TOCA Media Day

[redshoes]

I'm sure some this has already filtered out but just to give you a run-down of the stories from today's Media Day.

MG will race in the last 3 meetings only

Volvo have approached BMP for a full evaluation study of the S60

Another (un-named) manufacturer has approached BMP and is expressing "solid interest in coming back to the series"

Peugeot - World Superbike driver Aaron Slight will be forth 'guest' driver at 5 selected events.

The official name of the series will be... deep breath... www.theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship

The AA's website and TOCATour.com wil be linked to provide access to the AA's route planner, restaurant finder, hotel finder, etc etc.

TV coverage will be produced 'as live' by Octagon CSI. Charlie Cox and John Watson will remain as commentators to be joined by actress Dawn McDaniel (Holby City, Soldier Soldier, Moll Flanders) who will do the behind the scenes reports. As previously announced there will be 16 on-board cameras, 9 trackside cameras and a 17sq mtr starvision screen at every event.

Couple of driver changes to those previously announced - GA-Janspeed will run a second car for Antonio Russo, and Andy Neate will replace Sandro Proietti in the CAM Mitsubishi.


More details, quotes, etc as soon as I get chance to do a proper right-up but I will leave you with quote of the day from Tim Harvey to our very own Lorna - "you need to take the lens cap off first"

[redshoes]

Opps nearly forgot. Alan Hyde fans can sleep easy, he's been confirmed as part of the Radio TOCA team at all events, except Mondello (he will be at Le Mans) and Donington (he will be at Rockingham CART)

[Lorna]

Thanks Redshoes! I may as well have had "AMATEUR ALERT" written over my forehead after that!

Article to follow in Parc Ferme along with details on Reshoes' site as well.

[vauxhall]

Cheers for that redshoes, 1 question,
Volvo have approached BMP, will this be for the last part of 2001 or for 2002+???

and any idea of which manufactuer will return??
i think renault or audi

[redshoes]

Didn't say anything about if and when we might see a Volvo. As for the other manufacturer - BMW (3-series), Ford (Focus), Nissan (Almera/Primera), Honda (Civic type-R), Renault, Audi ??? - your guess is as good as mine.

Been listerning back to the tape and realised I missed a couple of extra bits. JSM Alfa won't run for at least a couple of weeks. ABG will only have one Lexus ready in time for Brands

[hunttheshunt]

I presume therefore no JSM Alfa or ABG Lexus was at the media day yesterday, then? If they were, any pictures or quotes from them?

[redshoes]

JSM had a mock up, and it looked a real beastie. First pics now at http://www.redshoes-racing.com/Pictures/

[hunttheshunt]

Thanks redshoes. I notice no Lexus. A couple of months back i thought ABGMSport could be a dark horse, especially with drivers like Kurt Luby. However, they are extremely late with their car and now they are on the back foot, just like JSM.

[rdjones]

I read somewhere that Radio Toca going to be available online, just like Radio Le Mans is and has been for the last couple of years. Does anyone know if this is is true and who the commonters are going to be?

[Les]

I reckon Alan Hyde will be one of them.

[Craig]

Yes, AH is indeed confirmed for almost all of the races...

Having just got in from the second leg of the media presentation at Brands today, I am now 150% convinced that the series has the biggest potential i've ever seen it have - including the early nineties.

If Richard West happens to be reading this, you and your team have done a fabulous job over these past few months - you deserve all the success that will undoubtedly come the series' way.

The cars all look absolutely stunning - let me tell you one thing, the photos do in no way do the slightest bit of justice to the reality, they sound awesome - especially the Astra (more than one person was heard to ask whether they'd flown a DTM Astra over for the occasion!), and the organisation behind the series is the best there is.

Can't wait till Easter weekend!!

[redshoes]

Yes Alan is confirmed, as I said near the top of the page Radio TOCA will be available as a webcast, along with a few webcams.

Have to echo what Craig has said about the Vauxhalls, the Astras sound more like V8s than strangled SuperTourers. Those people how said that with more weight and less bhp the cars would be slow.... oh boy, are you in for a surprise The 4 Astras and 2 Peugeot in close formation for the photo shoot was spectacular enough, can't wait to see a full grid at full race pace.

Vauxhall had 4 cars (2 works, 2 Egg) and Peugeot a pair of 406s for Steve Soper and Matt Neal. Dan Eaves was there but didn't get to drive. JSM had the mock-up 147, the race car should be ready in a week or so and they will (should) have both cars ready in time for the first race. To follow up another thread the Production 147 seen at Donny last weekend will not race in the BTCC this year. ABG still had nothing to show.

Most of the Production teams/drivers were there,
2 x Barwell Hondas
Jim Jr's Honda
2 x Techspeed Peugeots
2 x HTML Peugeots
Tom Boardman's Peugeot
3 x GR Fords (Howell, Jackson and Kraemer)
2 x GA-Janspeed Alfas
1 x CAM Mitsubishi (both Ruokonen and Neate drove)
1 x B&Q Honda (Beaumont, although John B&Q may have driven as well)

Overall Muller was fastest at 49.636s, Kaye the fastest Production driver @ 52.028s. One surprise for me was how little the performance difference was between the 2 classes compared to last year. The combined feature race could be interesting to say the least.

Lorna and I had a long chat with Richard West, who came across as very approachable and a real enthusiast. Look for a full article shortly where we may even reveal who Richard has tipped to win the championship

Have to say a big thank you to the folks at JardinePR who did a fantasic job organising the 2 days.

[JMeissner]

The times...

1 Yvan Müller Vauxhall Astra Coupe 49.636s
2 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Coupe 49.714s
3 James Thompson Vauxhall Astra Coupe 49.899s
4 Matt Neal Peugeot 406 Coupe 50.613s
5 Phil Bennet Vauxhall Astra Coupe 50.976s
6 Steve Soper Peugeot 406 Coupe 51.263s
7 James Kaye (P) Honda Accord 52.028s
8 Simon Harrison (P) Peugeot 306 52.140s
9 Roger Moen (P) Peugeot 306 52.161s
10 Peter Kaye (P) Honda Accord 52.388s

[RIKB]

Yeah James Kaye was the fastest Production racer despite trying to crash into me!

I went to the outside of paddock hill corner to watch who was hot through there. MULLER! When he was on it, he was awsome! The only other driver to get anywhere near him through there was Thompson!

The Peugeots seemed to be tiptoeing round the circuit to me, but there again they haven't had much testing time yet.

I thought it was a great day and wholeheartedly echo Craig and Redshoes remarks.

[Emfa]

This is indeed great news for a series that appeared as tho it was starting to slip into the doldrums. It sounds like the competition is really shaping up - now if we get the coverage to match, life will be good.

PS - Did Lorna have a serious case of Star-struck-ness when she fronted Tim H.??

[Craig]

The Pugs certainly weren't tiptoeing where I was stood, Rik! Then again, neither were the Vauxhalls... There was several times when things got interesting with Astras and 406's running in convoy - very closely matched, but the Astra's shaded it. However, there is undoubtedly much more development to come from the VLR team... stand by for an exciting year!

We spoke with Mr Q (RIKB is on first name terms and refers to him as B) briefly and he was in the car for the afternoon session. It would seem that someone spilt some paint or something in the aisle though, cos he kept slipping off on it... Seriously, he didn't appear to be doing to badly given the slating he's received recently. A picture follows...

[JMeissner]

According to Autosport the Pugs were only able to use five of the six gears due to some missing part. Doesent all cars have same parts in the gearbox, and if so, why does Vauxhall have enough parts and Peugeot doesent?

Strong times from the Peugeot team anyway

[Craig]

If that's true, i'm certainly looking forward to seeing what they can do!!

[RIKB]

The Pugs were certainly tiptoeing from where I was standing! But as I say, they have had little or no development and set upi time, so when they get on it, all should be jiggy!

[Lorna]

Emfa, not at all. I'm just not used to cameras where the lens cap doesn't automatially open when you switch the flipping thing on!

I had a very busy day with interviews and photos and chatting to people at the media day, today.

I had a ride in Tom Boardman's Pug 306. Awesome piece of kit. He truly displayed good skill whilst ruthlessly taking me round the circuit. Tom, for those that don't know is the youngest ever British Touring Car driver. Interview with Tom will appear in Parc Ferme.

As will Richard West's (I've been typing it up for an hour now Red. Extremely interesting stuff and extremely long ). Richard is a very friendly and approachable man and the enthusiasm that came across when talking about the Touring Cars is enough for anyone to fall in love with the series.

Also interview with Alan Hyde, to get his views about the new look touring cars.

I finished the day off by standing on the pit wall and just watching the cars of the 2001 season go by. Words can not describe the look, sound and performance of the cars. It was exhilarating (sigh).

If the 10 Tenthers have any good pictures that they would like to appear on 10 Tenths from today's or Monday's media days, please email them to gallery@ten.tenths.com, or let me know the specific url for me to download it. Please be thoughtful and give me a handfull (and not all four reels of film, RikB! )

Also big thanks to JardinePR who did a wonderful job of not only organising everything but making us feel so welcome.

[SPOONERBORO]

yeah great day had by all i think who went to brands i think

I am totally shattered up at 0500am not in bed till around 0300am but it was well worth the lack of sleep.

The new cars sound stunning and look good also, the whole championship also seems much more friendly i mean come on when you are walking to the press room would alan gow of said to you whilst walking behind , ''do you know what i dont think ive ever been in such a small room with such a long corridor its like The Tardis in here''!!

Got some great photos out on track also as i walked miles trecked up to druids and even with only a 115mm zoom lens i was too close.

[Danielsun]

Adding to what I've posted on other threads recently - and to what Craig's said earlier - I think that the 2001 BTCC has finally shut the critics up.

The cars - both classes, mind you - look and sound really good, especially the Touring class. Those Astras and 406s looked awful in the pages of Autosport but in the flesh they are truly something to behold.

Just can't wait until we get a full grid of them there in another two weeks' time!! Bring on Round One!!

[redshoes]

For those of you who weren't there, more pics posted at http://www.redshoes-racing.com/Pictures/

[Les]

Two things Redshoes - where's the Alfa?? Just because it didn't run is no excuse.

And secondly - you look at the two Astras - it must be an optical illusion but they don't even look the same car.

[redshoes]

Originally posted by Les
[B]where's the Alfa?? Just because it didn't run is no excuse.

I took enough photos of the static model on Monday, no point in taking any more.