[BTCC] Round Seven, Snetterton 13-14 Aug, Races 19,20&21

[crmalcolm]

Next up, we travel to Snetterton.

Snetterton underwent extensive redesign ahead of the 2011 season, and the ‘300’ layout came into use by the BTCC from that point onwards. The first time that constructor NGTC cars raced there, Tom Onslow-Cole took the sole RWD podium of the day, with a Civic, Vectra and MG taking the wins that day.

Snetterton’s ‘Scary Tree’ suffered damage at the start of 2020 and is now just ‘Tree’.


Last time the BTCC visited, it was early in the 2021 season as a June meeting. This time the series visits in what looks like a much hotter August date. 2021 saw the majority of podium slots filled by Sutton, Turkington and Ingram – with Shedden and Butcher both making one visit to the third step.

Snetterton is a circuit that the drivers know extremely well, having recently visited for the two-day Goodyear tyre test during the summer break.
A total of 30 drivers headed out over 14 hours of testing in July, accruing almost 2,500 laps of the 2.97-mile circuit and notching more than 7,200 miles.



Qualifying LIVE: Saturday 13 August
ITV.com/BTCC from 1515
Raceday LIVE: Sunday 14 August
ITV & ITV HD 1200-1505
ITV +1 1300-1605
ITV4 & ITV4 HD 1500-1805
ITV4 +1 1600-1905
ITV.com/BTCC 1200-1800

Time	Activity	Championship	Laps
Saturday, August 13
09.05 – 09.20	Qualifying	Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship
09.30 – 10.10	Free Practice	Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship
10.30 – 10.50	Qualifying	ROKiT F4 British Championship
11.00 – 11.20	Qualifying	Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Championship
11.30 – 12.00	Qualifying	The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE
12.10 – 12.50	Free Practice	Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship
12.50 – 13.30	Lunch Break
13.30	Race	Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship	15 mins
14.05	Race	ROKiT F4 British Championship	20 mins
14.40 – 15.10	Qualifying	Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain
15.20 – 15.50	Qualifying	Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship
16.05	Race	Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Championship	15 mins
16.40	Race	The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE	20 mins
17.15	Race	Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship	20 mins
17.50	Race	ROKiT F4 British Championship	20 mins
Sunday, August 14
09.10	Race	Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain	40 mins
10.00	Race	The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE	20 mins
10.35	Race	Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Championship	20 mins
11.05 – 11.35	Pit Lane Walkabout / Autograph Session
11.05 – 11.50	Marshals’ Break
11.53	BTCC Pit Lane Opens
12.08	Race	Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship	12
12.52	Race	Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain	20 mins
13.26	Race	Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship	20 mins
14.00	BTCC Pit Lane Opens
14.15	Race	Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship	12
15.05	Race	ROKiT F4 British Championship	20 mins
15.45	Race	The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE	20 mins
16.20	Race	Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Championship	20 mins
16.55	BTCC Pit Lane Opens
17.10	Race	Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship	12

Early weather forecast shows that Saturday is forecast to be 31deg with a 0% chance of rain.


Sunday 32deg and Sunny.

[crmalcolm]

Credit to SSmith from the season thread:

Originally Posted by SSmith

Couldn't find a dedicated Snetterton thread so will post in here. Early entry list for this weekend. https://www.barc.net/wp-content/uplo...22-WEBSITE.pdf

Turkington running as #500. Assuming he starts all races, I think Race 3 will be his 500th BTCC race.

Based on the entry list, no major changes in the MINI JCWs. Hannah Chapman is listed but judging from Instagram it seems she still needs sponsorship to race this weekend following her roll in Knockhill testing.

Ginetta Juniors - usual field + a new entry, Freddie Slater at R Racing

Ginetta GT4 Supercup - smaller grid once again after shenanigans at Knockhill, 8x G56 (4 Pro and 4 Am) and 10x G55 (5 Pro and 5 Am, Poulain seems to have been demoted back to Am)

British F4 - regular field joined by two new drivers. Divy Nandan and Jack Sherwood competing for Chris Dittmann Racing

Porsche Carrera Cup GB - slightly smaller field after Knockhill crashes, one notable addition to the grid is British GT championship leader Ian Loggie at Toro Verde.

Being Tuesday, the entry could possibly change but thought I would post anyway.

Originally Posted by SSmith

https://www.barc.net/wp-content/uplo...ton_V4_ITV.pdf

Timetable for this weekend.

BTCC Q - 15.20 (ITV.com/BTCC)

BTCC Races - 12.08 (ITV), 14.15 (ITV), 17.10 (ITV4)

[Evantra]

Nice to see another couple entries for F4, and very interested to see how Loggie gets on.

[S griffin]

Yes it's good to see the F4 grid grow by a couple. Should be another entertaining weekend for them

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Nice to see another couple entries for F4, and very interested to see how Loggie gets on.

Definitely! Its a shame that Joel Pearson still isn't listed on the entry list for Chris Dittmann Racing, but I'm glad to see the team back on the grid. Jack Sherwood had been competing for Elite Motorsport in the new GB4 series, but I'm guessing is dipping his toe in the water in proper F4 cars ready for a full 2023 season? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he Carrera Cup regular Justin Sherwood's son?

Loggie could be very fast. I'm hopeful he is definitely competing and that the BARC Entry List people haven't made a mistake! A quick glance on the DriverDB site suggests Loggie has raced the old-991 spec Carrera Cup cars in the 24H Series so he should do quite well. I reckon he'll be very quick in the Am class, probably challenging Josh Stanton and Justin Sherwood by the end of the weekend.

Carrera Cup has a 40mins race on Sunday morning (non-televised) which should play to the strengths of drivers with British GT, Britcar and GTWCE experience. Doing it at Snetterton should also mean that the leaders won't encounter too much traffic.

[Evantra]

The Ginetta GT4 numbers this year have been disappointingly low. Hopefully the old car is phased out for next year into one class.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by SSmith

Turkington running as #500. Assuming he starts all races, I think Race 3 will be his 500th BTCC race.

Just need to see which car he turns up in. Original plan was for chassis 06 to be back for Knockhill but for whatever reason he was still in 01.

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by Evantra

The Ginetta GT4 numbers this year have been disappointingly low. Hopefully the old car is phased out for next year into one class.

I hope so too. Either one merged 'Pro-Am' class to encourage Pros and Ams to move into a G56, or only Am for '23.

6 in the Pro Class at Brands and Oulton, and now 4 at Knockhill and Snetterton isn't great. Rattican has withdrawn from the season, and I'm guessing Somerfield has as well, after the Oulton Park incident. Only 4 Ams too. Add to that, only 1 G56 GT4 has competed in British GT for the past two seasons (although Colin White competed as a guest in his Supercup car at last season's finale).

I thought I'd compare the average entry numbers to the last transition period 2011-2013.

In 2011 they averaged 9.4 G55s (largest entry = 11, smallest = 8) and 7.9 G50s (largest = 10, smallest = 6).

In 2012 they averaged 10.7 G55s (largest entry = 12, smallest = 10), and 5.8 G50s (largest entry = 7, smallest entry = 4).

In 2013 they averaged 14.9 G55s (largest entry = 17, smallest = 13), and 2.4 G50s (largest entry = 5, smallest = 0 at Knockhill).

In 2014 everyone raced a G55 except Fraser Robertson who raced at Croft, Silverstone, and Brands GP in a G50.

This year the average is 5 G56s (largest entry = 6, smallest = 4) and 10.5 G55s (largest = 11, smallest = 10).

Unless there's a sudden increase in G56 sales for the end of this year/beginning of '23, I think we may have a longer transition period.

[Alfaholic]

My 'local' circuit and one of two BTCC meetings I always attend.
However, this year I'm undecided as to whether to go both days, enjoy the atmosphere, catch all the racing and watch skilled drivers plying their trade, or whether just to spend all day on here moaning about how much we're not seeing on TV and that it's not as good as it used to be.

If anyone else is thinking of attending, beware of roadworks on the A11 near the circuit and go heavy on the sunscreen.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by SSmith

Rattican has withdrawn from the season, and I'm guessing Somerfield has as well, after the Oulton Park incident.

Ah I noticed those two were missing. A direct result of the Oulton finish? I didn't think the cars were that damaged.

It's usually one of my favourite support series, but seeing how little we've seen of it this year, and now with just 4 cars in the top class, it's all been rather disappointing. It didn't really seem like any drivers moved up this year (perhaps the GT Academy will help with that) and doesn't help that Kellett is dominating,

And yes, I'm surprised a few more G56s haven't popped up in British GT (and what happened to the Akula road car!)

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Ah I noticed those two were missing. A direct result of the Oulton finish? I didn't think the cars were that damaged.

I've put two and two together a little, but think Oulton must have been the catalyst for Rattican. This is his withdrawal statement on Instagram,

"It’s with a very heavy heart that I today announce my withdrawal from the 2022 Ginetta G56 Supercup championship. This being a tough decision taken jointly with my team, family and backers. Sadly, the inaugural G56 championship has not lived up to our collective expectations, having been beset with teething troubles. As such, we have decided that it doesn’t make sense to continue and instead will focus on other opportunities for the balance of 2022.
Thank you all for your kind support and encouragement this season."

I'd tentatively guess that Oulton proved instrumental in the withdrawal, bad reliability at Brands and then the only time he's competitive he has an incident. Maybe it was better to cut losses and focus on next year - I wouldn't be surprised if he appears in Carrera Cup at the end of this season.

Somerfield I think has historically run on a tight "Privateer" budget, it'll be interesting to see if he comes back this season or instead focuses on 2023.

Maybe I've read too much into it.

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by Evantra

(and what happened to the Akula road car!)

I'm curious too! The Akula looked pretty cool, its still on their website but the details are a bit vague and the price tag is huge! https://www.ginetta.com/akula

UPDATE:
I've just found this on Autocar from 9th June this year. "Ginetta Akula supercar still in development despite "uncertain period"". Looks like the pandemic and the G56 project delayed things. I wonder if it'll become like that new TVR Griffith, its supposedly getting built but they've been saying that for about 4 or 5 years!
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/m...pite-uncertain

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by SSmith

I've put two and two together a little, but think Oulton must have been the catalyst for Rattican. This is his withdrawal statement on Instagram,

"It’s with a very heavy heart that I today announce my withdrawal from the 2022 Ginetta G56 Supercup championship. This being a tough decision taken jointly with my team, family and backers. Sadly, the inaugural G56 championship has not lived up to our collective expectations, having been beset with teething troubles. As such, we have decided that it doesn’t make sense to continue and instead will focus on other opportunities for the balance of 2022.
Thank you all for your kind support and encouragement this season."

I'd tentatively guess that Oulton proved instrumental in the withdrawal, bad reliability at Brands and then the only time he's competitive he has an incident. Maybe it was better to cut losses and focus on next year - I wouldn't be surprised if he appears in Carrera Cup at the end of this season.

Somerfield I think has historically run on a tight "Privateer" budget, it'll be interesting to see if he comes back this season or instead focuses on 2023.

Maybe I've read too much into it.

Ah thanks for that! Yes I'd agree the incident was probably the 'last straw' - I wonder whether 'the inaugural G56 championship has not lived up to our collective expectations, having been beset with teething troubles' is aimed on his / the team's part or is criticising the running of the championship.

To be fair about my previous point, remembered Aston Millar moved up this year, hopefully by the end of the year he can bag a win or two against Kellett. Not sure there's much other competition.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by SSmith

I'm curious too! The Akula looked pretty cool, its still on their website but the details are a bit vague and the price tag is huge! https://www.ginetta.com/akula

UPDATE:
I've just found this on Autocar from 9th June this year. "Ginetta Akula supercar still in development despite "uncertain period"". Looks like the pandemic and the G56 project delayed things. I wonder if it'll become like that new TVR Griffith, its supposedly getting built but they've been saying that for about 4 or 5 years!
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/m...pite-uncertain

Thank you again! It just seemed to disappear and does have a TVR feeling to it, but glad the project's not dead!

[pimmy]

Originally Posted by Evantra

I wonder whether 'the inaugural G56 championship has not lived up to our collective expectations, having been beset with teething troubles' is aimed on his / the team's part or is criticising the running of the championship.

Ginetta did introduce a mid-season update to the G56 for Knockhill, which isn't really what you need in a largely amateur single make series. They now have larger rear wheels & tyres but I'm not sure what else has changed, if anything. It's additional cost for the teams regardless.

The last time I remember something like that happening was during the 2009 Clio Cup, and entries decreased then too.

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by pimmy

Ginetta did introduce a mid-season update to the G56 for Knockhill, which isn't really what you need in a largely amateur single make series. They now have larger rear wheels & tyres but I'm not sure what else has changed, if anything. It's additional cost for the teams regardless.

Ah, I missed that, thank you! I'm guessing the bigger tyres is to deal with the extra horsepower and torque of the V8, therefore giving the drivers more stability/driveability on corner exit, and helping with tyre life in longer races?

Given what else we've been discussing, I wonder if the G56 may have been more commercially successful, and better on track, if it was delayed to 2023? 1 extra year of testing to work out that the car needed larger rear wheels and tyres, although surely they must have seen some of these issues after evaluating the car's performance in British GT in 2021?

[bella]

the first season of any new car is always a headache in one way or another - you can test all you like but there’s a lot of things you only really discover in race situations or when you’ve got a full herd on track. or that they’ll blame teams and drivers for until an entire grid has the issue, proves it’s not a setup issue or whatever and everybody threatens mutiny (see also: wtcr)..

introducing an update halfway through a season is a positive thing in that it shows they’re being reactive, but you have to wonder what was threatened or exactly how bad things actually were for ginetta to take action. i can only hope they’ve absorbed some of the cost for the entrants, otherwise no wonder drivers have bailed out.

[Sodemo]

Its gonna be a hot one this weekend! I wonder if the FWD teams will be told to roll back a little on the front tyre camber?

[antnee]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Its gonna be a hot one this weekend! I wonder if the FWD teams will be told to roll back a little on the front tyre camber?

No! Add more, get punctures then complain. Are you a newbie to all of this?

[S griffin]

I think the tyres will be fine and we should have great battles up and down the field. But there will some who might struggle if the car is not set up right

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by redshoes

Just need to see which car he turns up in. Original plan was for chassis 06 to be back for Knockhill but for whatever reason he was still in 01.

so any clarifications ?

[Evantra]

Cook slowest in all speed traps in FP1, doesn't look promising.

[S griffin]

The BTC Hondas aren't looking good, so they might have to be content with scraps this weekend

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Cook slowest in all speed traps in FP1, doesn't look promising.

It doesn't appear good for certain. Edwards right down the bottom as well, but Plato seems to be comparable with the Toyotas. All the TOCA-engined cars seem a bit down in the traps (as we've come to expect), except for the CUPRAs. Hamilton and Powell were 2nd and 3rd in the speed trap at the end of the Bentley Straight.

[SSmith]

Its hard to read too much into outright lap times in FP1, but Ingram and Hill seemed quick. The NAPA Fords were further back then one would expect, but I'd guess they were going through their run plans.