Quote from sinbad :

Only watched the highlights but it seems like typical BTCC stuff. Matt Neal annoys me with his "oh he's defending, never mind I'll just nerf him instead" approach. I thought the way Collard took the lead in race 2 was dirty as hell too, it's supposed to be an advantage to be in front.........but it seems that being in front just means you're vulnerable to a shunt that you can do nothing about and is totally within the rules.

btcc racing is all about door banging but i agree matt neal does get a bit physical at times, especially at clearways

Matt Neal has always liked places like that to pass and tbh i dont see what everyone is moaning about. He forces the issue which makes the racing great. As long as the driver of the car he taps doesnt loose control and spear off the track then i dont see the problem with it. Not half as bad as some of the stuff that used to go on in super tourers.

Hitting someone from behind and forcing them to run wide so a driver can slip through is not racing in my opinion. It requires very little skill and only devalues the spectacle in my opinion. I like good, close racing, especially in tin tops where you are given a slightly greater licence for some rubbing. But they do push it too far in the BTCC on occasion.

However for the masses who aren't too bothered about the intricacies of motor racing they want to see people smashing each other off and arguements in the pits etc.... hence the officials doing sod all about apart from the Adam/Plato incident.

I am hoping this will self regulate somewhat as the bills start to come in for new bumpers etc...

Quote from james12s :

btcc racing is all about door banging but i agree matt neal does get a bit physical at times, especially at clearways

Door banging is one thing, and if you're talking about door-to-door contact then I'm all for it.
The only thing I have issue with is shunting the car in front so that they go wide enough for you to drive up the inside. It looks ridiculous, and like Intrepid says, casts a shadow over the whole thing, and probably makes the racing worse not better. Allowing it discourages someone being creative enough to make a "great pass", why would they bother spending a few laps finding a way through when such an easy alternative goes unpunished.

Neal was doing it with such frequency and precision, he was blatantly doing it intentionally. The stewards are not rewarding someone for defending well (which is just as entertaining as overtaking imo), it's impossible to defend against an assault like that, they just seem to want the race order to change.

The funny thing is that the one penalty they did impose was probably for one of the less intentional contacts of the entire BTCC meeting.

Last week I watched BTCC for the first time, considered it wrecking and decided to stop watching BTCC.

I used to wonder how some people in LFS got the idea that such challanges for positions are okay, but now I see. Everywhere in the world people drive sensibly, except in the BTCC.

I really was speechless at moments where one driver intentionally wrecked a car out of the way in a manner that would get me kicked from most LFS leagues (Matt Neal comes to mind) and the commentators actually applauded the move as good racing.

Vain

Quote from Vain :

Last week I watched BTCC for the first time, considered it wrecking and decided to stop watching BTCC.

I used to wonder how some people in LFS got the idea that such challanges for positions are okay, but now I see. Everywhere in the world people drive sensibly, except in the BTCC.

I really was speechless at moments where one driver intentionally wrecked a car out of the way in a manner that would get me kicked from most LFS leagues (Matt Neal comes to mind) and the commentators actually applauded the move as good racing.

Vain

if you have only just started watching then you dont get what BTCC is all about and you wont know whats gone on in the past. People who start talking like they know the series when they infact dont really get on my nerves. Ive been a fan of BTCC for 12 years and ive watched every season review since 1989. I dont think the driving standards have got worse, its just that the nudges etc. are talked about more now. And Matt Neal isnt the worse culprit in any sense. What about the idiot that is Stephen Jelley who thinks he's good when actually he cant get a descent car anywhere near the front for any longer than 10 laps. On Sunday he blatantly took out Rob Collard, Johnathan Adam took out Plato, Jelley again took out Shedden. Yet everyone acts like sheep and follows what everyone else says and its always "oh Matt Neal is the worst".

Matt Neal is no where near as bad as Anthony Ried was.

Quote from trebor901 :

if you have only just started watching then you dont get what BTCC is all about and you wont know whats gone on in the past. People who start talking like they know the series when they infact dont really get on my nerves. Ive been a fan of BTCC for 12 years and ive watched every season review since 1989. I dont think the driving standards have got worse, its just that the nudges etc. are talked about more now. And Matt Neal isnt the worse culprit in any sense. What about the idiot that is Stephen Jelley who thinks he's good when actually he cant get a descent car anywhere near the front for any longer than 10 laps. On Sunday he blatantly took out Rob Collard, Johnathan Adam took out Plato, Jelley again took out Shedden. Yet everyone acts like sheep and follows what everyone else says and its always "oh Matt Neal is the worst".

Matt Neal is no where near as bad as Anthony Ried was.

"Everyone acts like sheep" haha.
You're acting like a BTCC fanboy and Matt Neal fanboy then.

See how easy it is to lower the tone of a thread with a stupid and thinly veiled attempt to discredit someone, usually done because your own argument is failing.

Who said Matt Neal is the "the worst"?

Not I, but he certainly was guilty of doing a repeated move, so unlike with some other drivers there's no question whether or not it was intentional, it blatantly was. I referred to the punt move for the lead in race 2, but frankly there are so many it's not worth listing them all.

You seem to be agreeing that driving standards are pretty lacking though. We all know that the majority of drivers are only there because they can fund their own drive in some way, that's BTCC, but there's no need for it to be the way it is. And yes it has been that way for an eternity, but it's not better for it now, and it never has been.

Maybe BTCC fanboy sheep like yourself only like to see cars go "smashy smashy bang whoo"?

^Once again see how easy it is to lower the tone.......I don't mean any of the stupid comments at the top and bottom.

i will admit i am a big time BTCC fan but i do agree that something needs to be done about driving standards, because i for one dont want to see this series go down the drain because teams cant afford repair bills anymore.

I stopped watching BTCC when Audi pulled out, IMO that's when things started to go downhill. Although the '99 and '00 seasons were good fun. Supertouring regs were so much better than facking S2000

Excellent races, impressive drive by Plato and the BMWs. Unimpressed by Matt Neal's woeful driving standards, as per usual. Those kind of passes require no skill at all and have no place (even) in the BTCC. Ill be looking forward to watching him get a taste of his own medicine through out the rest of the series.

Quote from BlueFlame :

Supertouring regs were so much better than facking S2000

Plus one!

They were a bit expensive though.

James Thompson has replaced Gordon Shedden at Team Dynamics.

http://www.btcc.net/html/generalnews_detail.php?id=1378

now we might actually see what this car is really capable of.

I was looking forward to a year without Jason Plato's wrecking, some contact is inevitable but Mssrs Plato and Neal should have a very close eye put on them.

Quote from duke_toaster :

I was looking forward to a year without Jason Plato's wrecking, some contact is inevitable but Mssrs Plato and Neal should have a very close eye put on them.

who was talking about them 2? someone always manages to bring them two up.

Quote from trebor901 :

who was talking about them 2? someone always manages to bring them two up.

Are you flaming him because you don't agree with his opinion, (I assume you're a plato fan) or am I reading too much into it? Seems like a perfectly valid post to me, I now know what he thinks about those drivers, and Neal is mentioned 4 posts above his anyway. And Plato and Neal are certainly related! Mabye he's only just watched the race, and is saying what he thinks about the conduct of the drivers like countless others have done in this BTCC thread?

[/rant]

You're reading too much into it.

kk

Still think it's okay, but meh

Bloody hell

Could this spell imminent death for the BTCC?

No, there are still a number of privateer teams, and 888 have some backing - if they could find a new title sponsor or get one of the existing lower level ones to step up, they could at least run Giovanardi, and if the cheques keep coming Jordan.

It's not good.... Gio will probably go to WTCC next season IMO.

888 will do all they can to keep Giovanardi plus i think Giovanardi is contracted to 888 until the end of next season anyway. I can see 888 bringing Ford back to the championship as they have extremely strong ties with them in V8 Supercars in Australia because 888 run Team Vodafone.

Quote from trebor901 :

888 will do all they can to keep Giovanardi plus i think Giovanardi is contracted to 888 until the end of next season anyway. I can see 888 bringing Ford back to the championship as they have extremely strong ties with them in V8 Supercars in Australia because 888 run Team Vodafone.

Maybe

Or maybe Volvo will ask them to run their cars if they still decide to enter

Quote from trebor901 :

Or maybe Volvo will ask them to run their cars if they still decide to enter

Yeah that could be a possibility, who ran Seat's entries last season?