BTCC 2010

Confirmed as of media day

West Surrey Racing - BMW 320si - Andy Neate and Rob Collard
Team sunshine.co.uk/Techspeed - Honda Integra - Paul O'Neill and John George
Pirtek Racing/jordansport - Vauxhall Vectra - Andrew Jordan
Pinkey Motorsport - Vauxhall Vectra - Dave Pinkney
AmD Technik - VW Golf GTi - Shaun Hollamby
Team Aon/Arena Motorsport - Ford Focus ST - Tom Chilton and Tom Onslow-Cole
Forster Motorsport - BMW 320si - Arthur Forster and Martin Depper
Honda Racing Team/Team Dynamics - Honda Civic - Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden
Airwaves BMW/Motorbase Performance - BMW 320Si - Mat Jackson and Steven Kane
Special Tuning UK - SEAT Leon TFSI - Tom Boardman
Team Wood - Honda Integra - Lea Wood
TH Motorsport - Honda Civic - Matt Hamilton
Silverline Chevrolet - Chevrolet Cruze - Jason Plato and Alex McDowall
Triple Eight Engineering - Vauxhall Vectra - Phil Glew and TBA
Boulevard Racing - Astra Coupe - Martin Johnson

Maybe's

Thorney Motorsport - Purchased the Arkas Astra Sporthatches to run a two car team, but loss of second driver's sponsorship means the deal is in jeopardy - cars are back up for sale.
Jonny Adam - may be back with Motorbase if funding works out, which isn't looking good.
Alan Blencowe - rumour has him in a third Integra for Sunshine.
Fabrizio Giovanardi - rumour of a return with 888 in another Vectra (apparently there are six shells), but also tested with Chevy for a WTCC seat... Plato and Gio in a Chevy BTCC works team?
James Nash - no word from Nash so far. Budget issues caused limited running last season, but hints of a chance at a Motorbase seat.
Anthony Reid - Unlikely to return after few rounds of running with WSR last year.
Alan Morrison - Vanished completely from the scene last season, replaced by Onslow-Cole.
Adam Jones - Apparently, it was the loss of Adam's backing that ended up with the Cartridge World team collapsing. Return possible with Special Tuning UK.
Dan Eaves - Dumped by Cartridge World as funds ran low, meaning a paying driver (Shedden) got his seat. With no backers, he won't be returning.
Nick Leason - His website appears to hint at a return with an NGTC Vectra, but sponsorship is going to be key.

Definitely NOT coming back

Bamboo Engineering and Harry Vaulkhard are off to WTCC
Martyn Bell has said he will not be returning - John George now has his seat
Johnny Herbert has gone to drive a Chevrolet in the V8 Superstars
Stephen Jelley has joined Team Parker Racing in the Porsche Carerra Cup GB
Liam MacMillan's team have sold their cars and have said they would rather run Liam in the SEAT Leon Supercopa in Spain
James Thompson has a rather full card this year with DTC, STCC and ETCC duties
Tim Bridgman has signed back to Porsche Carerra Cup GB

That thread died a painful death, let it rest in peace.

If this were ten-tenths, this would be unnacceptable!!

See how my name is in red and yours is in green?

Know what that means?

That means you can employ the classic TORA mod dictatoryness?

Employ it? Hah!

I AM the classic TORA mod dictator. I was doing it before we even moved to this forum.

Athough I do have some soft spots. That's why I've not clicked the ban button on Chaddy yet. He may have no grasp of how to use the keyboard and have the second-biggest ego in TORAland, but he's a Rangers man.

That's like an instant Get-out-of-jail card from me. Although I'd bet he's never been to Ibrox...

RML are selling their two Lacetti's from last season for £69,500 being advertised in this weeks autosport magazine so maybe they're using the Cruze and Bamboo engineering are entering in the WTCC and trying to get Turkey to go with them.

ckBrenneke wrote:classic TORA mod dictator.

Back in the days. i was a mod back then. oh how things have changed

I hope RML dont go to the Cruize.... Its a bit crap....

By WTCC standards, yes?

The Cruze is an unknown quantity on Dunlop tyres on the tracks the BTCC covers.

Look at the Lacetti. Robertshaw Racing ran two in 2008 and failed to make any impact. Tempus/Bamboo ran one last year and failed to make any impact. RML run one for Plato at the first meeting for Plato and he makes a bad car look good. His race three showing probably did more for getting him the sponsorship to run a season than anything else he did. Yet they had very little data on how a 2008 Lacetti would run at UK tracks on Dunlop compounds.

By the end of the season, the Lacetti was the car of the championship.

I think the combination of Plato, RML and the Cruze is championship winning once they figure it out and how it goes on the Dunlop rubber.

My case for the defence.

FIA WTCC Brands Hatch, 19th July 2009. Qualifying sees the Cruze lock out the Brands Hatch grid with a one two for Menu and Huff, while Larini makes it into seventh. First race is won by Menu with Huff in second.

The Cruze will not be crap in the right hands.

http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=4377

Rob Collard closes in on Motorbase seat. Pretty much inevitable really.

And the article also mentions Matt Neal taking out a Civic at Rockingham following wind tunnel testing over the winter. Again, pretty much certain Neal will be back with Dynamics this season, perhaps with a redesigned, more aerodynamically efficient Civic? Perhaps that explains the three up for sale, but surely it would be just as easy to replace the body work on the existing cars.

Having said that, Dynamics do have a history for building and replacing their cars each season, hence the number of Integras doing the rounds.

Hmmm, weren't the WTCC times slower than the BTCC qualifying times at Brands? I seem to remember this being brought up somewhere.

Yes they were Nicky

Honda buys into Team Dynamics...

http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=4399

what a GREAT looking civic.

Mugen Motorsport could be a reality! With the tie-up between Honda and Dynamics following the setting up of Mugen's first UK centre, could this be a case of the BTCC imitating us after we have imitated it for the last year?

In other BTCC news, Tom Boardman has announced he will be running a pair of SEAT Leons in 2010 for himself and an as yet unannounced driver.

2010 is looking healthy.

Its not looking too healthy if you think about it with no confirmation from RML yet Bamboo leaving and it looks like no Turkington as well so maybe not as heatlhy as we first thought :/

Oh come on.

RML are certain to be there with a pair of Cruzes and Jason Plato, what with all the leaked twitters from Chevrolet, and I'd hazard a guess they'll be a manufacturer team. That's 2.

WSR have said they'll be there with at least 2 cars. Whether Turkington is one of them, who knows, but ultimately does it really matter? 4.

Team Dynamics/Mugen confirmed with 2 cars. Matt Neal deffo in one. 6.

Forster Motorsport have at least one of the two Jackson BMWs. 7.

AmD Technik have their Golf GTi. 8.

Tom Boardman's SEAT Leon. Up to 9.

2 Tech-Speed Integras for O'Neill and George takes it to 11.

Pinkney and Jordan in a pair of Vectras. 13.

Team Aon have at least Chilton confirmed. 14.

So 12 confirmed entries, 16 once RML and Motorbase get their team-launch heads on, with at least another 3 having announced plans. We're shaping up for a 20 car grid at least, that's got to be healthier than expected.

Exactly, much healthier looking than the WTCC.

i think over 25 cars is too much anyway

Chaddy, it wasn't that long ago that at Thruxton there was 30+!!

No, no no, the more cars the better!

i no but it sometimes the tv crews only focus's on the front of the grid and u miss the action at the back

but when was the last time you cared about George vs Johnson?