BTCC - Round Three - Thruxton
Discussion
Sheddon in 2nd on the grid only 0.035s behind Neal and carrying the maximum with 75kg of ballast is a fantastic effort !
What`s happened to Plato this year ? Sutton seems to have a far better handle on the Subaru than he does.Probably explains the lack of interviews ITV are showing with Jason....
Looking forward to the races, Thruxton is a cracking circuit.
What`s happened to Plato this year ? Sutton seems to have a far better handle on the Subaru than he does.Probably explains the lack of interviews ITV are showing with Jason....
Looking forward to the races, Thruxton is a cracking circuit.
Entirely possible that suburu/ Plato feel like they've been f
ked over by TOCA...they have taken the 1 advantage away that the boxer engine had by increasing the ride height....only problem is that the entire car was built around that concept. Bit of poor form by TOCA if you ask me....clearly they've gone too far with the rule changes
ked over by TOCA...they have taken the 1 advantage away that the boxer engine had by increasing the ride height....only problem is that the entire car was built around that concept. Bit of poor form by TOCA if you ask me....clearly they've gone too far with the rule changesWh00sher said:
Sheddon in 2nd on the grid only 0.035s behind Neal and carrying the maximum with 75kg of ballast is a fantastic effort !
Looking forward to the races, Thruxton is a cracking circuit.
Honda will look to block the circuit for the first few laps. The first rear wheel drive car is far enough back on the grid for them not to be at risk.Looking forward to the races, Thruxton is a cracking circuit.
I saw Sheddon being interviewed and the bloke with me said that he'd pay me £50 if he didn't mention the 75kg. Good show from him.
BMR said:
There's more to the Subaru situation than meets the eye I feel. And the fact that Plato isn't getting air time adds to the feeling.
Could it just be as simple as he has spent 20 years racing front wheel drive touring cars and is still trying to eke out those last few tenths? It's so close this year - two tenths can be the difference between qualifying 8th or 18th, and from a human perspective it's simply harder to learn new things as you get older? 37chevy said:
Entirely possible that suburu/ Plato feel like they've been fked over by TOCA...they have taken the 1 advantage away that the boxer engine had by increasing the ride height....only problem is that the entire car was built around that concept. Bit of poor form by TOCA if you ask me....clearly they've gone too far with the rule changes
Isn't that the purpose of the rules though, to remove advantages a team might have over the others? Level playing field and all that.ked over by TOCA...they have taken the 1 advantage away that the boxer engine had by increasing the ride height....only problem is that the entire car was built around that concept. Bit of poor form by TOCA if you ask me....clearly they've gone too far with the rule changesIt is a bit futile for BMR to keep pointing the finger at TOCA for the car's performance when one of their drivers is consistently outperforming the rest of the team and putting the car at the sharper end of the grid, whilst everybody else flounders around the mid-back. If the car was THAT bad, Ash would also be right at the back with everybody else, surely?
Derek Smith said:
Isn't that the purpose of the rules though, to remove advantages a team might have over the others? Level playing field and all that.
No....the purpose of the rules is to set perameters in which you build a car...the purpose of engineers is to find the loopholes and eek out advantages within those rules.What TOCA have done is stop engineers using their brains and creativity to keep the racing close so that it's good for TV.
It's not like changing boost pressures or weight to handicap cars, by changing the ride height of a car completely alters the cars handling, tyre wear etc etc, and when a car is fundamentally built around that concept...and then the rules are changed on you it's hard to make that car work...especially when it's only that car that it's been applied to.
37chevy said:
Derek Smith said:
Isn't that the purpose of the rules though, to remove advantages a team might have over the others? Level playing field and all that.
No....the purpose of the rules is to set perameters in which you build a car...the purpose of engineers is to find the loopholes and eek out advantages within those rules.What TOCA have done is stop engineers using their brains and creativity to keep the racing close so that it's good for TV.
It's not like changing boost pressures or weight to handicap cars, by changing the ride height of a car completely alters the cars handling, tyre wear etc etc, and when a car is fundamentally built around that concept...and then the rules are changed on you it's hard to make that car work...especially when it's only that car that it's been applied to.
rscott said:
That's always been the intention of the BTCC rules though. Did you complain last year when Subaru were given special dispensation to change the inlet manifold last year? After all the rules require it be homologated at the start of the season and the same design used throughout the year. Had the rules been strictly applied, they wouldn't have won a single race last year..
Don't doubt that. And completely agree wth you. All I'm saying is that the rule change bought in this year has been directly aimed at suburus main design advantage...just saying they've taken it too far and should wind it back a bit BMR put all of their eggs in one basket with the Subarus. They are slower in a straight line, nowhere near the best chassis on the grid (when placed on a level playing field) and the ONLY discernible advantage was the lower centre of gravity that the boxer engine gave it. Deciding to forego the development of a "less quirky" chassis and playing a wildcard was always going to be a risky move. They would have better served developing four passats IMHO.
Mind you, Ash Sutton is clearly a very talented driver and seems to be carrying the team forward. I wonder if he is the team guinea pig for car setups?
Mind you, Ash Sutton is clearly a very talented driver and seems to be carrying the team forward. I wonder if he is the team guinea pig for car setups?
37chevy said:
Don't doubt that. And completely agree wth you. All I'm saying is that the rule change bought in this year has been directly aimed at suburus main design advantage...just saying they've taken it too far and should wind it back a bit
You seem unsure of what the term "performance-balanced race series" means. But how then do you explain the Subarus being given more boost for Thruxton?
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