Mg

[MG-ZS EX260]

right! MG havet confirmed for this year yet althugh thee 2003 car has been seen. I think MG are planning an all out attack on the 2003 BTCC i think they will run 3 cars and at least 1 independent team will use the ZS, the 2003 ZS does look different to the 2002 car wheras honda have the SAME car as last year and Vauxhall dont seem to have done much, i really think MG will be the force to beat, i wonder why they are leaving it late to announce there campaign, could be interesting (sorry if im talkin ***!)

[Sim_Da_BTCC_Man]

As it looks right now there will only be three MGs on the grid :(. Reid, Hughes and one of last years TAK drivers. I looks unlikely TAK will return but i'd like to be proved wrong on that one. As for an indy team, Only beacon have unconfirmed what cars they will use so you never know. We'll have to wait and see;)

[John]

It seems strange to me why they havent confirmed yet. Its not as if there has been any doubt whether they will compete or not, which makes me think it means they are holding off to announce something good (eg a third driver or something like that).

On the other hand it could just be that the person given the job of sending out the press release lost it!! ;)

The deadline for entries is coming up so hopefully all will be revealed soon!

[MG-ZS EX260]

Originally posted by John
It seems strange to me why they havent confirmed yet. Its not as if there has been any doubt whether they will compete or not, which makes me think it means they are holding off to announce something good (eg a third driver or something like that).

yeah, thats what i thought, i really hope some independants snap up those 2001/2002 MG-ZS's if there is only 3 on the grid i will be gutted, also does anyone know if MG still have the sponsor ship deal with mg? i take it they have as its still on the webiste, i hope hotwheels make a model of the ZS, that would be wicked.

[John]

I dont see any reason why the old MGs wouldnt be used, they were good in the hands of TAK and the works MGs were pretty good last year. The only thing I can think of is if they are updating the works cars to 2003 spec instead of building new ones, or if the support MG offer to a privateer team is not as good as with Vauxhall or Honda. But in reality they deserve to be out there this year.

[burfield17]

I hope MG do well this year, not speaking ill of vauxhall or anything, its just that i was a bit bored with the astras winning all the time, but on the basis of last year with honda and MG on the pace, i dont think there will be one team on the loose this year. OH YEH and is it true that Pegeuot (or how ever u spell it) are going to run a smaller car this year?

[Ann]

I don't imagine they would have done the test in Spain if they weren't planning to enter but nothing is certain until its certain!

[burfield17]

I didnt realised that they hadnt confirmed, one just assumed they had, what with all the testing and revealing the new car and everything, but im 99.9% sure that they will return, they have no reason to pull out, after such a brilliant 2002 season.

[Ed- the MG fan]

Is it true that a 4 Cylinder engiene will be used instead of thre V6

And lets all hope the chasis is as good as last years. Although I'm 100% behind MG and thier driver, they did always go on about that chasis didn't they

[John]

Originally posted by Ed- the MG fan
Is it true that a 4 Cylinder engiene will be used instead of thre V6

And lets all hope the chasis is as good as last years. Although I'm 100% behind MG and thier driver, they did always go on about that chasis didn't they

Thats what I heard - cant remember where though (might have been on here?).

The V6s always sounded nice! (wherether in the MG or Ford)

[burfield17]

There were some rumours that ford might be joining again as a works team, is this true? or just another rumour

[Sim_Da_BTCC_Man]

Originally posted by burfield17
There were some rumours that ford might be joining again as a works team, is this true? or just another rumour


Autosport Rummored that in 2004 they would be back with a TDi Ford Focus, but once again this rummor faded out. You never know though.

[Reynard]

One thing I've learnt in some 20 years of following motorsport is that nothing is ever certain until it happens. Best bit of advice is sit tight and hope for the best.

I've come across the rumours about Ford - I believe they were in Autosport a while back - but don't know what to make of it. I seem to recall that one of the reasons that Ford quit the BTCC in the first place was to concentrate all their resources on the WRC, but now that both Coln and Carlos have moved to Citroen, things might change in the motorsport division at the blue oval.

[John]

I recall that they didnt want to use the Focus because it was the car they used for rallying and the mondeo was too big for the new regs (well disadvantaged) so they werent going to enter.

[mark]

Originally posted by burfield17
I hope MG do well this year, not speaking ill of vauxhall or anything, its just that i was a bit bored with the astras winning all the time,
Even tho I'm a Vaux fan, I would partly agree with you. I think it'd be nice to have a cose season with MG, Honda, Vauxhall and poss Proton all mixing it for the top spot. How great would that be! But of course, I'd still love it if Vaux got the treble! ;)

[MG-ZS EX260]

i really think MG will pull out all the stops to wi the BTCC in 2003, i love the sound of the V6, unique in the Tourer field but hey need he torque of a 4cyl, i think the chassis will be a little improved with a 4cyl engine and as we know it has the slices in the splitter like the honda so you can see the front tyres (dont know why theyve done that tho)

[MGmad]

Well, of the pack chasing Vauxhall, MG look the most likely to capture them.

If they perhaps tune up the engine a bit more and sharpen the suspension to ride the tighter corners (I feel that a weak point of last season was that they lost ground on JT and YM in the sharp corners) then they go a step closer to a top team. MG need to follow in the steps of Egg Sport. maybe I am talking out my backside but it might, just might, work.

[John]

What do you mean by 'follow in the footsteps of Egg Sport' ? Do you mean run a satellite team?

[thommo_fan]

what makes you think MG will be the biggest challenger to vauxhall next year?

based on the end of last year surely honda will be ahead of MG.

[MG-ZS EX260]

Well, MG really want the title and reid is gaging for the title, and Hnda havent made a new carfor 2003 and MG have and it looks quite different. But yes i supose honda seem strong

[John]

Over the season as a whole MG were clearly more competitive than Honda

-MG 2nd in team championship (ahead of Egg), Honda 4th
-MG 2nd in manufacturers' championship, Honda 3rd (over 100 points behind)
-MG drivers 4th and 6th, Honda drivers 5th and 9th

However its also true to say that Honda appeared stronger at the end of the season than MG (who on occassions seemed to be fighting the TAK cars for no. 1 MG position on track).

I dont really have a conclusion to draw on here - just to say it'll be great fun seeing which comes out on top - especially as Reid and Neal will be wanting to win the championship that has so far escaped them! Should be good! :)

[Insider]

Over the season MG may have been more competitive, but not at the end. Honda were using a crankshaft from a road car until the final meeting at Donington! Honda didn't get their first run in the car until the media day and are getting far less financial assistance from Honda than WSR from MG. Arena performed miracles just to get that car out last year.

MG have missed their chance and should have stuck with their young drivers rather than Reid - he's past it!

[MG-ZS EX260]

omg, how dare u say reid is 'past it' , reid is the best driver in th BTCC field, arghhhhhh, hes a wicked driver, after uve said that just watch him win the title! :p

[John]

Reid is one of the (erm how can I put this in a politically correct way?!) less young drivers on the grid, but he's far from past it. He regulary out qualifies his team mate who isn't exactly slow and has performed some great manoevers.

He totally deserves to be #1 (and should have been in 2000 in my opinion).

And he has to be in the Championship for many years so I can continue to play my 'count how many times he mentions the name of the car he drives' game!! ;) (I notice Hughes has started playing as well now!)

[The Stig]

Do I detect a little cynicism there John ?
Anthony Reid is excellent - and better for the championship as a whole than quite a few less mature competitors. Most of the young crop of entrants could (and should) learn much from him.
MG versus Honda ? probably Honda this year. Matt Neal is a huge acquisition and might go close to the championship, given reliability and accident avoidance.

[John]

Originally posted by The Stig
Do I detect a little cynicism there John ?

Not really - I'm all for it as he's paid to promote the make he's driving for. First noticed it back in his Nissan days when every fifth word seemed to be 'Nissan' then moved to Ford and got the word 'Ford' into as many sentences as possible, and now its MG. The funniest bit is though once he moves to a new team his old one is then 'another manufacturer' (eg at Knockhill when he's talking about the hairpin he says 'a few years ago when I was driving for another manufacturer I made up all my places at the hairpin' - ie Ford 2000) ;)

[touring fan]

It's when he starts mentioning ALL the sponsors on his car aswell that nobody will want to interview him (on account of all the editing it will take to get it short enough to fit in the slot). I prefer to think of him as vry experienced rather than past it. :D

[Ed- the MG fan]

Ried's a class driver, and he better win the 2003 champioship

[The Stig]

Sure you've got a point there John, going to look out for it even more. Was it Anthony Reid at knockhill last year on the ITV Saturday highlights show that almost tipped VBH off the back of a three wheel bike ? Like to see another "experienced" Scotsman do well this year, Leslie in the Proton.

[John]

Originally posted by The Stig
Sure you've got a point there John, going to look out for it even more. Was it Anthony Reid at knockhill last year on the ITV Saturday highlights show that almost tipped VBH off the back of a three wheel bike ? Like to see another "experienced" Scotsman do well this year, Leslie in the Proton.

Well he wont do it now (bet he's read this and developed a complex!) but look for it on past broadcasts if not!!

Yeah it was him with the quad bike - expect it was a good way to make her hold on tighter - or is that just me?!? ;)

Yep the Proton should do better this year - so hopefully win number one (and Davids first BTCC win since 99) will be just round the corner! :)

[The Stig]

Thats perhaps the drawback of a pretty good first season. You then have a yardstick to measure your progress. Proton now need to convert good races and finishes into more podiums and perhaps a victory or two by seasons end. MG were pretty quick out of the box and Honda got better and better last year, Proton should be looking to make that sort of progress this year. Really hope they do because the more teams that keep Vauxhall honest the better. No co-incidence to me that those three teams (Vauxhall aside), had the benefits of some huge experience in their respective teams. David Leslie, Anthony Reid and the late Will Hoy. No disrespect to their drivers and driving partners intended.