Touring Car discussion - WTCC, BTCC etcTouring Cars

[Bo]

First you say Audi are lifeless for doing well in WEC and now Citroen are heartless for doing well in WTCC(though the dominance does look slightly annoying from both perspectives), I see a pattern here.




Besides I barely follow WTCC, I just view articles from time to time.

If you didn't see today's racing, you can't really comment on the whole thing.

Citroen operate on the basis of whatever order their team enters the first corner in, they must stay that way throughout the race. The driver's family aren't even allowed inside the team, they're so uptight and secretive about the whole thing.

Bennani showed us true emotion today. Good on him.

 

[Ninners]

I saw quick highlights of each race (3 mins each) and yes I did see Citroen's dominance. However the team decision of about who enters the first corner first has happened a lot in the past. McLaren were dominating Australia 1998 and Hakkinen was accidentally called in and dropped behind Coulthard but was let back through and that's fair.

However as a team they have a right to be uptight and secretive, it's not like allowing family to watch inside the garage is rule is it?

I saw the Bennani part too and I agree with him though from what I saw Coronel was fine, he moved over and held his line but they were touching the whole time but then Mehdi edged to right and boom Coronel was in the wall, if he had lifted off slightly more they probably wouldn't still be touching and they would have gotten away fine.

Anyway I think it's best if we stayed on topic and talk about racing rather than how a team operates

 

[daan]

Walls are on all tracks. It's the most basic of safety features that's been ignored. If the car was on fire, he'd be trapped, so i'm not sure why you think it's not a danger. Tarquini's bringing it up with the FIA anyway, and quite rightly so.

Motor racing is dangerous and you cannot legislate for every single type of accident. It would take a very specific set of circumstances for a WTCC driver to be completely trapped in a car while it was on fire. My vote goes to sunroofs and ejection seats.

Oh, wait, unless it was upside down...

I'm more concerned with

Sorry, I didn't realise some of your points were more important than others.

They look flimsy as heck, and as soon as they get a tap, whole chunks of bodywork drop off.

That's what they do. Cars, and racing cars in particular, give their lives to protect the driver, and there are always bits of racing car (from any series) littering the tracks from the slightest bit of contact.

The bumpers are probably designed to fall off because if they were hanging on by a bolt and dragging along the track, then the car gets a black flag.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Well done Citroen for helping the slow and painful demise of the WTCC.

There should a be testing mileage limit in place for touring car and GT series.

Volkswagen did the same thing in the WRC.

But at least the WRC lasts longer than five laps, and there is the element of not knowing what is around the next corner.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

What sucks is when there isn't any crumple zone. It hurts like hell when you get hit when your bumper's welded to the frame...

Yes, I know from experience.

 

[Prince.M5]

Watched the race and ugghh.. I thought with these new regulations it would save for the race actions even a little but ALAS, it didn't.

About the crash, I would say both was at fault but Bennani really could've just lift off the throttle. He had the choice to do so..

 

[Mike-ZENKAI]

Also tried to watch it but found myself sleeping in 10 minutes. They really should not race in Marrakesh anymore, dull track with 4 spectators.
Citroen did their homework properly but at what cost? Plenty of work for the marshalls due to the fact these cars
loose parts all the time.

About the crash, do think it was Bennani fault, he could have lifted and even had some room on his left.
Would like to see the inboard camera of Bennani, because it looked like he steered to the right. Anyway it was pointless because he was excluded from Race 2 after his car was found underweight during the technical checks.

Hope Coronel's RML team can have a car ready next Sunday.

 

[Holdenhsvgtsr]

Citroen did their homework properly but at what cost?

They didn't do any homework they just went to the fia and said make these regs.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Hope Coronel's RML team can have a car ready next Sunday.

He has already ruled it out. One of the major problems is that with the overhaul of the regulations, only a handful of cars are currently available.

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

Citroen did their homework properly but at what cost?

The commentators suggested the engine electronics cost millions alone, not bad for a company flirting with bankruptcy.

 

[Bo]

Motor racing is dangerous and you cannot legislate for every single type of accident. It would take a very specific set of circumstances for a WTCC driver to be completely trapped in a car while it was on fire. My vote goes to sunroofs and ejection seats.

Oh, wait, unless it was upside down...

A wall, categorically, is the only thing a car can have a crash with (apart from another car, and very often they end up going into the wall). It's probably the least specific circumstances you could get. You can't be that lackadaisical about safety, because it's only a zero tolerance attitude that prevents death and injury.

The new Carrera Cup cars have cut outs built into them, the SLS GT3 has exploding bolts on the doors... the accident has already happened, and it shows there aren't billion to one odds on it.

That's what they do. Cars, and racing cars in particular, give their lives to protect the driver, and there are always bits of racing car (from any series) littering the tracks from the slightest bit of contact.

The bumpers are probably designed to fall off because if they were hanging on by a bolt and dragging along the track, then the car gets a black flag.

Never before have I seen it in this fashion. They don't even make an attempt to stay on - Bennani's rear bumper in race 2 shed completely off, and I don't recall there ever being contact (or at least noticeable contact). Surely it's better not to hold them on with paper clips and keep the track from being littered with bodywork and constant yellows?

 

[TheCracker]

After watching yesterday's two races and looking at the schedule of tracks the WTCC will visit this year, i think it's safe to say that we're in for another dull WTCC season.

 

[daan]

A wall, categorically, is the only thing a car can have a crash with (apart from another car, and very often they end up going into the wall). It's probably the least specific circumstances you could get.

The new Carrera Cup cars have cut outs built into them, the SLS GT3 has exploding bolts on the doors... the accident has already happened, and it shows there aren't billion to one odds on it

It was very specific. It was hit on the driver's side in such a fashion that both driver's side doors wouldn't open, and then pushed against a wall on the other side that restricted the passenger side doors opening. How often do crashes stop all 4 doors from opening? Of it had been a Carrera cup car with jammed driver's side door, and blocked passenger door, how would he have got out?

And to link this with your other point, they can't be that flimsy if the doors jammed instead of falling off.

 

[Bo]

The fact that it happened means it can happen again. You may as well say "how often do racing cars barrel roll, they don't need roll cages in them".

 

[Com Fox]

My brother recommend I looked into this series (WTCC) and its current season after I was watching the BES (which is a surprise since the only 2 motorsports he is into from what I heard from him are F1 and NASCAR).

Is it worth looking at this season of this series?

 

[Furinkazen]

My brother recommend I looked into this series (WTCC) and its current season after I was watching the BES (which is a surprise since the only 2 motorsports he is into from what I heard from him are F1 and NASCAR).

Is it worth looking at this season of this series?

BTCC is far more exciting.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

V8 Supercars, too.

 

[Com Fox]

V8 Supercars, too.

I do watch the V8s a lot.

I used to watch BTCC highlights (it was exciting) that they had on ONE HD but they don't have it anymore . Do BTCC have there own Youtube channel or something so I can watch the races?

 

[Bo]

I do watch the V8s a lot.

I used to watch BTCC highlights (it was exciting) that they had on ONE HD but they don't have it anymore . Do BTCC have there own Youtube channel or something so I can watch the races?

I can give you a livestream if that's any good? They do have a channel but they upload highlights about a week after.

 

[Ninners]

http://www.btcc.net/live-zone/

 

[Bo]

http://www.btcc.net/live-zone/

Doesn't that just use the ITV4 stream that's geoblocked?

 

[MatskiMonk]

From what I've seen (I missed the races live), this is just more of the WTCC scraping along the bottom before it pales into irrelevance totally. It now has some of the ingredients to be a good series, some great drivers, some manufacturers, but the calender is poor (I mean, Marrakech .. wtfh?), and there aren't enough great drivers (at least in remotely competitive equipment). Best of luck to TC and ROAL against Citroen, but with the only BMW's to support now being in the second class, I doubt I'll be parting with any money to watch the series this year... and with no UK round on the calender I won't be spending money on tickets, for sure!

I wonder what the chances of dropping the Moscow round and moving it back to Donny are

 

[Bo]

I can't see it lasting in its current format for more than 2 years, maximum.

 

[TheCracker]

WTCC needs to stop using massive long Tilkesq GP circuits. They just don't suit touring cars. Especially not relatively heavy, low-powered ones.

 

[Clark]

Citroen won't stay long of they keep winning, and they will keep winning because nobody else is stupid enough to keep piling that many resources into it.

It's not F1 and it won't give them same recognition on the street. Just like Mercedes in FIA GT it's just going to destroy the competition and then they'll leave and the series will have to reinvent again to survive.

 

[Bo]

The S2000 regs were done in by Chevrolet, no doubt. Their dominance was the final straw for all other factory support, and then Honda jumped at the opportunity of being "the ones" when Chevy had gone.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Perhaps I'm biased, since I enjoyed BMW's three titles, but at least back in those days there was some competition, and we had scenarios like 10 different race winners from 14 races.

 

[Prince.M5]

Do BTCC have there own Youtube channel or something so I can watch the races?

Some users do upload the races on YouTube. The Brands Hatch round is already up here on Youtube

 

[daan]

V8 Supercars, too.

Yep, V8 Supercars are great. They're by far my favourite tintop racing series.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I've never met someone from outside Australia (and New Zealand, I guess) who hasn't said that or similar.

We must be doing something right.