheel pin which has to be taken out and replaced prior to changing the wheel.
Most teams would do practice on a sunday morning, Their are a few videos on Youtube of teams doing this.

[antnee]

If the tyre sizes are different (and therefore impacting ride height), the teams would factor that in to the set up if they think a change of tyres might be required. You wouldn't change it mid-race.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by antnee

If the tyre sizes are different (and therefore impacting ride height), the teams would factor that in to the set up if they think a change of tyres might be required. You wouldn't change it mid-race.

yes
unless they forgot to do so which is also probably why pearson failed his ride height

[Greem]

Sam Smith is in QMC in Nottingham with a broken rib and fractures in his neck

Ouch.

[The Fat Clerk]

Best wishes to Sam, that sounds bloomin painful.

[JDMROB]

Originally Posted by Greem

Sam Smith is in QMC in Nottingham with a broken rib and fractures in his neck

Ouch.

Nasty.

Genuine question, isn’t the HANS device supposed to stop neck movement that he suffered? His head was very slumped when the car came to rest.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by JDMROB

Genuine question, isn’t the HANS device supposed to stop neck movement that he suffered? His head was very slumped when the car came to rest.

The HANS device (other brands are available!) is a *frontal* head restraint. It prevents the neck over-extending and then slamming back into the basil plate of the skull, through which two important blood vessels travel.

What it's not so good at preventing is rapid rotation or sideways motion - that's why racing seats have "wings". In this incident the car violently rotated several times, each accompanied by an impact first with Zelos' car and then the gravel, corner by corner.

Given that drivers do have to turn their heads from time to time that's quite a difficult thing to protect against, but I dare say that even as soon as ten years ago the outcome of that incident would have been much worse.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Trebor902

Well that's rubbish. That would mean adjusting the height of the car by adjusting the suspension. Not a chance they do that.

Sure about that?.....

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by Trebor902

Well that's rubbish. That would mean adjusting the height of the car by adjusting the suspension. Not a chance they do that.

How on earth do you think rideheight is normally set then?

[hen henths]

What an extraordinary weekend! Despite all those safety cars, there was never a dull moment. I was most impressed by Andrew Watson. I hope he can continue in the series for many years to come and I'll enjoy seeing how he gets on from here.

Well done to Dan Cam and good fight back by Sutton in race 3 despite apparently pitting too late in the second race. I thought Nic did great in that race.

Thompson and Rowbo's sort of mini banger race was erm, interesting. I would've liked to see Rowbo get a better result out of this weekend.

To those saying Turks is past his best, I'm not so sure because I think it's more a sign of how far the others up the front have come on. I do agree Hill has a better chance of the title than him at the moment if he doesn't have too many incidents.

Quote of the day from Tim (Race 3 lap 19): "Well Turkington's desperate not to lose two places but this isn't over yet. It's all gonna come down to the chicane. Hill is desperate to go through with Sutton. Are the two BMWs gonna collide? YES!"

[Robin Marriott]

I think you lot are over-reacting to that comment.

It’s unlikely that the mechanics would adjust the ride height in the pit lane, it would take too long to do an accurate job and adjust it by an equal amount on each corner.

What’s more likely is that they adjust damper and anti roll bar setting to make the setup softer, but a last minute panic change in the pit lane is still more of a compromise than a proper ‘wet’ setup in the garage.

[hen henths]

Forgot to say Tingram is obviously still incredibly strong this year. If the Fords have any kind of a setback (or the Hyundai setup improves even further) I can see him getting another title this year.

Originally Posted by Evantra

The NAPA Fords look the car to beat at the moment. The top three all seem very close which could perhaps lead to some friction or taking points off each other.

Yeah if they don't pick a winner and play the team game, that in itself could hand the championship to Tingram.

Originally Posted by Evantra

Not great for the Hondas, Cook making a couple of storming drives back up the field at least. Moffat very anonymous.

Cookie was saying to Louise they still need to find their best setup as the Neil Brown engine has changed the weight distribution compared to what he had previously.

[Robin Marriott]

As an aside, is Tim Harvey ok?

[Redshift]

Can someone who knows racing regulations tell me why Dan Zelos didn't keep third place from race 3?
It seems odd that a driver who was taken out in an accident can lose that place when the positions from the previous lap are used. I know he wasn't running when the red flag fell but it just seems odd that an innocent party can lose a place through no fault of his own.