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BTCC 2014: (E)State of Play for Honda Yuasa Racing
The start of the 2014 British Touring Car Championship draws ever closer, and one of the big questions that has had us all talking in the season break is whether Honda will once more dominate proceedings. For the last few years, the Honda Racing effort has all but destroyed its opponents. Even though the championship victor in 2o13 was Andrew Jordan in the independent Pirtek Racing Honda, the machine was basically the works car in a colourful blue Pirtek mask. In many ways, Honda has become the Red Bull Racing of the BTCC world. One of the only other teams that ever really stood a chance against the mighty Civics was the KX Momentum MG team, spearheaded by the legend that is Jason Plato.
With mere weeks to go until the season opener, let’s take a look at what the Honda team will be offering the 2014 British Touring Car Championship.
The Honda Civic Tourer for BTCC 2014. Image Credit: BARC
A Brief History of Honda
This is not the first time I have written about the new Honda machine. I previously found myself saying that the decision to race the Tourer in the 2014 season was a showcase of arrogance from the team; Honda was just getting cocky having been so dominant so wanted to give itself some form of challenge this year. I will be the first to admit that over the last few years I have gone off the Honda outfit, mainly because they were so dominant and the racing became laborious and predictable. In the latter half of the 90s the Honda team were always competitive yet had an edge of underdog quality going on. Call them the Mark Webber or the David Coulthard, they had all the necessary parts for success yet never won the title.
The 1999 BTCC Honda Accord
When Honda returned to the championship in 2002, they were the very definition of plucky underdogs. They started the year slowly, until Priaulx and the team unlocked an explosion of speed and talent that culminated in a highly competitive and race winning car by the end of the year. The Honda team was competitive yet comparative. Back then the team had a car that they knew could win races and challenge for the title; they were on the same level as the other titans of touring cars like Vauxhall and MG. That was always what I loved about the BTCC; it was a mixture of teams and manufacturers that all were comparatively similar, but with their own quirks, quarks and quacks that gave their own colourful individuality. The last few years I found myself releasing large audible sighs every time a Honda would dominate a race or somehow come from nowhere and steal a win from another deserving driver. I know I cannot really blame the team, they were just doing their job, same as Red Bull really. I think I was just beginning to miss the characteristic unpredictability that defined the true meaning of the BTCC.
Andy Priaulx in the 2002 Honda Civic Type R
Are Honda stretching it with the new Tourer for 2014?
Over the last few months, I have spent a great deal of time reading up about what is to come in the 2014 BTCC season. As THE team to beat, it will most likely come as no surprise to you that Honda has taken the spotlight in the media coverage. It has therefore given me ample opportunity to read up about this radical new decision from Honda. At first it makes sense to be skeptical, but when you hear from the horses mouth, the decision by the Honda team begins to make that little bit more sense.
Steve Neal, the team boss, suggests that the decision to move to the Tourer was a clever move by Team Dynamics to keep Honda interested in the championship. Past championships have shown that when a manufacturer loses interest, the resulting team does sometimes suffer. One example is the 2004 championship; the MG team had lost factory backing and as a result did lose out in the main championship battle. Team Dynamics are especially determined, considering that from 2015 Honda will be focusing a great deal of their time and energy on Formula One. In addition to this, Neal senior has been concerned that his team were beginning to suffer from the ‘Vettel factor’ and that people were getting bored with Honda winning. It was almost like he read my mind.
Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, who will be piloting the cars this year have both seemed very positive about the new machines. Neal junior has been racing for 20 years and this will be the first time he has had the chance to drive a car he describes as ‘wacky’. Similarly, Gordon Shedden admits that the car itself will by definition divide opinion, but having something different in the championship is always great. After all, this is not the first time that the BTCC has had itself an estate car in the field…
…anyone remember 1994?
You are not going blind, that is a Volvo Estate that entered the BTCC in 1994.
The 1994 Volvo Estate has become a beloved legend of the BTCC history books. Nobody thought they were being serious, but they were. Tom Walkinshaw, the late great team boss of TWR entered the Volvo in 1994 in what would become a 5 year love affair with the championship. They may not have really achieved anything that year, but they most definitely made a name for themselves and gave them a good starting point for when they moved onto the saloon in 95 and beyond. Volvo eventually won the championship with the great Rickard Rydell in 1998, and everything has got to start somewhere. For Volvo, that estate was the start of something special. It may have been utterly ridiculous, and both Rydell and Jan Lammers have said it was a total animal to drive, but it was definitely individual. For the Honda team, they have already been basking in their own success and are now choosing to use an estate. Maybe 2014 will make history as the year that an estate touring car not only wins a race, but challenges for the championship.
It is not very often I change my views, but I am starting to come around to the idea of the Honda Civic Tourer. It is different, it is wacky, it is ridiculous. And I like ridiculous. At first I thought them arrogant, but I actually am beginning to respect the Honda team for their decision. It is yet another sign that the BTCC is one of the worlds premiere racing series. It is so refreshing to know that the teams are considering the fans in their decision. The Honda team could very easily upgrade the 2013 model and walk away with another championship, but that would indeed be boring to watch. At the end of the day it depends how you want to look at it. This time I am going for the optimistic approach.
But only time will tell. Bring on the 2014 BTCC season opener at Brands Hatch!
Keep Driving People!
Follow me on Twitter @lewisglynn69
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Impossible Reality: Rinspeed showcases Driverless Concept
When we are but innocent younglings we are introduced to a world of limitless wonder and excitement; we are introduced to science-fiction and fantasy. Call me a walking cliche but Star Wars has and will always be the very epitome of ultimate childhood fantasies coming to life. Well I say coming to life, you know what I mean. I have grown up immersed in these made up worlds where there are no boundaries and anything is possible. When I was a young boy, I had an unfaltering belief that one day these films would become reality. However, as the years went by I was gripped with a growing wave of realisation and abject disappointment; I would never see my dreams of becoming a Jedi and flying around in armoured spaceships becoming a reality. This technology was an impossible dream.
…or is it?
As a boy, this was going to be my first vehicle…
The Geneva Motor Show has just ignited a fire I thought had been long since extinguished. It may take a couple of years, it may take a good many more, but self-driving cars will become a showroom regular in our lifetime. My mind is blown. Some of the main contenders in this development are BMW, Ford, IBM and of course, Google. I am surprised Apple are not getting in on the action too. Give it time and I’m sure the iDrive will be emptying the pockets of the world. Considering the names in that list, I think the best result would involve a collaborative effort between a car manufacturer and a computing technology company. After all, computers are assimilating themselves into all aspects of society, and the best way to do it is to work with the existing leaders in the respective fields.
One of the chief names in the development of driverless technology in cars, who heads the Swiss think tank called Rinspeed has made it clear that the passenger will be at the centre of what is possible, not the autonomous driving technology itself. At the show, Rinspeed Furthermore, his beliefs about the development of the automotive industry puts into perspective the rate of progress in the modern world…
“When I look back at how things were, it looks like the Stone Age. There will come a time when we will be travelling in a container, with no airbags or seatbelts because the chances of an accident will be so small” – Frank Rinderknecht (CEO at Rinspeed)
Rinspeed are focusing on developing the ultimate passenger experience. Image Credit: BBC News
The concept for the passenger experience in these new futuristic machines has been worked on the idea of the first class airline cabin, where the passenger can sit in comfort while leaving the stress and demand of the journey to the pilot, or in this case, a fancy computer system. One of the main problems to tackle will be overall ride comfort; if we are to believe the above picture the user will be able to sit comfortably with a cup of coffee right next to them. Now I don’t know about you, but in the UK especially, finding a smooth enough road to even keep anything balanced atop the dashboard may as well be declared impossible. Therefore, a great deal of fancy number crunching and mechanical wizardry will have to be undertaken. On top of all of this, the driving console (it seems to fancy to just be called a steering wheel) will be in the centre to maximise the space for a fully fledged entertainment system that gives passengers access to whatever they may desire. Of course, those inside the car will be fully connected to the outside world in real time through the joyous wonder that is cloud software.
Everything is sounding rather glorious right now wouldn’t you say? Wouldn’t it just be the worst if I now came and rained on your parade?
- How catastrophically expensive will a car like this be? It will be a car designed for the mega-rich, most likely top end footballers and sheikhs from far away lands. That was always one of the things that has popped into my head when I watch these sci-fi films, is just how much all this stuff would cost. I can only guess that in the same way with all the latest technology, the initial market introduction will be a number to boggle the minds of most of us, but over time when it becomes more commonplace the price will drop. Either that or the general public will get a cut price version of this luxury. The economy class to their first class cabin if you will (if we are following this airline analogy)
- Gaining the Trust of the Customer – If you told me that I could sit in a car and it would drive itself to wherever I want to go, after my initial reaction of awe and wonder, I would probably be filled with a mild form of terror. Convincing people that you have developed a safe machine that will not end in a mess of blood guts and a treat for future archaeologists will be a hard job. This leads me onto the main issue I see with this whole operation
- Safety – If you had the choice of getting in a plane with pilots or one that flew itself, I think I know which one most people would choose. It is true that human error is the largest cause of airline incidents. But in the same way, human error or a computer malfunction may be corrected by the pilot. I am sure we have all had the situation where you are working away on your computer and it suddenly freezes and will not respond. How will any of us know that this same thing will not happen in these new driverless cars? When the London underground introduced driverless trains, there have been a few cases of trains running out of control and only being saved by the controllers who took manual control back from the command centre as it were.
I would also like to yet again draw your attention to Jurassic Park, which is becoming the trademark comparison point for me when it comes to the automotive universe. If you remember, the 4x4s in that film were essentially driverless cars, and look what happened when they lost power. People were attacked by a T-Rex. Imagine if you owned one of these new driverless cars and it lost power, do you want to run the risk of being attacked by a T-Rex? Do any of us really want to be attacked by a T-Rex? It is an important point to consider, you know.
At the end of the day, the future success of self-driving cars will fall down on trust. It requires the full trust of the owners to feel safe. With any new idea, new theory, revolutionary change there will always be distrust. It is only natural that we will be both intrigued and suspicious of what we do not understand until we have received proof of its credibility. I mean there was once a time where the theory of evolution was looked on with horror and mountains of criticism, now look where we are.
It may take the next few generations to fully integrate ourselves with this new technology, but it will be there. The future is coming.
Maybe those dreams of spaceships, hover boots and lightsabers are not as impossible as we first thought.
In the great words of Journey, ‘Don’t Stop Believing’.
Keep Driving People!
Follow me on Twitter @lewisglynn69
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Rise of the Machines: Problem with the 'Planet-Saving' Prius
The Toyota Prius has undergone somewhat of a metamorphoses over the years of its existence. It would appear that the Prius has left the automotive world in search of a new career, as a fashion icon. Since its inception back in 1997, the Prius has become the spearhead of a whole new generation of green motoring. In terms of hybrid auto-mobiles there was no competition (apparently). For nearly 15 years now, it has become the fashion accessory for ‘the celebrity’. They may own fleets of pointless 4x4s and multi-million dollar hypercars, but if they own a Prius they appear to have the ridiculous belief that they care about the environment and mother earth. The worst part is that the glossy magazine reading public actually believe this nonsense. I have always had my doubts about the Prius as a ‘green planet saving’ car, but it would seem that now there is a whole new problem.
News has reached my ears that Toyota has had to recall 1.9 million Prius hybrids due to a software fault that may be causing the cars slow down suddenly. The Toyota Prius claims to be saving the planet, and maybe it will achieve that by killing off the human population, driver by driver. The machines are rising up. This is the revolution we all feared.
Welcome to the kamikaze Prius.
The Toyota Prius – car or fashion star?
The cars in question are the current range of Prius’ that have been in production since 2009. Essentially, a software fault is causing a mass of warning lights to come flashing in the poor face of the driver. It has been reported that in some cases, it has caused the hybrid system to shut down which will stop the car even while driving. Even if this is not the case, the fault still causes the car to enter a ‘failsafe’ mode which will significantly reduce the power of the engine and the batteries.
It does not take a genius to work out that this could be massively dangerous in certain circumstances, whether it is in the busy city or on the open road. Toyota has said that there have been no accidents, injuries or fatalities yet reported by the problem. There is a very strong chance that this may be true, but I am always highly suspicious of this. If I wanted to preserve some form of credibility for my company, I would not disclose yet more bad news related to my product.
Is Toyota hiding something? Are they hiding a dark secret?
The world has proclaimed that the Prius was a revolutionary step forward in the automotive world. Technologically, the hybrid system was a breakthrough, but maybe Toyota discovered something else… They pushed the limits of the technology to a whole new level. What if the technology…came alive? They thought they could control their new power.
Did they learn nothing from Jurassic Park? If you try and create new life and you abuse the power of creation, it comes back to bite you…
Whatever the truth behind the matter may be, it does introduce a new and very important issue into motoring. As the years go on, we are relying more and more on computer systems within the cars we drive. As I am sure we have all experienced, there are times when the computer you are using will just freeze or shut down altogether?Can you imagine that while driving along at 70mph along a motorway?
“Your Prius has discovered an error and must close. Would you like to send an error report?”
I believe that the future of motoring should also look to the past for inspiration. Hyper-futuristic computer hard drives may not actually be the way forward. What ever happened to simplistic motoring? It is always good when it works, but I will forever be worried what happens when this computing power goes wrong.
On a more serious note, I am glad this has happened to the Prius. I do believe that it is proving that the car is not as perfect as the worlds’ media and the celebrity world has often made out. I have always had my doubts about the eco-friendly nature of the car anyway. It boasts better fuel economy, but fuel economy is, to the most part based on how well the driver can drive the car. If you drive the Prius like a lunatic, you will get no better fuel economy than you would from any other car. In fact, Top Gear have even explained how the Prius is just as damaging to the environment as any other car, and even proved that against a BMW in set conditions, the fuel economy is not that amazing.
I am never going to deny that the Prius was a step in the right direction, but I do hope that people will accept that it is in no way perfect. Preserving the planet should be the biggest priority for car companies in the future; hybrid cars are an elegant solution, as are electric cars. With the release of the McLaren P1, it proves that electric power can be harnessed with the traditional engine for astronomically mind blowing results.
The future is bring, the future is green (most likely).
I just hope that the Prius revolution can be stopped before they take over. It’s always the quiet ones.
Keep Driving People!
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Record Breaking Year: BTCC to host 7 Champions in 2014
The upcoming 2014 BTCC season was already shaping up to be something special, but now we are looking at special in the rear view mirror. This year will not only be one of the most exciting championships in recent years, but most importantly it is going to be a year that breaks all previous records. The capacity grid contains some highly talented drivers from a whole range of backgrounds. But if you look closely, you will see the appearance of a primordial beast; the champion. Fear will always be cast into the hearts of the other drivers to know that they will be sharing the same tarmac as a person who had conquered one of the most competitive series in world motorsport. Just imagine how they will be feeling when they realise that this year will not just be one former champion, not even 2 or 3.
Oh no, the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will be contested by 7 former champions.
The competition in the BTCC is really hotting up… Photo Credit: BTCC.net
Let’s have a little look at these touring car titans terrifying the talented grid this year…
The Current Crop of Champions
The 2013 season already boasted 4 former champions in Matt Neal, Gordon Shedden, Colin Turkington and Jason Plato. And of course, following the final race, Andrew Jordan was added to that list. Before any announcements for 2014 were made, this meant that there were 5 champions in the field…
- Jason Plato – 2001 (Vauxhall) and 2010 (Chevrolet)
- Matt Neal – 2005, 2006 and 2011 (Honda, Honda and would you look at that, Honda)
- Colin Turkington – 2009 (BMW)
- Gordon Shedden – 2012 (Honda)
- Andrew Jordan – 2013 (Honda)
And for those keen eyed viewers of the British Touring Car Championship would notice that all 5 of these drivers were fighting for the top positions in most of the races last year. Honda vs MG vs BMW was a sight that became commonplace by the end of 2013. Every single one of these drivers more than proved their abilities and credibility as a champion; aggression, control and consistency throughout the season.
Return of The Champions
Aside from being a great live album by Queen and Paul Rodgers, 2014 truly represents the return of the champions to the BTCC. Not too long ago I wrote a celebration to the ‘Return of Alain Menu’ to the championship this year. Menu was a dominant figure in the 90s, arguably the greatest time the sport has ever had.
- Alain Menu – 1997 (Renault Laguna; 281 points), 2000 (Ford Mondeo; 195 points)
Secondly we have Fabrizio Giovanardi, who is one of THE great drivers of tin top touring cars. Giovanardi shot to fame in Italy, Spain and then in the European Touring Car Championship. Once he conquered the side dishes, he thought it about time to take on the best touring car series in the world, and he did not disappoint. He is a true force to be reckoned with.
- Fabrizio Giovanardi – 1992 (Italian Superturismo, class S2), 1997 (Spanish Touring Cars), 1998/1999 (Italian Superturismo), 2000-2002 (European Touring Car Championship) and 2007/2008 (Vauxhall, British Touring Car Championship).
Alain Menu returns with Team BMR in a Volkswagen Passat, and Giovanardi heads up the Airwaves Motorbase Ford challenge. In both cases, the teams are up and coming and are preparing to launch an attack on the teams at the top. Honda and MG, you may want to look out, you are being hunted.
Giovanardi will hope to be a breath of fresh air in the Airwaves Ford for 2014. Photo Credit: BTCC.net
Each of these drivers has every credential for victory and will not want to be anywhere else apart from on top. So that is 7 drivers all of whom have every chance of winning the championship this year. If people think F1 is exciting with its single driver domination race in, race out, maybe they should be introduced to the BTCC. This real close racing may just blow their mind clean from their head. Maybe stand back when you first show them the sport, it may get kinda messy.
But the most exciting thing is the nature of unpredictability. As I proved recently in my article on the ‘Underdogs of the BTCC 2014’, there are a whole host of other drivers who are ready to steal the glory away from these ‘old timer champions’. They will do anything they can to prove that they have what it takes to topple those at the top. The racing will be close, the battles will be epic and the results?
…only time will tell.
And Jason Plato is flying… literally. Photo Credit: BTCC.net
So that’s what the underside of the car looks like… Photo Credit: BTCC.net
Plato’s pushing so hard he’s on two wheels… Photo Credit: BTCC.net
Jason Plato knows more than anyone else that the BTCC is one of the most competitive motorsports in the world. When it goes wrong, it really goes wrong…
Well that did not go well… Photo Credit: BTCC.net
The only thing I know for sure; the 2014 BTCC season will be a year to remember
Keep Driving People!
Follow me on Twitter @lewisglynn69
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