British Touring Cars: fisticuffs!

I recorded ITV4's coverage of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) races at the Rockingham race circuit last Sunday, and I've finally got round to starting to watch it. It's a daunting task, as they broadcast the whole day's events, including all the support races as well as the day's three BTCC rounds, from 11ish in the morning to 6 in the evening.

There's been a lot of tension in the Touring Car Championship this year because the series is in a state of transition, from the existing FIA-rules based S2000 formula (highly tuned normally aspirated 2 litre engines, modified suspension, production saloon and coupe bodies, light-weight chassis, etc.) to the new Next Generation Touring Car spec, AKA NGTC (turbo engines, wider track, fewer lightweight components, etc: you can google/wikipedia the details for yourself). This year teams were allowed to choose whether to go over to the much cheaper to run full NGTC spec car (but which would obviously cost a bit to develop initially), stick with the expensive to run but proven S2000 one, or a hybrid of the two, with an NGTC engine in an S2000 car.

At the moment, the S2000 cars have more complex internals to the engines, more exotic materials and light-weight components, and are therefore more expensive to run; but because BTCC didn't follow the FIA route and reduce the engine capacity to 1.6 litres (as used in this year's World Rally Championship) when transitioning from S2000 rules to the turbo engines, they would obviously be much more powerful, at full boost, than even the most highly sophisticated of the normally-aspirated S2000 ones. This would have meant that the S2000 spec cars would not only be more expensive to run, but would have had a performance disadvantage in all but the most twisty of circuits where their more sophisticated chassis would hold sway. Also, it would have meant that the result of each race would have been a foregone conclusion based on the circuit layout. In any case, it doesn't matter if the cars have parity over the season: to follow the BTCC ethos, there has to be close racing on track.

As a result, the turbo boost on the NGTC engined cars (whether the car is full NGTC spec or a hybrid) has been reduced to try to ensure parity. The hybrid cars have an NGTC engine in an S2000 chassis, with some limitation on components, so I imagine their turbo boost level is capped to a fairly low level, where the full NGTC should be allowed a little more boost to compensate for their weight/chassis disadvantage. The whole thing is supposed to work out so that every type of car has a chance of competing at every circuit, so where the S2000 cars have the advantage on the twisties, the turbo cars have a better chance on the straights. All of this is an attempt to deliver the classic BTCC product, which is very close racing by high-end professional racing teams, and to give people who love motor racing and hate the processional aspects of series such as Formula 1 something to watch.

Of course, teams and drivers on each side of the divide feel they are at a disadvantage during this transition year. Jason Plato is driving for Silverline Chevrolet who are fielding S2000 spec Chevy Cruzes this year. It's a winning combination, and Plato and Silverline took the BTCC championship last year. His arch-rival Matt Neal is driving for the works Honda Racing team (run by Team Dynamics), in a hybrid Honda Civic, with an NGTC engine in an S2000 chassis. It has to be said that despite the S2000 chassis, the handling of the Honda falls somewhat short of that of the Chevy, but is still producing consistently faster lap times - mainly because as soon as they hit a straight, despite the turbo boost restriction, they are much quicker accelerating, and can just drive past the normally aspirated S2000 cars, particularly on the longer straights.

Despite having a car which is slower in the twisties, Matt Neal has been able to hold up the sweeter handling Chevy of Jason Plato, keeping in front until he can blast away on the straight. This has lead to double frustration on Plato's part, because his driving skill and his Chevy's handling advantage can rarely be used (not that Neal isn't also a skillful driver, but he's hardly having to apply himself this year). Should Plato get his Cruze into the bends first, however, he is able to gap the Honda and the other chasing hybrids and NGTCs: the question is, can the pure S2000s make a big enough gap to avoid being passed on the long straights of circuits like Snetterton or Thruxton? The answer to this seems to be "No" at the moment.

Neal complains that he gets blocked by weaving cars on the straights, so that he is unable to use the advantage that his car has. In my opinion though, given the "single move" rule, it's easier to block with a slow car in the twisties than it is with a car that is slow on the straights. Despite disliking Plato's arrogant attitude (and he's always been like this) I think I side with him. The Hondas should not be walking away with this year's championship. If a car is only fast on the straights, and can just drive past the competition without the need for any skill on the driver's part, it's not motor racing. Having said that Plato's arrogant, Neal is very smug, and that's not a very likeable trait either.

All this boiled over during the qualifying for last weekend's BTCC meet at Rockingham, with it's long start/finish straight on the 'oval' part of the circuit (it, like most of motor racing's so-called ovals, is a rectangle with rounded corners). In trying to better his provisional pole position time, Plato aggressively blocked Matt Neal from passing him at the end of the straight, so he wouldn't be held up in the twisty in-field part of the circuit. When they came around again to the straight, Neal drove up to the back of Plato's car, and rammed him from behind. This just demonstrates the speed differential, that a Touring Car could drive into the back of another one (outside of a braking zone, of course) so hard that it's described as a ramming! Touring cars have always in the past been matched for speed, so that it was down to the drivers to provide the racing, not the car's technological advantage. That's what's always given us the close racing we love in BTCC.

Despite these shenanigans, Plato posted the fastest time for pole position, and triumphally and childishly flipped Neal the bird, at which Matt Neal completely lost it. In an astonishing display of unprofessional behaviour, all caught on camera, Neal went for Plato, and both had to be held back by their team crews. Rather oddly, to my mind, Neal threatened to "rip [Plato's] f***ing face off", while Plato returned to his motorhome, still giving the single-finger salute (what's wrong with the traditional British vee, by the way?).

Neither driver came out of this well, both looking petulant and childish. Both were fined £1,000 and had 3 points put on their driving licenses: these must be adding up by now, and they should both be careful that they don't get a racing ban. It was absolutely hilarious, though, and I wish they'd just let them get to it. As commentator and former BTCC competitor Tim Harvey said, I guess it shows how much it means to them.

It has to be remembered that this problem is going to last one season only, and next year they'll all be in NGTC cars: they'll all just be  known as Touring Cars then, and we'll be able to get back to single-class, first past the post racing, and Plato and Neal will have to find another reason to hate each other ... not that they have ever needed one before.

Experiences in Canada, Pt 3

In Whistler, 10 July

We stayed overnight at the Nita Lodge hotel, built on the shores of Lake Nita, a little outside the village of Whistler itself. The rooms were beautiful, lined with local wood and stone, and the restaurant had a deck overlooking the lake, with fantastic views of the mountains behind.

The Rocky Mountaineer staff dropped our bags off at the hotel, so we were free to join a walking tour of the Olympic village. One thing that surprised me was how warm it was at this altitude (2,142 feet) : one of the restaurants had cool water misting the air above its customers sitting outdoors, and suntan lotion was a must. Well, that lasted the first day and some of our second day there, after which it clouded over and became much cooler, but no worse than at home.

Most of the centre is like any other town, full of shops and eateries, but with the distinction of being totally traffic free. Cars and coaches must be left in car-parks off the village’s bypass, leaving the village centre completely free for pedestrians and cyclists. Cyclists are only allowed to ride on the trails, and are obliged to walk their mounts through the village, dismounting at the barriers surrounding the centre: being Canadian, on the whole, this rule was pretty strictly observed.

The village of Whistler sits at the foot of the mountain of the same name, and of Blackcombe Mountain. Whistler was used for the skiing events, and in summer the pistes are used by mountain bikers. We sat in one of the outdoor restaurants for a time, watching the bikers hurtle down the mountain – they only rode down, taking advantage of the gondola to get the top of the runs.

There are access roads to various stages of the downhill runs, put there by the Olympics organisers to allow them to recover skiers should they have the misfortune to crash: this comes in handy for the mountain bikers, and we saw the ambulance in use a couple of times while we were there.

At one point, a bear and her cub were spotted on the fringes of the runs, so everyone had to stop until she’d wandered away. I think the cyclist in the photo above was the first one to spot her in the trees, and was looking at her as he passed.

That night we had a very nice meal at the hotel, together with a very expensive bottle of wine: drinking in Canada is not quite as expensive as in major European cities, but it’s a lot dearer than at home.

 

In Whistler, 11 July

After a good night’s sleep, we had a bit of a wander around the village, looking at some of the sights, including the Olympic and Paralympic symbols. Of course, I had to support with "my people" so I had my picture taken beside the latter: not sure I agree with the concept of the broken rings - I don't think I like the connotations of that.

Then we queued for the gondola to the top of Whistler Mountain. With fantastic views of the Olympic village on the way up, and of the mountain ranges at the top (alt. 7,494 feet), it’s a trip well worth taking.

As can be seen from the photos above, the day was a rather gloomy one, but that didn’t really spoil the trip: the mountains looked moody and magnificent – very hard to capture in a photo.

As well as the views, there are a restaurant and a gift shop, of course! The food there was typical Canadian: Burger, Steak or battered fish sandwiches. You’d think, being an outdoorsy sort of country, the food would be healthier, but it is typical North American – except that you can get fried fish in your bun in addition to the usual stuff. Anyhoo, I really liked the Inukshuk statue at the top of the mountain.

This particular one, called Ilanaaq, was the symbol of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Not all inuksuit (which is the plural of “inukshuk”) are human shaped – in fact, these are in the minority, and form a subset of inuksuit called “inunnguat” (the singular of which is “inunnguaq”). They are cairns made by Canadian Inuit and other First Nation people as a landmark: anyway, you can look it up for yourself in Wikipedia. It’s quite interesting.

Once we’d finished taking in the views at the top of Whistler Mountain, we took another gondola across to Blackcombe Mountain (marketed as the “Peak-to-Peak”), and then the chairlift back down to Whistler Village. We had packed our camera away, being scared that we might drop it, and so missed the opportunity to photograph a group of black bears lazily feeding on the grass just a couple of dozen feet below us, and less than half a mile from the village. One was lolling on his side, munching at the grass beside his head – the very image of laziness!

 

Return to Vancouver, 11 July

The return trip was the reverse of our ride up, but, keeping the same seats, we’d get the views on the other side.

We were all to have another night and day in Vancouver before Phyllis took her flight up to Powell River to meet up with her cousin. Our day sightseeing in Vancouver will be the start of the next instalment!