Bye bye Seat :(

Matt Sayle

Matt Sayle

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Seat have decide to not particapte in BTCC anymore and to stop the Seat Cupra championship. I am not arsed about the support race as it was crap but I am a HUGE Seat fan and now the are not going to race anymore :(

More info here:
http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/brands-hatch/news/article.asp?NewsID=4159

Here is a picture of Mr Plato at Oulton.
IMG_8410.jpg


Wonder now where JP will go and what Turner will do? He may go Le mans racing and edurance racing :shrug:

Thanks
Matt
 
Oh well, more diesel for the buses.
 
I've not had much time for the BTCC since they moved away from decent sized saloon cars, not these little hot hatch things pah.

Ah volvo estates with inflatable skeletons in the back.

Those were the days.
 
Mikesphotaes said:
Oh well, more diesel for the buses.
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Seconded, it's no great loss. The BTCC doesn't particularly interest me anymore. I don't really want to watch quiet, front wheel drive cars that don't look hugely different from the things I see day in day out. I know they're very different under the skin but that's not the point.

On a more important note, Yamaha Italia have signed Tom Sykes for World Superbike next year to replace Haga, who's off to Ducati.
 
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PsiFox said:
I've not had much time for the BTCC since they moved away from decent sized saloon cars, not these little hot hatch things pah.

Ah volvo estates with inflatable skeletons in the back.

Those were the days.
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1994 was a cracking season. The Alfas and Cleland and his Cavlier. The BTCC has become more tame so to speak. I reackon it should be like it was!!

RichardC27 said:
Seconded, it's no great loss. The BTCC doesn't particularly interest me anymore. I don't really want to watch quiet, front wheel drive cars that don't look hugely different from the things I see day in day out. I know they're very different under the skin but that's not the point.

On a more important note, Yamaha Italia have signed Tom Sykes for World Superbike next year to replace Haga, who's off to Ducati.
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Is he?!?! Thanks for that, he has a good run of results of late :)
 
Jason Plato will carry on getting set on fire in Caparo T1's on Fifth Gear ;)
 
The BTCC has been slowly dieing on it's arse ever since it's peak in the mid 90's, It'll soon be a one make championship if the car makers keep dropping out Vaxhaul seem to be about the last company taking it seriously.
 
RichardC27 said:
Seconded, it's no great loss. The BTCC doesn't particularly interest me anymore. I don't really want to watch quiet, front wheel drive cars that don't look hugely different from the things I see day in day out. I know they're very different under the skin but that's not the point.
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They may not be as much fun to watch as the old days. I can remember a Riley 1.5 giving a 4.2 litre Jag a run for its money, when every car in the race was different from every other car. I used to own a Seat Leon 20vt and I can tell you that it was great to drive. 6 forward gears, able to cruise at 110mph, cornered like a demon and left the lights like a rocket. Not diesel of course - what a shame.
 
No great loss. The problem for Plato now is he has to join somewhere with a definite Number 2 so someone can sit behind him all race and protect him in case someone accidentally taps him and he can whinge about driving standards.

Not that I've seen him hit anyone obviously.

Oh. I don't like him by the way.

But to keep this on thread...

IMG_4539.JPG
 
SnappyJon said:
No great loss. The problem for Plato now is he has to join somewhere with a definite Number 2 so someone can sit behind him all race and protect him in case someone accidentally taps him and he can whinge about driving standards.

Not that I've seen him hit anyone obviously.

Oh. I don't like him by the way.

But to keep this on thread...

IMG_4539.JPG
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What, another knocker of poor old Lord Smug of Arrogance? :whistling:



All those Seat fans will be a bit put out, but hey, I am with the older guys here, old BTCC was the bizziness, hot hatches just dont cut it anymore.
 
I totally agree. THe Vovlo Estates, THe ALfas, the Mondeos, the Vauxhals off Clelend. Also the drivers were much better. Andy Rouse. Gabrielle Tarquini. John Cleleand. Steve Sopher or however you spell it!!
 
Matt Sayle said:
1994 was a cracking season.............. I reackon it should be like it was!!
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You're going to be old before your time with expressions like that :razz:. How old were you in 1994? 3 years old?:D

You are right though!

Neil
 
It's not only SEAT that will be gone from the BTCC, but the SEAT Cupra Championship as well from the support package. Alot of these drivers have just bought new cars too.
 
I very much doubt the Cupra champ guys will get a re-fund. I was hoping the move to S2000 rules would have brought a few more manufactors back, cant beleive Ford didnt bring the Mondeo mk3 back to fight the VX vectra's, who will at this rate have won the manufactors title without even needing to turn a wheel, as the rest will be independants.

DTM's is ok, but again personally i think its days could be numbered unless they get a couple more different makes in it, even if its just different models of Audi's or Mercs, gets a tad boring just having A4's and c classes.

Even WTCC has suffered recently with Alfa pulling out, why are manufactors pulling out left right and center, could be a boring year next year for many champ's if the current trend follows.

WSB is looking interesting with a couple of new bikes appearing, but BSB could be in trouble though with the big players looking possibly moving on.
 
Perhaps they can see a downturn in the car sales market next year and spenting half a million pound running in the BTCC championship just isn't worth it to them......

Even running a back of the pack independant car in the BTCC you're looking at £100k a season, so two front running cars are just too much in the current climate.
 
It's possible that Seats marketing dept did their sums & decided that they had achieved their market share so they could save their budget for bonuses :shrug:

And another shot of Lord Smug

btcc6.jpg
 
Going by there website it looks like they will continue with the WTCC next year, just not the BTCC, but there cars wont be of the grid http://www.crash.net/motorsport/btcc/news/164642-0/new_seat_team_for_2009_btcc.html

As regard to the Cupra cup, there is a poss that will run just without Seat Sport backing. Maybe they just feel theres not enough competition left to make a full factory effort worth the cost.
 
Matt Sayle said:
Thats not on. Will they get a refund?
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Almost certainly no. Along with seemingly every other sort of car that doesn't really fit in anywhere else, they will end up in Britcar and the Northern/North West Sports/Saloon Championship. A few will probably end up at Castle Coombe as well.

And the true glory era of the BTCC was the late 80's. 550bhp Sierra RS500s with barely any grip. The first race meeting I remember is the BTCC at Oulton in about 1988, which would have made me 4 years old :)
 
russdaz said:
Going by there website it looks like they will continue with the WTCC next year, just not the BTCC, but there cars wont be of the grid http://www.crash.net/motorsport/btcc/news/164642-0/new_seat_team_for_2009_btcc.html

As regard to the Cupra cup, there is a poss that will run just without Seat Sport backing. Maybe they just feel theres not enough competition left to make a full factory effort worth the cost.
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There is a b****r all competion in the parade that is the Cupra cup. It is a really bad championship. I think for BTCC weekend it goes (in order of entertainment)

1. Clios
2. BTCC
3. Ginettas
4. FR UK
5. Porsche
6. Seats
 
apkent said:
Perhaps they can see a downturn in the car sales market next year and spenting half a million pound running in the BTCC championship just isn't worth it to them......

Even running a back of the pack independant car in the BTCC you're looking at £100k a season, so two front running cars are just too much in the current climate.
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There is already a downturn in car sales, let alone next year.
It maybe to do with the fact that they've spent 5 years in the BTCC and only have one manufacturers title to there name. They probably feel the investment would be better in the WTCC.

I think you'll find a works team will be spending alot more than half a million. That will probably pay for the cars and a few spares. It's rumoured VX's budget is £3million.
 
not too bothered to see them go tbh, i agree that (as a tv viewer) theres alot more exciting racing out there, rather than watch a championship (same with dull WTCC) that spends so much time swapping balast about to try to make cars competitive, which is just stupid, if your regs were better you wouldnt have to keep altering car weights and giving weight breaks to certain cars to make them competitive.

not too bothered by plato searching for a job, maybe he should move to stock cars after all hes been attempting to make BTCC into stock cars for the past 10 years....


the only interesting race in the ITV4 BTCC package is the ginetta championship, oh and matt jackson adds some excitement to otherwise dull BTCC races
 
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god, he gets around doesn't he :D

Seat1sm.jpg


Seat4sm.jpg
 
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whitewash said:
not too bothered by plato searching for a job, maybe he should move to stock cars after all hes been attempting to make BTCC into stock cars for the past 10 years....
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I wonder if he still has the Renault Laguna the Williams Team put together for him. They kept all the panels he'd damaged and put them on an old shell he'd also damaged and used a crane to lift it over his house and left it in his back garden whilst he was out.
 
nilagin said:
I wonder if he still has the Renault Laguna the Williams Team put together for him. They kept all the panels he'd damaged and put them on an old shell he'd also damaged and used a crane to lift it over his house and left it in his back garden whilst he was out.
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:lol:
 
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