Rd. 9 Donington, FP1&2, Qualifying and Races 1, 2 & 3

[Mondeo2]

Free Practice 1 to start at 9:40am

[gatesy]

live timing not working for anyone else?

[mbailey06]

Live timing should be working fine, and the two Hondas and Fords setting the early pace.

[mbailey06]

As expected times are quicker than last year due to the slight circuit alterations, but not by too much.

[mbailey06]

Red flag has stopped the session.

[fiesta_sav]

Green flag

[mbailey06]

Jackson up to 3rd, turns out George spun off at the Old Hairpin to cause red flag.

[Mondeo2]

Red flag has stopped the session.
John George off at Old Hairpin

[mbailey06]

Boardman up to 2nd! Now that is a surprise.

[mbailey06]

Times looking mighty close, barely 0.5 of a second covering the top 11.

[mbailey06]

Owy starting to set times at last, don't know what the problem was but I expect him to feature up the sharp end in 10 minutes time.

[mbailey06]

Jackson leaps into top spot with barely 5 minutes remaining.

[mbailey06]

First blood to Plato in FP1, but judging by the closeness of the times come 3.30 for qualifying it'll be very difficult to predict who will start tomorrow from pole position.

[Mondeo2]

Plato fastest at 1:11.842 and 99.16 mph, I wonder if we'll see anyone break 100mph average lap speed in FP2 or Qualifying.

[Mondeo2]

FP 2 in 4 minutes.

[mbailey06]

FP2 now underway.

[mbailey06]

No more Martin Depper, engine problems mean we are down by 1 car for tomorrow.

[Mondeo2]

No more Depper for this weekend, engine is broke and no spare.

[Mondeo2]

No more Martin Depper, engine problems mean we are down by 1 car for tomorrow.

Snap, you beat me to it.:D

[mbailey06]

Plato already into 1.11s, he may prove unstoppable with such searing pace shown so far.

[Mondeo2]

Sheeden currently faster than Plato's time from FP1.

[mbailey06]

The two Fords moving into closer order now in 5th and 6th.

[mbailey06]

Boardman moves back into the picture looking like he can follow up his impressive FP1 form.

[mbailey06]

Come on Kane! My favourite is in the top 3 and looking very quick today.

[mbailey06]

Plato squeezes back into P1 by 0.003 of a second, with Jackson up to 4th.

[mbailey06]

Shedden and Plato suddenly trading fastest laps to see the bar go down by nearly 4 tenths of a second.

[Mondeo2]

No competitive time from Collard yet.

[mbailey06]

I know the track has been altered a little but comparing last years times but I find it amazing that John George's time in FP2 would have put him on pole last year.

[mbailey06]

Respectable lap from Kaye at the end there to be just 2 tenths off Owy's fastest. Right I'm off, back for qualifying later at 3.30!

[Mondeo2]

No competitive time from Collard yet.
Looks like he got out just at the end to post a lap at the back of the times.
Good time from TOC. Come on boys.;)

[Mondeo2]

Qualifying to start in 1 minute.

[mbailey06]

20 of the 21 runners out on track starting to set times now.

[mbailey06]

The Fords take up the early running in qualifying, but the times should considerably improve by the end.

[mbailey06]

Only Kane not in the running so far :(

[mbailey06]

2 Hondas followed by 2 Fords at the moment now.

[mbailey06]

Red Flag stops the session.

[Mondeo2]

Red Flag stops the session.

Neate in the gravel, still no mention of Kane.

[mbailey06]

The two Fords sneak up to the top of the time sheets with a few minutes left.

[mbailey06]

Ford 1-2 at the end of qualifying, despite it being nearly identical to Shedden's fastest time in FP2 I'm awaiting Plato's opinion.

[Mondeo2]

Ford 1, 2, needless to say I'm happy with that, hopefully TOCA will be too and no further restrictions necessary, if they are necessary, then C'est La Vie, but doubtlessly some won' t be happy.
Roll on for more good results tomorrow.

[fiesta_sav]

Ford 1-2 at the end of qualifying, despite it being nearly identical to Shedden's fastest time in FP2 I'm awaiting Plato's opinion.

as am i

but come on A TEAM AON 1-2 CANT WAIT FOR TOMORROW NOW

[Daz-NCFC]

Could someone post more details of the grid?

Live Timing hasn't worked for me during Qualifying, so been reading all your forum replys, which have been great.

[fiesta_sav]

1. chilton
2. to-c
3. shedden
4 plato
5. neal

[Daz-NCFC]

1. chilton
2. to-c
3. shedden
4 plato
5. neal

Cheers Fiesta, good grid, all the title contenders up the front :cool:

[btccrox]

Sandbaggers

[fiesta_sav]

call us sav or mark m8

and no worries

[Daz-NCFC]

Nice, Sounds good.

Good effort from Hollamby for 18th, as there is like 22 cars or something, so he has like 3 or 4 cars behind him.

Looking forward to the races already, should be great.

Hope Martin Johnson set a time in Quali, big fan of him me :D

[fiesta_sav]

01 Tom Chilton 1:11.328
02 Tom Onslow-Cole +0.081
03 Gordon Shedden +0.120
04 Jason Plato +0.214
05 Matt Neal +0.276
06 Andrew Jordan +0.389
07 Paul O Neill +0.494
08 Robert Collard +0.506
09 Tom Boardman +0.588
10 Alex MacDowall +0.591

from touringcartimes

[Mondeo2]

Nice, Sounds good.

Good effort from Hollamby for 18th, as there is like 22 cars or something, so he has like 3 or 4 cars behind him.

Looking forward to the races already, should be great.

Hope Martin Johnson set a time in Quali, big fan of him me :D
Only two cars behind Shaun by the look of it, we lost Depper in FP1 due to engine and no spare. Kane never set a time in Qualifying, don't know if that means he won't be able to race, they may let him start from the back of the grid.

[Mondeo2]

Just checked on TSL, Kane is starting from the back.

[mbailey06]

Well there should be no complaints on the result of quali, with the Fords only a tenth up, and Shedden set the same sort of time in FP2.

[Mondeo2]

Well there should be no complaints on the result of quali, with the Fords only a tenth up, and Shedden set the same sort of time in FP2.
Yes, but he who shall remain nameless, reckons the Fords should be 1.5 secs down on his lap times and that they still have an unfair advantage in getting out of the corners quicker than others.

[rossk26]

Fords are far too quick. It's annoying still. Ruining the championship for me this season.

Would be nice to see what sort of times Plato, Neal and Sheddon could set in those fords. Would be interesting to see. Probably be quicker than the porsches!

Dear Alan Gow,

Sort it out now.

Thank You

[Mondeo2]

Fords are far too quick. It's annoying still. Ruining the championship for me this season.


On what basis do you come to that conclusion?
Shedden was fastest FP2 1:11:341
Chilton Qualifying 1:11:328
Shedden and TOC set identical speeds through sector 1
Jordan quickest through sector 2 by 0.2 mph than Chilton
Chilton with less ballast 1.4 mph faster than Shedden.
All seems comparable and fair.
Why assume they can't have that pace purely on merit and hard work, why insist it is by unfair advantage, Only TOCA have the data to insist it is by unfair advantage and I will accept it if they decide as such.

[rossk26]

Simple fact.

Neither driver has been this competitive in their whole BTCC career.

I'm not saying they are terrible drivers, but in my opinion (which I am allowed) I have no idea why they beat the likes of Plato, Neal and Jackson who are proven race winners and proven quick drivers.

[Pato]

Fords are far too quick. It's annoying still. Ruining the championship for me this season.

Would be nice to see what sort of times Plato, Neal and Sheddon could set in those fords. Would be interesting to see. Probably be quicker than the porsches!

Dear Alan Gow,

Sort it out now.

Thank You

You let Plato log into your account or something?

[rossk26]

Yes "Pato" i let plato log into my account.

Funny thing is, ask any other driver on the grid and they have the same thoughts. The fords have an unfair advantage.

FACT

[Mondeo2]

Simple fact.

Neither driver has been this competitive in their whole BTCC career.

I'm not saying they are terrible drivers, but in my opinion (which I am allowed) I have no idea why they beat the likes of Plato, Neal and Jackson who are proven race winners and proven quick drivers.
So how do you account for Chiltons pace at the Brands finale last year? What unfair advantage did he have in race 1 to stay in the lead until the last bend of the last lap? Both TOC and TC have won races before sitting in the Focus. Has it not occured to you that both drivers may have been given the chance to develop the car to their liking and that is why they are getting the results. They've beaten Plato because Plato is running full ballast, Neal is also running more ballast. As far as I'm aware the Fords started on the same restrictors and boost as the ngtc engines, they have now been restricted on both counts, lpg has a lower performance than petrol so in my opinion Mountune have done a fantastic job of developing the engine along with the development work that Arena have put into the rest of the car. That is why it is running at the front.

[btccrox]

The fords won't be up the front for long with both Aon drivers wanting 1st and the fastest cars behind. Tyres will go off or they'll panic and make mistakes......or Neal and Plato will go for the nothing to lose approach. neal has to at least. :)

[Mondeo2]

The fords won't be up the front for long with both Aon drivers wanting 1st and the fastest cars behind. Tyres will go off or they'll panic and make mistakes......or Neal and Plato will go for the nothing to lose approach. neal has to at least. :)

I think Plato will play it cool like he did last time out and wait for a safe move, he can't afford to take any unnecessary chances, he'l play the first race safe bag as many points as he can and if he doesn't win he'll have less ballast for the next race. Matt Neal though will probably chance it a bit more.

[Eunos]

Dudes let's give the whole "OH N0Es teh Fordz are way 2 Fa$t" and "Plat0 iz such a wing£r$" a rest, It's getting mighty Tedious and frankly making thsi Forum very Uninteresting to visit :)

Anyway greetings from Premier inn East Midlands Airport..

I have to say iam impressed with the Tracks turn around and generally looks pretty good, My only complaint is it was kind off Fend for yourself when it came to Parking.

Should be 3 good races Tomorrow, I think we could be heading to a 5 way final :D..Hoping for a Beemer win Tomorrow ¬.¬

[Mondeo2]

Dudes let's give the whole "OH N0Es teh Fordz are way 2 Fa$t" and "Plat0 iz such a wing£r$" a rest, It's getting mighty Tedious and frankly making thsi Forum very Uninteresting to visit :)

Anyway greetings from Premier inn East Midlands Airport..



Are you in the bar on the sauce? I had to go through that 3 times before it made sense.;):D

[Reidy_fan]

Eunos, reckon you should set Ken the croc onto these forumites:D Belinda says she will lend a hand with the biting with her sharp teeth ;)

[marshal-beej]

Had a good day today. It was good to see a couple of forum members, hopefully may see a few more tomorrow. I am on post 1 which is on the start finish straight, just at the top of the tunnel stairs on the only bit of infield you can spectate on. Come and say hello between sessions.

[Eunos]

Eunos, reckon you should set Ken the croc onto these forumites:D Belinda says she will lend a hand with the biting with her sharp teeth ;)

His stayed at Home this weekend ¬.¬

Doesnt like the rain :p

[Reidy_fan]

belinda is the same, surprising as her native place is in the water. better not post any other comments as ed 1 will ban me:cool:

[Reidy_fan]

Had a good day today. It was good to see a couple of forum members, hopefully may see a few more tomorrow. I am on post 1 which is on the start finish straight, just at the top of the tunnel stairs on the only bit of infield you can spectate on. Come and say hello between sessions.

hard post that one beej, especially with all the grid girls... lucky beggar:D:D:D

[thlbtcc]

Simple fact.

Neither driver has been this competitive in their whole BTCC career.

I'm not saying they are terrible drivers, but in my opinion (which I am allowed) I have no idea why they beat the likes of Plato, Neal and Jackson who are proven race winners and proven quick drivers.

Steady on there, TOC won in his first season in the BMW, proved very competitive when being a number 3 driver at VXR (easily quicker than Neal) and is now beating Chilton in his own team.....................how is that not competitive???!

[team freebie]

Simple fact.

Neither driver has been this competitive in their whole BTCC career.

I'm not saying they are terrible drivers, but in my opinion (which I am allowed) I have no idea why they beat the likes of Plato, Neal and Jackson who are proven race winners and proven quick drivers.

Opinion: a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty. A subjective statement or thought which may be the result of a person's perspective and understanding in contrast to knowledge based on fact. Open to interpretation and likley to be wrong.

Opinion, you are entitled to it.:cool:

Compromise: Lets agree to respect each others opinions no matter how wrong yours might be.;)

[lukeozade0405]

Unfortunately I'm going to have to sky+ this one as I'm off to Tenerife for a week in the morning :D Quali was what I pretty much expected, Fords on the front row with the Chevy's and Honda's filling the next few rows.

See you all in a week.

[simon1220]

Guess the Ford v Plato arguments were just inevitable :rolleyes: Just pathetic!

Otherwise, qualifying was all fair, just wish Neal was a bit higher up, he seems to struggle a bit with ballast in the car, hence Shedden always outqualifying him :(

[Mondeo2]

Guess the Ford v Plato arguments were just inevitable :rolleyes: Just pathetic!

(

Acceptable comment only if somone resists the temptation to make a snipe of some sort if or when he should get interviewed on tv tomorrow.:p

[Mondeo2]

Could we see wet BTCC races today. Track is damp and they have drizzle in the G50 race at the moment. Nigel Moores fastest lap so far is over 4 seconds down on yesterdays dry best lap, so more than just a little damp I'd say.
If it doesn't get too wet tyre choice could come into it. I'd like to see at least one BTCC race where it starts dry then have a down pour forcing the drivers to pit and change for wets.

[Sparkz]

Here's the the dilema, will Plato moan about Neal barging Jordan and Collard out of the way even when he passed both drivers as well?
Or will he moan for the sake of a moan? :p

[Sparkz]

I hate to be rather crude/evil but.. YES!
Plato out! :cool:

[Mondeo2]

I think Tim Harvey was right, it was all his own doing, starting off an unfortunate sequence of events, but if you don't try, you probably lose anyway.

[1.9 TDI]

Tricky one that - it wasn't a hard tap from Plato at all, just the usual sort you see all the time, but I think even without the foam barrier things, with Neal not able to control the car there that could have been messy, so I don't really know what the solution is...

[Mondeo2]

Tricky one that - it wasn't a hard tap from Plato at all, just the usual sort you see all the time, but I think even without the foam barrier things, with Neal not able to control the car there that could have been messy, so I don't really know what the solution is...

Good on Plato for taking the blame on that one. He'll be kicking himself but it's spiced the championship up even more.
Roll on race 2.

[1.9 TDI]

Good on Plato for taking the blame on that one. He'll be kicking himself but it's spiced the championship up even more.
Roll on race 2.

indeed :D and as Tim Harvey said, hes probably the fastest car/driver combo here without weight - so will be interestesting to see what he can do from the back!

[btccrox]

How can it take that many laps to tow Owy's car away? :(

Plato will make a decent reurn in race 2 for a pole in race 3....maybe :)

[Mondeo2]

How can it take that many laps to tow Owy's car away? :(

I thought that, the cars had circulated behind the safety car for several laps before a rescue vehicle had even reached the scene. I noticed it was a Land Rover again, it wasn't the same crew from Knockhill was it? Paul spent a while watching the recovery before deciding to walk off.

[mattlovestbs]

Wow! What a race - to me, looked like Team AON were trying to play games (prepare to be shot down) - Chilton should be told off for what must be described as a dangerous move on Flash.

Great result for James Kaye though :D

[Mondeo2]

Wow! What a race - to me, looked like Team AON were trying to play games (prepare to be shot down) - Chilton should be told off for what must be described as a dangerous move on Flash.

Great result for James Kaye though :D
Not wanting to start an argument but from the footage shown from behind, Chilton moved a couple of inches to the right to get his near side wheels off the kerb
and no contact was made, the Gordon moved left and contact was made, don't think either move was deliberate. The only game Aon were playing is trying to conserve on their tyres.

[Sparkz]

Now Neal is down the back, this shall be interesting into McLeans and Coppice now :D

[Sparkz]

Bl**dy hell the speed of Neal out of the chicane to catch and pass Boardman over the line. :confused::cool:

[1.9 TDI]

Wow well what a drive from Plato to get that far up the grid! And so pleased to see Onslow-Cole and Shedden move up into second in the championship. Obviously I want Plato to win the championship, but if he doesn't I really think Onslow-Cole and Shedden deserve to win one as well :)

[judas priest]

Wow well what a drive from Plato to get that far up the grid! And so pleased to see Onslow-Cole and Shedden move up into second in the championship. Obviously I want Plato to win the championship, but if he doesn't I really think Onslow-Cole and Shedden deserve to win one as well :)

agree with that well done to jp very unfortunate in the first race to get taken out by the car you tag how ironic!!!!!!!

[btccrox]

Hopefully the bmws will pass Neal on the start because if he gets away he'll be fast :p

[nicemms91]

Just got back from Donington now, had a great weekend! Wll done to Donington Park for getting the track ready for a cracking weekend of BTCC.

Race 1 was a bit mad for some reason, but three good races.

The infield is just piles of earth and waterlogged holes! They seemed to have everything well organised with parking, ticket office etc. My only problem was that I was just passed Redgate and the nearest toilets were near the VIP suites which was quite a walk. I was expecting this so it wasn't really a big issue.

[scurcic5]

Not wanting to start an argument but from the footage shown from behind, Chilton moved a couple of inches to the right to get his near side wheels off the kerb
and no contact was made, the Gordon moved left and contact was made, don't think either move was deliberate. The only game Aon were playing is trying to conserve on their tyres.


You have those AON-tinted specs glued to your face, don't you? :D

[Mondeo2]

You have those AON-tinted specs glued to your face, don't you? :D

There's no such thing, that is just a malicious rumour put about by Plato huggers.:p lol

[Daz-NCFC]

Watched all three races on the tv, great days's action, really good entertainment from start to finish.

Race 1 was a pure epic, drama all the way, fantastic crash when all the bolders or whatever you call them on the corner went flying, I shouted WOAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anything could of happened with that, pure carnage, shame for Plato, but it closed the championship up and no one got hurt, so it was great for a spectacle point of view. Awesome win for Shedden, and top effort from Martin Johnson to get 11th, and nearly a point :)

Plato the star of Race 2, there is no doubt, back of the grid to 3rd, immense!!!! TOC good win, Lea Wood did well running 7th or 8th I believe till he had his problem, top effort from him.

Andy Jordan unlucky in the last race, another top job for Jp, and a much needed win for Neal.

Solid day for all the championship contenders, anything could happen in the finale at Brands, its going to be an incredible day.

Final Word to Donnington Park, was great to see cars racing at the circuit today, well done to all the Staff and everyone at the Circuit, for getting the track ready again, best wishes to them in the future ;)

[Dan F]

The infield is just piles of earth and waterlogged holes! They seemed to have everything well organised with parking, ticket office etc. My only problem was that I was just passed Redgate and the nearest toilets were near the VIP suites which was quite a walk. I was expecting this so it wasn't really a big issue.

Agreed, whilst there were undoubtedly quite a few issues for the paying (or basic comp!) spectator this weekend, it was totally understandable and I for one was just glad we had racing there. Hopefully by April they'll be able to open more of the circuit!

[Shortride]

Back from a great day of racing!

Only thing I felt Donny missed was the TV screen which they had previously had.

Otherwise a perfect day with so much action which makes the BTCC the sport we all love! :cool:

[Eunos]

Overall i think Donnington has done a great Job on the tack

Compared to last year, A mighty Improvement :p

On a side note: Tony Gilhams sponsers are incrediblly annoying ¬.¬, Can't escape them :p

[simon1220]

Watched it back on TV after work.

WOW! What a day's racing :)

Race one, I jumped off my sofa, punched the air in celebration and did a wee little dance when I saw Plato in the gravel. It was mayhem and I loved it :) Great to see Shedden get the win and second in R2, I really really hope he can win the title, nip in ahead of the old guys :p

All the racing was brilliant. Have to put my hand up and say Plato did well in the final two races ... it hurts saying that ... but he's finally learnt that punting other people can end up just hurting yourself!