Btcc - Knockhill...

[alanbradley]

Today I spend most of the time (well, that which was not spent in queues of traffic) at Knockhill for one of the rounds of the British Touring Car Championships.

One of my neighbours had been given a couple of complimentary tickets by his employers who sponsor one of the cars, so he asked if I wanted to come along. So I went...

The weather was a bit unpredictable (we are in Scotland after all), but the rain held off for most of the day, which was good. It was great being able to see and get close to all of the various teams, although I have to admit that I had stopped following BTCC a few years ago. Nowadays there are couple of factory/big sponsor teams and a couple of privateers too.

There were also Seat (Say-at, not Seet - Spanish sub-brand of VW) Leon, Formule BMW, Porsche Carrera Cup and Formula Ford too (batteries in the camera ran out for the last couple - sadly)

Anyhow, here are some pics - including a step-by-step of a big crash involving Matt Neal (Halfords Integra), Jason Plato (Seat), a Vauxhall Astra VXR and a privateer with another Integra...

Bit of scenery - not too bad a backdrop :-D

That big crash (there was quite a bit of cropping here - I hadn't realised what was happening yet)

Oo-er... Neal's integra's lost it...

Right round...

...and off with the other Integra

Neal can carry on...

Leaving 2 cars and a wheel.

A wheel? What off? Aha! Jason Plato's Seat...

It'll T-Cut out though...

Instrument binnacle of the privateer Integra

A couple of the formula BMW cars at the hairpin

Porsche Carrera Cup cars, note that it had been pee-ing with rain... Colin MacRae had been guest-driving the Vertu sponsored entry but had to retire through cylider head gasket failure. It turns out he'd overheated in Saturday qualifying...

Finally, Ripspeed alloys looking much less silly than they do on Corsas or Saxos :-D

I'm knackered, but a good knackered

A

[kimi]

Good pictures

i love the BTCC used to follow it all round the uk had my holidays round it

everywhere but knockhill

i went to the 1st night race they did at snetterton it was excellent :D

i cheat these days and watch it on motors tv, as its live all day inc back up races

race 2 today was excellent

hope you dryed out ok it looked rather damp this morning

[alanbradley]

Arrived just before 11, just after the rain so we were fine until just after the last BTCC race when the heavens opened (you probably saw the looming clouds :D )

Apologies for "idiot's guide to Seat btw - the post was written for multiple forums, some in the US, and I can't not edit it because of the forum software (not going to try and explain again )

A

[Demonic Angel]

Excellent pics Alan.... love a good action shot or two...

[alanbradley]

Thanks Em - more to come later...

A

[dawesy]

love the van in the sixth pic, looks cool.

gather plato didnt run again after that?

[GIDDLEPIN]

Finally got to do a bit of trolling round the site ;)

Brilliant pictures Alan

Is that an inclined in line four cylinder engine powering the dash console?

[MarkMcQ]

I was gutted at the race. Me and my mate dished out 20 quid each a ticket, and I bought a car park pass for a tenner. We got straight into the parking because of the pass, and at no point during the day were any tickets checked at all. Coulda saved myself 40 quid.... :P

There was so much good action in the first 2 BTC races. We stood right on the corner between Seat Curves and Scotsman, which was were a lot of the offs happened during those 2 races. Last race was more of a sprint really, but still good to watch.

Porsche race was a bit of a sprint as well, but was amazing to watch. Those things can go, and they sound grand as well. We had moved to the hairpin for that, and saw some nice overtaking, especially from people taking advantage of that puddle that had been on the inside all day. Everyone was avoiding it, and a few brave souls went straight for it and managed to keep the inside line and gain a position.

I took a bunch of pics as well, but most came out bad. My camera is seemingly cack, which was a bit of a downer. Plus I never got to see Miss VBH in person, although I did come within slapping distance of Matt "Obviously it's was Plato's fault, and not mine" Neal, which was tempting....

Once I sift through my pics and bin the crap quality ones, I'll stick a few up.

[Caz SR]

Sounds fantastic. I would love to get back into watching BTCC again and attending meets. I used to go all the time in the 90's. Will Hoy has a special place in my heart - such a lovely person and is who got me into Toyotas in the first place.

Brilliant pics Alan - think you've got quite an eye for photography.

[martin_longbow]

Nice pics indeed Alan, loved the commentry.

Also noticed the choped van, think it's an old HA (vauxhall) van. Havent seen one in years.

Think youve a job there as a roving TOC reporter

[paul15]

Just came across this thread by chance - I used to follow the BTCC ages ago when Hoy, Bailey and Sugden drove the Carina's!! Fantastic stuff and was gutted when they decided to pull the plug. Not good. Just wondered does anyone on here remember those Toyota Super Touring days and if anyone has any pics etc

Cheers

Paul

[Pompey Gaz]

i didn't think they races in winter?

lol looks like you had a good time

[cfc1]

Gaz... check the dates of the earlier posts

[Pompey Gaz]

why do people bring up really old posts? lol i always do this :(