The _TCC Series Thread

[Stramala]

So if DTM and Super GT had indeed merged, presumably that would've blurred the line between sportscars and touring cars a bit. What would that new series have been called, a touring car or a GT championship?

No, there was no merger planned at all. They were just going to share the same base platform for cars, in the same way that VW, Skoda and SEAT road cars all share the same base platform from which their cars are built. But the ITR and SuperGT were in complete disagreeement over the tech specs for the shared platform and the whole thing was called off.

In other words, with only minor modifications to the C-Class, Mercedes could have gone over to Japan with their DTM car and Nissan could have slightly modified their GTR and raced it in Germany.

[RealRacingRoots]

Chevy won again in WTCC, with a 1-2-3 in both races. My god is that series boring with only one true Factory team. I really can't wait for Lada and Honda to show.

and I want Volvo back....

[Barbazza]

It certainly is boring my stupid. Thank goodness Chevy pulled their extremely boring cars out of BTCC - speaking of which, I notice that Plato was up to his usual tricks in Race 3 last weekend. Shockingly, he actually got penalised for it!

[AndreaModa]

It certainly is boring my stupid. Thank goodness Chevy pulled their extremely boring cars out of BTCC - speaking of which, I notice that Plato was up to his usual tricks in Race 3 last weekend. Shockingly, he actually got penalised for it!

I have absolutely no interest in WTCC whatsoever. Aside from the shocking lack of competition, the fact it seems poorly covered (is it even on TV in the UK?) seals the deal for me! Considering RML ran the Chevrolets in the BTCC last year though, why are they not competing this year? Did they just choose to focus on the WTCC?

Last weekend's meeting at Donington was pretty good, there was an excellent turnout, including one rather vocal old chap in an old Renault F1 coat sat down at the chicane, who took delight in Plato's misfortune in race 2 and hurled rather distasteful insults at the MG throughout the race whilst there were kids about!

Weather was on the whole excellent, and we walked the whole circuit, watching at a different point at each race. A top tip for future visitors is on the inside of Redgate (turn 1) where there isn't any catch fencing, so it's a great places to take photos and get nice and close to the action. There was hardly anyone watching from that point either which I found rather odd.

What is a real shame though is the state of the infield currently. The Coppice tunnel is blocked off, as is the new one they created between Coppice and Macleans for the unbuilt F1 pit complex, meaning the only two ways into the middle are the new tunnel at the chicane and the tunnel under the pit straight. Most of the infield is now just a muddy mess, fenced off from the general public, meaning you can't view the circuit from inside it between the Old Hairpin right round to the chicane. The fact neither the Spitfire nor the Dunlop Bridge remain either is criminal in my mind. Still, it remains an excellent circuit, and we even squeezed in a trip to the Grand Prix Collection museum which was brilliant, and getting into the circuit for £10 each with our NUS student cards was the icing on the cake!

Might upload some photos later if Flickr will work...

[AndreaModa]

And work it did! Although I did have to use the basic uploader and upload my pictures six at a time at snail's pace...!

For the full set, view the photos here (including some from the Grand Prix Collection): http://www.flickr.com/photos/crackers250/sets/72157629869252647/

And here's a few of my favourites:


Rob Collard, BMW, and Jason Plato, MG, 2012 BTCC Round 4 by The Map Guy, on Flickr


Matt Neal, Honda, and Tom Onslow-Cole, BMW, 2012 BTCC Round 5 by The Map Guy, on Flickr


2012 BTCC Round 6 Start by The Map Guy, on Flickr

You'll also notice Rob Collard managed to somehow find his way into almost all the BTCC photos!

For those interested, I also have some photos I took during the 2011 British Grand Prix in a set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crackers250/sets/72157627148677764/

Enjoy!

[Barbazza]

I have absolutely no interest in WTCC whatsoever. Aside from the shocking lack of competition, the fact it seems poorly covered (is it even on TV in the UK?) seals the deal for me! Considering RML ran the Chevrolets in the BTCC last year though, why are they not competing this year? Did they just choose to focus on the WTCC?

It's on Eurosport 1 or 2 but if the race is running late due to Safety Cars or weather it's straight off to the Cycling/Tennis/Whatever the second the race finishes so it's covered very poorly. And you have to put up with shots of Eric Neve and his twatty bow tie EVERY 2 MINUTES. Well, maybe not, but it seems like it.

Last weekend's meeting at Donington was pretty good, there was an excellent turnout, including one rather vocal old chap in an old Renault F1 coat sat down at the chicane, who took delight in Plato's misfortune in race 2 and hurled rather distasteful insults at the MG throughout the race whilst there were kids about!

Weather was on the whole excellent, and we walked the whole circuit, watching at a different point at each race. A top tip for future visitors is on the inside of Redgate (turn 1) where there isn't any catch fencing, so it's a great places to take photos and get nice and close to the action. There was hardly anyone watching from that point either which I found rather odd.

What is a real shame though is the state of the infield currently. The Coppice tunnel is blocked off, as is the new one they created between Coppice and Macleans for the unbuilt F1 pit complex, meaning the only two ways into the middle are the new tunnel at the chicane and the tunnel under the pit straight. Most of the infield is now just a muddy mess, fenced off from the general public, meaning you can't view the circuit from inside it between the Old Hairpin right round to the chicane. The fact neither the Spitfire nor the Dunlop Bridge remain either is criminal in my mind. Still, it remains an excellent circuit, and we even squeezed in a trip to the Grand Prix Collection museum which was brilliant, and getting into the circuit for £10 each with our NUS student cards was the icing on the cake!

Might upload some photos later if Flickr will work...

I might have been hurling insults at Plato and his hideously coloured car myself, but I would like to think I'd moderate them if there were kids about!

Glad you enjoyed Donington Park - I lived a mile or two from the circuit for about a year and still regret that fact that I only went to see one race meeting in that time. I wasn't earning enough to be able to afford to see a big meeting like BTCC sadly though....
You can tell that the infield is a mess from the TV footage alone and it breaks my heart that they ruined the old circuit in a clearly doomed attempt to get the Grand Prix. Glad to hear that the Museum is still ace though - when I went and saw the row of Williams cars I broke into a huge smile. I really need to go again!

[RealRacingRoots]

James Thompson and Lada return to WTCC this weekend at the Hungaroring. Finally; an excuse to watch WTCC.

[QuickYoda41]

A Hungarian win in Hungary.

[dr-baker]

A Hungarian win in Hungary.

Must have been HWNSNBM in the car! Hung(a)ry for a victory. OK, I'll get my coat...

[Shadaza]

Norbert Michelisz is for some reason a big big star in Hungary. He was voted Hungarian sports personality of the year and has literally thousands of fans. The grandstands were packed for the race and you could hear them cheer loudly whenever he drove past. What a bizzare world we live in.

[Stramala]

Norbert Michelisz is for some reason a big big star in Hungary. He was voted Hungarian sports personality of the year and has literally thousands of fans. The grandstands were packed for the race and you could hear them cheer loudly whenever he drove past. What a bizzare world we live in.

Does he still drive for Zengo-Dension? I haven't been following WTCC lately...

[nome66]

nor has anyone with eyes and ears

[Shadaza]

Zengo BMW.

I watched the 2nd race live, mainly because I missed Moto Gp and can't get DTM. It was a good race actually. It is a shame about the poor field.

[RealRacingRoots]

You watch WTCC for the midfield and Lada. You watch BTCC to see what lunacy Plato does.

I wish James Thompson had more of a chance to show the potential of the Granta, it has the pace already out of the box, compared to the 110 and Priora. I can't wait for their next race in Portugal and when Honda shows up later.

[DanielPT]

Zengo BMW.

I watched the 2nd race live, mainly because I missed Moto Gp and can't get DTM. It was a good race actually. It is a shame about the poor field.

Poor field? But they have Ralf Schum... Never mind.

[MikeH]

I like Dave Newsham, he impressed me last year with some gutsy drives.

I actually "raced" (in that I was in the same races with him but he was muuuuuch faster than me) Dave back in his days in the Scottish Legends Championship - I know a lot of people write him off as a pay-driver but he's amazingly fast. He gave big names like Jon Higgins a lot to think about (and even beat them from time to time) so it doesn't surprise me at all to see him do so well in a decent touring car. Hope he can snatch a win this year.

[MikeH]

now does the production-based Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge here in america count?
it's a Grand-Am feeder but it is pretty much turbo-charged compacts versus muscle cars (much like the BTCC used to be)
every car has a stock appearance, stock fenders, bumpers, etc. the engines are basically stock, but have turbos and intercoolers, carbs, horsepower tune-ups, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continenta ... _Challenge
acronym helps a little. CTSCC

All things considered I think the CTS is one of my favourite racing series ever. Saw it at Watkins Glen last year and the sheer size of the field (80+ at times) and the amazing variety of cars makes for lots of fun viewing. This series doesn't get the attention it deserves.

World Challenge also has a Touring Car class but it's not so well subscribed beyond a handful of Jettas and Civics.

[dr-baker]

All things considered I think the CTS is one of my favourite racing series ever. Saw it at Watkins Glen last year and the sheer size of the field (80+ at times) and the amazing variety of cars makes for lots of fun viewing. This series doesn't get the attention it deserves.

80+ entries but no publicity? How does that work?! But sounds pretty epic to me!

[Wizzie]

All things considered I think the CTS is one of my favourite racing series ever. Saw it at Watkins Glen last year and the sheer size of the field (80+ at times) and the amazing variety of cars makes for lots of fun viewing. This series doesn't get the attention it deserves.

80+ entries but no publicity? How does that work?! But sounds pretty epic to me!

Probably because the entry fee's about 5 quid or something like that

[MikeH]

All things considered I think the CTS is one of my favourite racing series ever. Saw it at Watkins Glen last year and the sheer size of the field (80+ at times) and the amazing variety of cars makes for lots of fun viewing. This series doesn't get the attention it deserves.

80+ entries but no publicity? How does that work?! But sounds pretty epic to me!

It's shamefully underpromoted (even has a 2 hour highlights show of every round on SPEED that no-one knows about) yet still attracts the likes of Jack Roush's Mustang team, a somewhat-factory supported Kia team, the Subaru road-racing team run a WRX in it, Multimatic run in both classes with Aston Martins and that "global" Ford Focus touring car etc etc. Think at last count the manufacturers represented in it are Ford, Aston Martin, Chevrolet, BMW, Mazda, Nissan, Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Dodge, Honda and Mini. Put some photos from the Glen last year up here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 50fb7f53fe

[Davidellias]

All things considered I think the CTS is one of my favourite racing series ever. Saw it at Watkins Glen last year and the sheer size of the field (80+ at times) and the amazing variety of cars makes for lots of fun viewing. This series doesn't get the attention it deserves.

80+ entries but no publicity? How does that work?! But sounds pretty epic to me!

It's shamefully underpromoted (even has a 2 hour highlights show of every round on SPEED that no-one knows about) yet still attracts the likes of Jack Roush's Mustang team, a somewhat-factory supported Kia team, the Subaru road-racing team run a WRX in it, Multimatic run in both classes with Aston Martins and that "global" Ford Focus touring car etc etc. Think at last count the manufacturers represented in it are Ford, Aston Martin, Chevrolet, BMW, Mazda, Nissan, Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Dodge, Honda and Mini. Put some photos from the Glen last year up here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 50fb7f53fe

To me it's more or less an entry level GT Series.

Also anyone seent he new Scandinavian series TTA?

[nome66]

yea it's awesome! it appears with how the cars are designed, to be DTM without the monopoly that Audi and Mercedes have on it.
anyways, the TTA Elite series formed out of disagreement with their parent promoter (a la CART/IRL), and now they have a full calendar of races including Anderstorp, a street circuit in Gothenberg, and even a race on the Tierp Arena drag strip!
SAAB FTW
http://ttagroup.se/en/
here are the manufacturers

i imagine they left room for more manufacturers in the future. hopefully DTM will get their heads out of their butts and let in more badges.

[This]

i think that Volvo is an evolution of the car that Van De Poele raced in BTCS last season, although there might be some technical differences. It looks like a similar 'silhoutte' car than the BTCS tried to run for more than about 10 years, without much succes.

[RealRacingRoots]

I'm disappointed that with the STCC/TTA-Elitserien split, because we don't get the awesome S2000 spec Volvos. They were great Touring Cars in the STCC/WTCC.





Also, why can't the major _TCC series can't work together to make good regs? BTCC got the NGTC (which uses 1.6 Turbos) and is going really well, WTCC has new 1.6 Turbos for it's existing cars, and we got series like Superstars, TTA-Elitserien, and the former BTCS to name a few. I think the STCC is wanting to move in the BTCC direction, which I think WTCC should move into to. Superstars is kinda like Oz V8s for europe, and TTA-Elitserien and BTCS are silhouette cars.

Why can't we all get along, why won't someone think about the children.

And the CTSCC doesn't get much publicity because it's a Grand-Am series, (under NASCAR ownership IIRC) and they can't promote anything worth a damn, and they get really awkward time slots on SPEED. Good racing, but no sympathy from NASCAR country, similar case for the big Grand-Am series.

EDIT: Think of the faster class of CTSCC as GT4 America. Although I would prefer the Pirelli World Challenge for GT4 since their GT class is pretty much GT3 with AWD Volvos, and their GTS class is GT4 with the old-awesome SCCA TC regs thrown in.

[Klon]

I imagine they left room for more manufacturers in the future. hopefully DTM will get their heads out of their butts and let in more badges.

Well, DTM is not unwilling to have new manufacturers, it's just many manufacturers are not too willing to enter DTM, because DTM cars are in their shape unique and so you'd have to make a big financial effort for a car you can only use there.

[Stramala]

I imagine they left room for more manufacturers in the future. hopefully DTM will get their heads out of their butts and let in more badges.

Well, DTM is not unwilling to have new manufacturers, it's just many manufacturers are not too willing to enter DTM, because DTM cars are in their shape unique and so you'd have to make a big financial effort for a car you can only use there.

The only manufacturer it makes sense for to consider entering DTM that isn't German is probably one of the members of the PSA Group - both have experience of building silhouette cars and are trying to promote their luxury models like the 508 & C5/C6 against their far more successful German rivals. Otherwise it's just money down the toilet, DTM is a bit of a joke tbh, it's like a little regional series wrapped up in an illusion of being a massive multi-national championship.

[Klon]

Otherwise it's just money down the toilet, DTM is a bit of a joke tbh, it's like a little regional series wrapped up in an illusion of being a massive multi-national championship.

A illusion not completely irrational, given the fact that DTM compares quite well with the WTCC in terms of international coverage.

[AndreaModa]

Otherwise it's just money down the toilet, DTM is a bit of a joke tbh, it's like a little regional series wrapped up in an illusion of being a massive multi-national championship.

A illusion not completely irrational, given the fact that DTM compares quite well with the WTCC in terms of international coverage.

Because the WTCC is crap!

[Klon]

Because the WTCC is crap!

See, so it's not difficult to understand where delusions of grandeur in more local series could come from.

[Barbazza]

Oh, I loved watching Dahlgren racing those S2000 Volvos in the WTCC last year - other than Tarquini, there was nothing else worth watching it for. At least I can cheer for the Lada now I suppose.

[East Londoner]

Sounds like a incredibly rejectful showing, if most of the leading cars suffered punctures!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99734

[Phoenix]

Sounds like a incredibly rejectful showing, if most of the leading cars suffered punctures!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99734

Talk about weird race winners, not only in F1 but also at other series, in 2012

[Stramala]

Sounds like a incredibly rejectful showing, if most of the leading cars suffered punctures!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99734

Stefano has been plugging away at the WTCC for a long time, he was one of the best independent class racers, nice to see him finally get an outright win, even if it was in crazy circumstances

[RealRacingRoots]

WTCC goes to Portimao next week, which is a really cool track. Lada returns, which means I have an excuse to watch.

And Michel Valliant "joins" the WTCC. Purdy cool livery, it must be said. And those red wheels are awesome. Sure, it's just Alain Menu and his team being rebranded, but it's a cool thing to do, it's like Mick Foley being Cactus Jack or Mankind.



Japan, and North America grew up with Speed Racer, and Europe got Valliant. At least Speed Racer got some liveries....

[tommykl]

Michel Vaillant in touring cars? BATHPLUG YEA

[dr-baker]

Is this possibly foreshadowing a second Michel Vaillant movie by any chance?

[Pointrox]

Is this possibly foreshadowing a second Michel Vaillant movie by any chance?

According to this, it's more likely a publicity stunt for the new series of Michel Vaillant comics.

[dr-baker]

Is this possibly foreshadowing a second Michel Vaillant movie by any chance?

According to this, it's more likely a publicity stunt for the new series of Michel Vaillant comics.

Oh. OK. Is there anywhere in London that specialises in Michel Vaillant products?

[Myrvold]

So, regarding the TTA... It sucks. The first race made DTM look like the most exiting race in the world. Swedish motorsport will have though time. Going from over 20k spectators on every race in STCC. It fell down to around 5k for both TTA and STCC...

[RealRacingRoots]

So, regarding the TTA... It sucks. The first race made DTM look like the most exiting race in the world. Swedish motorsport will have though time. Going from over 20k spectators on every race in STCC. It fell down to around 5k for both TTA and STCC...

British NGTC Regs are better then tube chassis.

Therefore, STCC is better than TTA.

FACT.