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[JHS]

Early image of Team Airwaves' new livery:

Quote

Airwaves Focus breaks cover
This is the first image of the new livery that Airwaves  Racing’s Ford Focus STs will sport in 2011’s Dunlop MSA British Touring  Car Championship.

The team is shaking down its cars for the first time  today at its home circuit of Brands Hatch having switched to the Ford  brand from BMW during the winter. Pictured is Mat Jackson giving rookie  team-mate Liam Griffin’s Focus an initial run before hopping into his  own machine.

As can be seen, the cars will carry a striking  red-with-gold-wheels colourscheme and there’s a reason – these are the  same colours used by David Bartrum when he raced Fords in the Nineties  before forming the Motorbase team that now runs the Airwaves cars!

Also in action today on the short Brands Indy circuit is  Tom Chilton in a 2010 Team Aon Focus before his squad’s latest  2011-spec version becomes available for testing, as well as Pirtek  Racing duo Andrew Jordan and Jeff Smith in their Vauxhall Vectras.

Also, hints at a Proton Gen 2 NGTC racing this year too. I added Welch Motorsport to the list a while back, and this gives an early indication of their plans. Very interesting...

Chevrolet say via their facebook page that news of their plans should be revealed soon.

Edited by JHS, 15 February 2011 - 05:10 PM.

[Rainmaster]

That's a decent looking livery. Bet it smells real fresh inside the car too.

[JHS]

Come out of hibernation briefly to share some media day joy.

So, after a intense winter of speculation, here's the entry list. Not the 30+ cars as some were talking about, but a 25 car entry list (with two TBAs) is very healthy:

No. Driver (NAT), Hometown, County, Team/Car
1. Jason Plato (GBR), Oxford, Silverline Chevrolet/Chevrolet Cruze
2. Matt Neal (GBR), Droitwich Spa, Worcs, Honda Racing Team/Honda Civic
5. Tom Chilton (GBR) Reigate, Surrey & Poole, Dorset, Team Aon/‘Global’ Ford Focus
7. Mat Jackson (GBR), Henley-in-Arden, Warks, Airwaves Racing/Ford Focus
8. Robert Collard (GBR), Hook, Hants, WSR/BMW 320si
11. Frank Wrathall (GBR), Preston, Lancs, Dynojet/Toyota Avensis
12. David Pinkney (GBR), Harpenden, Herts, Rob Austin Racing/Audi A4
13. TBA, Rob Austin Racing/Audi A4
14. James Nash (GBR), Newport Pagnell, Bucks, 888 Racing with Collins Contractors/Vauxhall Vectra
17. Dave Newsham (GBR), Inverness, Scotland, Geoff Steel Racing/BMW 320si
18. Nick Foster (GBR), Odiham, Hampshire, WSR/BMW 320si
20. Alex MacDowall (GBR), Carlisle, Cumbria, Silverline Chevrolet/Chevrolet Cruze
22. Tom Boardman (GBR), Preston, Lancs, Special Tuning Racing/SEAT Leon
28. John George (GBR), Par, Cornwall & Guernsey, GoMobileUK.com with tech-Speed/Chevrolet Cruze
29. Paul O’Neill (GBR), Widnes, Cheshire, GoMobileUK.com with tech-Speed/Chevrolet Cruze
34. Tony Gilham (GBR), Dartford, Kent, 888 Racing with Collins Contractors/Vauxhall Vectra
42. Daniel Welch (GBR), Fleet, Hampshire, Welch Automotive/Proton Gen-2**
43. Lea Wood (GBR), Hereford, Central Group Racing/Honda Integra*
44. Andy Neate (GBR), Aylesbury, Bucks, Team Aon/‘Global’ Ford Focus
50. Tony Hughes (GBR), Knutsford, Cheshire, Speedworks Motorsport/Toyota Avensis
52. Gordon Shedden (GBR), Dalgety Bay, Fife, Honda Racing Team/Honda Civic
55. Jeff Smith (GBR), Wellingborough, Northants, Pirtek Racing/Vauxhall Vectra
66. Liam Griffin (GBR), Essendon, Herts, Airwaves Racing/Ford Focus    
77. Andrew Jordan (GBR), Lichfield, Staffs, Pirtek Racing/Vauxhall Vectra
78. Chris James (GBR), Luton, Beds, Team ES Racing.com/Chevrolet Lacetti
99. Tom Onslow Cole (GBR), New Malden, Surrey, AmD Milltek Racing.com
TBA. TBA, TBA, Team Aon/‘Global’ Ford Focus

Lea Wood will be entering at Oulton, whilst Daniel Welch's Proton Gen-2 will make its debut at Snetterton.

Some great stories emerged from the time I've been absent, such as Tech Speed's deal to run Chevrolet Cruzes for O'Neill and George. I'm so looking forward to see what Paul can do in a brand new car after a couple of years in the old Integra. Certainly a contender for race wins and the championship right there.

Chevrolet will return as a manufacturer with Jason Plato defending his championship, whilst Alex MacDowell will join him for a second year. Collard remains at WSR, joined by rookie Nick Foster who's been racing in the BMW CSL cup. After a car that had very few sponsors on the side of it alst year, EBAY Motors steps up as the team's main sponsor.

Tom Onslow-Cole makes a move to AmD Milltek in a move that some, but not all, saw coming. It surprised me. I was expecting him at either AON or Special Tuning Racing. A mention must go to Shaun Hollamby, who's taken the decision to step away from driving to focus on the day to day operations of the team. If there's a guy who can get the Golf up there though, it's Onslow-Cole.

Andy Neate moves to AON to partner proven race winner Tom Chilton in the new Ford Focus. The car looks stunning, will it go as well as it looks?

Honda Racing practically won everything apart from the driver's title in 2010, and return in 2011 with the same pairing of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden. In Neal they have a two times champion and with Shedden they have a driver of championship potential. With Pioneer and Yuasa on board, they also have heavy financial backing.

2010 Clio Cup champion Dave Newsham joins 2010 Ginetta G50 champion Frank Wrathall to move up to the BTCC in a Geoff Steel Racing (returning after an absence of a couple of years) BMW and an NGTC Toyota Avensis respectively, two promising drivers who are more than capable for challenging for points and podiums this year. Tony Gilham is another to progress to the BTCC with a Triple 8 Vectra. He moves from the Porsche Carrera Cup where he secured points and regularly competed for class victory.

Veteran Dave Pinkney returns for another year to drive an NGTC spec Audi A4. His team mate is yet to be confirmed. Chris James, a former Mini racer, will race a former STCC Chevrolet Lacetti.  

As for the TBAs, it looks as if Phil Glew is favourite for the third AON seat. I sincerely hope it works out for him. He's a class act and it was a huge shame that he didn't do the full year last season. The RAR A4 is a difficult one. Rob Austin has ruled himself out of driving duties, so it is hard to say who could get that ride.

Some absentees:
Forster (previously said they would be there)
Bamboo Engineering (Vaulkhard twittered that they hadn't yet got a package together)
Second Geoff Steel Racing BMW (Newsham said last night people should find his team mate out today)
2-3 Special Tuning Racing  (Previously said they could run up to 4 cars this year, so strange to see that only Boardman's entered)

Pictures from the day (from btccpages.com, touringcartimes.com and btcccrazy.co.uk)

[JHS]

[JHS]

[Caesar]

Hello Mr.JHS!

[lewisthegreat2]

The Tech-Speed cars are awesome.  Should be a good season.  Thanks for the pictures; didn't realize Media Day was today.

[HandyNZL]

Not to sound like a snob, but they all look a bit like Sunday Clubracers....just with bigger stickers.  Not rattling me dags at all.

[JHS]

Caesar, on 24 March 2011 - 09:41 PM, said:

Hello Mr.JHS!

Hey again Caesar.

lewisthegreat2, on 24 March 2011 - 10:48 PM, said:

The Tech-Speed cars are awesome.  Should be a good season.  Thanks for the pictures; didn't realize Media Day was today.

Yeah, I like the livery too. I still think the Cruze is quite an ugly car, but I love both the Tech Speed and Silverline liveries.

HandyNZL, on 25 March 2011 - 07:32 AM, said:

Not to sound like a snob, but they all look a bit like Sunday Clubracers....just with bigger stickers.  Not rattling me dags at all.

The cars might not look anything special, but the racing speaks for itself.




Seriously some of the best racing and car control I've ever seen has come from BTCC. As Top Gear said "It's not F1, it's not rallying, it's more humble and more exciting than both."

Edited by JHS, 25 March 2011 - 11:44 PM.

[lewisthegreat2]

JHS, on 25 March 2011 - 11:41 PM, said:

Yeah, I like the livery too. I still think the Cruze is quite an ugly car, but I love both the Tech Speed and Silverline liveries.

Purple Chevrolets bring back good memories for me, so I can forgive the ugliness of the Cruze.

Are year-old cars usually competitive?  It's a big grid, so I'm sure the field is deep, but I suppose what I want to ask you, knowing more about BTCC than I, if you think Paul O'Neill has a shot at winning races this year?  I'd really enjoy seeing that.

Edited by lewisthegreat2, 25 March 2011 - 11:53 PM.

[HandyNZL]

JHS, on 25 March 2011 - 11:41 PM, said:

Hey again Caesar.




Yeah, I like the livery too. I still think the Cruze is quite an ugly car, but I love both the Tech Speed and Silverline liveries.



The cars might not look anything special, but the racing speaks for itself.




Seriously some of the best racing and car control I've ever seen has come from BTCC. As Top Gear said "It's not F1, it's not rallying, it's more humble and more exciting than both."

Why are those cars in such a rush to get to the supermarket?

[JHS]

lewisthegreat2, on 25 March 2011 - 11:53 PM, said:

Purple Chevrolets bring back good memories for me, so I can forgive the ugliness of the Cruze.

Are year-old cars usually competitive?  It's a big grid, so I'm sure the field is deep, but I suppose what I want to ask you, knowing more about BTCC than I, if you think Paul O'Neill has a shot at winning races this year?  I'd really enjoy seeing that.

Well certainly it is a newer car than what he's been racing in with recent years, with the Integra. It's only the Cruze's second year in the BTCC and with Tech Speed having Silverline's set up data from last year, I'm more than confident that O'Neill will be able to challenge for regular podiums, wins, and maybe the championship. He was in third place in the championship up to Oulton Park last year, so there's no doubt in my mind that he's a top class driver. Really, anything less than victories this season will be a disappointment and I'm sure he'll be keen to break his winless streak. Certainly it hasn't been a lack of talent keeping him off the top step in recent years.

[lewisthegreat2]

I was unaware they got Silverline's data, too.  That's big.  I think it's great that Tech-Speed and Motorbase have gotten competitive cars, and I definitely like the Ford vs. Chevrolet thing going on at the top of the grid.  I'd definitely enjoy O'Neill stealing one over Plato or Jackson stealing one of Chilton.

Are any of the Toyota drivers any good?  I seem to recall there was one (maybe Wrathall) who had potential, and then some of the others were more along the lines of gentleman drivers.  Just wondering because it's a nice looking car.

Hopefully there will be a reliable stream this year.  Grid's packed.

[JHS]

Wrathall is very good. Ginetta G50 champion last year, he's a very quick, intelligent driver. I think maybe his true pace maybe hidden a little in the early stages whilst they get the car sorted out. But I'm going to through this one out there: If a NGTC car wins, Wrathall will be the driver.

There's only two Toyotas, the other is for Tony Hughes who is a gentleman driver. But then there's the Rob Austin Racing Audi A4s. Only one will be present at Brands, with David Pinkney driving, but they're keen to have the second car ready for the second round at Donington. Dan Welch will also debut the NGTC Proton Gen-2 at Snetterton.

Anyway, just a reminder that the first round of the year is this weekend. Lewis Hamilton will be at Brands to cheer on his brother, Nic, who is racing in the Renault Clios. I'm sure this will be a great start to what should be a terrific season of racing as the BTCC continues to go from strength to strength. Sure, BTCC doesn't have as many manufacturers competing in the series in the 90s, but the world has changed, and based on the form of recent years, the BTCC doesn't need loads of manufacturers. Increasing spectator numbers and TV viewing figures are clear evidence for that.

Edited by JHS, 01 April 2011 - 06:40 PM.

[JHS]

First practice session results.

Very close at the top. However, there's already been a big blow for Honda Racing. With 8 minutes of the session remaining, Gordon Shedden had a heavy crash, severly damaging his car. Shedden's okay, his car not so. It means he will be watching the races as a spectator for the rest of the weekend.

Pictures of the smash:




Meanwhile, James Nash's livery has been unveiled:



Oh, and the RAR Audi A4 IS at Brands, they were working on it through the first practice session however. They will hope to be out on track for the rest of the weekend.

Edited by JHS, 02 April 2011 - 11:04 AM.

[JHS]

Matt Neal gives Honda Racing some cheer and takes the first pole of the year:

1.  Matt Neal        Honda             48.210s
2.  Andrew Jordan    Eurotech Vauxhall 48.465s  + 0.255s
3.  Jason Plato      Chevrolet         48.583s  + 0.373s
4.  James Nash   Triple 8 Vauxhall 48.623s  + 0.413s
5.  Alex MacDowall   Chevrolet         48.658s  + 0.448s
6.  Mat Jackson      Motorbase Ford        48.667s  + 0.457s
7.  Tom Chilton      Arena Ford            48.668s  + 0.458s
8.  Tom Boardman Special Tuning SEAT   48.752s  + 0.542s
9.  Paul O'Neill Tech-Speed Chevrolet  48.849s  + 0.639s
10.  Andy Neate   Arena Ford            49.036s  + 0.826s
11.  Tony Gilham      Triple 8 Vauxhall 49.045s  + 0.835s
12.  Rob Collard      WSR BMW           49.130s  + 0.920s
13.  Jeff Smith   Eurotech Vauxhall 49.176s  + 0.966s
14.  Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford        49.220s  + 1.010s
15.  Dave Newsham Geoff Steel BMW   49.248s  + 1.038s
16.  Tom Onslow-Cole  AmD Volkswagen        49.540s  + 1.330s
17.  Nick Foster      WSR BMW           49.587s  + 1.377s
18.  John George      Tech-Speed Chevrolet  50.065s  + 1.855s
19.  Chris James      ES Chevrolet          51.169s  + 2.959s
20.  Frank Wrathall   Dynojet Toyota        51.449s  + 3.239s
21.  Tony Hughes      Speedworks Toyota 51.736s  + 3.526s
22.  Gordon Shedden   Honda

Amazingly, Honda are actually on target to fix Shedden's car. It seems they are confident of getting him out for the races, which is great news. Still no sign of the A4. I think they should just withdraw and get both cars 100% for Donington in two weeks time.
               

[lewisthegreat2]

I wish there were a way to record Justin.tv broadcasts and watch them later.  I'm going to have to hope the broadcaster archives the races this year (someone did last year) in the "Recently Broadcast" section, in which case, I'm all set.  If someone puts them on YouTube, that works too.  Otherwise, business matters are going to prevent me from seeing it, as much as I want to.

On a side note, I've been meeting a lot of people going to the same uni that I'm going to next year through this thing called the Worldwide Web, and I was shocked to meet one student who liked to watch BTCC.  I'm putting the races on in the dorm and pretty soon it will overtake NASCAR in popularity here...

[lewisthegreat2]

Made it back in time to see race three; watched race two earlier, as well, so I only ended up missing race on.  Good thing for discovering the timetable on the BTCC site.

Off to a typical start with Plato complaining.  Waaah, waaaah, waaaaaah.  He can't pass.  Boo hoo.

[lewisthegreat2]

You don't say winningest in Britain, huh?

Not sure about the Nash/Jackson contact, but I think it's more of Nash's fault than anyone's.

Ben Edwards did the Jonathan Legard "driver x from driver y from driver z" thing.  Fire him!

Seems to be a trend today with a lot of close running, but not a lot of overtaking up at the front.  Bear in mind I missed the first race, so perhaps I missed something big there.

I hope O'Neill can get more comfortable with the Cruze over the season and get up there.  I'm confident he will.

Speaking of the Cruze, it looks so awkward and bulky on the track compared to the other cars.  Liking the look of the Foci, but not the look of Chilton's driving today.  Everything I've seen so far has been really unimpressive, and without Onslow-Cole on the team, Aon have a weak lineup to match a car that I expect to be competitive.

10 laps down now and it looks like Neal's got this one...

[lewisthegreat2]

...and there goes Jordan.  Shame.

[lewisthegreat2]

I don't know who Jeff Smith is, but he's a hero.  What a save!  Guy should come run dirt sprint cars...

Shedden really working the moaner on this one.  A guy who could just sit back after nearly missing this race and bring the car home going for it; a guy who calls himself a "champion" just sitting there moaning that he doesn't have a turbo.  Glad Shedden got it, woke Plato up after a lot of riding around.

Nice recovery by Nash, too.

[lewisthegreat2]

I suspect, to be serious about Plato for a moment, that his car's just not working in clean air, and that his motivation's a lot lower (especially considering his own comments) with his struggles to overtake.  There seems to be a big advantage of being out front today and I guess that's logical.  Easier to defend than attack.

Not exactly what I hoped for in race three in terms of action, but glad BTCC's back.

[JHS]

Good stuff, great to have some real racing back once again. All three races were entertaining, but maybe not classics. I think that's to be expected from the first round though as everyone finds their feet and sorts their cars out. I also don't think Brands Hatch Indy really develops that exciting racing that much anyway.

Plato did well, I think really in a way he was gifted the first race win to some extent with MacDowall using Neal as a brake for the second corner. I think he really needs to calm down or something. If he stopped crashing into everyone all the time, he'd make a handy little touring car driver. But hey, what can you expect from a guy who's got Plato as his team mate?

Pleased for Honda racing. They had a rough weekend. Would have liked to see Shedden win a race, but Neal did well to recover from his bad start to the day.

Feel sorry for Andy Jordan. Two front row starts and only 5 points taken from the weekend really through no fault of his own. A puncture is a puncture, it can hit anyone, so quite impressive that he said it was probably his fault in the third race.

I was happy to see O'Neill up there too. I thought he might be able to close the gap in the late stages of the last race if Neal and Jackson's tyres went off, but he admitted on the grid beforehand that he has a different driving style to Plato and MacDowall (perhaps not bouncing off other cars at every given opportunity ) so I guess it'll be a couple of rounds before they get the best out of that car. Great to see his reaction as ever too. I guess it'd be easy to mock and say he's just being a drama queen, but you can tell from his emotions how much it really means to him. That's a guy who loves his racing.

Real baptism of fire for the NGTC cars. Didn't expect them to be winning races straight away, but didn't expect them to be so unreliable either. Rob Austin Racing have posted pictures of the finished Audi A4 on their facebook page, so it does exist, and it seems as if they are on track for two cars out at Donington in two weeks.

I'll be going to Donington (first time at BTCC for two years!) so I'll try to take some pictures and do a race report for anyone who is interested. Glad you got to see some of the action Eric, and surprised that the BTCC has a growing interest (even if it is very, very small) over there in America. The series may not have many manufacturer entries, but with more and more sponsors becoming involved with the sport, rapidly increasing numbers of people present at tracks and increasing television time, the BTCC really is in a great place currently.

[lewisthegreat2]

Turns out F1 has a bit of a following at my uni, too.  If there's a group of people getting up early with me to watch, and if we can have a good time, I'm more than game to get back into the sport for social reasons.  I think posting on forums and following the drivers too closely killed it for me.  Having some friends to get rowdy with at 3 AM could well revive it.

But that's off-topic anyway.  Took a look at the standings and didn't realize James Nash was all the way up to P3.  He quietly had a really good weekend, and I wish ITV would have shown his drive through the field in the final race after butchering his start.  I imagine it could have been fun to see overtaking, rather than "they might maybe possibly overtake soon."  But me whining about TV production's nothing new, and it's water under the bridge at this point.

[JHS]

I don't think it was Nash's fault about the start of the last race, more so Jackson coming through and sideswiping him off the track.

[lewisthegreat2]

JHS, on 04 April 2011 - 12:14 PM, said:

I don't think it was Nash's fault about the start of the last race, more so Jackson coming through and sideswiping him off the track.

Tim Harvey said that, too, and at that moment I tried to see it that way, but I just couldn't.  It looked to me that Nash cut Jackson off, unaware that Jackson might be moving forward on the start (God forbid ).  Incidental contact, really, so it's not like it was anyone's "fault," but I think Nash made the worse move than Jackson.  I guess I'd have to look at it again to see if Jackson could have moved over, but at the end of the day, Nash had every right to try to block him out and Jackson had every right to keep going forward, so perhaps it cancels out, only leaving the fact Nash made the move first and Jackson had to respond.

But all in all, it was meaningless for the result for both drivers, so I think I'm making a lot out of a little here.

[JHS]

Hmm, although the Brands Hatch start line is a strange one. Get too much wheel spin and the cars with end up moving down the hill, which I guess -could- have happened in that instance.

Anyway, it's good that there are some people interested in F1 going to your uni Eric, although I can't imagine they'll be so keen to get up early to watch an obscure series from the United Britainland.

[lewisthegreat2]

JHS, on 04 April 2011 - 08:55 PM, said:

Hmm, although the Brands Hatch start line is a strange one. Get too much wheel spin and the cars with end up moving down the hill, which I guess -could- have happened in that instance.

Anyway, it's good that there are some people interested in F1 going to your uni Eric, although I can't imagine they'll be so keen to get up early to watch an obscure series from the United Britainland.

And, to be fair, I have some bias.  Not a big Nash guy, but I do like Jackson (if I were to make a signature of my favorite BTCC guys, it would, coincidentally, be the same three guys as yours.  Funny how that is).

Well, there are students from over 125 different nations going to my uni next year...I suspect that one of those nations might possibly be the U.K., as exotic of a place as that is.

[JHS]

Thorney to run Insignias:

Quote

Another new model is set to enter the British Touring Car  Championship after Thorney Motorsport announced it will run two Vauxhall  Insignias in the series later this season. Thorney, which has extensive experience running tin-tops in British  club events, is currently building the NGTC cars and hopes to run them  at the Brands Hatch or Silverstone rounds in October.

Team boss John Thorne will drive one car, while the team's Dunlop  Production Touring Car Trophy driver Joe Girling could fill the second  seat.

The team is considering using the Swindon-developed TOCA engine, but has not ruled out developing a unit itself.

Thorne said: "It's been a dream of mine for many years to run in the  BTCC. We've come close in the last two years and the new NGTC  regulations are just too good to ignore.

"As a team we always built our own cars and the new regs allow both  the budget to be kept reasonable as well as allow some engineering flair  that we can thrive on."

Thorne believes that, despite its extra size compared to Vauxhall's  Vectra and Astra models, the Insignia can be a good base for a BTCC  racer.

"Commercially our core business is performance upgrades for Vauxhalls  and BMWs so we have to run one of those for obvious reasons," he said.

"The Insignia has an excellent drag coefficient, which is going to be  very useful for us. No bulbous wheel arch extensions means much better  aerodynamics and we think will give a very Super Touring look to the  car.

"TOCA want bigger cars in the championship and frankly we agree with them."

Thorne also confirmed he wants to give the team time to develop the car before it appears in the BTCC.

"We aren't going to rush it," he said. "I've got first hand  experience of rushing a car to the grid when it wasn't fully developed  and it's no fun and you've no idea how it will compete. I'm not doing  that again."

[lewisthegreat2]

Ah, the glorious return of the Buick Regal to auto racing!

Glad Thorney are getting the Insignia out there.  They've been working on that for a while now, and I figured it was just dead.  I'm glad teams are exercising their NGTC options, even if that's not going to be the most competitive route this season.