Breaking News! Editor of Motorsport News to shave his head!

That's right people, the long haired beardy Matt James has agreed to shave his head for Macmillan, but there is a catch, he will only do it if he can raise £2000.

As you can see, he desperately needs a haircut!

A little back story to this:
At a recent race weekend Matt was threatened by Rob Austin with an enforced haircut, not without reason as you can see. Now after further pressure Matt has relented but only if enough money is raised.
Matt James is currently sat in the pub gloating, convinced that the haircut will not happen and he will have his girlfriend straightening his naturally curly locks for a long time to come (I kid you not!).

Rob Austin has clippers at the ready to chase him down the pit lane if necessary.
I would pay just to see this happen, but I suppose it's better to put some cash in the pot to save Matt the indignity of running.

Please give generously to save a touring car driver v news editor fight

Matt James -  brave the shave!

What do racing drivers do when they're not racing?

I'm sure we have all asked this question at some point. What do racing drivers do when they're not racing? They must do something, they can't all just get thrown in a cupboard like the Stig.

Well, between Rockingham and Silverstone I have been wondering that myself.
I don't know what they all do, but here are highlights from a few who have shared (and a few who haven't!)

Gordon Sheddon is easy to guess. He works at Knockhill Race Circuit when not racing, in fact if you time it right while ringing up to book tickets or driving experiences he could well be the person picking up the phone to take your order.
Very recently he did a swap with John McGuiness for the day, handing over his car in exchange for John's bike. In the end their times were only a tenth of a second adrift, quite impressive really.

But if you are into music you might prefer what else he recently got up to, helping the Kaiser Chiefs with their new video - he was the one driving round Knockhill in those Hondas.

Obviously being the reigning champion has it's benefits.

As for Dan Welch, Tony Gilham and Kelvin Fletcher, I should imagine they have been spending some quality time with their new babies. Yes, it is baby season for touring car drivers. I can only conclude (especially given that Hunter Abbott's son was also born in August last year) that racing drivers have a particular way to keep themselves occupied in the off season (do the maths, wives and girlfriends have busy Novembers, lol)

There has also been a busy time in the Handy MotorSport camp with a trip to Doncaster to keep the team entertained.

Simon Belcher (Handy's team boss) has been showing of the skills that made him a European Champion by entering the British Jet Ski Championship to raise money for Cancer Research.

This is Simon doing his best superman as he crossed the finish in 4th. Not bad when he last raced jetski's 15 years ago.

Thanks to Sian Mcardle for the awesome photos.

And where was Rob Austin while his boss was playing?

Well, he did eventually emerge from the truck to help.

As well as acting as Simon's manager for the weekend he was the lake shark spotter. (Rob knows nothing about marine biology and remains convinced that lakes are filled with sharks and he's better staying out of the water.)

It's good to see that these men have bonded so well given that until the end of last season the had not really spoken. They are now fast becoming becoming quite the double act in the paddock.

Simon has managed to raise £4620 so far, which is an amazing amount for a worthy charity and it's not too late for you contribute, remember it's for Cancer Research.

Another driver who must get a special mention is Mike Bushell. Not currently racing a touring car, but this season's joint leader in the Clio Cup, he has made no secret of being bored while waiting for Silverstone. First he was fixing his van, which broke down in Rockingham car park as he was trying to get home after a highly successful weekend, then he posted a video to facebook of himself redecorating the house. Please get that man back in a race car asap or send him to redecorate my house!

So racing drivers do have lives away from the race tracks. Who knew?

Do you know what any of the other drivers have been getting up to since Rockingham?

If anyone's going to the Goodwood Revival this weekend see if you can spot how many of the BTCC drivers are there and leave a message - extra brownie points for photos!

Rockingham and the Tornado that nearly was

Phew, it's taken me the bank holiday to recover from the madness.

This was the Saturday with weather any true Brit will talk about for years without shame. It felt like an opening sequence from the Day After Tomorrow.

Light rain was forecast so fair enough we all brought brollies and waterproofs but wow. First the qualifying was red flagged because it was raining so hard and then they cancelled the Ginetta race at the end of the day because it was too dark to race! The photo above was taken at 5pm but it look like it was late evening.
It was actually taken when a poor circuit official was dispatched into the rain to recover the many Dunlop sign boards having their own race around the circuit.

At the same time in the pit lane the teams were running out to retrieve any electricals they had under the buckling pit wall shelters and pulling down the garage shutters.

The main grandstand was evacuated by officials and we all were left huddling in the shelter by the track watching the spectacular storm passing over us.

Then there was disaster as an awning was visible from grandstand flying high above the garages. It was not until we ventured over to the Paddock we discovered that Jack Goff's hospitality trailer awning had been picked up and dragged away from the trailer. When we arrived there were people on ladders trying to cut the remaining supports of the trailer so they could make it safe. Fortunately were were soon informed that there were cuts and bruises but no serious injuries.
Other teams in the paddock had evidence of damage in their awnings and one of the Ginetta teams in their exposed paddock outside the circuit was unlucky enough to lose their awning too. The Renault hospitality was also being repaired when we left later on. So more than one team is left with a heavy bill that for one was nothing to do with the racing.

As it turned out there were also a lot of soggy campers over night, Barmy Army posted a video (sorry, I can't seem to find it now) of rivers of water running through the campsite.


Luckily for everyone Sunday was a much nicer day.
I could go through all of the race day results, but you can get those from the BTCC website and if you've already watched the racing you don't need me to bore you with that.
Let's get straight into the nitty-gritty.

In lighter news, Rockingham race day was the first racing experience for young baby Dexter Welch and in honour of his arrival some fans got together at Turn 1 and made sure he felt welcome:
There was a big sign held up saying "Welcome Baby Dexter Welch". Lucy Welch later said thank you when a video of it was shared on the Welch Motor Sport Fans facebook page.
But Dan did not have a great weekend. Taken out 2 laps into race 1, his steering column snapped as he began the green flag lap on race 2 and in race 3 he was taken out with broken suspension.

Poor Dan, he's a lovely guy. We went to see him after race 2 and we got high fives and fist bumps from his little girl Skylar.

The naughty fan favourite Rob Austin was forced to start from the back of the grid for race 1 after a penalty for contact with Adam Morgan at Knockhill put him on his third strike.
This will be happening to Colin Turkington at Silverstone since he got his third strike at the weekend for overtaking Jake Hill under yellow flags.
Rob remains a firm favourite with many no matter where he finishes because, like Dan Welch, he engages well with the fans, but the other draw may be these two often spotted together with Rob during the open pitlane events.

The lovely Jo Paddon and the very quiet Mike the Mechanic

You may have noticed collection buckets being aimed in your direction if you were in the pit lane on Sunday and near the the Handy Motorsport garage. This is because Simon Belcher (team boss and former BTCC driver) is taking part in a charity jetskiing event this weekend (Championship event) to raise money for Cancer Research. You may not know this, but before Simon switched to cars he was a European Jet Ski Champion.

So, who else had a good weekend??? Was there someone called Aron who had a good time?

He is now the 12th race winner this season and he was absolutely over the moon with his win after a weekend that looked like it was going to be middling one he gave BKR their very first win.

Well done Aron!

Once again we finish a race weekend with debates on driving standards and another slew of penalties issued to drivers from all parts of the grid and all levels of experience, all the way to Colin Turkington who has been racing in BTCC since 2002 and really should know what he's doing.

There was also further debate in the BMR/TOCA/Plato engine parity debate, with BMR issuing a clarification to their earlier statement and TOCA issuing a clarification of their own. I have a feeling this will be going on all season. See the news article here.

In short, BMR corrected their previous statement to add that other teams had made similar Homologation Extension applications only for TOCA to come back saying "no other team has ever made such an application" and then to further refute Jason Plato's complaints by stating that the point of the homologation is to give cars an equal power factor, not to ensure they all have the same top speed. In other words, what you do with your power is up to you once you have the same potential power to work with.

Don't forget that today is the Tuesday after a race weekend and that can mean nothing other that TinTopTuesday! Tune in a 8pm.
ADDENDUM: This weekend TinTopTuesday is actually being broadcast on Wednesday.
his is the first time it's ever happened and I'm sure Alan will have some explaining to do!

If you haven't listened to it before, why not?

Our very own Alan Hyde interviews the drivers of particular note (for good or bad) from the weekend and it's not uncommon for Alan Gow to drop in and other important people from the series who don't normally get the limelight since they don't sit in the cars.

Rockingham and the Tornado that nearly was

Phew, it's taken me the bank holiday to recover from the madness.

This was the Saturday with weather any true Brit will talk about for years without shame. It felt like an opening sequence from the Day After Tomorrow.

Light rain was forecast so fair enough we all brought brollies and waterproofs but wow. First the qualifying was red flagged because it was raining so hard and then they cancelled the Ginetta race at the end of the day because it was too dark to race! The photo above was taken at 5pm but it look like it was late evening.
It was actually taken when a poor circuit official was dispatched into the rain to recover the many Dunlop sign boards having their own race around the circuit.

At the same time in the pit lane the teams were running out to retrieve any electricals they had under the buckling pit wall shelters and pulling down the garage shutters.

The main grandstand was evacuated by officials and we all were left huddling in the shelter by the track watching the spectacular storm passing over us.

Then there was disaster as an awning was visible from grandstand flying high above the garages. It was not until we ventured over to the Paddock we discovered that Jack Goff's hospitality trailer awning had been picked up and dragged away from the trailer. When we arrived there were people on ladders trying to cut the remaining supports of the trailer so they could make it safe. Fortunately were were soon informed that there were cuts and bruises but no serious injuries.
Other teams in the paddock had evidence of damage in their awnings and one of the Ginetta teams in their exposed paddock outside the circuit was unlucky enough to lose their awning too. The Renault hospitality was also being repaired when we left later on. So more than one team is left with a heavy bill that for one was nothing to do with the racing.

As it turned out there were also a lot of soggy campers over night, Barmy Army posted a video (sorry, I can't seem to find it now) of rivers of water running through the campsite.


Luckily for everyone Sunday was a much nicer day.
I could go through all of the race day results, but you can get those from the BTCC website and if you've already watched the racing you don't need me to bore you with that.
Let's get straight into the nitty-gritty.

In lighter news, Rockingham race day was the first racing experience for young baby Dexter Welch and in honour of his arrival some fans got together at Turn 1 and made sure he felt welcome:
There was a big sign held up saying "Welcome Baby Dexter Welch". Lucy Welch later said thank you when a video of it was shared on the Welch Motor Sport Fans facebook page.
But Dan did not have a great weekend. Taken out 2 laps into race 1, his steering column snapped as he began the green flag lap on race 2 and in race 3 he was taken out with broken suspension.

Poor Dan, he's a lovely guy. We went to see him after race 2 and we got high fives and fist bumps from his little girl Skylar.

The naughty fan favourite Rob Austin was forced to start from the back of the grid for race 1 after a penalty for contact with Adam Morgan at Knockhill put him on his third strike.
This will be happening to Colin Turkington at Silverstone since he got his third strike at the weekend for overtaking Jake Hill under yellow flags.
Rob remains a firm favourite with many no matter where he finishes because, like Dan Welch, he engages well with the fans, but the other draw may be these two often spotted together with Rob during the open pitlane events.

The lovely Jo Paddon and the very quiet Mike the Mechanic

You may have noticed collection buckets being aimed in your direction if you were in the pit lane on Sunday and near the the Handy Motorsport garage. This is because Simon Belcher (team boss and former BTCC driver) is taking part in a charity jetskiing event this weekend (Championship event) to raise money for Cancer Research. You may not know this, but before Simon switched to cars he was a European Jet Ski Champion.

So, who else had a good weekend??? Was there someone called Aron who had a good time?

He is now the 12th race winner this season and he was absolutely over the moon with his win after a weekend that looked like it was going to be middling one he gave BKR their very first win.

Well done Aron!

Once again we finish a race weekend with debates on driving standards and another slew of penalties issued to drivers from all parts of the grid and all levels of experience, all the way to Colin Turkington who has been racing in BTCC since 2002 and really should know what he's doing.

There was also further debate in the BMR/TOCA/Plato engine parity debate, with BMR issuing a clarification to their earlier statement and TOCA issuing a clarification of their own. I have a feeling this will be going on all season. See the news article here.

In short, BMR corrected their previous statement to add that other teams had made similar Homologation Extension applications only for TOCA to come back saying "no other team has ever made such an application" and then to further refute Jason Plato's complaints by stating that the point of the homologation is to give cars an equal power factor, not to ensure they all have the same top speed. In other words, what you do with your power is up to you once you have the same potential power to work with.

Don't forget that today is the Tuesday after a race weekend and that can mean nothing other that TinTopTuesday! Tune in a 8pm.
ADDENDUM: This weekend TinTopTuesday is actually being broadcast on Wednesday.
his is the first time it's ever happened and I'm sure Alan will have some explaining to do!

If you haven't listened to it before, why not?

Our very own Alan Hyde interviews the drivers of particular note (for good or bad) from the weekend and it's not uncommon for Alan Gow to drop in and other important people from the series who don't normally get the limelight since they don't sit in the cars.

Gearing up for The Rock

No, not Dwayne Johnson, Rockingham!

It's the only banked circuit on the BTCC calender and it always causes a it of chaos.

For a bit of geek satisfaction watch Hunter Abbott at turn one, he takes a different line to most of the other drivers having completed two seasons of Oval racing in the past and he uses it to his advantage to be in a position no one else expects.





It's looking to be a soggy Qualifying too which always stirs things up, will Alex Martin go drifting in the rain again like he did at Croft? Did you see that? Everyone else put their wets on when it bucketed down at the end of the day but Alex stayed with slicks, he may not have been fast but he proved he has skills and would not have been out of place at a Jap Fest. It was highly entertaining track side.


In more serious news, do you remember my post about Knockhill (assuming you read it) where I said how strange Jason Plato's complaints were and how upset Alan Gow was about them?
Well, Team BMR have now issued a formal statement saying how while they appreciate their drivers frustrations they fully support TOCA and look forward to a successful climax to the season.
(statement in full) That should insulate them from the wroth of Mr Gow but does leave Jason out in the cold. I wonder if he will dare make any complaints at this round?

I'm sure there will be much excited to be had this weekend, I'm off to get everything ready for morning now. Must pack waterproofs!


Does anyone want to guess how many red flags we will get this weekend? And who will be issued with penalties? (It would be nice to see 0 & 0 but I very much doubt that will happen)

Musical Race Seats - who has come and gone this season

It's time for more change! So many faces have been and gone this year, it's getting hard to keep up with it all. Here's the low down, as far as I've been able to keep up anyway.

This season it was Andy Neate who began the annual Driver Shuffle, leaving the Halfords Yuasa outfit after just one race weekend and the team out of pocket with a loaned TBL they could not use and a brand new car left in the garage.

Daniel Lloyd then arrived in time for Thruxton with Eurotech and did very well racing at the front of the pack until a sponsor backed out and he was forced to bow out after Croft.

Chris Smiley completed half a season with RCIB Insurance before also falling foul of sponsorship problems and having to bow out, but he has potential to be back another season if he keeps Tony Gilham (Team Hard) on side while he races in another series with them.

Michael Caine stepped up to replace Chris in the RCIB car, but managed only Snetterton and Race 1 of Knockhill before losing feeling in feet and feeling the pain of an old and evidently lingering back injury. Until he is medically fit to race again he will not be back.

Kelvin Fletcher did what we all thought was a one weekend bow out at Knockhill while awaiting the birth of his child (what is it with touring car drivers and Knockhill due dates? that's 3 now in the last two years!) but as said baby has not yet arrived there is now word that he will also miss Rockingham. (sorry about the photo, I couldn't resist)

Dave Newsham made a return from the world of British Rally Cross to race the PowerMaxed car left vacant by Kelvin and he obviously loved every second. He has now announced that he is jumping back into the car for Rockingham. (the fact he has also stepped out of Rally Cross does nothing to allay suspicions of something being amiss with our favourite Emmerdale tractor driver).

Similarly, old regular Tony Gilham is jumping back behind the wheel to replace Michael Caine (let's hope that's the last driver change RCIB have to endure this season, but if the Boss sniffs enough cash he may give up the seat for the last couple of rounds, we'll have to wait and see).
















We still have three more rounds to go.
Do you think we'll make it to the end without anymore driver changes?




Special Addendum:

I have just been made aware of a death within the Motorbase Team.
Long standing Team Member & old friend of David Bartrum, "Big Nev" Neville Down, has passed away.
I would like to extend my condolences to his family, friends and everyone within the team.

Knockhill - Sunny Scotland

In case you didn't know it already, Knockhill is an awesome circuit.
You approach it through tiny country lanes, you can't believe there is such a gem hidden behind pine trees and fields of cows. It's well worth the journey to Scotland (for us it's an 8hr drive in good traffic).
The home of Gordon Sheddon, quite literally, he and his wife work there (she is the MD) so when the BTCC circus arrives it's day job meets weekend special.

But it was a sombre meeting, at least before race one, as we all said a farewell to Jack Sears, Gentleman Jack, the first winner of the touring car series and a man who was regular at meetings right up to his death. Thousands of people observed the minute's silence, drivers lined up together on the track, and there was an eerie calm being surrounded by so many people in absolute silence.
Thank you to Alan Hyde for his wonderful speech, a fitting farewell to the first BTCC legend.

RIP Gentleman Jack

Much happier news was seeing Dan Welch back on track in the reborn Optimus. The team had barely a week to take an old bodyshell and create a car. They even put out a call for assistance and had a mass of hardened Welch Warriors appear to help with the rebuild on what would normally be their weekend off.

Making it even more poignant, Dan's wife Lucy went into labour the day after the massive crash, safely delivering baby Dexter, their second child and first boy. Poor Dan lost precious bonding time stuck in the workshop rebuilding after the incident Ollie Jackson was penalised for.

There were extra cheers for Dan as he went by on the circuit.

PowerMaxedRacing had their own challenge to rebuild Hunter Abbott's car after it's journey along the barrier but they maintain it was less badly damaged than they had first feared at Snetterton.

888 Race Engineering (MG Racing) also had more than their fair share of rebuilding issues and were very vocal about the poor driving standards that caused it.

I can't fail to mention the special landmark our old man of the BTCC managed at Knockhill. Jason Plato completed his 500th race, not only that but he won it too after starting on pole. (autosport article)

He then took 3rd place in the next two races, making it by far his best weekend this year.

Unfortunately, Jason then soured things by again complaining about a lack of engine parity, claiming other cars on the grid to be much higher in power than the Levorgs. His complaints have now got to the stage that after Knockhill Alan Gow himself (Mr BTCC) has issued a statement claiming that Jason's remarks to the media are "borderline offensive" after the amount of good will extended earlier in the year to Team BMR to get their new cars competitive. 

Whether you are a fan or not, you have to see how bizarre it is for someone with three podiums and a pole in qualifying to claim his car doesn't have enough power to compete with his rivals.

For fans, there was a simple but oh so needed change to Knockhill from last year in the form of shelters.

A bit like large open fronted cattle barns, four strategic locations around the circuit now have a place to huddle out of the charming Scottish weather and they make a huge difference when there is a sudden downpour.

Special Mentions: 

Happy Birthday to massive BTCC fan Paul Nash (again)

Thanks to Rob Austin for his suggestion on a facebook thread asking for the ultimate BTCC weekend soundtrack. I spent most of a nightmare 12 hour journey home (don't ask) with East Bound and Down running through my head. (Great song, just not for that long).