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

[gregc]

It's early April, and finally the British Touring Car Championship is back with us. With a strong entry list of 23 cars, featuring 7 previous race winning drivers, seven different makes of car and nine different models the season promises once again to be incident packed and the fastest circuit in the country should provide some great racing.

There's also the prospect of a battle between manufacturers again this year, after Chevrolet and Honda both announced official entries, and with the addition of both the NGTC engine in two Vectras and the turbocharged, LPG powered Focus controversy is bound to happen. Old rivals Jason Plato and Matt Neal will once again be going head to head in their respective manufacturer squads, while Mat Jackson, Rob Collard, Tom Chiilton, and several others will be looking to spoil their party and mount their own challenge on the title. The pundits are all tipping Plato to win it, but the BTCC is never that simple.

Among the smaller teams, many are suggesting Paul O'Neill will do well with his older spec Honda Integra, which always goes well at the Hampshire circuit - only a puncture last year prevented him getting a potential race win - and he will be looking to run with the big boys from the start, while the Volkswagen name makes a welcome return with new team AmD Milltek. Sadly the Forster Motorsport team are unlikely to race, after they had to send their engines back to BMW following Media Day, and the driver of the second Triple Eight Vauxhall Vectra is still to be announced. 2009 champion Colin Turkington will not be on the grid after being unable to secure funding.

Full entry list:

NO	DRIVER	NAT	CAR	TEAM	ENTRY*
2	Jason Plato	GB	Chevrolet Cruze	Silverline Chevrolet	M
4	Matt Neal	GB	Honda Civic	Honda Racing Team	M
5	Mat Jackson	GB	BMW 320si	Airwaves BMW	I
6	Robert Collard	GB	BMW 320si	WSR	i
11	Steven Kane	GB	BMW 320si	Airwaves BMW	I
20	Alex MacDowall	GB	Chevrolet Cruze	Silverline Chevrolet	M
21	Tom Onslow-Cole	GB	Ford Focus ST	Team AON	C
22	Tom Boardman	GB	Seat Leon	Special Tuning	I
23	Tom Chilton	GB	Ford Focus ST	Team AON	C
27	Martin Johnson	GB	Vauxhall Astra Coupe	Boulevard Team Racing	I
28	John George	GB	Honda Integra	Sunshine.co.uk	I
29	Paul O'Neill	GB	Honda Integra	Sunshine.co.uk	I
30	Martin Depper	GB	BMW 320si	Forster Motorsport	I
37	Arthur Forster	GB	BMW 320si	Forster Motorsport	I
43	Lea Wood	GB	Honda Integra	Central Group Racing	I
44	Andy Neate	GB	BMW 320si	WSR	I
52	Gordon Shedden	GB	Honda Civic	Honda Racing Team	M
55	David Pinkney	GB	Vauxhall Vectra	Pinkney Motorsport	I
77	Andrew Jordan	GB	Vauxhall Vectra	Pirtek Racing	I
88	Philip Glew	GB	Vauxhall Vectra	Triple Eight Race Engineering	I
98	Matt Hamilton	GB	Honda Civic Type R	TH Motorsport	I
99	Shaun Hollamby	GB	Volkswagen Golf	AmD Milltek	I
888	TBA		Vauxhall Vectra	Triple Eight Race Engineering	I

* - M denotes a Manufacturer entry into the Manufacturer/Constructor championship, C a Constructor

Circuit information and timetable
Weather forecast

Live coverage on ITV4 starts at 11am and runs through to 6pm.

[skells22]

thanks for the weather forecast (right weather for tin-top action) and the time table. i wonder how many SC will we see here during the weekend

[gregc]

I've got mixed feelings about the weather, a bit of rain on Saturday will mix up the grid nicely - but I don't want to get soaked!

[Jamesy-18]

Hopefully should be an exciting three races. Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch them live, but I'm gonna video them and watch them when I get back from my hols.

[andy_b]

The BTCC Spotter Guide will go online while Britain sleeps

[Alfa Fan]

Complete with the second 888 entry?

[medius]

Lea Wood won't be taking part, according to their page on Facebook.

''team wood racing Team Wood Racing are looking foward to thruxton even though they arenot racing. Roll on Brands !!!!''

[Alfa Fan]

Yeah we've known that for a while. Seems really strange to do all the testing then skip the first 6 races.

[andy_b]

The BTCC Spotter Guide is now online over at http://www.spotterguides.com/btcc-2010-guide which is hosted by Ten-Tenths.com

The cars are based on those at media day, or information which some teams and drivers have forwarded. Thanks to the teams who did help out. Bound to be changed at Thruxton.

I have included all the entries including the Triple8 cars and Lea Wood.

Also, extra special thanks to Peter Still (PDS). He has been awesome with reference images from Media day. Many thanks

Please read the terms and conditions. I'm not a charity (even though I do this for free, so dont abuse it). Any mistakes (not changes- I'll catch these after Thruxton), please email or PM me.

Originally Posted by Alfa Fan

Complete with the second 888 entry?

not public yet, so blank car with TBC shown for now. Doubt I'll be able to update this weekend, so you can get your felt tip pens in and colour the Vectras in and I'll udpate for Rounds 4,5,6

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by andy_b

Doubt I'll be able to update this weekend, so you can get your felt tip pens in and colour the Vectras in and I'll udpate for Rounds 4,5,6

What colour felt tips so we need to take with us?

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by redshoes

What colour felt tips so we need to take with us?

tenner on red

[gregc]

Brilliant job as always Andy, many thanks

[touringlegend]

Just reading the article about Airwaves BMW on BTCC.net...

How many times do we reckon the team / drivers can mention 'Kick up a gear' over the weekend?

[Robbe]

Giovanardi is back!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82622

[Hazard]

Bugger, it's black

[Alfa Fan]

Guess you owe the forum £10

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by Alfa Fan

Guess you owe the forum £10

I owe Redshoes £10.

The forum owes me

[trebor901]

Wicked to see Gio back and why the f close the other thread? stupid moderators using their powers to just completely ignore what the community wanted.

[Alfa Fan]

I've just PM'd Hazard so hopefully we'll have it re-open soon.

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by trebor901

Wicked to see Gio back and why the f close the other thread? stupid moderators using their powers to just completely ignore what the community wanted.

Way to get on my good side.

Please see response in the aborted second thread!

A polite PM or a few requests would certainly have been the best way. I'm just trying to keep things tidy!

And believe me, rudeness is not the way to get what you want.

[trebor901]

Well there was about 2 pages of discussion in that thread on it being closed after someone suggested it and it seemed like most people thought the best thing to do was to not close it so it could be used throughout the season

[GroupOfOne]

Am liking the black livery. Do we know if Glew's is similar? Though I'm presuming his may have a lot more prominent WD-40 / 3-in-1 / Glasurit stickers on it.

The UNIQ decals are interesting, as they appear to be an American car modifier/upgrader.

[Last2LiftOff]

Originally Posted by andy_b

The BTCC Spotter Guide is now online over at http://www.spotterguides.com/btcc-2010-guide which is hosted by Ten-Tenths.com

Quality stuff as usual Andy, thanks for doing that. Top drawer.


And, I've been wanting to stretch-out the legs on this new smiley for awhile so, how about now?

[Jamesy-18]

Great to see Gio confirmed for Thruxton at least-that black Vectra looks nice! We all know when Plato was confirmed last minute last year that to start with it was a round by round deal, so hopefully something can happen to see Gio in the championship for the entire season. Excited for Thruxton now, shame I can't be there but hope to be out at Oulton.

[Sodemo]

If he has a good weekend at Thruxton, chances are he can push the sponsorship money further. If he has a poor one, then he might find it more difficult.