The pit lane is the strip next to the track where the team works on the cars. It’s where you’ll see mechanics and team staff doing things between on-track sessions.
Here, “testing” means practice runs where teams try out settings and see how fast the car can go. Fast test laps can be a good sign, but they don’t always match race results.
They’re referencing Croft Circuit, another UK race track. Different tracks reward different car setups, so fast laps there are a big clue about performance.
They’re using a common internet phrase meaning “I didn’t watch the whole thing, but give me the summary.” They’re talking about making a short recap so listeners get the main points quickly.
Vauxhall is a car brand, and they’re using it as a backdrop for a past chapter in Plato vs Muller. It’s basically “where that rivalry happened” in their story.
“Audi 4 PMR” refers to Audi’s BTCC effort run by PMR (a racing team). The “4” is part of the team’s naming/branding, and the hosts are saying they’re bringing three cars to the grid.
Overboost is when a turbo temporarily pushes more pressure than usual. Race rules limit how much and for how long, so if a car uses too much, officials can penalize it.
A time penalty means the officials add extra seconds to a driver’s result. Even a few seconds can drop a driver down the order or cost them pole position.
In this context, “software” is the car’s computer controlling things like turbo pressure. If it senses the car is outside the allowed settings, it can automatically pull power back.
“Technically infringes” means the car didn’t meet the technical rules. Even if it’s fast on track, it can still be penalized if it fails inspection or measurements.
“Boost allocation” means the race rules decide how much extra power a driver’s car is allowed to use. That allowance can change depending on how they’re doing in the championship or where they finish.
Topic
Goodyee Award
They’re talking about an award given for BTCC weekends. The winner is chosen through a mix of expert picks and fan voting, and people argue about whether the right drives were included.
“F1” is Formula 1, the famous global racing series. They’re using it as a comparison point for how decisions are made and how often fans feel the right driver is recognized.
Term
F4
F4 is a junior racing series for up-and-coming drivers. Think of it like a training league before they move up to bigger, faster championships.
“Cut and shut” is when a driver tries to squeeze past by cutting across and using momentum/contact to get the position. In racing, it’s controversial because it can be legal-ish but still risky.
Instead of just qualifying by lap time, they run a short race. The finishing order from that race helps decide the starting positions for the main races.
Penalties are punishments for breaking the rules. They can add time or move a driver down the order, so the winner on track might not be the winner in the final results.
Concept
after position start
It means a driver started from the wrong spot on the grid. The officials can penalize them afterward, usually by adding time.
A reverse grid means the next race starts in the opposite order from the previous race. It’s meant to make the racing more exciting by mixing up who starts where.
Concept
gravel at the entry to Redgate
They’re talking about where on the track the crash ended up—near the entry to Redgate. That location affects how hard it is to recover the car and how drivers should react.
A snatch vehicle is a recovery truck/car that pulls a stuck race car back onto the track safely. It’s used when the car can’t just drive out under its own power.
Double yellow flags mean “something dangerous is on the track ahead.” Drivers should slow a lot and be ready to stop, because marshals or a car recovery might be happening.
When you see yellow flags, you’re told to slow down and be ready to stop quickly. The argument here is that different drivers interpret how much to slow.
Suzuka is a well-known race track in Japan. When crashes happen there, race control may use warnings and slow-down rules to protect drivers and track crews.
A safety car is used after a crash so everyone slows down. That gives track crews time to clear the wreck safely while drivers follow a controlled pace.
Debris is stuff left on the track after a crash—like broken pieces. It can make the road slippery or interfere with braking, so drivers need to be extra careful.
“Brake pedal going long” means the pedal feels like it has to be pushed much farther than usual before the brakes really work. That can make stopping slower and more dangerous.
Code 60 is a rule that forces cars to slow down to a set speed during an incident. It’s like a controlled “slow zone” so drivers and track workers stay safe.
Delta time is a rule that limits how fast you’re allowed to be compared to a set target. If you exceed it, you’re breaking the race control rules for that section.
The clerk of the course is a race official who runs the event and makes sure rules are followed. Here, they’re being suggested as the person who should set the safe speed limits in tricky areas.
Marshals are the people stationed around the track who handle accidents and warn drivers using flags and signals. They help keep the race safe when something goes wrong.
Concept
schedule does have to compress
If there are delays like safety cars, the event timetable can get tighter. That can reduce how much time teams have to prepare and adjust their cars between sessions.
Concept
extract somebody from a car
They’re talking about the emergency work crews do after a crash—getting a driver out of a damaged car safely. The point is that safety has to come first so responders can do their job.
Concept
ambulance who's been hit by a car going off track
This describes a severe incident scenario where a car leaves the racing line and strikes a medical vehicle. It underscores the importance of track control, flagging, and safety car procedures to prevent secondary impacts.
The Nürburgring is a famous German motorsport circuit known for challenging layout and high-speed sections. The hosts reference it to emphasize how dangerous motorsport weekends can be, using it as a real-world example.
A development driver is typically a young or reserve driver brought in to help with testing and car development rather than being the main race driver. They often don’t have the same sponsorship funding as established drivers, which can limit how easily a team can afford to run them.
BMW is the car brand involved here. The hosts are saying BMW’s support affects whether a team can afford to run a development driver and keep the program going.
A GT program refers to a manufacturer or team’s structured involvement in grand touring (GT) racing, which can include driver contracts, car development, and race entries. The hosts are suggesting a driver from that kind of setup could potentially move into BTCC for a seat.
Concept
TBL
TBL is referenced as a rule limiting how many drivers can be used to fill a car’s seat over the season (described here as a maximum of two drivers, with two changes). This kind of regulation affects how teams can rotate drivers and still remain compliant.
Brands Hatch is the circuit the hosts plan to preview and attend next week. It’s a major UK racing venue commonly used for BTCC events, so it’s a key segment topic for fans.
LIVE
As April draws to a close, we catch up on all things touring cars in the opening month.
Hello and welcome back to the British Touring Car podcast. We're going to bring you a new
little series this year where we sum up everything from each month because you seem to have liked
it in the pre-season. So we're going to bring you all the actual from April start of the
British Touring Car season. We are back and running again for 2026.
On my birthday.
Oh yeah, your birthday as well.
Oh wow.
Yeah, you're another year older.
I'm not necessarily wiser for another year older for sure.
But yeah, we've had plenty of action this month. We've had media day. We've had the opening
round at Donington and we've had a few little news stories interspersed in between. But we'll
bring you up to date with the action first of all and then we'll keep you up to date with the news
at the end. So as you may or may not have seen, if you haven't already, go and have a look. But
we went to media day.
We did.
Which was warm.
That was warm.
Yes.
Very warm.
That was warm. We've got to seal the cards for the first time. We have done a more in-depth
media day blog and includes two driver interviews. So we haven't checked that already.
Now is the time to do so. We talked to Charles Rainford and James Dallin about their upcoming
seasons and we were able to go around the pit lane, try and see what all the cars looked like.
Notice who wasn't there as much as who was there. But yeah, it was a good start to the season.
And of course, it did set some times in testing, which we maybe raise an eyebrow or two out and
then looked a little bit foolish when those times continued to top the boards at
Donnington at the opening weekend.
Yeah, the BMW certainly looked quick through the testing here and taking
new lap records at Croft and looking quick at brands as well.
And they were there or there abouts for Donnington.
We obviously saw the brand new Mercedes get unveiled for Plato racing. And if you haven't
already gone, watch the the late break show that Johnny Smith does.
And also there's a Plato documentary as well.
Do you reckon Johnny Smith is promoting our podcast?
I doubt it. I very much do.
You're welcome, Johnny. He's the viewers here.
Which is actually quite interesting to see behind the scenes of how everything's getting set up
and how Plato is not just going to be there. He's been in there to be at the top.
Yeah, I'll confess I haven't had time to watch it yet after having a holiday straight after
Donnington Park, etc. It is my plan to catch up with it over the next couple of weeks.
And I think it is our plan to bring some form of Plato review or do a too long didn't watch kind
of thing podcast style thing, perhaps in one of the early breaks in the season.
Probably not wait till the summer break, but at least there's a couple of breaks
between races or endeavor to get that too long didn't watch and get the key points covered for you.
Plato's his own enigma and deserves a podcast to himself really, doesn't he?
Well, we have got a podcast all about Jason Plato, of course.
We have got the Yvonne Muller Jason Plato Hollywood story for fans who like to rush and
that kind of thing. We have done our own little deep dive on the classic year of Plato v Muller
at Vauxhall. So again, if you're looking for touring car content between a bit of a break
between the first two rounds, if you're looking for something to scratch that itch that video
still available on YouTube, and I think it's on Spotify as well. Yes, it will be.
So, yeah, we saw that brand new Mercedes and Plato racing unveiled along with the brand new
Audi 4 PMR bringing three cars to the grid this year. And what a start they made.
Yeah, Donnington Park, fresh out the box, you would say you, we question whether the Audi
could continue its testing form into race day and it did with bells on taking a race win and
leading that they've got their top or their three drivers has taken up top 10 positions
within the championship at the moment. Yeah, it certainly looks like a very promising season
going ahead for them and my mothic call doesn't look too silly now, does it? It doesn't.
Can we chat overboost for a moment or two because it has dominated the headlines a little bit. So
for those who weren't aware, Darryl De Leon had a five second time penalty in the qualifying
race sprint to pole thing, which you might have time to discuss a little bit more here in a moment,
that putting back five seconds. And this is where I'm trying to get into the crux of discussion
we touched on it on the review show, but we've got more time here. Adam Morgan received a five
second time penalty in round one for a overboost infringement. And Tom Ingram was disqualified
from round one for and I quote a significant overboost infringement. I don't understand
no one seems to understand what is your take on this at this juncture. I really think we need
it set out in stone as to what amount of boost is significant overboost and what is just a little
bit overboost and what the limitations are basically. Yes, okay, there are there are
viewers out there and there are fans out there that don't want to know the ins and outs,
but there are people there like you and I who want to understand what complications there are and
why there can be this overboosting what looks like a software issue. I was going to say,
because as far as I can tell, nobody has delivered a explanation to your average track size fan to
how this can happen. I completely understand what you're saying. Some people want to watch the
racing don't really care about the technical bits. However, I have seen fallout from this weekend of
the conspiracy theory, Tin Hats, Alan Gao is sort of is fixing the championship, blah, blah, blah.
And what I will say is that whilst I think that is nonsense, by not actually explaining how this
happens, why it happens and what the differences are between an Ingram and a Morgan, you are only
going to add fuel to those fires of conspiracy, of foul play, you know, the touring cars has
got very tribal. You are, you know, people prefer to believe this is to try and get certain
his fifth championship so early on. It's nonsense. But what I will say is that you can forgive and
if not forgive, at least understand where some of this feeling comes from when there's not been
any other explanation over the near you've boosted. So he's disqualified, but he have boosted, but it's
a little bit less. So it's fine. There needs to be a lot more transparency regarding it.
Because Ingram didn't seem to really understand it either. I mean, I could he's not gonna come out
and say, Oh, yes, give us a breakdown explanation. But if he's acting, he should be getting himself
apart in a BBC mockumentary or drama, because he genuinely seemed confused to what had gone wrong.
And to add even further problem, I'm sure that we might need to go back and watch it. I'm sure
in qualifying, Tim Harvey said that the car could no longer over boost because it would
kick its the softwares designed. So if you did over boost, it would drag it back effectively.
Yeah, to self equalize during the race. But that clearly cannot be the case. So even Tim Harvey is
wrong, which is a possibility. I accept has been heard before. Yeah, I accept is a possibility,
or the rules haven't been correctly communicated, or the rules have changed again last minute,
as we've seen with the Jack Sears, because nobody for Osborne was in the Jack Sears until
suddenly, we're aware that he was in the Jackson until suddenly Osborne was back in the Jack Sears.
So yeah, I think that in these clarity, because otherwise it's going to be something we're going
to see throughout the season. And also as well, we don't want championships decided by these
technically infringes. And yes, Ingram was very fast in race one, that is,
also a massive setback with a disqualification from a race and then having started the back
of the next race. Yes, okay, certain an Ingram who's shown the skill out the Donington weekend of how
they can just power through a field, even with the regulations that are currently in place. Yes,
the green will always rise to the top and the best drivers will probably take the majority of the
points throughout the season and be there for the championship. But
the fact that he's had two races affected by it, we need more understanding.
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And we also need to understand what constitutes bad and what constitutes
less bad because minimal, you know, is it a case that Ingram has had the boost on the entire race?
Or is it a case that he, yeah, there's just so many questions to ask. And as this is now
playing such a key part in the championship with every weekend, your boost allocation will change
depending on where you are in the championship or when you finish races, etc. This really does need,
yeah, making it easy for fans as well. Because I will say, and I think we've discussed this about,
and I'm going to talk about this subject in a minute, everything this season seems so
overly complicated for your average race day fan. It does. But it just feels like they have decided
to make everything as difficult as possible. And it just, like, I'll bring up now, the Goodyee
Award. The inaugural winner of the first round was Ash Sutton. Fair enough. But they're already,
you know, the four drives they picked cause up for all social media because lots of people felt
that certain drives have been missed out who shouldn't have been. And okay, I don't think you
can really argue Sutton deserve the award for the weekend as a whole. Obviously, took two wins in a
podium. Yes, he did very well. There's no doubt about that. But again, they made that so needless
complicated that you've got this panel of experts, so called experts who pick four and it goes to the
fan vote. The fact that it comes down to a fan vote in the end. Yes, okay, there are majority of
the fans out there that appreciate the racing and see when a driver's had a good weekend and when
they've had a bad weekend. Ultimately, it's a popularity contest. But why can't they just cut
out the middle man and go straight to the fan? In F1, they do that. And I would say that more
often than not, they get the driver's day right in F1. More often than not, they were sometimes
you go, what? But, but generally, generally, and actually, I've seen it in F1 before where
Saverstappen has won the race by 30 seconds, whatever, he's still not driving the day because
it's boring. So they've actually picked someone like Bearman who's coming through the field to
finish sick. Why can't we have, let's go straight to the fans. Why have we got to have this?
He had a brother in F4, you know. He did. But again, they've just, again, I just think that they are,
it's getting gimmicky. And they are trying to pretend, I don't know about you, but it feels
like they're just trying to copy F1 in every possible way at the moment. But doing it in,
but saying we must add our own twist to it and making it complicated.
Yeah, if you have been living in a black hole, we have had the opening weekend at Donnington,
which Rust went through the penalties for there. There is more penalties.
Okay.
Can I quickly cover those off? Or do you want to cover race beans off first?
You go for that first.
Okay, so there was also a final penalty discussed in race three. Gordon Shedden received a 1.1
second time penalty and three penalty points on his license for causing the collision and
gaining advantage and is involved in Daryl Leon and his door.
That was quite apt, wasn't it?
There could be no complaints. It was front of Toyota into rear quarter of BMW.
It wasn't even rear quarter. It was his driver's door. That was KUD.
But there you go. Into door of BMW and sending Leon slightly sideways, very sideways.
So, cut and shut in the touring cars. You're allowed a bit of contact in the touring cars
for any new listeners. I'll say you're allowed. Ideally, ideally or not, but some margin will
be given. That is not a margin. Yeah, that is not a margin that is given. That is not a rub.
No, certainly not.
That is the place with the special red key at four in the morning.
And as you mentioned, we have had a new format come into the touring car weekend. So, we have had
qualifying on a Saturday be adapted and changed from what it was last season.
And then we also have a what they call qualifying race, but they like to phrase as a race to poll.
And you like to phrase it as something different.
I have done some reflection on this because we have had feedback in despair is a game of opinions
that perhaps have been a little bit harsh on it. I'm prepared. I think that in principle,
it could be quite fun. However, I still can't get over that the 30 minutes to proceed it are
going to be dull as dishwater for the rest of the season. Yeah, so it might be necessary even if
and if the sprint to poll race event thing, there you go, to give his full name continues to give
interesting results. I don't think it will, by the way, I think that the lofty aware off after
a couple of rounds and drives or play it safe and safe and safer. But let's assume that it does
stay fun. Then okay, that could be necessary evil. But yeah, I've got I was completely against it
at the start of the season. I've moved slightly more into and we'll see when we go back to
a completely against it. So yeah, we have two 15 minute qualifying sessions set by the odd
and even finishing order from the 40 minute practice session in the morning. That then
sets the fastest group set one side and the slowest group on the other side,
then sets the grid basically for the race to pole. And then whoever wins that race to pole
and the grid order that finishes in subject to penalties, which we saw will then start race one
on Sunday back to a more regular format from pole position and we take the weekend from there
as we would have done in the last few seasons. Agreed. So qualifying was topped by Tom Ingram
this weekend. The qualifying race was then won by Dan Robotton courtesy of a five second penalty
to Tom Ingram. But he did only win it by 24,000th of a second in the end. Yes, that penalty was for
an after position start. It was. And then on to race one, it was taken by Mikey Doble in the end
following further penalties. Ingram being disqualified, as we just discussed. Yep.
From Ashley Sutton from Charles Rainford. Race two, we then had Ash Sutton win from Dan
Hamish from Gordon Sheddon. And then race three, the reverse grid, we again had Ash Sutton win
from Tom Ingram from Ricky Collard. Agreed. Right. There's been a little bit of fallout
following the race, following an incident that occurred in race one.
Was it the qualifying qualifying race? My apologies, qualifying race where Sutton had a
little to do. Yes. That was controversial enough. That was controversial enough. Yeah. Sutton went
for a gap that was certainly closing on Ingram in going on to the second lap of the qualifying race,
dropped a wheel on the dirt, slid across the face of his teammate, Kamish, who had to take
avoiding action and actually ended up in the gravel at the entry to Redgate. Yes. The incident
as a whole was quite exciting at the time and controversial. But the recovery of that incident
is where we've had plenty of discussion on our social media. Yes, we have. So this all started
with, well, let's go through what actually happened first of all. So Sutton was stricken
just in the gravel track as you exit the corner, back mid-corner, to the back mid-corner. And he
was fairly close to the racing track edge. So he wasn't up towards the fence. It was a small off,
but he was beached, so he had to be recovered. This meant that they had to call a snatch vehicle,
which they have a license for, as I understand it. And Sutton was snatched from the side of the
circuit. However, we had this section covered by double yellow flags and we had double waved
yellow flags, I should say. To signify that there are marshals on track recovering a vehicle. And
the flag means slow down and be prepared to stop. Yep. And we had two laps of the cars coming past
the incident while it was being cleared. I think it's fair to say that slow down and be prepared
to stop means different things for different drivers. Yeah, it doesn't necessarily enter
the head of a race driver with a helmet on. We've discussed this many times over as to what we feel
is sufficient for drivers to slow under yellows and the actions that they should be taking. And
we've been fairly vehement in disagreeing with some actions of some drivers. And there was an
article that followed. Yes. So Tom Chilton spoke to Motorsport News and I won't read the whole
article, but I shall just do some quotes here. So he said, and I quote, I had an eight tonne
digger right in front of me of a car on it. And I was screaming on the radio. Don't you remember
how Jules Bianchi died? Jules Bianchi was their fun driver who had an accident at Suzuka where
a car was being recovered. He left the circuit. I believe it was raining. Yeah, in severely wet
conditions and slammed head on into the recovery vehicle. Unfortunately, was killed as part of the
impact. I was wondering why they hadn't put out a safety car. I said that twice in a row whilst
I was going out flat, sorry, while I was going flat out staring at a digger. I was returned to it in a
minute. One thing I would also say is when we were watching it live on YouTube as you can every
Saturday, we thought so straight away that that should be a safety car and recover the vehicle
under controlled circumstances. Yeah. And this is Tom Chilton would go on to say, and this is
basically a point that I've been drumming. And actually, to be fair, you normally laugh at my
soapbox, but you draw me on this one. It's Tom Chilton further added, all it takes is debris
going on the brakes or something. The brake pedal going long and you're in trouble. You are going
straight into the digger. I am really cross at the championship officials. Now, I will say he's
not held his case. We're saying he was going flat out into the corner because you shouldn't be going
flat out into the corner because you're on the other flags. However, we put this on to our social
media on our Facebook page and feel free to go and have a look through the comments, some very
constructive comments, some very good arguments for and against. A lot of people have come out
against our view of said we shouldn't be going flat out. I agree. But that highlights our point
in a nutshell is that the safety car. Don't listen. Yeah. The safety car takes out all
possibility or all gray area. You slow down to the safety car speed. Yeah, yellows. You could slow
five miles an hour. The guy behind you might slow 30 miles an hour. It's to a degree is a
perception to how fast you think you should be going through that sector. And one thing that
a lot of people have actually mentioned and this is harped back to
an incident that happened at the Nebo ring as well over that weekend is the driver unfortunately
lost his life due to possibly drivers not adhering to yellow fag scenarios. Yes, there is also fluid
down on track as well. But a code 60 is where you basically sort of like the virtual safety car
that you would have in F1 where everyone around the track has to slow down to a certain maximum
speed basically. It brings the race under a lot more control. And it means or it should mean
that people can't gain or lose anything within that area. Yeah, you have a delta time that you're
not allowed to exceed. Exactly. On that point, I apologize for any mispronunciation. Olexander
Koschehov was disqualified from the ADAC 24 hour Nurburgh qualifiers, lost his DPN license after
he was clocked going 201 kilometers an hour in double yellow flags and 192 kilometers an hour
through a code 60. So that's the point is that, okay, you could say that that's a bad example,
but you only need one bad example. That is why for me and is the point I've made continuing
the social media debate, don't put it in the hands of drivers who are going to use discretion.
Put it in the hands of the clerk of the course and the safety car driver to set the speed through
that section. And don't get me wrong, even under a safety car, so it can still go wrong. I'm not
saying that. At least you're at a lot lower speeds because the consequences are likely to be less.
Yeah, the only other option is to completely red flag it to remove the vehicle. Even I think is
potentially excess and this is raining. If it's raining, I don't think there's any argument you
red flag might be you should red flagging it and you should be getting sorted. But yeah,
it has caused debate. It's caused interest. I've seen quite a few different suggestions,
different arguments that I had there so far. And I think on the whole, the Facebook thread
conversation has been very respectful and very constructive, which is always nice to see.
But yeah, we'd be interested to know what your thoughts on that are, whether you are firmly in
the children and our camp of why you're taking a risk. Or if you think that if drivers feel this
way, they should look at their own actions first. And I think there's a somewhere in the middle
on that. Yeah, there's definitely got to be compromised from both sides. But paramount to
everyone's safety is the marshals at the track along with the drivers that are on the circuit.
Otherwise, if we don't have either of those, don't have any racing at all. Can I make a
really cynical point as well? If that's races one, two or three, it's a safety car. It's because
it's a sprint race. So they don't want to lose any time under it. I'm cynical. Yeah. But I reckon
if that's races one, two or three, it's a safety car. Yeah. No, I can see your point of view from
that. Obviously, that is on my opinion, it is not in fact, but yeah, we saw the safety car utilized
in two of the three races over the weekend. So yeah, for me, and we actually we lost a lot of
time over that weekend due to safety cards in other as well. And sometimes the schedule does have to
compress and allow for those bits and pieces. And unfortunately, it didn't look like the marshals
got much of a lunchtime that weekend. However, having no knowing marshals like we do, I think
they'd prefer a shortened or no lunchtime and having to extract somebody from a car that has
hit a safety vehicle or trying to get a marshal into the back of an ambulance who's been hit by
a car going off track under the other flag. So yeah, safety should always be the number one
paramount. And unfortunately, as you mentioned with the Nurburgring, the weekend motor sport
is dangerous. And it was a tragic mind of how dangerous it can be. Yep. If you haven't already
do let us know your thoughts on the Donnington weekend and media day. And we've got one other
little snippet of news. And it is only really a snippet, but that may interest you for the season
to come. So it does look like there's been news article released that suggests that WSR still
having a third license may look to possibly fill it at some point this season. Yeah. So we know
we've got a third car, because we've seen it ourselves at media day in the back of the truck.
So my theory on this would be that if they couldn't get a third driver, they'd use it as a spare car
for potentially chassis. It's turkey and had a car completely written off a couple of years ago
in park and for spare parts. However, they have got that car. And if they can get a deal over the
line, they have said that they'd be looking to run it. The problem is it always comes down to
his dollar, who is going to find the money to run it. Stephen jelly is in the Porsches. So
and he could, of course, leave the Porsches and come back to the touring cars, but he was a leading
candidate. There's been some suggestions that might look to run a development driver, but
development drivers don't tend to have the budget because they're an early part of their career.
I very much a development driver will be running a now independent team as well. Yes,
I know that WSR have done a lot for bringing drivers through and into the sport, especially over
the amount of years and decades that they've been here. But with the situation that they're in and
how we understand it, the lack of BMW backing, I don't think they'll be able to afford to.
This is the point. BMW aren't going to put their own development driver in there because they've
been no longer really involved. So it's a tricky one to say, unless they can do a deal with a BMW
driver from a GT program to maybe come across and fill the seat, but it costs a lot of money to go
racing. I think at most, the earliest we would see that car is the start of the second half of
the season. We already know that Ricky Collard, being one of the drivers on the group currently,
has only got a deal for half a season, his current team. So there are deals to be had for
certain drivers and we've seen it throughout the last few decades that drivers will pop in and out
of the sport, whether it's for half seasons, three races, three weekends, three races, it does happen.
However, it is worth reminding that the rules are the TBL can only be filled by a maximum of,
is it two drivers throughout the season? Two changes. So I mean, they could potentially look to
loan two off the seemingly defunct one motor sport who hold licenses, and they could potentially
therefore get another two off them and run those and keep the revolving door drivers going. However,
I don't really see how that helps them anyway to be fair. You want, if you're going to run it as a
development car or as a development driver, you really want one, maybe maximum two in there to
otherwise you're not going to get any data, you're not going to get anything meaningful because the
cars can be changed every weekend. No, agreed. I think that pretty much brings us up to date with
everything that's happened in April so far. I think so. If we have missed anything, let us know
down in the comments as we'd like to know all the news that is going on and feel free to discuss
anything that we've mentioned down below as well. Absolutely. We'll be back with a Brands Hatch
preview next week, Bankolody week, is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We are also going to Brands Hatch
when we get the tickets booked. Right, I'll be patient. Absolutely. But we'll be going to Brands
Hatch. We'll cover that more in the preview and anyone that watched the Donnington Park
review for the first time, it will be completely different for the Brands Hatch review because
I'm not going on holiday. Do let us know your thoughts on that though because it was a lot
different. It was a lot different. Yeah, maybe you liked it. Maybe you really enjoyed the format
change and the different way we did it. If you did, let us know because we can always do the
same on the way home from Brands. But the plan is to go back to the reviews styles we had for
last year and this, the sway of public support suggests we should do otherwise.
Yeah, but until then, we'll see you soon. Bye for now.
About this episode
April’s BTCC catch-up starts with the opening month’s results, then quickly turns into a wider debate about overboost penalties, rule clarity, and how the championship is presented to fans. The hosts also dig into a tense safety discussion after a recovery vehicle was handled under double yellows, before moving on to whether WSR could bring a third car into the field later in the season. Along the way, race results and penalties keep reshaping the weekend’s outcome.
