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JHS18

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According to Autosport:

Notable absentees from the list include Tech-Speed and Special Tuning Racing, though AUTOSPORT understands both teams remain in talks with drivers.

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Bit of support race news - and it appears as if after a difficult season last year, Formula Renault UK - the series that helped develop the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen and a certain Kimi Raikkonen - has died.

Only 6 cars were out at a pre-season test a couple of weeks ago, and the decision has been made for the series to not run this season. It hopes to return to the BTCC package in 2013.

Alan Gow has stated that there are no plans to announce a replacement support series at this stage, however at some tracks there may well be a "guest" support race, similar to the sort of thing we saw at Knockhill last year after the Renault group (Clios and Formula Renault) decided not to make the trip.

It also means that for the first time in many years - certainly in all the time I've been following the BTCC - there will be no single seater support race on the package. The rest of the support race line up remains unchanged, with the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain, AirAsia Renault Clio Cup, Ginetta Junior championship and the Ginetta Supercup for G55/G50s.

Whilst it is a shame to lose a support series I think it is fair to say FRUK was the weak link in the paddock last year, with low grid numbers and dull racing, perhaps a legacy of the new car.

Meanwhile, Formula Renault BARC championship continues to go from strength to strength with the old car and the racing at Silverstone last year was some of the best I've seen in ages.

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So I'll keep using this forum to update on news and things throughout the season before/after races. There's some big breaks in the championship this year due to something called the Olympics and some other boring sh*t I'm not in the least bit bothered about, so no doubt this place will still see some action.

I'll do it in a chronological order because I'm clever.

Paul O'Neill was interviewed live on ITV4 about his situation. He said that Tech Speed still have two Chevrolet Cruzes fitted with turbo engines ready to go. They had a short fall in budget just a few weeks ago, but are still trying to get out later this year. O'Neill's still adamant the BTCC's a place he wants to be. That's in contrast to what he was quoted as saying in AUTOSPORT magazine recently, that he had turned his back on the series and was willing to persue a career in GT/sportscar racing instead.

Tony Gilham was also interviewed on Radio Silverstone's programme Tin Top Tuesday (guess you can't guess when that's on) - he said his long term ambitions were to stay in the championship and go to NGTC next year. He was also asked whether his team would field a second car later this season, and apparently they are willing and able to. However, the only remaining S2000 car that is on the market is Jeff Smith's old Vauxhall Vectra, and he seemed averse to running two different cars in one team due to set up complications etc. It could still happen.

After a sum total of zero races, it has been anounced Mark Hazell will now not race for Rob Austin Racing due to "personal reasons." It is likely Austin will still be out in one car at least for Donington, but it isn't clear whether a driver will be found for the second Audi. If the budget is found, then the most likely candidate is Chris Swanwick.

Further into the future and Chris Stockton - who last raced in the BTCC in a Lexus if my memory serves me correctly - says that he and an undisclosed team will be working on building an NGTC BMW based on the new 3 series for next season. It sounds like an interesting project, so hopefully this doesn't meet the same fate as TH Motorsport's failed attempt to build an NGTC Skoda.

I said I'd share my thoughts on Toby Moody's commentary, but I realised it was so awful it can't have been genuine. I'll wait till Donington Park to see if it is equally bad before giving my thoughts. :P

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Rather forgotten about this topic, but I have to share this. Chris James, the so called "fan friendly British underdog" went on a bit of a tirade on his Twitter last night. A few of the decent comments:

Apparently "you" don't like my views & opinions...... I didnt ask you you to like them. If you don't like them go **** yourself & big bro xx
Oh dear, I'm going to get fined for daring to speak MY mind on MY Twitter account..... You don't own me big brother! Xxx FCUK YOU xxxxxxxx
Dear Mr xx I'm a frigid pathetic twat & I'm scared of @ChrisJamesBTCC language on Twitter. Please fine & ban him cos I'm a spineless fcuk xx
@Joey7Barton You don't know me, & in my sport I'm just a 100th of you, but why we should be allowed to be abused is beyond me!? Fcuk em pal

FYI - Joey Barton is an English footballer recently banned for 12 matches for violent misconduct...

Thanks for all the positive messages xx #GoShopAtFcukNegativeBabies xxxx
Why do the British build people up to shoot them down? DISGUSTING JEALOUS high street shoppers (FCUKs xxxxx)
@vectra888racing @newshamracing come & discuss with me face to face with me at Oulton Park #CantWaitToSeeYou xx

Threatening a fan...

Night night my friends & supporters, all of you I love & appreciate. To all who don't support me, unfollow & go & shop in FCUK xxx

He's quickly becoming one of the most dislikable people in the BTCC. And you know someone who adds that many "x"s to his tweets isn't right in the head...

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Those bloody people with James in their name.... tongue.png

Ah no, I never said anything about people with "James" as a last name. Only people with "James" as a first name are really cool. The other way around and you're a bit of a d*ck, as Chris James proves. :P

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I knew someone with James as a surname. She was strange.

I knew someone with James as a forename. He was a jerk.

I think two is a large enough sample to conclude that you're an exception. :P

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Yeah, well, you're all just jealous, because according to Urban Dictionary, James actually means.

Currently the word James can be used to mean an enormous p*nis and anyone with that name can be assumed to possess a heavy and girthy p*nis.

And don't tell me you haven't searched your name on Urban Dictionary, because you'll be lying! tongue.png

This thread just got weird.

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Only those with small penii search their own name on the internet, UD or Google or otherwise :P

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Not posted in here in a while (not feeling BTCC right now if truth be told), but this is an unusual story so I'll post it.

Robb Holland to become the first American in 30 years to drive in the BTCC. He'll race a Tony Gilham racing Honda Civic at Snetterton.

An American driver will contest a British Touring Car Championship round for the first time in over 30 years after Tony Gilham Racing signed Robb Holland.

SCCA World Challenge racer Holland will drive the TGR/Team Hard Honda Civic S2000, campaigned so far this season by Gilham, at the Snetterton and Knockhill rounds next month. Gilham is also expected to appear in another car.

The last driver from the USA to have competed in the BTCC is believed to be Bill Gubelmann in a Ford Capri in 1975. Only one American, Dan Gurney, has ever won a BTCC round, taking victory at Oulton Park in 1963 driving a Ford Galaxie.

Holland, 44, is set to test the turbocharged Honda at Snetterton tomorrow (Friday July 13). "The BTCC is very popular in the States, particularly when it's shown on the Speed channel, plus I've followed it for some time," he said. "I like Tony and the team's attitude and the opportunity was too good to miss.

"This will be a toe-in-the-water exercise, but I've talked to Tony and a few other teams and am planning on being in the championship permanently in 2013."

Gilham, who currently lies 13th in the BTCC standings, added: "We're very happy that Robb has chosen us for his first BTCC races. Coming over to race in the BTCC might be a bit of a culture shock for him - particularly a place like Knockhill! But Robb is massively experienced in touring cars in the States and is a very exciting addition to our team and the BTCC grid."

http://www.autosport...t.php/id/101145

Sounds from that he's just doing the next two rounds. But good to have another car on the grid and best of luck to him.

Not sure if Eric knows anything about him, but if he does, he probably knows more than I know. tongue.png

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I know of Robb Holland, barely. I'm nearly 100% postive he will be the first African-American driver to ever race in the BTCC.

He races in the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge, in the Touring Car class.

He won at Mid-Ohio last year in a Volvo C30. This year, he had a best finish of fifth (twice), once in a Honda Civic and once in Volkswagen Jetta.

He's probably not the worst driver on the BTCC grid, though he never stood out to me in the very few World Challenge races I've seen.

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Exciting stuff.

Typical Plato, in my biased opinion, for two reasons:

1. He didn't take an eye-for-an-eye, not saying that's right, but Neal gives him a push and then Plato responds by taking him off. There's a big difference. The retaliation was a lot harsher than the crime.

2. He ruined his own race just to settle a score. He made a great save and had he been more tactful with moving Neal out of the way, he'd be the race winner.

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I thought it was a bit of a shame for it to end like that - I like the BTCC, it is one of the forms of motorsport along with F1 that I have followed for years and years...but I'm not sure that sort of antics is setting the best example to young drivers. It kind of reminds me of NASCAR's "boys have at it" policy and I'm not entirely sure where BTCC is going with that kind of attitude - you look at the reaction on other forums and half the people seem to love it, the other half thing it is a disgrace and that Plato and Neal should have been thrown out the results.

Anyway - a couple more stories worth posting before the next, and arguably best round of the season at Knockhill in a couple of weeks.

Firstly, Paul O'Neill, following his drive at Croft, will be back in Tony Hughes' Toyota - good move. Had some unfortunate reliability issues at Croft when on for points.

Secondly - it was great to see Dave Newsham take his first BTCC win in the reverse grid draw - he drove brilliantly. Only issue was that idiot who is Chris James (who had already retired from the race) gurning into every camera he could find. Moron.

Lastly - Motorbase surprised everyone at the weekend by turning up to the track with a brand new NGTC Ford Focus ST for Mat Jackson - no reliability issues despite a lack of testing, and finished in the points in I think all three races, definitely the last two anyway. Looked fast as well which is a good sign. It also confirms that the team are looking to stay in the championship for 2013.

It was funny how it came about - basically Liam Griffin's fiery crash at Croft made them take the decision to work on getting the NGTC car ready for Snetterton, rather than getting parts and repairing Griffin's S2000 car which of course, will be obsolete at the end of the year. Plan for the rest of the year is to run Jackson's NGTC car in races to gain mileage and experience before '13 alongside Aron Smith's S2000 car as well. Not sure if Griffin will return later this year or not, but he'll definitely miss Knockhill.

But otherwise, great to have another NGTC car on the grid.

btcc12081104.jpg

btcc12081109.jpg

In terms of NGTC cars we now have:

MG 6

Honda Civic

Toyota Avensis

Vauxhall Insignia

Ford Focus

Proton Gen 2

Audi A4

And there's still more teams looking to build NGTC cars. WSR are reportedly aiming to build NGTC BMWs for next season. I was unconvinced on NGTC for a while, and whilst still not completely sold, I think it is definitely getting better as time goes on.

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Eh, there's no point to closed-wheel racing if you can't make contact.

But you do end up in a bad place if you follow "have at it boys," which NASCAR got rid of either before last year or before this year (I honestly forget). When NASCAR had that policy, the drivers were so confused about what was "having at it" and what wasn't legal. If you say "have at it boys" you have to let EVERYTHING under ALL CIRCUMSTANCES go. And NASCAR didn't do that; there were still huge penalties to guys like Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

Still, I think it's exciting to having stock and touring cars make contact. If a full-bodied car race feels like an open-wheel race, it's not exciting to me, because then it just looks slow; I'd rather watch open-wheel to see a "clean" race. Hell, even in the ALMS sprint races there can be contact. Yeah, I want to see good driving, but if good driving means no one can pass, a little push doesn't hurt. To me, the best part of open-wheel and to an extent sports car racing (particularly the LMPs and in long races...the driving standards in ALMS and Grand-Am are a bit poor at times) is seeing how precise these guys can be when overtaking. The best part of stock and touring car racing is how huge of risks guys will take knowing they can recover. I always feel as though every series needs to do something different from every other series, and contact is one way to differentiate.

I just don't want to be the sanctioning body that tries to draw lines because it will always be unclear and it will always be inconsistent and it will always be unfair unless you ban all contact (bad idea) or allow everything to go (bad idea).

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This is brilliant.

In race one at Knockhill, Plato got taken out by Redstone Racing's Aron Smith. He proceeding to have a typical Plato rant, saying that he either did it deliberately and should be banned, or didn't and should be banned anyway for driving like that, as well as saying he's "not very talented", a "pretender" and "deserves to be at the back of the grid."

Redstone Racing's boss today penned this on their website:

He suggested Aron doesn’t deserve a race licence. Quite frankly, he is the man who needs banning from the championship. Why TOCA didn’t give him points for his revenge mission at Snetterton on Matt Neal is anybodies guess! Probably because he has so many points already. MG & his sponsors should think twice before renewing his contract if he continues to behave like this.

You can listen to Plato's interview, and read Dave Bartrum's full response here:

http://www.motorbase.../boss-blog.html

(And before you ask, no I don't know what the interviewer is asking at times either. Sound like he's drunk.)

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Bartrum has a point about Plato, is he wasnt a 'star' driver he would have been banned for years of running other drivers off the track.

The problem the BTCC has, with Mat Jackson getting used to the NGTC car for next year, Plato is the only one who can get anywhere near the three Hondas in race one or two

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I'm not going to make any apologies for it, but 2012 was not one of my favourite BTCC seasons. I've posted lots elsewhere why, so I won't start again here, but let's have some fun and think about how the grid could look.

The big news is that S2000 cars will still be eligible, however, in a different class. The NGTC cars will be getting a performance boost, meaning it is unlikely that we'll see an S2000 car win a race again. Hopefully it means an end to the ridiculous parity rules that have been in place over the past couple of years then...

NGTC

Honda Yuasa Racing (Honda Civic)

Gordon Shedden

Matt Neal

MG KX Racing (MG 6)

Jason Plato

Andy Neate

? (talk of a third car for winner of KX academy scheme)

Redstone Racing (Ford Focus)

Mat Jackson

Aron Smith

Ebay Motors (possibly an NGTC BMW)

Rob Collard

Tom Onslow-Cole

Dynojet (Toyota Avensis)

Frank Wrathall

Cicely Racing (Toyota Avensis)

Adam Morgan

Speedworks (Toyota Avensis)

Paul O'Neill

Dave Newsham

Pirtek Racing (Honda Civic)

Andy Jordan

Jeff Smith

Welch Automotive (Proton Gen 2)

Dan Welch

? (possibly a second car)

Wix Racing (Audi A4, team hoping to maintain sponsorship deal)

Rob Austin

Will Bratt

AmD (Hopes for an NGTC VW Golf)

Ollie Jackson

Team HARD (Vauxhall Insignia)

?

?

Thorney Motorsport (Vauxhall Insignia)

?

S2000 Cup

Lea Wood Racing (Vauxhall Vectra)

Lea Wood (hoping to go NGTC, but this is probably more likely)

BTC Racing (Chevrolet Cruze with NGTC engine)

?

Techspeed (Chevrolet Cruze)

Joe Girling

ES Racing (Vauxhall Vectra)

Chris James (had hoped for an NGTC, but with talking of Newsham having predictably had enough, not certain)

Redstone Racing (Ford Focus)

Liam Griffin (If funds/time doesn't allow three NGTC Focuses to be built in time, expect this.

Ebay Motors (BMW 320si)

Nick Foster (same situation as Redstone)

Team HARD (Honda Civic)

?

Expect a few more older cars out as well...

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As much as I don't like the way the direction the series is heading in at the moment, I feel obliged to do an update entry list for the zero people who read this. Quite a lot has happened recently that changes the look of the grid considerably.

NGTC

Honda Yuasa Racing (Honda Civic)

Gordon Shedden

Matt Neal

MG KX Racing (MG 6)

Jason Plato

Sam Tordoff

Redstone Racing (Ford Focus)

Mat Jackson

Aron Smith

Ebay Motors (BMW 1 Series)

Colin Turkington

Rob Collard

Nick Foster

Dynojet (Toyota Avensis)

Frank Wrathall

Cicely Racing (Toyota Avensis)

Adam Morgan

Speedworks (Toyota Avensis)

Dave Newsham

?

Pirtek Racing (Honda Civic)

Andy Jordan

Jeff Smith

Welch Automotive (Proton Gen 2)

Dan Welch

? (possibly a second car)

Wix Racing (Audi A4, team hoping to maintain sponsorship deal)

Rob Austin

Will Bratt

AmD (Vauxhall Corsa - will continue to run S2000 Golf for first half of season)

Ollie Jackson

Team Hard (Vauxhall Insignia)

Jack Goff

James Cole

Team HARD (Volkswagen Passat CC)

Tom Onslow-Cole

Howard Fuller/Robb Holland (the two will alternate driving duties over the year)

Thorney Motorsport (Vauxhall Insignia)

?

IP Tech Race Engineering (Chevrolet Cruze)

Andy Neate

? (expanding to a two car team in second half of season)

S2000

Lea Wood Racing (Vauxhall Vectra)

Lea Wood (hoping to go NGTC, but this is probably more likely)

BTC Racing (Chevrolet Cruze with NGTC engine)

?

Techspeed (Chevrolet Cruze)

Joe Girling

ES Racing (Vauxhall Vectra)

Chris James (had hoped for an NGTC, but with talking of Newsham having predictably had enough, not certain)

Chris Knox

Redstone Racing (Ford Focus)

?

? (prepared to run two cars for young drivers)

Team HARD (Honda Civic)

?

Team BMR (Seat Leon)

Warren Scott

No doubt not all of these will become reality (particularly Team HARD's plans which seem VERY ambitious) but at the moment, I'd put the grid size of potentially being around the 30-35 cars mark.

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