Went to brands hatch yesterday to see the final rounds of the btcc, it was good to see the ford focus has finally found its feet, Tom Chiltons started on pole in the first race & was only just pipped to the post by plato, in races 2 & 3 it was there right on the pace & led several laps, watch out next year i say, ford are back.

 

must say, missed a few mid season races but i did got an watch at donnington and they have improved alot since them

good on them

hopefully next year they can firght for the title

 

just seen on telly,massive improvement by team aon

 

that focus is flying now.

 

Its been an amazing change since the start of the season. The chassis has always been great but they were litterally waving people past on the straights.

A change to Mountune as their engine builder and some aero work and that car is now seriously quick on the straights, leaving behind the Chevys which used to be quickest.

 

Just watched the coverage from the weekend.
They were doing well.

Didn't like the Vauxhall team work in the last race, almost dangerous. Matt Neil you should know better. But they got with what they deserved in the end.
Well done to Team RAC too.

 

I wouldnt say leaving them behind, plato wouldnt have out dragged him to the start finish line otherwise

 

Plato was on fire and untill the fords tyre`s went they were doing really well

 

Chilton only lost first race cos steering broke on last lap.......gutted for him,he did all he could to stay on track thru last corners ,lets hope they carry on next year where they left off

 

i was there at brands too, there was some real good racing in all 3 btcc rounds. i was pleasantly surprised to how well chilton did in the focus. as said above i reckon the focus will be a real contender next year if they keep on developing the car as well during the winter

 

The atmosphere in Team AON's pit garage was tense to say the least... great drive from both Tom's, in race three they were 4th and 5th for a few laps and with everything else going on it reminded me of the good old days of touring car racing...

You're right though they've got the pace in a straight line now... let's see what next season brings!

 

What they could do with a bit of Ford backing!

Story goes that Ford were due to back it but then the economy collapsed last year. Same happened with Honda apparently.

 

Ford really should be in BTCC as an official manufacturer, wasn't it Ford who coined the phrase win on Sunday, sell on Monday.

I watched a re-run of the races today and it seemed that the Focus used its tyres a bit harder in the second and third races, but I think it was carrying ballast which may have hurt a bit. What great racing though.

Vauxhall had to try the team demolotion job, much as I didn't like it, but overall I think the best man won!

 

was there myself on sunday,you have to hear the noise the focus makes it sounds totally different to all the other touring cars...........

 

thats what i wanted to ask

 

i think it Shelby that coined that phrase but i am sure i shall be corrected

roll on next year,hopefully finances all round may be turning and some manufacturers will be show their faces

 

chameleon - it is a lovely sound indeed!

Team Dynamics have said they should know from Honda in the next 10 days if they will back the team officially, Honda have had a lot of presence at BTCC meetings in the 2nd half of the season apparently. I reckon it was probably them that put the money up for Herbert.

 

They are? Or at least they are in the manufacturer-constructor standings and not the independent teams.

 

am i correct in saying that they are allowing the use of turbo's next year?????
hmmmmmmmmmmm focus rs maybe?

 

2011 and it'd need to be the old Focus RS.

 

Yeh that was a championship set up so Vauxhall didn't automatically win the manufacturer title. Ford / Honda didn't back the teams, AON & Dyanmics were still able to compete for Indie title.

 

oh right thats a shame

 

It was great to see and really does show wot a great driver chilton is
Not sure if the focus can compete next year withe rule changes?
I thought the cars had to get bigger to try and balance out the fact they will be allowed upto 350bhp with a turbo 4 pot motor

 

NG-TC rules aren't set & agreed yet , only 2 teams expressed an interest in them at the Friday meeting .
Mountune ,Swindon , Mitsubishi ,Neil Brown and Oreca are all in the frame to build the Turbo motor,none of that has been agreed !
S-2000 and even the TOCA cars will run as long as they have parts to maintain them , Alan Gow wont throw out a works backed team or a competitive privateer with 2 cars on the grid because they have an old car ,look at sunshine for instance !! I reckon even the BM's will carry on as usual , besides it 2011 the rules "come in" theyre not fully supposed to be implemented until 2013 .
The rumours is that honda bought Ronnie sherberts drive for this year ,to be fair Dynamics have had a mare and it certainly lifted the spirits in the garage/team to have him there .
Giovanardi wasn;t impressed with the toy horses head left in his car on sunday tho , sadly i dont have a pic but it was very funny !

 

car looks awesome..
lol at the toy horses head

 

Some Youtube clips and pics are available here for anyone that's missed all this since the weekend... http://www.mountune.com/Racing/news/aah