Edenbridge At Croft

[Amanda]

According to Autosport today Edenbridge Racing will be at Croft this weekend, despite not receiving the 500rpm increase it wanted for Michael Bentwood's BMW.

Good luck Michael!

[Claire]

Great news, let the battle between him, Luke and Tom resume!!
Must be quite frustrating though to have the restriction,espacially on the faster circuits, good luck for this weekend.

[Cleland Fan]

I don't think the BMW will be at that much of a disadvantage at Croft. Norman Simon did brilliantly there last year. The traction out of the slower corners and the final hairpin really helps.

[Toto]

I don't see how anyone can enter a championship and then complain about the rules. Surely they knew them before ...

[Les]

very true.

It did seem to struggle round there and at one point looked to be struggling.

[Peter Briggs]

The reason that we are trying to raise our rev limit to be in line with the rest of the world is that the 6 cyl engine has a big disadvantage. In 2002 the tyre we all had to use in G,B. suited a RWD car better so although we had a straight line speed disadvantage we recovered lost time by using the tyre better. In 2003 Dunlop have produced a tyre which has assisted the FWD cars therefore we have lost the equalising ingredient.At Croft Michael was quickest in qualifying but in the race Boardmans Peugeot drove past on the straight without any problem and then it is impossible for us to pass in the bends.If we had slightly more power ,still not as much as the Peugeot and Honda then the best driver would win and not the driver who has the fastest car in a straight line.

[Alan]

Rather expensive way around this of course Peter would be to run an ETCC car next year - I believe they have the higher rev limit you want!!!

Doesn't help much this year of course!:(

I can't remember what the exhaust is like on the current car but weren't the MG's allowed a twin exhaust instead of a rev limit increase? Would that be an alternative?

[watchthisspace]

not being funny Peter but maybe you should have developed a new car at the start of the season like the Varta mob, the BMW is ageing somewhat in touring terms its bound to be a bit down on power compared to the newly engineered pug and honda. However i cant help but think that the bmw has the overall package to win the proddy title and hey you aint doing to bad really so quit the winging and get the bentwood bruiser to bruise a bit more to get to the front. It is his title if he goes for it!!

[Peter Briggs]

We spent a lot of time over the winter totaly rebuilding both cars and testing extensively to find as much time as possible in the chassis and brakes. The BMW is still the best all round Production car however 6 cyl. engines develop power at higher revs,that is why every other country has a rev limit above the 8500 of U.K. Unfortunately the 2003 Dunlop tyre is more durable than the tyre we all used last season and as our car has been developed to save tyres and brakes we have lost our advantage in this area. If you remember last year James Kaye carried an extra 50 kgs for some of the season.All we ask is to be given a fair chance and allow the rules in U.K. to be in line with the rest of the world then the best driver and team should win. Any way I have not kept on about this you have just revived it. Thanks for reminding me.

[Craig Antill]

Without wanting to sound rude, Peter, but if you don't like the current rules and think you could do better overseas, why not go that route?

As has been stated the rules were set down for all to see long before the start of the season. I can appreciate that you believed you would be able to overcome the issues that running a 6 cylinder car would present, and that you feel hard done by with the way the new tyres have worked out but, at the end of the day, would you feel so bitter about it if thing had gone the other way and the new tyres had favoured the Bimmer rather than your rivals?

This is a sport (well, supposedly!) and to win you have to have to be right at the top of your game I have no doubt that you have done a superb job with your cars as your team is highly respected but, to win, you have to have a better overall package than all of your rivals - that means engineers, drivers, car, etc.

I mean, you could have bought the Civics or built a 307 if you felt you could do a better job with them, could you not?