This is a race that decides who starts up front (pole position). It’s happening at Oulton Park, a track where the ups/downs and turns can make the cars harder to drive, especially when conditions change.
When officials show yellow flags, it means there’s a hazard ahead and drivers have to slow down and be careful. Racing is effectively controlled during that time.
This means the race organizers reduced the cars’ engine power to make racing fairer. With less power, cars may accelerate a bit less strongly, so teams have to adapt their driving.
The Ford F-150 Lightning is a pickup truck that runs on electricity instead of gasoline. Because electric motors can deliver power right away, it can accelerate quickly from a stop. That’s why people may talk about it having very strong “starts” when it launches.
They’re saying the organizers want the racing to stay tight and unpredictable. That way, more drivers still have a realistic chance as the season goes on.
Term
stock engine build
They mean the engine has to stay close to the normal production design. Even then, teams can still improve it a bit, but they can’t completely redesign it from scratch.
Term
manufacturer one
A “manufacturer one” refers to an engine or package intended to be specific to a particular manufacturer’s program within the series. The speaker contrasts it with stock-based builds, arguing that teams should improve the manufacturer-specific setup rather than rely on restrictions elsewhere.
Sometimes racing rules say teams can’t keep improving the engine during the season. That’s done to keep the competition more even so one team doesn’t pull too far ahead.
Boost is the extra “push” a turbo gives the engine. If they turn it down, the turbo makes less power, which helps level the playing field between teams.
They’re talking about the car’s body shape looking more like a sedan. That kind of shape can change how the air flows around the car, which affects speed and handling.
“Over boost” means the turbocharged engine is producing more boost pressure than the rules allow. In BTCC, that can trigger an infringement, leading to penalties such as lap deletion or other race consequences.
A hairpin is a super tight turn where you have to slow down a lot and turn sharply. It’s the kind of corner where it’s easy to make contact if someone misjudges their braking or line.
A safety car is a pace car that comes out when something goes wrong on the track. Everyone slows down and follows it until the track is safe again, so the race order can tighten up.
An aggressive overtake is when a driver tries to pass in a very close, risky way. If the timing or space isn’t perfect, it can lead to contact or loss of control.
A lock-up is when the brakes make the wheels stop turning while you’re still moving. That can cause skidding, smoke, and less ability to steer where you want.
A sausage curb is a special raised curb at the edge of a race track. Drivers use it to judge where the track limits are, but hitting it the wrong way can upset the car and sometimes cause crashes.
A chicane is a section of track that makes you go through a quick set of turns to slow the car down. It’s tricky to drive cleanly, so mistakes can lead to contact or running wide.
“Puncher” here is a race shorthand for a puncture—when a tire loses pressure suddenly, often from debris or curb contact. A puncture can quickly damage the car’s handling and may force the driver to pit and retire if the damage is more than just the tire.
“Weaving” means moving the car left and right repeatedly. During a safety-car restart, that’s usually not allowed because it can confuse other drivers and cause crashes.
A “draft style restart” means cars line up close together so the following car gets a push from the air flow. It changes how drivers accelerate and pass during the restart.
Oversteer is when the car’s rear end wants to step out more than the driver expects, reducing traction and making the car rotate toward the outside of the corner. The host describes Dobie’s car as “slidey” with oversteer, which can create an opening for another driver to take advantage.
“Push to pass” refers to a driving tactic where one car pressures another to force a mistake or create a passing opportunity, sometimes at the edge of what’s allowed. In racing stewarding terms, it can overlap with contact/unsafe driving judgments, which is why the host compares what happened to a “classic” example.
Druids is a specific corner at Oulton Park that’s taken fast and requires good control. It’s the kind of turn where small mistakes can cost you speed or position.
An “air brake” is something that slows a moving car by adding resistance. In this crash, Sutton’s car helped slow Ingram down after the impact. The hosts suggest it may have reduced how bad the accident could have been.
When a car’s wheels “lock up,” the tires stop turning while you’re braking. That usually means less grip, so the car can slide. It’s often noticeable as squealing and sometimes smoke from the brakes.
“Brake checking up” means the driver changes the braking suddenly—either easing off or adjusting quickly. That’s usually done to stop the car from sliding or to regain control. You can often see it in the brake inputs on an onboard camera.
A “mini shakedown” is a quick safety check after a crash. The driver takes it easy for a moment to make sure the car isn’t damaged or behaving strangely. Only then do they push again.
A toe link is a suspension part that helps keep the wheels pointed the right way. If it breaks, the rear of the car can become unstable because the wheels may not stay aligned. That’s dangerous, especially right after a collision when you’re heading back into racing speed.
A “rolling roadblock” is when a car blocks others while it’s still driving—usually by going too slowly or not letting people pass cleanly. Even if the car isn’t stopped, it can still cause delays and frustration. The hosts are saying Ingram’s actions unintentionally held up other cars.
A 20-second penalty is basically a punishment where officials add time to a driver’s result. Even if you finish close to the front, that extra time can drop you down the order.
The “stewards room” is where race officials review incidents and decide on penalties. Decisions there can include time penalties, warnings, or other sanctions based on how the rules were applied.
Defensive driving here means the driver is trying to stop someone from passing by where they place the car. Officials and other drivers may debate whether it’s fair or too slow/blocking.
When a car hits wet grass, the tires grip much worse than on the road. That’s why the car can slide and it’s hard to control when you try to get back onto the track.
A restart is when the race is re-started and the cars are packed together again. That’s when contact is more likely, so it’s notable that everyone stayed out of trouble here.
A car’s setup is how teams tune it for grip, balance, and speed. The hosts are saying that after qualifying, teams aren’t allowed to change that setup for the next sprint race, so if they guess wrong, they have to live with it.
Term
park firmer conditions
The hosts are describing a rules limit: during this part of the event, teams can’t keep tinkering with the car. You have to stick with the same basic setup until the sprint/qualifying period is over.
LIVE
Can I win it? Yes, you're Dan. It is the Alton Park qualifying race to pole event
I'd say come to be the best of the year so far. I think helped by a really good circuit
lots of undulations lots of twisty parts and a little bit of weather came into play as well
I think it's fair to say I think even if there wasn't necessarily the wet conditions for the race
the grass was wet which made that going on that was perilous as we would find out as the race unfolds
several drivers yes also we got the first safety car of the race the pole event this
year no it was under the yellows my apologies sorry yes it should have been under safety car
you're right yeah so first the first safety car event um of the race pole this season which
meant we got three extra laps headed on so we actually had 13 laps in total though I think it
was only about nine laps for actual racing yeah one quick bit of housekeeping we spoke about it
in the preview and it has been confirmed today by Mr Tim Harvey no he's not always right but I'll
take him on this yeah okay that the Ford has been turned down in power it's not minimal it's minimal
it's about three horsepower from what Harvey was saying we gave our views on this before
we touched on it in the preview it's not certain that either us particularly agree with and we've
seen in the parts that other engines have been turned down so they have been consistent but
it is quite funny that after they turned it down Ford still got the pole and Sutton still
finished head of England yeah the only thing that I would say on it is we have seen BMWs
been turned down before when they were getting those rocket starts lightning starts that was more
because of yeah there's more to try and even the start though yeah to try and even out the starts
whereas this is it is across the whole race and is just a little snip back and I wonder where the
sort of like protests have possibly come from I wouldn't even necessarily be surprised if there
haven't been any protests per say it's just a case that we know that the championship wants to
always keep a close on we know it always wants to go to the last weekend and we know that it's
measured as a success if they can sell it that one round and six drivers or so is still in it
and it has been a while since we've had that mathematical sort of six drives of an out with
a chance of winning the championship going into brand's hatch I just think it's been bought in
potential to try and stop Sutton winning everything too early I don't over like it because the whole
point of this series is that you build a car that can win and Napa absolutely have and Sutton's
regular driver and gets anything sort of out of the car we have said before it doesn't really
matter what gimmick you bring in both Ingram and Sutton will rise above pretty much any gimmick
so I'll find a way to drive around it yeah it certainly showed today with the the competition
shall I say that they had in the race to pole yeah and I just think you know rather than
rather than reduce somebody else's engine like if you're building the toker engines that are the
stock engine build a better one and if you're building a manufacturer one that's specifically
going into your car find a way to improve it yeah it shouldn't be down to will penalize this
chat because he's doing very well no you should be bringing the field the field should be closing
themselves not bringing them back to them if that makes sense working up rather than working down
the only thing that I would say with that is I don't know the specifics of this but there has
been that freeze on the engine development yeah that is true I do wonder whether that turning
down the boost is trying to trying to equalize things and bits and pieces but because it's
been more obvious now that they've gone to that saloon shape which is a lot slipperier but there's
even more nonsense to turn it down because you you're the you are literally the people that have
stopped an engine yeah I know anyway that is the it didn't seem to particularly bother even the
camis or Sutton anyway but as we'll get to but that is sort of been confirmed now it was sort
of discussed in the preview and thank you for your comments on YouTube around that issue fair to
say it's gone down pretty poorly in the community as well which is always interesting to say that
we're not the only two people that are being overly negative or feeling a bit strongly about
the subject it's interesting that has been shared by many yeah and the other piece of news going
into this weekend is buxton wasn't was not driving today on saturday he's been suffering
suffering with I think a viral infection it was he's hoping to possibly be back for sunday
but I think at the moment it's kind of a 50-50 which doesn't look great for your predictions
is it like it'd be hard to score points if you're not racing yes in the weekend I agree I agree right
on to the action then both qualifying sessions were dry neither were particularly interesting
so it's really covered off here apart from we saw lots of laps been deleted for track limit
offenses lots of tracks being deleted sorry lots of tracks being deleted oh geez lots of laps
being deleted for uh over boost yeah infringement and we saw collards go off um onto the grass and
get himself back going again that pretty much sums up the qualifying period we've discussed it before
I can't think of a way to improve it you've got you've got to find a way to set the grid
I think is there's no way to improve it is what it is it's it's two 15 minute sessions where
it is what it is yeah I know it's yeah yeah yeah overall Aaron Taylor Smith was the quicker driver
of the two sections which meant he would start the race to pole sprint on pole uh and I will say
that this was probably the or no probably about it this was the best sprint race we've seen the
year so far yeah it was a fairly equal start at the front cook bog down slightly but then managed
to recovering that sort like second phase and was able to pull back alongside Mikey Doble um
sat on an ingram as you would expect made decent starts and managed to get past uh Patterson um
and there was a little bit of RG bargey on the way down to the hairpin yeah I was going to say the
whilst it was a very good race it did also follow the format we've seen for the other
three events so far which is that first lap is carnage and then this one didn't necessarily
settle down in the same way but the first lap is the most carnage field lap as you'd expect
children fired off going into the hairpin looked as if he tried to cut back across uh
Robotton's car Morgan Morgan's car sorry Morgan's car uh and fired off uh managed to keep it out
of the barrier but did exit stage left uh quite quickly yeah going backwards I think he the only
reason that he was able to then get going again I think he did actually contact barrier but it was
with the back end and it didn't seem to affect too much and then following on from that a lap
later Hamilton had a similar incident when he managed to lock careers up going into the same
hairpin but he went forwards into the barrier and created quite a massive damage which then
brought a safety car out which then allowed children to then catch back up yeah I bet children
was in the car going why would Charles Rainford do this but yeah maybe he was going to win this
one as well until that instant happens because who knows uh but yeah it's a lot of what you expect
from first that bunching is a tight circuit that part of the track is very bumpy as well as you go
into the hairpin and from the replay and it wasn't the best replay we've seen it did look to me as
if children had tried to chop back into position and once you're moving across the car they can't
just turn their front bumper into transparent liquid you will hit a solid area and get fired
off and then as I mentioned about a bit earlier on the podcast the grass is wet you are exiting at
speed straight to the scene yeah absolutely right um we then also had a little bit of a skirmish
fervour up between road bottom and shedon um this was this was before the safety car must have been
here before the safety car um it was a weird one because on the first look it looked as if shedon
had got a puncture and run into road bottom but that's not what happened when we saw the replay
dawling with a quite an aggressive overtake on the curb got fired off the curb a little bit into
gordon shedon into damn road bottom now i'm not sure if shedon had the puncture at this point or
if the contact from dawling caused the puncture it was hard to see on the replay because you see
the contact and then a puff of smoke but it's difficult to know that could quite easily be
caused by a lock up a car brake etc um so yeah it was a bit of a chain reaction i think it's
there i say i don't think there would have been as much of a chain reaction if it were
with massive sausage curb on the inside of the corner at the chicane yeah dawling rode up onto
that trying to make the move on to onto shedon it kicked the whole car sideways into shedon
and then consequently into road bottom um dawling was probably right to go for the move i think he
was yeah i don't think it was too ambitious or anything like that because he was right alongside
and there was space it was just the sausage curb kicked the whole car to one side i agree with you
what i would say in um defense or of the circuit or the orchestra is that is that that sausage
curb has been there all day um it's not just suddenly appeared for the race so drivers will know
that that's a corner that has occurred i don't particularly like the sausage curb as a as a thing
because we've seen some pretty nasty accidents where cars get launched off them but on the flip
side it's not as if they've practiced and qualified without that then and then put it in for the race
so yeah it yeah you just got to take into consideration when you're making your moves
and i do agree with you in principle i don't like it yeah both shedon and road bottom had to then exit
stage left across the chicane yeah robot and picked up a little bit of grass in his radiator
he might argue this morning a little bit yeah yeah and as we saw shedon picked up a puncher as a
result came into the pits at the end of that first lap uh and unfortunately didn't go back out so it
seems like they may have been a little bit more damaged than just a front right puncher quite
possible so we didn't get the safety car period and then on the restart our antenna smith seemed
to forget that the rules had changed for safety car restarts and weaved twice so once the lights
for now he was weaving before the final final corner was turned and the start finished straight
he was also weaving again it's a slam dunker you cannot do that anymore no so being the lead car
he has to take the speed of the safety car to bring them up to the line where they can go from
um and in that time you're not allowed to weave i'm not sure i necessarily agree with it obviously
we see different rules in f1 and they're weaving all the way up until they go to try and catch drivers
out and to get that jump um yeah but we've seen the regulations change for this over the years
we've also seen some accidents in the past where people are weaving and then having to slow down
because the person at the front of the track on the pace has checked up really quite aggressively
and then we've seen other cars sort of weaving into each other the rule they've tried to take
a more NASCAR approach which is that you have a kind of draft style restart um at the end of the day
all drivers should be aware of the rules it's a it's harsh because i guess in the moment
of leaving the race it's set to his mind of all his other previous restarts under the safety car
he would have done it that way and would have there would be no case to answer but they are
them are the rules they are they are he was hit with a five second penalty and although he would
go on to lead the race until the end and take the check and flag first of all that would eventually
drop him down at the order yep then Sutton decides the answer all calls about this race getting a
bit dull as time went on with a do you want to see bonkers move around doble and the outside
and i say bonkers in the context of this was just a race to pole to set the grid for tomorrow
this was not to decide the overall champion you had to get a place on Ingram it was an
absolutely bonkers move around the outside of doble yeah so the move actually started down at
the hairpin Sutton had gone to the outside um and got a fairly decent exit they were fairly level
going up the hill and then he just seemed to to take off um and and get past him down the outside
before the break in into the nickelbrook chicane um leaving Ingram just going i was battling you
a minute ago maybe we'll see another two horsepower leaving the car before too long but yeah no it was
a very brave move to pull off credit to doble he gave enough space he didn't make it easy but he gave
enough space so Sutton could complete the move and you should say it sort of left Ingram a bit
stranded for a for a time until he then decided to get past doble i was going to say Ingram did
then manage to get past doble i think either later that lap or into the next lap um and then Ingram
and Sutton were a lot in a stern for a little while yeah i just want to clear something up on the
doble Ingram one first before we get onto that one is in commentary Harvey said that Ingram moved
doble out the way it certainly didn't look like to me if it looked to me on the repo that doble
got gone is slightly slidey coming out of the corner a little bit of oversteer and was just
sliding here and was just sliding to the exit of the of the corner and then ran wide and had to
slow the car to stop him go even a full slide or leaving the circuit and get onto the grass to me
it didn't look and i'll happily be stand corrected if this steward's come back and give Ingram a
penalty for it but it didn't look like a classic push to pass it looks if doble as you say unsettled
car naturally slid over and Ingram was there to take the advantage it's a corner that's high
commitment it's the double right hander at Druids before you get down to the elite and he wanted
to try and carry as much speed through there we'd already seen that Ingram was carrying a decent
amount of speed through that corner throughout the race up to that point and then he just managed to
get that run on him when he slid wide one move i can't defend Ingram on though would be the next
one no which is where he decided well i didn't decide he just went into the rear of Sutton at
speed used him as an air brake yeah i mean you made a good point actually we're watching it is
in some ways it was fortunate Sutton was there because Ingram wasn't stopping otherwise it looked
as if he'd missed his braking point and then potentially locked up a little bit as well you
could hear it on the onboard the brake checking up you could see it as well from one angle of the
puff just before he went into the back of Sutton so probably quite thankful to have Sutton there
i will say that if you think back to Snedderton and okay i know there are some problems with the
power steering he had a similar lock up there which took him off in race two you do start to wonder
is there a setup issue on the car or is there a problem with the way Ingram is driving the car
i'm just asking because it's back to back weekend you've seen it pushing really really hard um
thankfully for Sutton there was no damage he was forced off the road um because of the i mean
it was a heck of an impact um and then Ingram to his credit checked up straight away and fought
two for nail to give Sutton the place back because it was quite tricky because Sutton had to basically
get back onto the racing circuit presumably do a mini shakedown to check nothing was wrong with
the rear of the car before you decide that you're going to commit to have to come back down through
the gears well there is that but also you don't want to be committed to the first corner at speed
and then find out that you've actually got a rear broken toe link or something because that is how
a massive accident happens uh i don't think Dover and Patterson were too pleased with them Ingram
sportsmanship because he's certainly rolling roadblock Ingram too he was absolutely desperate
to let Sutton back past and in doing so he really did sort of hold Dover and Patterson back until
Sutton could get that past now arguably it's the right thing for Ingram to do into let Sutton
back through because he understands the error that he's made and going into that and Sutton
acknowledged it after the race that he just mistimed it but he then caused possibly more
incident behind although it didn't happen with backing up Patterson, Dover, I think Morgan was there,
Osbourne was there at that point as well I don't know whether he actually then had the knock on
effect or Osbourne going off after the first corner on to the next lap yeah I wouldn't be
surprised if we see afterwards that he gets a little talking to for that just because I know
he's trying to do the right thing and you've got a credit that and 100% and he doesn't want to be
given a 20 second penalty afterwards in the stewards room completely get that the other
thing I would say is the drivers they can make their own arrangements they could have possibly
have tried to go around him he was doing a very good job of being defensive yeah yeah there is
that as well I suppose you could argue was he going unduly slowly for that part of the circuit
and therefore was he driving outside the rounds what you'd expect at that part of the circuit
don't know a tricky one because I say he was obviously determined to make sure that Sutton
didn't lose out based on the the the error he'd made but 11 driver who did then lose out
was when I think it was Morgan and Osbourne came together going down into turn two Osbourne got
a little bit about shape then onto the grass and had a massive slide picked up a load of grass as
well and was very lucky not to collect anyone when he re-entered the racetrack momentarily
before then going off wider again yeah again the wet grass comes into play can't slow the car down
and fairness he had no control about how he was re-entering the racetrack either it was a case of
okay I was going to have to close my eyes and hope for the best here and uh thank you everybody
involved despite how close one of the restart racing Hyundai's was yep everybody managed to get
round unscathed which is which is the main thing um I think that pretty much sums up the race to
poll um as I say I think it was a really good race yeah I'm pleased with that I will get the um
the results up now just while you uh fill fill for me so yeah once Aaron Taylor Smith had had
crossed the line his five second penalty came into effect which dropped him down to fifth position
overall meaning that Camish took the win from Josh Cook from Sutton from Ingram from Taylor Smith
good memory uh no that's the wrong one carry on I think from Mikey Doble from
Adam Morgan from Morgan then Paterson Moffat Smiley Dallin Chilton Collard recovering from the back
of the grid to 13th Rainford and Selby in the top 15 I must say the BMWs didn't look brilliant
you just took the words right out of my mouth De Leon, Robottom, Osbourne,
Hamilton and Sheddon completing the grid they had had a good start Chilton recovered well after
managing to get back onto the tail of the safety car line but the BMWs really didn't look at it
no completely agree with you and they were also in conditions where it wasn't too wet wasn't too dry
wasn't much in between it was I would have argued on paper perfect conditions for the car
not too hot not too cold yep so a little bit disappointing I have to say it'll be interesting
to see whether they can change that round for tomorrow and all three races and it'll be interesting
to see whether the boost does make any difference in tomorrow's races yeah it is worth just reminding
viewers this etc that once you have done the qualifying you cannot make any setup changes
for the race to pole sprint event so if they've gone in a particular setup direction it's not
worked you then can't change that for the race you you have to remain in what's known as park
firmer conditions now now the race is finished they are completely free to make whatever change
they want for tomorrow so we might well see a different style BMW tomorrow with a few setup
changes but if they've got it wrong today you are stuck with that decision for the whole for the
whole qualifying qualifying race to pole sprint event period and we still don't fully know what
the weather is actually going to do tomorrow we could see rain the overcast but dry
it's it's really going to throw the cat amongst the pigeons and we'll see who makes the most of it
yeah today was supposed to be the wetter of the two days and we haven't had the rain
particularly when we're supposed to hit the brands sorry at the Alton park
circuit for the for this qualifying and the qualifying race sprint to pole thing
so maybe we're going to get it in deluges tomorrow we should have to see I personally
am hoping for a wet race at least one of them because I like a wet river race it is the absolute
leveler and I think that of all the gimmicks you want to throw at the championship the best
and yeah I know you can't and go cannot manifest water but what I wanted to do yeah what would
you have like sprinklers of corn is but I think that you can wherever you use ballast boost
oh under whatever you want to get go of the weather is the greatest level and the greatest
thing for changing up a championship or changing up a race it certainly is we'll of course be back
with a review of all three races from tomorrow I hope you enjoy your day if you're going there
all sitting on the sofa enjoy the racing and we'll be back once again bye for now
About this episode
The hosts run through Oulton Park’s BTCC qualifying and race-to-pole sprint, starting with safety car timing and why Ford’s power was turned down by about three horsepower. They also cover qualifying penalties from track limits and overboost, plus a hairpin barrier incident that bunched the field back up. The discussion widens to BTCC balancing rules—engine development freeze and reduced boost—and how setup lockout after qualifying shapes strategy. Late-race penalties and restart rules, including no weaving under safety car, reshuffle the order.
AN ACTION PACKED RACE TO POLE SAW THE FIRST SAFETY CAR AND CONTACT BETWEEN THE TWO CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS, HOW DID IT ALL HAPPEN, LISTEN HERE AND FIND OUT.
