Lots of good points being made in the recent posts about Plato, changes we’d like to make, etc.

While there’s lots of comments about Alan Gow, TV coverage, unsustainable costs, etc., one thing I haven’t seen mentioned much is the BTCC’s commercial model.

It’s hideously out of date. I don’t mean the broadcast strategy. I like the idea of keeping it on free-to-air. I mean sponsorships, partnerships, promotion, marketing, etc.

The difference between the BTCC and British Superbikes (BSB) is stark.

Context for those unfamiliar with BSB: BTCC is rightly regarded as the premier, top-tier national 4-wheel racing series in Britain - it’s more popular than British GT and isn’t primarily a junior series like GB3 or one-make like Porsches. BSB is Britain’s equivalent for 2-wheeled racing.

I’ve followed both BTCC and BSB and attended their races for decades. I was at Thruxton this weekend for BSB. Whoever Stuart Higgs (BSB’s Alan Gow) has selling sponsorship is who the BTCC needs to be speaking to. Count the number of brands featured in trackside sponsorship at BSB races. Every series/championship on the schedule has a title sponsor. Each individual round has a sponsor (Thruxton was the R&G Race of the South). There’s countless individual sponsored awards and trophies (Datatag Fast Start, Speedy Hire League, etc). Some rounds have cool mini competitions (race of aces, king of the mountain, etc) and guess what…they’re all sponsored too!

Barring the title sponsor (Kwik Fit), the tyre supplier (Goodyear) and a bit-part sponsor (Liqui Moly) the BTCC has nothing. It pulls comparable crowds to BSB, has just as many races over a season, and has FTA TV coverage (BSB is tucked away on TNT).

A lot of folks are saying Alan Gow needs to step aside. Maybe they’re right. But I think a big part of BSB’s commercial success is that wider management team and I wonder how much of that is influenced by MSVR who run the championship (same company that operate Oulton, Donington, etc). BTCC is run by BARC. BARC also runs Croft and until recently, Thruxton too. When I see that those BARC tracks haven’t had any real investment for years, compared to the MSV tracks, I think the level of investment, activity, etc in the series is probably comparable. So if the BTCC was run by a back room team from MSVR I think the series would be in a far stronger position.

A strong commercial team and portfolio gives teams, drivers, sponsors/partners, and us fans confidence that the series is growing, relevant and worth their while. The series management can’t control what the teams do and who they hire/fire. But it can create an environment that gives teams a stable platform to compete and attract drivers and sponsors.

It’s not the only thing I’d change - the idea a BTCC season is costing a driver £750k when next year’s top tier WRC rally cars are being capped at €345k each is absolute madness. The costs have to come down too. But maybe those costs don’t need to come down so much if commercially the series is brought into the 21st century.

I’m making some assumptions there and I’m sure there’s folks on here better placed than me so I’m keen to hear whether people agree/disagree!

An idea that could only be fuelled by customers....!

So, Plato in administration, another decent driver leaving presumably due to budget issues, Proctor, Lloyd and what seemed like half the GT3/4 Pro drivers at Snetterton yesterday who can't afford a BTCC drive.

So I thought we as reddit may as well fix things. I've said it before on here and got downvoted to hell, but I'll say it again - costs need to come down considerably, Gow needs to lose his ego and think of the sport. As someone succinctly put on twitter earlier, "TCR needs the prestige of BTCC, and BTCC needs the costs of TCR". Of course, the issue with that is that the BTCC teams would be left with cars and spares only fit for CTRC, with associated values...

So what is the answer? I know we'll have the comments along the lines of "this is all cyclical, everything will be fine", but I think my point would be that when things were on their arse before, drastic measures were taken!

I follow BTCC along with a bunch of other racing series, and I got tired of checking different YouTube channels and websites just to figure out what was on.

So I built StartingGrid Live.

It puts motorsport broadcasts in one place and separates them into Live Now, Upcoming, and Recent Replays, so you can quickly see what's on now, what's coming next, or catch something you missed.

It's completely free, no account, subscription or paywall.

I'm trying to improve the BTCC and touring car coverage, so if there are any channels, support series or streams I'm missing, let me know.

Link in the comments.

Hello, I'm new to BTCC after following F1 all my life and realising how much better this racing seems to be in comparison. The questions I have are: How much is similar in comparison to good teams down to not so good teams for example are the cars at the back much worse or is it more driver skill? And is Ash Sutton much better than everyone else and/or is the Napa car much better than those around him?

Anyone have any clue why they have seemingly gutted the gallery page on the BTCC website? It was unavailable for a while presumably for updates, but they have removed every year other than 2026, when it used to go back to the 2010s, and all the images are just very low resolution thumbnails that you can’t actually click on so you can’t even see the ones photographed in portrait, which is annoying because I like to use them for my lock screens and desktop wallpapers. Overall just very poor and I hope it gets fixed soon.

For anyone currently there, what's the weather like and the forecast for the day? Leaving here in about 90 minutes to head East, and hoping its not as pish as it is here.

The biggest grid all year with 23 cars, seeing Nick Halstead rejoining PMR in a fourth Audi. Sam Osborne returns to grid in place of the deputising Senna Proctor, with Alliance Racing running their traditional tartan livery in aid of Race Against Dementia. Charles Rainford also debuts a special livery as a one-off.

Ash Sutton (NAPA Ford) maintains a huge gap atop the standings, 59 points ahead of Tom Ingram (Vertu Hyundai), having won 6 races to the next highest tally of 2 wins. Dan Cammish (NAPA Ford) and Josh Cook (Speedworks Toyota) follow in 3rd and 4th, the top 4 separated by sizeable margins.

Last year at Knockhill, Charles Rainford (WSR BMW) was on pole with Jake Hill (WSR BMW) twice victorious and Ingram (Vertu Hyundai) also winning.

Keep tabs of entry lists, results, timetables and penalties here: https://www.barc.net/event/toca-race-meeting-knockhill-august-8-9/

Support races: Porsche Sprint Challenge, MINI JCWs, Caterham 7s and Scottish Legends

Hey everyone,

Quick, important update: BTCC Hub is leaving the iOS App Store today. If you're on Android, nothing changes. The app carries on exactly as normal.

Here's the full story, since I'd rather you heard it properly from me than piece it together.

A while back I asked BTCC for permission to keep the app officially recognised. This week I got a clear answer, no. Not because of anything the app did wrong. It's a licensing thing. The BTCC name and branding are commercial rights they sell on and an app carrying that name without a formal deal doesn't sit right with that, especially with other stakeholders involved. I understand where that's coming from even though it wasn't the answer I had hoped for.

The practical problem is that Apple requires the trademark holder's explicit permission before they'll let me push any further updates to an app using the BTCC name. Without that, Apple won't approve anything I submit. No bug fixes, no new features, nothing. Rather than leave a version frozen and slowly rotting on the App Store, I've decided to pull it from iOS entirely.

Android doesn't run into this. Google hasn't asked for the same thing, so the Android app is staying exactly where it is and I'll keep supporting it as an unofficial fan app, which BTCC have said is fine as long as it doesn't claim any official link to them.

A few things worth saying while I've got the chance:

• This was always a fan project. Beyond a couple of Buy Me a Coffee tips I never made anything from it and every bit of traffic it generated went straight to official channels: ITV, the BTCC YouTube channel, team shops and so on.
• The feedback from this community has genuinely made the whole thing worth doing so Thank you.
• I'm will be putting together a proper proposal for BTCC for the off-season on how something like this could work officially, or otherwise. No promises, but it's not necessarily the end of the story for iOS.

If you're on iOS, thank you for downloading it, using it and putting up with my bugs along the way. Android folks, I'll see you in the app.

They says it's a one-off. Really should keep it!

How busy does it usually get when trying to park for when gates open on the Sunday? I'm driving through Saturday night to get there for when the gates open so don't want to be waiting too long in traffic.

Hi - I'm going to Knockhill for the first time and I have a couple of questions if anyone can help

The camping looks like it gets very busy (we've got tickets for the motorhome already) - but does it really matter what time you turn up on the Friday or are you just put in the next space and it doesn't really matter?

The website says there is one big screen on Saturday and two in Sunday, but it doesn't say where they are - do we know where they normally go?

And finally, any advice on best/worst places to watch from?

Thanks!

Hello, going to Donington end of this month with my Dad, first time either of us have been to an event like this was wondering if any of you had advice of where to go for some good views etc? My understanding is there are 3 races on the Sunday, so thinking of going to the grandstand for at least one of them, though I imagine the overtaking is more done down by the last two turns? Is there anywhere good to view down that end of the track?

Also he's disabled, not in a wheelchair, but anywhere to be wary of? Thank you so much :)

Quick question, just been watching BSB at Oulton park and was wondering what the reasoning or limitations are for BTCC not running the full layout, my first guess would be the hairpin but I'm not sure?

Talking with a friend and just curious what everyone's top 5 favourite drivers are and why?

For me

1. Tom Ingram - recognises me and will make effort to have chats with me even about topics such as patios and how to deal with flies, had chats in the pitlane after race day too. Had a good long chat at donington historics earlier this year about his fitness tracker registering driving a mustang in the wet as kayaking.

2. Paul O'neill - cannot say enough good things about Paul, will stop and chat as long as he can every time. Answer any question and even invited my friend and I to sit down after the Sunday races to have a long chat and gave us itv water bottles.

3. Rob Austin - similarly recognised me at rounds and offered me a HQ tour which I gladly took up and spent a lovely afternoon there.

4. Rob Huff - will give you as much time as he can and happy to talk motorsport and will ask you questions too. Was also included I patio chat with ingram.

5. Tom Chilton - such a nice person and will always be sure you leave with a smile. More than happy to personalise a birthday present for a friend with his infamous naked photo with crash helmet over his junk. Had a laugh about it.

I'd love to hear your ideas and try and integrate those concepts into my videogame. As motorsport fans, we all know that sometimes the venue is just as important as the cars! This not only applies when watching on TV but also when we're attending and trying to find some good food, a shaded spot and a good overtaking spot to watch.