Touring Car discussion - WTCC, BTCC etcTouring Cars

[homeforsummer]

It struck me that we don't actually have a thread for touring cars in the motorsports forum and given that there's such a bredth of exciting racing it seems like a plan to have a thread in which to discuss the various series around the world.

If you're interested in touring cars, this is the place!

 

[homeforsummer]

"WTCC: Thompson hoping for good results at Brands"

James Thompson is hoping for good results with Lada at his home round at Brands Hatch this weekend.
"There's nothing like competing at home, is there? I enjoyed my first outing with the Priora in Portugal and I hope that we can put some of the lessons we learned there to good effect at Brands Hatch," said Thompson.

The base weight for the Lada Priora has been lowered for the race at Brands Hatch to 1150 kilos, something that will help Thompson.

But Thompson is realistic about their chances and states that they have a long way still to go.

"Our first races allowed us to identify the main areas of development needed, and now we can embark on the long process of putting all these procedures in place.

Of course it won't be an easy task, but thanks to the commitment and dedication of the entire Lada Sport team, I am sure that we can continue to make useful progress."

Source: http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=3708

I must say, this was news to me. Tommo seems pretty busy at the moment, he races a Honda Civic in the BTCC, he's currently leading the Danish Touring Car Championship in a Honda Accord, and apparently he's now racing a new Lada in the WTCC. Respect to the man, he's certainly not afraid to drive the less than competitive cars. He had some great results (wins, even) in the Alfa 156 when it was being outclassed by everything else, and it'd be great to see him do well in this Lada.

 

[Crashbroke23]

Great to see Lada (Russian Bears Racing) making great Progress with the Priora. God how I wish Touring Car championships were this awesome in North America.

 

[Ardius]

He's doing pretty well in BTCC currently as well, seeing as that Civic isn't the most competitive car/team on the grid, 6th in the championship is pretty good and he missed the first 3 rounds!
Hopefully I'll remember to watch the WTCC this weekend along with the Formula 2 on Eurosport.

 

[homeforsummer]

I'll be missing it unfortunately as I'm off to another car show, but I may catch the highlights. But it really is pretty impressive what Thompson is managing given how many series he's competing in.

Qualifying #1 has already taken place (pdf file here) and Tommo is three from bottom (which is to be expected, given the cars he's competing against) but I can't wait to see if he can mix it with anyone in the race and grab a few more positions.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

The only BTCC race I saw this year was at Thruxton, and in race 3 Tommo was really impressive there. His Civic seems quite down on power compared to the rest, and he spent the majority of the race holding off Plato and a queue of about seven others.

 

[homeforsummer]

I've not actually watched any of the racing as far as I can remember but I've vaguely kept up with the results. I suppose the fact that he's doing fairly well in the Civic is partly down to the fact that most UK circuits aren't as fast as Thruxton and the power defecit won't be as much of an issue. He actually won twice at Donington and once at Oulton Park. Wasn't quite as impressive at Croft though he managed a second in race three.

 

[Ardius]

The only BTCC race I saw this year was at Thruxton, and in race 3 Tommo was really impressive there. His Civic seems quite down on power compared to the rest, and he spent the majority of the race holding off Plato and a queue of about seven others.

Yeah, the Civic is down on power, I only saw him build a gap this year at Oulton Park, everywhere else he's had to defend like crazy, nothing like driving those Vectras

 

[Wardy 944]

The WTCC is live on Eurosport at:-

Race 1, 11:45 GMT
Race 2, 13:30 GMT

light rain has been forcast all day

 

[Stevisiov]

Does anyone know a stream for the WTCC race?

 

[Wardy 944]

No sorry.

Big dramas on the first lap currently under safety car....and again on lap 7.

Great first race, DNF for Muller and Farfus on pole for race 2, this could blow the drivers championship title race wide open.

 

[Clark]

Quite a good race weekend, makes up for races at Valencia and Curitiba earlier in the year.


Can't wait for BTCC at Snett and then I'm at Silverstone when they go there. I'm only going again this year as Thommo's back, I was there at Donny when he got both of his two titles.

Bring on WTCC Oschersleben, big gap for the DTM guys aswell.

EDIT: Paffett took his second win of the year aswell.

 

[Wardy 944]

Great race2 in the WTCC, although they should've shown more of the independents and Muller coming through the field, all the action was definitley towards the rear of the grid.

 

[Ardius]

Good racing from the WTCC, and I enjoyed the Formula 2 too, hope Henry Surtees is ok, that tyre impact looked horrible on live tv, I feared the worst when I saw that, it reminded me too much of seeing Roland Ratzenberger's Imola 1994 crash.

 

[Beerz]

Tiago Monteiro is looking more and more like a dork driving, what a douche... Hell, I'd do better than that, starting from 2nd on the 2nd race.

Really enjoyed the WTCC races today, though I agree with GTP_Grenade, the live broadcast missed almost all the action and cool bits, especially on the 2nd race.


I keep saying, either go all diesel or all petrol; it's just too stupid to have such different engine types running together.
Plus, all the little changes in rules to make up for some lack of competitivity (sp?) is really nonsense and totally unfair, like allowing the Cruze cars to run a fully flat bottom.

Hoping for 2011 with everyone running 1.6 Turbo engines. 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

hope Henry Surtees is ok, that tyre impact looked horrible on live tv, I feared the worst when I saw that, it reminded me too much of seeing Roland Ratzenberger's Imola 1994 crash.

On that note, R.I.P. Henry Surtees, having seen the previous thread. That's a terrible thing to happen to someone so young and my condolences to his family.

Regarding Tommo in the Lada, he posted a very impressive time in practice with 8th fastest of anyone and a second quicker than in qualifying.

Well done to Alain Menu on gaining a win for the Chevy Cruze in the first race at Brands.

 

[Johnny]

Brazil's V8 Stock Car - Nextel Cup


Cool video from Round 1 - Interlagos.



Pictures:

http://stockcar.globo.com/index.php/2009/07/05/interlagos-todas-as-emocoes-da-copa-nextel/

Round 2 - Curitiba



Next race, Round 6, will be on a temporary street course at Salvador, Bahia

http://stockcar.globo.com/index.php/ingressos/

 

[Cap'n Jack]

There will be BTCC coverage on ONE HD in Australia this Friday at 8:30PM AEST! It's great to see that ONE are giving us so many different motorsports, even if they are just highlight reels. 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

BTCC: Herbert to race for Team Dynamics

Previous Formula One driver Johnny Herbert has been confirmed to drive the three last races for Team Dynamics in the British Touring Car Championship.

"It’s the start of a new chapter in my career. I always like a challenge and I’ve got a lot of F1 experience… although that will probably be of no use to me whatsoever in the BTCC!" said Herbert to BTCC.net.

Herbert replaces James Thompson who is unable to drive in the BTCC due to WTCC and V8 commitments.

Herbert has tested for Team Dynamics in the Honda Civic and was pleasantly surprised with it.

"I did the recent BTCC test at Rockingham with the car and was pleasantly surprised with how it drove. Now I just need to get that last bit out of it," said Herbert.

Herbert has has done 165 Formula One races, but never taken part in a BTCC race. He is going to face tough opposition from experienced touring car drivers.

"The likes of Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi have massive experience in touring cars so it’s a big thing for me to go up against the likes of those guys," said Herbert.

From Touring Car Times

I'd not seen this coming at all. Not heard from Herbert in ages, so that he's presumably racing fit is a surprise. Is he still doing GT racing?

Thommo is presumably away racing Ladas in the WTCC!

 

[Ardius]

Yup Thommo just had his last race today at Knockhill, good coverage from ITV4, from 11 till 6, they showed all 3 races live as well as the support races! 👍👍 Good stuff.

As usual, Knockhill provided some crazy races, lots of bashing and wheel to wheel stuff. Almost a win for Thommo for his last race, if it wasn't for the safety car at the start, he may have podium'd.
Looking forward to seeing what Herbert can do, the last thing I remember him doing was the GT Academy race in Dubai and that was a while ago. I had heard him connected with both Manor and Litespeed/Lotus F1 teams but that would have been ambassador type stuff like with MidlandF1 I expect.

 

[Sureboss]

Those Knockhill races were excellent! BTCC always is though. Need to go again.

 

[Bellzie]

Onlyproblem I had with the last round was that the last race overlapped the MotorsTV coverage of the ALMS

 

[MatskiMonk]

Anyone at Silverstone for the BTCC this weekend?

I'm there on Sunday, should be good.

 

[Open Addict]

Got to see Donnington Park BTCC's last night. ONE HD in Australia played it straight after the F1 race. Great to see the BTCC back on the ozzie airways. I loved watching in in the mid 90's. Great action from such small cars.

Gotta love a bit of paint swapping here and there.

 

[Crashbroke23]

This week's round up of touring car action!

WTCC: Tarquini And Muller both take wins at Imola. James Thompson gave Lada it's first 2 top 10's with a pair of 6ths. The Priora could really be a great Touring Car come next year. Hope they sell some to privateer teams.

BTCC: Jason Potato (Plato) gets a pole in his Lacetti at the Rock. Plato gets a win while Stephen Jelly gets his first two race wins in the BTCC. In news for 2010, Bamboo engineering gets another Lacetti for the next year.

DTM:Kristensen gets pole while Spengler gets a penality, Timo Schneider wins.

Next week; STCC and the Speed World Challenge.

 

[homeforsummer]

Johnny Herbert, you are now a Touring Car driver!

Did anyone else see the third race of the day in the BTCC at Rockingham? Some absolutely classic BTCC action. Plato and his team-mate Nash were catching up to Turkington who was moving a little slower, with Fabrizio Giovanardi and Johnny Herbert behind. Plato and Turkington started getting a bit frisky and eventually Plato knocked Turk sideways, and as Turk controlled his slide both him and Plato collected Nash who was sent off the road with broken suspension. Plato's car was damaged too and he retired.

The action didn't stop there however. In the carnage Giovanardi and Herbert got through and were side-by side, Herbert elbowing Fabrizio out the way to pass, and they ended up going side-by-side into the tight chicane at the end of the lap, Herbert not backing off in the slightest and barging his way through, with Giovanardi's car eventually succumming to the constant pounding as he crawled around for the rest of the race. This was perhaps karma for pushing Mat Jackson clean off the road earlier in the race. Indeed, according to the official BTCC website, Giovanardi received two penalty points on his licence for the push.

I expect the videos will soon be up on ITV's BTCC site, the third race is definitely worth watching.

 

[TheCracker]

There was some great action at Rockingham this weekend, touring car racing at its best 👍

It might not have the pomp and glamour of some other touring cars series, but for race action it's unrivaled. I watched the two WTCC rounds in between as well and they were pretty good too. James Thompson was a star mixing it at the sharp end in the increasingly improving Lada 👍

 

[Prince.M5]

Sometimes feels like I like Touring Car more than F1...

The WTCC race last weekend at Imola was a bad one for BMW... And I really like the actions!!! Overtakings everywhere, they all touching cars that can't be done in F1 and one more thing, once someone got sideways or done a little mistake, the driver will lost a place to the car behind so it shows that how close the action is!! I like it but BTCC is the best as I've watched Brands Hatch race earlier thsi year.. PHANTASTIC!!!

 

[MatskiMonk]

Johnny Herbert, you are now a Touring Car driver!
​

Did anyone else see the third race of the day in the BTCC at Rockingham? Some absolutely classic BTCC action. Plato and his team-mate Nash were catching up to Turkington who was moving a little slower, with Fabrizio Giovanardi and Johnny Herbert behind. Plato and Turkington started getting a bit frisky and eventually Plato knocked Turk sideways, and as Turk controlled his slide both him and Plato collected Nash who was sent off the road with broken suspension. Plato's car was damaged too and he retired.

Oh man, you should have heard the crowds cheering when Herbert got his act together and managed to overtake a few cars!

Plato had been nudging people all day, an accident was only a matter of time, Turk did a great job not to wind up the wrong way or off track, shame for Nash but Plato got what he deserved, and if he got a telling off from the team boss for ruining Nash's day too, good!

Not my first touring car race, but first time at the Rock - excellent, I recommend it to anyone.

 

[Ardius]

Yeah, I had to quickly flip between BTCC and WTCC+Formula 2 so I missed a bit of action here and there (mostly missed the Porsches and Formula Renaults).

Both were awesome, its nice to have so much motorsport on TV. 👍