TCR UK 2023

[redshoes]

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2023...-uk-programme/
Alistair Camp in a Hyundai i30

[coffinpilot]

So then, Trotter has folllowed through on his wobbly.
24 cars -him and Tonks not on the entry list.
https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/wp-content/...ton-300-V2.pdf

[Redron]

Looking forward to this.

Hopefully the grid grows also

[Evantra]

Isaac Smith incidentally is moving to TCR Europe in a Volcano Motorsport Audi.

[Alfaholic]

Having been to a frankly disappointing meeting at Silverstone in the first year of the championship and not bothered with it since, I thought I'd head to Snetterton on Sunday to see what all the fuss was about. There's an item on the timetable before each race which is confusing - the 'Tyre rotate lap'. Is this the green flag lap that a lot of series have, or an extra green flag lap where the tyres are swapped front to rear before the real green flag lap?

[tocatrucky]

TCR UK social media manager has a pabic attack (metaphorically) over Brad Kent losing P1 after qually over a ''technical infringement'' and locks down the facebook discussion over it due to the angry reactions..

Hardly a transparent welcomg start to the year. Hope they get social media training lessons.

[redshoes]

The 'technical infringement' was a broken wheel speed sensor
https://noticeboard.brscc.co.uk/wp-c...n-Sheet-17.pdf

Possibly not the team's fault but thems the rules

[jsmee]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Ahh ok, yeah that rings a bell, was sure I’d seen it before!

An extra driver announcement and full entry list at 4 today.

Having got up close to the Camp i30 today it appears he is running the ex NordPass i30. You can sort of see the old livery application behind the new stickers.

[Evantra]

Pretty good racing today, second reverse grid race a bit stronger.

Few mechanical issues again in race 1, but race 2 was better too in that regard so hopefully the first was an outlier.

I do like Paul O’Neill but all his squeaks and shouts are a bit grating!

[5five]

I just looked up the lap time difference between TCR UK and BTCC around Snetterton - Josh Files did a 1:56.748 in qualifying, whereas Turks did a 1:55.805 in quali last year.

However, the TCR UK cars look so slow and sedate in comparison on the live stream which is clearly not reflected in the lap times - I wonder whether it is that they aren't as "on the limit" as a NGTC car through the corners?

Or maybe its the field spread giving that appearance - BTCC the top 15 were within a second, whereas the TCR field top 15 were within 2.8.

Nice to see a growing grid and relatively entertaining action

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by 5five

I just looked up the lap time difference between TCR UK and BTCC around Snetterton - Josh Files did a 1:56.748 in qualifying, whereas Turks did a 1:55.805 in quali last year.

However, the TCR UK cars look so slow and sedate in comparison on the live stream which is clearly not reflected in the lap times - I wonder whether it is that they aren't as "on the limit" as a NGTC car through the corners?

Or maybe its the field spread giving that appearance - BTCC the top 15 were within a second, whereas the TCR field top 15 were within 2.8.

Nice to see a growing grid and relatively entertaining action

btcc last year was in baking 34c heat so lap times are not really comparable

in cooler temps like this weekend ngtc would be faster than they were last year in those high temps (turbo engines and tyres like lower air and track temps)

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by 5five

However, the TCR UK cars look so slow and sedate in comparison on the live stream which is clearly not reflected in the lap times

Some of that will be down to the production of the coverage; Alpha Live run at a much lower budget than ITV Sport. ITV have more trackside microphones so the engine noise is more noticeable. They also have a lot more camera positions, plus many in-car camera, so you get more a rapidly cut editing style. Alpha's fewer camera mean you tend to get longer shots covering a greater distance. Then of course there is David Addison commentary, which is very much modelled on the Murray Walker pants-on-fire style.

That said, I think the relative gaps front to rear of the grid don't help either.

[FIRE]

Only have seen race 1. Was a bit tame but nice to see racing again after the winter break.

Did Files hold back?

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by redshoes

The 'technical infringement' was a broken wheel speed sensor
https://noticeboard.brscc.co.uk/wp-c...n-Sheet-17.pdf

Possibly not the team's fault but thems the rules

They also failed ride height, so if the sensor had passed they'd have still got hit

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by jsmee

Having got up close to the Camp i30 today it appears he is running the ex NordPass i30. You can sort of see the old livery application behind the new stickers.

It was the car he ran at Donington owned by Luke Sargeant. Sargeant will run the Elantra that Files raced instead of that i30 for the rest of the year.

The Nordpass car was run by Jamsport and is still on the sidelines, they don't own it, they were contracted for media day. Someone at Jamsport said that Mitchell doesn't think he can win in the car, so it looks like he's joining them to race on the TOCA support bill.

[Andrew Abbott]

Originally Posted by 5five

I just looked up the lap time difference between TCR UK and BTCC around Snetterton - Josh Files did a 1:56.748 in qualifying, whereas Turks did a 1:55.805 in quali last year.

However, the TCR UK cars look so slow and sedate in comparison on the live stream which is clearly not reflected in the lap times - I wonder whether it is that they aren't as "on the limit" as a NGTC car through the corners?

Some more data (NGTC vs TCR), not considering weather / track temperature / season etc. follows:

Fastest Brands Hatch Indy qualifying laps:

NGTC - 2022, Colin Turkington, BMW 330e M Sport, 47.539
TCR - 2018, Dan Lloyd, Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR, 48.483 (+0.944s)

Fastest Donington Park National qualifying laps:

NGTC - 2022, Jake Hill, BMW 330e M Sport, 1:08.418
TCR - 2022, Adam Shepherd, Hyundai i30 N TCR, 1:09.890 (+1.472s)

Fastest Oulton Park Island qualifying laps:

NGTC - 2022, Tom Ingram, Hyundai i30 N Fastback, 1:25.468
TCR - 2022, Max Hart, Hyundai i30 N TCR, 1:26.952 (+1.484s)

Fastest Croft qualifying lap:

NGTC - 2022, Colin Turkington, BMW 330e M Sport - 1:22.468
TCR - 2019, Lewis Kent, Hyundai i30 N TCR - 1:23.309 (+0.841s)

[coffinpilot]

Bruce Winfields Mum has put up a gofundme. I heard gthat he didn't have the full money for the year. but that means that three of the top four on the grid for Snetterton are short.
Files admitted he didn't have budget for anything and will be coaching, Shepherd said in a press release that they didn't have the full year. And now Winfield?
Not good look is it?

[antnee]

While not strictly for TCR UK, it is about TCR in the UK.

BEC (British Endurance Championship) have been granted official TCR Class license from WSC. IMO this will support more teams getting cars which can run in 2 official championships

https://www.british-endurance-champi...fficial-stamp/

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by antnee

BEC (British Endurance Championship) have been granted official TCR Class license from WSC. IMO this will support more teams getting cars which can run in 2 official championships

How much difference will it actually make? BEC already had a class for TCR homologated cars running to WSC regs/BOP. This just allows them to use the official TCR branding, and presumably they will now be included in the TCR World Rankings.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by redshoes

How much difference will it actually make? BEC already had a class for TCR homologated cars running to WSC regs/BOP. This just allows them to use the official TCR branding, and presumably they will now be included in the TCR World Rankings.

I'd say very little. Given that there are few drivers that are using TCR cars in various club racing series, I'd suggest that most drivers chose the series that most appeals and not whether it is an 'official' TCR competition.

[V8 Fireworks]

Originally Posted by 5five

However, the TCR UK cars look so slow and sedate in comparison on the live stream which is clearly not reflected in the lap times - I wonder whether it is that they aren't as "on the limit" as a NGTC car through the corners?

Presumably there are a greater proportion of amateur drivers who aren't pushing the cars as hard as professionals/semi-professionals. The cars themselves shouldn't look that much slower.

[SSmith]

Lewis Brown switching to Volcano Motorsport and Audi in TCR Europe, joining up with Isaac Smith. Its a great opportunity for him. It takes a championship contender away from TCR UK, but the chances of bigger and better things career-wise are probably greater competing in TCR Europe than TCR UK.

https://www.touringcartimes.com/2023...europe-switch/

[coffinpilot]

So Lewis Brown has gone. Adam Shepherd entered the season without a full budget. Bruce Winfield's Mum has a gofundme for him, the Elantra will possibly be driven by someone who has never raced occasionally and Files was a one off. Rick Kerry was announced as Snetterton only.
Not as healthy as first thought with Neil Trotter gone and Jamie Tonks trying to raise money for the next races.
Still looks like 19 cars for round 2.

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

So Lewis Brown has gone. Adam Shepherd entered the season without a full budget. Bruce Winfield's Mum has a gofundme for him, the Elantra will possibly be driven by someone who has never raced occasionally and Files was a one off. Rick Kerry was announced as Snetterton only.
Not as healthy as first thought with Neil Trotter gone and Jamie Tonks trying to raise money for the next races.
Still looks like 19 cars for round 2.

All does not seem completely well in TCR UK. The Chameleon-entered CUPRA seemed competitive so I wonder if someone else will pay to race it.

Thinking positively though, we should still see some decent racing and entries should remain far higher than we saw pre-2022.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

So Lewis Brown has gone. Adam Shepherd entered the season without a full budget. Bruce Winfield's Mum has a gofundme for him, the Elantra will possibly be driven by someone who has never raced occasionally and Files was a one off. Rick Kerry was announced as Snetterton only.
Not as healthy as first thought with Neil Trotter gone and Jamie Tonks trying to raise money for the next races.
Still looks like 19 cars for round 2.

Files was always a one-off. Luke Sargeant should be in the car for the rest of the year.

Kerry original said he would do Snetterton and then see how things went before committing to any more. Most recent comments I've seen from him were positive so hopefully he'll be back.

The fluctuating entry list and drivers doing part seasons shouldn't come as a huge surprise to anyone, it's been like that since day one. It's the same for any other series at this level.