GilesGuthrie
Staff Emeritus
- 11,038
- Edinburgh, UK
- CMDRTheDarkLord
Just back from Knockhill, a small (1.3 mile) track plonked on the side of a hill just north of Edinburgh.
There have been some chats here about the BTCC recently, but suffice to say, we're talking about 2L saloon car racing, slightly smaller than European Touring Cars, and run to different rules. There are interesting rulings, like 5 engines per season, and lots of control components to keep costs down. There's also a "production" class, which is similar to Group N in rallying.
The BTCC is definitely on the way back up after it went through its change in 1999/2000. Now with MG harrying Vauxhall, there are some real battles going on, and Honda are well and truly in the thick of it with the Civic R.
The first race we saw was the Renaultsport Clio Cup. I drove one of these racers at a recent corporate day, and I have to say they're mad, plain and simple. And the cars are pretty insane too! It was really interesting to be able to see the differences between drivers as they went past (regular readers of my race reports will know that this is something of an obsession with me!!)
We went off down the pit lane, and I had a long conversation with two acquaintances, Team Dynamics boss Steve Neal, and also his son, Egg Sport driver Matt. We were just beginning to think that the usual Scottish weather was going to hold off, but no such luck - it started to rain. Now Matt had said, when I asked him if rain would be good for him, "Haven't a clue mate. We haven't tested in the wet, so we stuck our thumb in the air for a setup. We could have a rocket ship or a bag of bolts".
In the race, Priaulx in the Honda led away from pole, and wandered off into something of a lead. Matt went from fourth to second, as things got wetter, and then the safety car came out. At the restart, Priaulx took off once again, and Matt dropped back to 5th, before steadily bringing it back up to take the lead, which he held to the flag. It was a great result for him after four straight DNFs, all mechanical-related.
Elsewhere in the field, the Protons were having a great battle with the Team Atomic Kitten MGs (sadly the Kittens were nowhere to be seen!!), but it got a bit physical in the end, which was a bit of a shame really. Gavin Pyper held off a very strong challenge from Norman Simon to win the Production class, in the Dynamics Alfa, completing a great sprint race for the Neal family.
Unfortunately, the conditions deteriorated to the point where even my spirits began to flag. Since we'd seen a great couple of races (including a victory for our man), we decided that it was probably best to leave now before the car parks got too wet and we all got colds. Had I not had a pass for entry (i.e. if I'd paid for my ticket), I think I would have stayed, but probably wouldn't have enjoyed myself that much. Scottish weather can be a pain at times!
It was an interesting day, however, and the two races we saw were great. Believe me, BTCC is back, big-style.
There have been some chats here about the BTCC recently, but suffice to say, we're talking about 2L saloon car racing, slightly smaller than European Touring Cars, and run to different rules. There are interesting rulings, like 5 engines per season, and lots of control components to keep costs down. There's also a "production" class, which is similar to Group N in rallying.
The BTCC is definitely on the way back up after it went through its change in 1999/2000. Now with MG harrying Vauxhall, there are some real battles going on, and Honda are well and truly in the thick of it with the Civic R.
The first race we saw was the Renaultsport Clio Cup. I drove one of these racers at a recent corporate day, and I have to say they're mad, plain and simple. And the cars are pretty insane too! It was really interesting to be able to see the differences between drivers as they went past (regular readers of my race reports will know that this is something of an obsession with me!!)
We went off down the pit lane, and I had a long conversation with two acquaintances, Team Dynamics boss Steve Neal, and also his son, Egg Sport driver Matt. We were just beginning to think that the usual Scottish weather was going to hold off, but no such luck - it started to rain. Now Matt had said, when I asked him if rain would be good for him, "Haven't a clue mate. We haven't tested in the wet, so we stuck our thumb in the air for a setup. We could have a rocket ship or a bag of bolts".
In the race, Priaulx in the Honda led away from pole, and wandered off into something of a lead. Matt went from fourth to second, as things got wetter, and then the safety car came out. At the restart, Priaulx took off once again, and Matt dropped back to 5th, before steadily bringing it back up to take the lead, which he held to the flag. It was a great result for him after four straight DNFs, all mechanical-related.
Elsewhere in the field, the Protons were having a great battle with the Team Atomic Kitten MGs (sadly the Kittens were nowhere to be seen!!), but it got a bit physical in the end, which was a bit of a shame really. Gavin Pyper held off a very strong challenge from Norman Simon to win the Production class, in the Dynamics Alfa, completing a great sprint race for the Neal family.
Unfortunately, the conditions deteriorated to the point where even my spirits began to flag. Since we'd seen a great couple of races (including a victory for our man), we decided that it was probably best to leave now before the car parks got too wet and we all got colds. Had I not had a pass for entry (i.e. if I'd paid for my ticket), I think I would have stayed, but probably wouldn't have enjoyed myself that much. Scottish weather can be a pain at times!
It was an interesting day, however, and the two races we saw were great. Believe me, BTCC is back, big-style.
) You watch it?
