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I wish the commentators would stop praising his drive like it's the best thing we've ever seen.

The only question is, how bad must Andy Neate be to not get the same car into the top 5?

Switched off. Do I want to watch the next meeting?

Well, no doubt that 95% of the work goes on Plato's car, but Neate's been pretty awful.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Neates just there for his money.

I'd expect Honda to be strong around Brands, as it's all about the handling. They must surely get some boost back after this meeting as well?

And true, I can't imagine Neate getting the same attention as Plato.

They had better get some boost back.

TOCA need to fuck off. Bias in the series is evident.

Too many idiots on the official forum, claiming it's the same as Plato being disadvantage last year...

The fundamental problem is micromanagement.

There is nothing wrong with trying to balance all turbo cars with all S2000 cars, which was the case last year. The two formulae are so fundamentally different that trying to achieve parity, at least in the short term, is a good idea.

The problem has come when ToCA have tried to balance all the cars. It has just led to too many minor corrections which once collated have turned into significant performance gaps. They are also seemingly unaware of the characteristics of each circuit on the calendar. It would have made sense to give Honda an increase in the boost for Silverstone because any penalising effect would be multiplied by the nature of the track.

I don't know what they plan to do next year except to no longer balance the S2000s, but I hope they go back to what they were doing last year. By all means, make sure the turbos all have similar top speeds, but don't take away power from one team that has built a car which handles brilliantly.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

No. Silverstone National is a very good layout that produces incredibly close racing. The only exception today was the Ginetta Supercup, quite disappointing. If it produces good racing then it's a good circuit, simple as that.

I just knew that I'd come home to read a load of "it's rigged for Plato" type comments. If that's the case (and it isn't) then it's even more "rigged" towards Jackson who was by far the fastest today, as well as anyone else faster than the Hondas. Of course nobody says anything about them because they aren't called Plato. It's pretty pathetic, really.

I'd love to hear what the Jordans said about that waste of fresh air in the other MG, sounds like they absolutely slaughtered him (and quite rightly so).

The best two races of the day were Juniors (slipstreaming and overtaking aplenty) and the first Clio race (Clios + fog + cold and slightly damp track = amazin').

I agree that the marshals were particularly useless today, it took them about four or five laps to recover a car from the Luffield gravel in the Junior race. It's just not on.

Oh, nearly forgot, penalties:

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Austin got four penalty points for that? Damn.

Wood earning six points total o.O

let's have a look at some top speeds, then we'll find out how much that plato is cheating

Race 1

Back Straight                    Start/Finish           
                             
          Driver      MPH                  Driver      MPH
                             
1    8    COLLARD     137.8      1    4    JACKSON     127.6
2    5    SMITH       137.5      2    17   NEWSHAM     127.6
3    43   WOOD        137.5      3    5    SMITH       127.4
4    4    JACKSON     137.2      4    43   WOOD        127.4
5    18   FOSTER      136.4      5    8    COLLARD     127.1
6    22   FULLER      136.1      6    18   FOSTER      126.9
7    17   NEWSHAM     135.8      7    22   FULLER      126.9
8    33   MORGAN      135.8      8    33   MORGAN      126.4
9    12   WELCH       135.3      9    78   JAMES       126.4
10   44   NEATE       135.3      10   12   WELCH       126.2
11   38   ONSLOW-COLE 134.8      11   34   GILHAM      125.9
12   11   WRATHALL    134.5      12   38   ONSLOW-COLE 125.7
13   99   PLATO       134.5      13   44   NEATE       125.7
14   14   BRATT       133.9      14   99   PLATO       125.7
15   13   AUSTIN      133.7      15   13   AUSTIN      125.4
16   50   HUGHES      133.2      16   11   WRATHALL    125.0
17   34   GILHAM      132.9      17   14   BRATT       125.0
18   55   SMITH       132.6      18   50   HUGHES      124.0
19   78   JAMES       132.4      19   55   SMITH       123.3
20   52   SHEDDEN     131.8      20   52   SHEDDEN     123.1
21   1    NEAL        131.1      21   77   JORDAN      122.6
22   6    GRIFFIN     129.8      22   1    NEAL        122.4
23   48   JACKSON     129.8      23   48   JACKSON     120.6
24   77   JORDAN      129.1                

Race 2

Back Straight                     Start/Finish            
                              
          Driver       MPH                  Driver       MPH
                              
1    4    JACKSON      138.9      1    38   ONSLOW-COLE  127.1
2    6    GRIFFIN      137.5      2    78   JAMES        127.1
3    38   ONSLOW-COLE  137.5      3    4    JACKSON      126.9
4    43   WOOD         137.2      4    12   WELCH        126.9
5    5    SMITH        137.0      5    6    GRIFFIN      126.6
6    18   FOSTER       136.7      6    18   FOSTER       126.4
7    8    COLLARD      136.1      7    5    SMITH        126.2
8    12   WELCH        136.1      8    8    COLLARD      125.7
9    78   JAMES        136.1      9    17   NEWSHAM      125.7
10   17   NEWSHAM      135.6      10   43   WOOD         125.7
11   33   MORGAN       135.6      11   44   NEATE        125.7
12   34   GILHAM       135.6      12   34   GILHAM       125.2
13   11   WRATHALL     135.3      13   11   WRATHALL     125.0
14   44   NEATE        135.0      14   99   PLATO        124.7
15   22   FULLER       134.2      15   14   BRATT        124.5
16   13   AUSTIN       133.7      16   22   FULLER       124.5
17   14   BRATT        133.7      17   13   AUSTIN       124.3
18   50   HUGHES       133.4      18   33   MORGAN       124.3
19   1    NEAL         133.2      19   55   SMITH        123.6
20   52   SHEDDEN      133.2      20   50   HUGHES       123.3
21   55   SMITH        133.2      21   52   SHEDDEN      123.3
22   48   JACKSON      132.9      22   77   JORDAN       123.3
23   77   JORDAN       132.6      23   1    NEAL         122.6
24   99   PLATO        132.6      24   48   JACKSON      122.6

Race 3

Back Straight                     Start/Finish            
                              
          Driver       MPH                  Driver       MPH
                              
1    5    SMITH        138.4      1    4    JACKSON      127.1
2    4    JACKSON      138.1      2    22   FULLER       127.1
3    18   FOSTER       138.1      3    5    SMITH        126.9
4    38   ONSLOW-COLE  138.1      4    38   ONSLOW-COLE  126.9
5    6    GRIFFIN      137.8      5    8    COLLARD      126.6
6    8    COLLARD      137.5      6    17   NEWSHAM      126.6
7    22   FULLER       137.0      7    99   PLATO        126.6
8    43   WOOD         137.0      8    18   FOSTER       126.4
9    99   PLATO        137.0      9    78   JAMES        126.4
10   17   NEWSHAM      136.4      10   12   WELCH        126.2
11   78   JAMES        136.1      11   43   WOOD         126.2
12   11   WRATHALL     135.8      12   6    GRIFFIN      125.9
13   33   MORGAN       135.8      13   33   MORGAN       125.4
14   12   WELCH        135.6      14   13   AUSTIN       125.2
15   13   AUSTIN       135.3      15   11   WRATHALL     125.0
16   14   BRATT        134.2      16   55   SMITH        124.0
17   50   HUGHES       133.7      17   14   BRATT        123.8
18   1    NEAL         133.4      18   50   HUGHES       123.8
19   52   SHEDDEN      133.4      19   52   SHEDDEN      123.3
20   55   SMITH        133.4      20   77   JORDAN       122.9
21   48   JACKSON      132.6      21   48   JACKSON      122.6
22   77   JORDAN       132.4      22   1    NEAL         122.0
23   34   GILHAM       127.1      23   34   GILHAM       120.2
24   44   NEATE        125.0                  

just because the hondas are slow doesn't mean that plato is being favoured

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It's not just about how fast you go down the straights. The turbo has a big effect on throttle response as well as low to mid-range acceleration. 2 years ago the LPG CalorGas Fords were given 2 or 3 restrictions throughout the Silverstone race weekend, despite being quite far down the straightline speed charts. But that didn't stop people complaining about those "ugly ugly Fords"... Plato's own words, not mine.

Today you could see how bad the Honda's (all 4...) were affected. Today Gordon Shedden really showed why he deserves the title more than anyone else. Today I felt sick watching how easy some cars were able to overtake others.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

Seems the success ballast is too much in BTCC, In race 2 Jackson did the same as Plato, storming through from the back to win with no ballast.

The MG isn't particularly fast in a straight line, however it is an extremely quick car overall. He only has 1 car challenging him for the title, and that car is continually pegged back to the point where it simply can't compete anymore. The fact that the old S2000 Civic is now faster than the NGTC Civic is surely all the proof you need that the non Plato cars get held back? I'm tired of hearing how "I'm driving beyond the limits of the car" and "doing impossible things with an under developed car". Fuck. You, Jason. It's developed by Triple 8, and every car is balanced to hell. Just because Andy Neate is currently making you look good, doesn't make you some sort of touring car god. If Muller and Gio were back then you'd be getting bitch slapped all over the country.

Also take into account that if people bump Plato, they get penalised (see Brands Hatch), but if Plato bumps others, he gets literally nothing, and the commentators call it a great move.

So if you're going to try and make an argument for things not favouring Plato, you're going to have to do a little better than some speed trap figures I'm afraid.

Amen to that ellis

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Hmmm, class shouldn't be something Andy Neate talks about

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

Watch him take out Jordan again then...

What would be real class is Andy Neate realising he's a massive prick with an ego bigger than his oversized cheque book and taking permanent leave of the BTCC.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk