2012 British Touring Car Championship

[Simon Melhuish]

Honda Racing has released the first pictures of the new NGTC specification Honda Civic that has been built for the 2012 BTCC. The team is going to complete its first public test at Brands Hatch today.
"This is the first opportunity we have had to get behind the wheel to really see what the car has got. The team are really pleased with the results from the test at MIRA last week and I can't wait to finally start putting the car through its paces," said Matt Neal.

The team completed a preliminary test at the MIRA test track last week, a test the team reported to be successful.
"The feedback on the new Civic NGTC car so far is incredibly promising and I've been itching to get into the car since the end of the 2011 season. Like Matt mentioned, this is the first time we have had to really push the car and I’m looking forward to putting it into action," said Gordon Shedden.

The team is facing a tough schedule to complete the car ahead of the BTCC 2012 season premiere on the 1st of April.
"The team have all been working incredibly hard since the start of the NGTC programme back in August so everybody's very excited to see the new car on track for the first time. It'll be interesting from the point of view of both drivers and engineers to see how the car behaves on a track where we were very competitive with the S2000 Civic and we can really start to understand and develop the new car," said Team Manager Peter Crolla.

"The main aim for the day will be to establish a baseline set-up for the car which we can then tune for the various circuits we visit during the season. Initial feedback from the MIRA shakedown was positive so we’re hoping to continue that today and cover some valuable mileage with both Matt and Gordon behind the wheel."

The team then heads to Donington Park on the 23rd of February for the next test.

Source: touringcartimes.com

 

[William Levesque]

NGTC is crap, it's not even touring car anymore... I mean, the car almost looks like a GT300 car !

 

[Simon Melhuish]

Its not that extreme but i'd agree..... its moving away from a car you can basically pick up from your dealer with just a wing and splitter added.

At least it has a 2.0l turbo and not the pussy 1.6 WTCC use

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Looks pretty hot, especially with those dunlops

 

[Simon Melhuish]

Honda Racing Team's brand new Honda Civic took part in its first shakedown test today at Brands Hatch, less than a week after undergoing wind tunnel testing at MIRA.
The ninth generation Honda Civic has been developed to the BTCC's Next Generation Touring Car specifications and replaces the team's Super 2000 specification Civics, which have been sold to BTCC driver Tony Gilham and STCC driver Tomas Engström.

The team are building five cars for this season, the test car which ran today plus two cars which will be raced by Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden at Honda Racing Team, and two cars which will be run by customer team Eurotech Racing by Andrew Jordan and Jeff Smith.

Source: touringcartimes.com

 

[Dave Simmons]

wee vid i found

 

[Simon Melhuish]

Motorbase Performance have confirmed that they will compete in this year's British Touring Car Championship with their Ford Focus STs as last year, with Mat Jackson, Liam Griffin and Árón Smith driving for the team.

Jackson goes into his third consecutive year with the team, and will again be an outside contender for the title in what's set to be the most stable package in the BTCC, with Motorbase keeping their S2000 specification Ford Focuses and with their Ford 2.0 litre turbocharged engine built to Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) regulations.

Meanwhile rivals Honda have made the switch to an all new NGTC-spec Honda Civic, Triple Eight likewise have made the jump to NGTC and a change of manufacturer to MG, and RML have withdrawn to focus on the WTCC.

"2012 looks to be an exciting year in the BTCC," said Jackson. "With the New NGTC regulations being adopted by many of the front running teams, the season could prove to be very interesting indeed."

"It's fantastic to be back driving with Motorbase for the third year in a row. It feels like home now. We have the same core personnel in place for this season, which I believe is key to our challenge for the outright drivers' title."

Liam Griffin returns for his sophomore season in the BTCC in the team's second Ford Focus ST. The team will also start with three cars on the grid for a full season campaign, with Árón Smith taking over the car which was run late last year for Michael Caine and James Thompson.

Smith drove with Triple Eight for one round last season, as well as competing in the Renault Clio Cup UK championship, finishing in joint second place. Smith secretly tested for the team last week in the Focus.

"Árón has settled straight in to the team and has impressed us all in testing," said Team Principal David Bartrum.

"I'm sure he will be competitive very quickly this year. Liam has had a year in the BTCC under his belt now so knows what to expect this year so we're looking forward to him hitting the ground running come round one. And with Mat, he will be starting in a car he knows well which has been further improved so there is no reason why we can't mount a serious championship challenge as we did last year, but hope for some better luck in 2012."

The team has also announced that it will not be participating in one of the BTCC's support series, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB this season, a series where the team has been a regular contender since 2004.

"I love the Carrera Cup, but we were looking for a new challenge for 2012," said Bartrum. "This isn't an ending, it's a sabbatical. Give us a year or two and we'll be back. Carrera Cup has been a big part of our team and Porsche will always be part of our future."

"We've been really busy behind the scenes for the past few months and have a number of exciting plans in the pipeline for this year and that's where our focus will be."

"We're not quite in the position to make any announcements at this moment in time, but we're close, all will be revealed very soon."

Source: touringcartimes.com

 

[James Chant]

Two Insignias for Thorney

Thorney Motorsport has announced it will run two Vauxhall Insignias in 2012’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship for team principal John Thorne and Rob Hedley.

At a launch in Liverpool city centre last night, the team also confirmed a media tie-up with national newspaper the Daily Mirror’s on-line motor sport pages. The Mirror’s logos will appear on both Insignias with its website including regular updates from Thorne about his team’s first season in Britain’s premier motor racing championship.

Thorne will contest all ten events on the calendar with the team hoping to introduce its second car driven by fellow former Britcar racer Hedley at Oulton Park’s fourth round in June. Both Insignias will run to the BTCC’s latest turbocharged Next Generation Touring Car regulations.

“We are delighted to have Rob on board as not only has he shown considerable talent in a variety of championships but he’s also demonstrated sheer commitment to the drive and the team. I’ve never known a driver work so hard to impress us both on and off track. It’s admirable,” commented Thorne.

Hedley, who has also raced in the USA in Mazda and Formula Ford 2000 single-seater categories, said: “I’m obviously delighted. It’s been a dream of mine as a schoolboy to race in the BTCC and to get a seat with such an established team as Thorney Motorsport running in a full NGTC car is way beyond my expectations.”

In addition to securing support from the Daily Mirror, Thorne has bolstered his team behind the scenes with Ricky Howson and Matt Upson having joined from the Welch Motorsport and RML outfits to become its new chief engineer and technician respectively.

Thorne enthused: “It’s fantastic to have the Daily Mirror on board – it already has some excellent motor sport coverage, but this partnership creates the chance to really let fans get an inside view of what happens in racing, not just behind the wheel but the whole spread of work that goes into it. And I promise it won’t be a weekly moan about the regulations… well, I hope not.”

He added: “Ricky is one of the few people in the BTCC who has extensive experience with the NGTC cars so we are delighted to have him on board – it means we are not starting the season trying to find set-ups that work but instead can concentrate on fine-tuning what we know already works with the Insignia chassis. Matt is also a crucial hire for us – he’s had some of the best training at one of the BTCC’s best teams so we are confident we can hit the ground running with his experience.”

btcc.net

 

[Jamie Ralfs]

Jordan: "I've no excuses"

Andrew Jordan reckons he has ‘no excuses’ if he's unable to challenge for titles in this year’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after driving his new Honda Civic for the first time.

Jordan’s Pirtek Racing team has upgraded to two of Honda’s new Team Dynamics-built Civics for him and Jeff Smith to race in this year’s BTCC.

Both cars are scheduled to join a good number of their rivals on track in a test at Brands Hatch today (Thursday) with Jordan’s sporting an interim Pirtek livery (pictured).

Lichfield racer Jordan, who shook down his car at the MIRA training ground earlier this week, told btcc.net: “I’ve no excuses. I’ve got the same kit as Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden are getting with the factory Honda team and we’re getting support from Dynamics who’ve built those cars. I should be pushing for the outright title, if not then at least the independent titles.

“It’s down to me. I need to work on improving my consistency and if that means taking seventh in the odd race instead of going for a big-risk move for fourth and suffering a non-score then so be it.

“The car just feels fantastic. I drove an ex-Dynamics Honda Integra some years ago and they certainly put their own stamp on a car – there are definite Dynamics traits I can spot. There are a few areas we still need to work on but generally it all works very well and feels very smooth.”

Source: btcc.net
http://www.btcc.net/html/generalnews_detail.php?id=2869

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More photos of Andrew's new car:

Photos sourced from the Official BTCC FaceBook page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Official-BTCC/165670750141050

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My personal opinion:

Best looking car livery I have seen for several seasons! What a stunning looking car!

I think Andrew has a real chance of grabbing a few more race wins this season, what with him now in the new Civic with the mega team of Dynamics helping him. As long as they can get past the teething problems of bringing in a new car, I think its looking promising for him!

Now all we have left to hear about is whether Paul O'Neil will get a drive this year and also what the new MG livery will look like!

 

[Dave Simmons]

Not strictly BTCC but their support.. Formula Renault UK have withdrawn according to this site
http://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2012/03/formula-renault-uk-axed-for-2012/

Just thought it might be of interest to those who like the TOCA BTCC package as a whole.

 

[Kol Bailey]

Its not that extreme but i'd agree..... its moving away from a car you can basically pick up from your dealer with just a wing and splitter added.

At least it has a 2.0l turbo and not the pussy 1.6 WTCC use

Lol. That car looks pretty bad ass.

 

[mynameissport]

Just to let you know that BTCC starts this weekend at Brands Hatch. For people in the UK you can watching qualifying live on ITV4's online page on 31st March at 3:15pm BST which you can find here - http://www.itv.com/btcc/

Same thing for the races on Sunday 1st April. If in the UK you can watch it on ITV4 or online via the link. The coverage starts at 11:00am BST UK time and finish around 6:00pm BST UK time.

 

[James Chant]

QUALIFYING RESULTS - Brands Hatch Indy

 

[James Chant]

Brands Hatch (Indy) - Kent
Click for Forum Discussion

Qualifying Results

 

[James Chant]

Brands Hatch (Indy) - Kent

Qualifying Results

 

[Kol Bailey]

I don't think I can watch it I live in the US.

 

[ivaneurope]

Will be there again internet stream from justin.tv?

 

[Victor Zaporozhets]

 

[Robert Wiesenmüller]

Good races at Donington, but honestly, Plato would be well off in Simberia...

 

[Trebor901]

Plato was out of order, the 2 second penalty he has been given isnt a severe enough punishment imo. But then it swapped him and Shedden which means Shedden takes the win as Jackson has been disqualified for an overboost