|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
View Poll Results: Which Series should have the pits at brands? | |||
British Touring Cars | 8 | 27.59% | |
British F3's | 12 | 41.38% | |
British GT's | 2 | 6.90% | |
Who cares give the space to the Formula Fords.... | 7 | 24.14% | |
Voters: 29. You may not vote on this poll |
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
15 Mar 2002, 12:51 (Ref:235658) | #1 | ||
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 469
|
Ohh Hand bags at Dawn......
Well the F3/GT -v- TOCA battle continues over who get the pits at Brands...
As the event is offically the British Touring Car Superweekender with both F3's and GT's nothing more than support series it looks like the boring taxis (to coin a phrase) will get the pits. My sources indicate that the F3/GT camp are far from happy and a revolt could be on the cards... This might get interesting - anyone willing to take a bet that this is the one and only such event. |
||
|
15 Mar 2002, 13:42 (Ref:235698) | #2 | |
Rookie
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 61
|
I heard that given the attendance at BTCC meetings, each spectator is getting his own garage and that all the teams are being housed by the Kentagon!! Brands Hatch have a very special offer on for the race weekend too...buy one ticket, get 500 free!!
|
|
|
15 Mar 2002, 14:33 (Ref:235717) | #3 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,066
|
Touring Cars should get them for one simple reason - they're the main attraction.
However much you may like F3 or think that F3 is superior, the fact is that most of the fans are going for Touring Cars, F3 is a bonus. Touring Cars are therefore the main attraction and should therefore have the pits. If you're in F3 and not happy then look at it this way: you get more exposure to fans in the outer paddock, who are more likely to later watch the race on TV, and come back in June to watch the next round. |
||
|
15 Mar 2002, 17:08 (Ref:235791) | #4 | |
Racer
Join Date: Nov 2001
Posts: 137
|
It should be the F3 cars simply because they are the quickest! Proper racing cars them be...
|
|
|
15 Mar 2002, 17:50 (Ref:235824) | #5 | |
Rookie
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 19
|
Should be the touring cars as i'm not interested in seeing any of the tin top teams... less walking for me to visit the F3 etc
|
|
|
15 Mar 2002, 18:35 (Ref:235860) | #6 | |||
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 469
|
Quote:
In all seriousness there are logistical reasons why the F3 cars should be in the garages main as they would not be able to get through the tunnel due to ride height and supension travel reasons. Where as the Taxi's will be able to... |
|||
|
15 Mar 2002, 19:14 (Ref:235887) | #7 | |
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 351
|
I believe, from very reputable sources, that the only reason the F3 teams agreed to take part in these weekends to help boost the rapidly falling btcc crowds, was because they were assured they would have EQUAL TOP OF BILL status, which includes been given use of the pits at circuits where it is IMPOSSIBLE to safely move an F3 car from a non pits area. Which is the case at Brands Hatch.
Remember that the F3 series, which is an official FIA approved formula has more cars, an entry of approx 30 cars all prepared to a very high standard. The overall driver standard is of a higher quality than the btcc, which is only a domestic saloon car series to a national formula. F3 has prospered for the last 10 years without racing on the same meetings as the btcc, and it will continue to prosper without the btcc. F3 is the headline race at the best attended non F1 event in europe, the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort. Also at Asia's best attended race meeting the Macau GP. I believe the feeling amongst the F3 community, which includes some of the most experienced and talented engineers in British racing, is that forcing the F3 teams into the outer paddock will prevent the two other "super weekends" from taking place as billed. Surely it is an unacceptable act of dishonesty to offer the F3 series equal top billing and then treat the top domestic racing series as an unwanted support race. the F3 races have been split over 2 days, which is not the usual pattern for the series. Are the btcc comunity and management so scared of been exposed for the poor show that they actually are? |
|
|
15 Mar 2002, 20:30 (Ref:235935) | #8 | ||||||
Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,066
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Last edited by Paul Rayner; 15 Mar 2002 at 20:31. |
||||||
|
15 Mar 2002, 20:53 (Ref:235948) | #9 | |
Race Official
Veteran
Join Date: Dec 1998
Posts: 16,760
|
ye gods, children! just because they don't want the crowds of adoring fans bothering them, they all want the garages.
i say toss a coin |
|
__________________
devils advocate in-chief and professional arguer of both sides |
15 Mar 2002, 21:19 (Ref:235963) | #10 | |
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 351
|
The original agreement was that f3 had the garages at Brands, btcc at Donington, which has an excellent paddock area & both series would have garages at Silverstone.
Obviously the btcc management are unwilling to honour this. |
|
|
15 Mar 2002, 21:34 (Ref:235967) | #11 | |||
Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,066
|
Quote:
|
|||
|
16 Mar 2002, 07:33 (Ref:236226) | #12 | |
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 351
|
F3 is a higher level series, the licence required is of a higher level, also the overall level of competitiveness throughout the entire field is higher. The time diff between the pole position and the last runner is smaller in both time and percentage of pole time than in touring cars.
The only logical, and honourable, decision is for the F3 series to be given the garages, as was originaly agreed. I think you will find that at Silverstone and Donington PArk last season the F3 meetings had higher crowds than the equivalent btcc meeting, indeed I have been at test days with more people than at some btcc meetings last season. |
|
|
16 Mar 2002, 10:28 (Ref:236282) | #13 | |
Rookie
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 61
|
Perhaps they should leave all the teams by the Kentagon and have a vote for the 20 punters that will turn up to watch. They can decide who should be in the pits - seems fair to me.
|
|
|
16 Mar 2002, 10:35 (Ref:236284) | #14 | |
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 351
|
well i know more than 20 going to watch the f3, NOT the taxi's
Last edited by Takuma; 16 Mar 2002 at 10:39. |
|
|
16 Mar 2002, 10:57 (Ref:236298) | #15 | |
Race Official
Veteran
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 11,001
|
zzzz....
Who CARES ?! They're there to race... just get on with it! Give the F3 guys the infield pits if they're so precious about it |
|
|
16 Mar 2002, 11:29 (Ref:236327) | #16 | |||
Veteran
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 631
|
Quote:
|
|||
|
16 Mar 2002, 17:49 (Ref:236569) | #17 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,081
|
Quote:
On saying that, some of the BTCC crowd figures given last year - Silverstone first time around in particular - were laughable. An insult to people's intelligence. There could have been no more than 500 actual paying punters yet the figure given was 6000 and then later in the year the figure had become 10000 and by the end it was back to 6000. It depends how you define a crowd - paying punters only or add on the press, officials, competitors, toilet cleaners, burger bar staff etc? |
||
|
16 Mar 2002, 17:51 (Ref:236572) | #18 | ||
Race Official
Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 13,038
|
Oh Lord, all this bickering and all over some silly garages. To my knowledge ALL the series racing that weekend are able to get through the tunnel from the outer paddock to the Grand Prix paddock so whats the big deal? F3 have done it many times before and will no doubt do it again, so have F Renault and all the other countless numbers of series that race at Brands Hatch. Even at the Grand Prix F3 doesn't get the pit garages and has to make do with their thrailors parked on the infield so what's the big deal for this weekend?
Oh this gets rather tiresome after a while. |
||
__________________
The Priest Catcher Honoured recipient of the BARC Browning Medal |
16 Mar 2002, 18:55 (Ref:236623) | #19 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 2,188
|
I prefer F3 but its logical that anything that needs a pit stop eg GT and Touring Cars are the ones that need pit garages. Why do F3 need them they all have good enough awnings. How dumb is it to argue over a pride issue.
|
||
|
16 Mar 2002, 19:22 (Ref:236636) | #20 | |||
Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,066
|
Quote:
Official figures for Touring Cars (courtesy of www.renautsport.co.uk) were: Brands Hatch, Kent 16th April 18000 Thruxton, Hants 7th May 18000 Oulton Park, Cheshire 20th May Over 14000 Silverstone, Northants 2nd June 6000 Donington Park, Leics 1st July 15400 Knockhill, Fife 22nd July 10500 Snetterton, Norfolk 4th August 16500 Croft, N Yorks 12th August 12000 Oulton Park, Cheshire 26th August 13500 Silverstone, Northants 9th Sept 17250 Donington Park, Leics 23rd Sept 12400 Brands Hatch, Kent 7th October Over 13000 TOTAL CROWD FIGURE = 166,550 AVERAGE CROWD FIGURE = 13,879 As both Touring Cars and F3 had equal opportunity to "interpret" their crowd figures, does anyone have the official F3 crowds for last year? |
|||
|
16 Mar 2002, 19:30 (Ref:236638) | #21 | |
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 351
|
This is not a "pride" issue, it concerns the honesty of statements made by the btcc management/bmp to the organisers of the f3 series concerning the status of the races Also there is a very simple logistical point, it is impossible to safely movean f3 car from the outer paddock at brands into pit lane via the tunnel, there is insufficient ground clearnce and the road surface is too bumpy and potholed.
I believe that when arp f3 has raced at minor meetings at brands hatch, they have used the area above the fire access gate at Paddock Hill bend as an assembnly area before sending the cars onto the track from that gate, with they much larger crowd expected at the easter weekend meeting, there are significant health and safety issues that would make that option unviable. The only logical and viable decision, is to place the F3 teams in the garages, as per the promises originally made by btcc/bmp. |
|
|
16 Mar 2002, 19:34 (Ref:236641) | #22 | |
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 351
|
Are those "official" btcc figures as accurate as Zimbabwean election results?
|
|
|
16 Mar 2002, 19:52 (Ref:236655) | #23 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,066
|
As I said, I'd like to see the "official" figures for F3 last year.
I never got an answer to an earlier question, what's the big dimension difference between FRenault cars and F3 cars which means they can't get through the tunnel? I agree that if TOCA said they'd do something they should. |
||
|
16 Mar 2002, 20:01 (Ref:236662) | #24 | |
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 351
|
I'm told by a leading F Renault engineer, that to get a F Renault car to the pits the cars have to be fitted with the wet tyres which, due to the different profile and slightly larger diameter, give the cars just enough ground clearance to negotiate the tunnel, that is not the case with F3 cars.
|
|
|
16 Mar 2002, 20:08 (Ref:236670) | #25 | ||
Veteran
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 1,810
|
I've got two questions to add to this debate!!
What's happening at Donington and Silvestone for the other superweekenders - as I can see the same problem occuring there?! I've seen the ARP Formula 3 cars get through the tunnel - why can't the new F3s do it? |
||
|
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Zonta bags V8 engines | Jordi | Formula One | 65 | 2 Oct 2005 23:58 |
handbags at dawn - who's going to be second best? | bella | National & International Single Seaters | 9 | 6 Aug 2002 22:39 |
BTCC set for new dawn.....maybe | SPOONERBORO | Touring Car Racing | 13 | 9 Aug 2001 19:50 |