Perhaps calling a 2.0-litre diesel engine with twin-turbochargers underpowered is slightly harsh. It develops 180bhp and 300 lb ft of torque, shoving the regular 2.1 ton Amarok to 60mph in 11 seconds. Not bad for such a huge vehicle. However, VW have seemingly decided that this is not enough, and last week unveiled the wonderfully titled Power-Pickup Concept.

Shown at the huge Volkswagen gathering at Woerthersee in Austria, the Power-Pickup Concept improves on the 2.0TDI’s performance considerably. Packing a 3.0-litre V6 TDI engine under the bonnet, the Power-Pickup boasts an impressive 272bhp and an even more impressive 440 lb ft. This substantial kick up the backside is enough to propel the, presumably lighter, single-cab Amarok to 60 in 7.9 seconds! It’s also fair to say the Power-Pickup has the looks to make the most of its new firepower:

Being lowered by 80 mm on to those 22 inch rims gives the Amorak a serious stance on the ground, all contained by the widened wheelarches. A carbon fibre diffuser and twin exhaust add some muscle to the rear also. Inside leather bucket seats, a 500w subwoofer and a black, white and red theme make the Power-Pickup much more racing driver than farmer.

Apparently the Power-Pickup Concept is envisaged to be used as a support vehicle for a karting team, hence the rather full load-bed. Will it make production in some form? As much as ESM would like to think it will, this current economic climate probably isn’t conducive to a road-racing VW pickup, which is a huge shame. Plus the thought of GTI owners being harassed by pickups wouldn’t be ideal for Volkswagen I suspect!

The Spanish Grand Prix at Catalunya has rarely been one to set pulses racing, managing to generally rate slightly above Hungary for excitement. But the 2013 race proved to be unpopular with many for more than just poor racing. Namely, when do pit-stops for tyres become too many? Apparently four is the magic number, not three in this regard.

One of the key aspects to the resurgence in “racing” during recent seasons of Formula 1 has been the change to Pirelli as tyre supplier. This, combined with DRS and KERS, has seen a return to a phenomenon known as overtaking, not witnessed in F1 for many years. Despite the fact Sebastian Vettel has won the last three World Championships, nobody is complaining too much about the lack of on-track action.

Pirelli’s tyres have been fundamental to this, in the use of the compounds used to construct the prime and option variants. The rates at which the tyre degrades have been increased, leading to dramatic changes in tyre performance when the level of grip is said to “drop off a cliff” during the race, often without warning. Some teams have coped with this better; others have had to manage them differently during a race, leaving the possibility of cars on different tyre strategies creating overtaking, aided by DRS and KERS.

However, the tyres offered this year by Pirelli are seemingly a step too far. In Catalunya we saw front running drivers such as Alonso, Raikkonen and Massa only pushing their cars to around 80% of their potential. As Martin Brundle commented on Sky’s coverage, behind the wheel the drivers looked positively sedate – not like they were battling for World Championship points. The reason for this was the, arguably, excessive tyre wear seen in Spain. Teams were unable to allow their drivers to push hard for fear of destroying their rubber and being forced to pit. As such, we saw anaesthetised racing and some teams needing to make four pit stops to prevent shredded Pirellis.

Arguably, Ferrari and Lotus might claim that there is no problem. Seemingly their cars are easier on their tyres compared to Red Bull or Mercedes, allowing them to ride away to victory. However, it seems perverse that the two cars which qualified 1^st and 2^nd on the grid end up 6^th and 12^th respectively, due to chiefly struggling with tyre wear.

By the time you finish reading this caption, the pictured Pirelli tyres will have already degraded to the point of uselessness. Maybe.

Red Bull in particular has been incredibly vocal about the fast wear rate of the Pirellis, with owner Dieter Mateschitz claiming that: “this is a competition in tyre management. Real racing looks different.” Even Bernie Ecclestone has stirred the pot, suggesting that the tyres Pirelli brought were “wrong” and not what Formula 1 had asked the Italian firm to “produce.” Finally, David Coulthard’s BBC Sport column suggested that the failures seen by tyres this year could be a much bigger worry, should it happen at a “critical point of the race track in a critical racing situation.”

Tyres have always been a sensitive subject in Formula 1; witness the drama which unfolded at the 2005 Indianapolis Grand Prix when only three teams were able to compete due to the safety concerns with Michelin’s tyres. Nobody wants such ridiculous scenes as that, nor do they want the increased risk when we get to quicker circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps and Monza later in the season.

You also have to wonder about the damage it must be doing to Pirelli’s brand. Formula 1 is probably its biggest advertisement; to see such rhetoric in the media about Pirelli products cannot be a good thing for the company.

As a consequence of the above Pirelli Motorsport Director, and occasional twitter antagonist, Paul Hembery has announced changes to the tyres it will offer, starting from the Canadian Grand Prix. Initially Hembery had stated this would take effect from Silverstone, but one wonders whether the sheer loudness of the dissenting voices forced them to act quicker. It also leaves ESM with only one race of tyre-related puns left, Monaco, rather than the two first hoped for.

ESM has never been a fan of racing dictated by tyres; they’re hardly the most exciting part of a racing car for a start. But they are also the key bits which join the car to the track, just in Catalunya they started to make the tail wag the dog in terms of performance. Hopefully, after Monaco, we’ll see less burnt rubber and more of drivers pushing their cars to the limit.

A couple of months ago we brought you the epic work of FS Aviation and their drone cameras from the Monte-Carlo Rally. Well, the guys have been keeping themselves busy with more epic filming set to even more epic background music. Here is their latest achievement recorded at the recent Portugese round of the World Rally Championship.

You can also find a higher-resolution version of the video here.

Honda’s Dominance Continues.

Honda’s dominance of the 2013 British Touring Car Championship continued at Thruxton last weekend. Honda continued their impressive form from Donington, where they occupied 7 of the 9 podium positions, with 6 of the 9 available at Thruxton. Although it sounds rather dull with Honda performing so well, it was quite the opposite; the weekend produced the best races of the season so far.

Thruxton is notoriously a circuit all about speed and tyre management and this weekend proved to be no different. Due to the high tyre wear, none of the drivers were required to nominate a race to use the white-striped soft tyres this weekend. I think it might have been even more interesting if they had though, I’ve no idea how some of them would have coped!

Race One saw Andrew Jordan on pole, although he got away slowly from the line. The first major incident of the weekend occurred into the first set of corners as the lead train of cars came around and Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden collided. Plato had achieved a better start of the pair and was looking to cement his place when contact occurred. Post-race Shedden was furious and believed that Plato smashed him off the track. I however, completely disagree. TV footage clearly showed Shedden angling his car towards Plato’s and while Jason stood his ground as he was entitled to do, Shedden ended up in the barrier albeit he was able to continue at the back of the grid.

Another impressive performance from the Kraftwerk Passat team and Tom Onslow-Cole saw him rise to 5^th by the end of lap 3. The top 3 of Jordan, Matt Neal and Plato had started to pull away, but Onslow-Cole soon caught Plato. Don’t forget that this car had not even turned a wheel before Brands Hatch! Onslow-Cole engaged in a great battle with Plato, but Jason won through to take 2^nd with Onslow-Cole more than happy to take a first podium for the Passat. Naturally, you will realise there is a car missing from the previous top 3.

That car belonged to Jordan, who was leading with half a lap left before disaster struck. Jordan suffered a puncture allowing a stream of cars through, although he did manage to limp over the line in 11^th. Jordan naturally had his usual sulk, albeit understandable. The final top 3 saw Neal win his 50^th BTCC race, followed by Plato and Onslow-Cole, with the top 6 completed by another good drive from Sam Tordoff, Jeff Smith and Colin Turkington.

Other points of note from the first race of the day saw a good battle between the Toyota Avensises or Avensi of Adam Morgan, who already has more points than the entirety of last season, and Frank Wrathall. Wrathall however, was duly mugged on lap 8 as a flurry of cars found passing him rather easy, suggesting that there must have been some sort of problem or poor set-up.

In the opening S2000 race of the day, James Kaye was naturally off in the Golf, Warren Scott’s suspension appeared to give way on lap 15 and I’m sure that Joe Girling’s car has changed colour from white to black, I’m guessing due to sponsorship. Liam Griffin took the win, followed by Lea Wood and David Nye.

Race Two saw me make the most notes I have made about a race so far this season, so as you can imagine it was, once again, action packed. After what seemed a really long hold of the lights, Turkington made a great start from 6^th on the grid, although the top 3 stayed the same. As is often the case with so many cars trying to battle for track position on the opening lap, one is often spat out of the train and on this occasion it was the unfortunate Adam Morgan. He did manage to recover, but much further back from where he wanted to be after a good start to the season.

Someone else who was soon having a moment of their own and had to recover was Aron Smith, who had a good old fashioned tank-slapper coming out onto one of the straights. He was lucky not to collect anyone, although Wrathall probably had a squeaky bum moment. Unbelievably, Mat Jackson, Smith’s teammate had a basically identical incident later on in the race on lap 10. I think we need to look at the set-up chaps.

Following a close start to the race, Onslow-Cole was keeping pace with Neal and Plato and on lap 4 Jackson and Turkington had a good battle, but it resulted in Jeff Smith taking them both with Tordoff and Jordan following through too. After an exciting start to the race, there was time to cool the tyres down due to a safety car that was trigged by Dan Welch smashing his car into the barriers at the chicane. It appeared that he lost it under braking and the side of his car certainly took a beating. This naturally bunched the field up, much to the benefit of Shedden who was making his way through from the back of the grid after his Race One result.

Jordan was able to pass Jeff Smith on lap 10 and set off for his next target. After some intense racing, Shedden went up the inside of Tordoff as Honda continued to be strong, Onslow-Cole pulled a great move up the inside of Plato, who appeared to be struggling, and eventually Shedden made it up the inside Jeff Smith following an error and later by Plato also. As the race was heading for a conclusion, TOC was just holding off Jordan with some pretty amazing driving and some excellent speed on the Passat. However, a slide from TOC almost let Jordan by, but in the end a slide from Jordan cost him 3^rd place as Shedden nipped in for 3^rd on the last lap.

Race Two really was a nip and tuck battle throughout the entire race and it was a thoroughly enjoyable race to watch. After a somewhat subdued start to the season, Thruxton was certainly living up to what we have become accustomed to over the years in BTCC racing. Neal claimed Honda’s and his second win of the day, followed by Onslow-Cole, Shedden, Jordan, Plato and Jeff Smith. 

The Jack Sears Trophy saw Liam Griffin off and of course, James Kaye in the Golf. The S2000 class was won by Lea Wood, with David Nye finishing 2^nd ahead of Joe Girling.

Race Three tried to live up to Race Two and it didn’t fall too far away. Before the race had even started, Wrathall’s Avensis cruised to a halt, presumably with some fuel pick-up issue. Neal had selected Jack Goff to be on pole from the pot of balls with Steve Rider, but after some super quick start lights, Goff eventually went off after a Honda sandwich with Shedden and Jordan. Morgan was in the lead of the race and was looking to put in some quick laps, although this idea was ended prematurely thanks to some cold tyres resulting in a grass cutting expedition and a pit stop.

The pair of MGs, Plato and Tordoff, chased down Jeff Smith who was looking fairly quick in the Honda at the front of the pack. TOC was in 4^th as the race settled down. Smith and Plato had a good battle into the chicane, but Plato eventually got through on lap 7 and started to build a lead which eventually reached around 4 seconds. Shedden was continuing to battle through the crowds with Tordoff and Smith his latest victims as he set off to hunt down Plato in the lead.

However, he didn’t have to wait long to take the lead as Plato’s left front gave way with a puncture and Plato struggled to limp back to the pits as Shedden sped off for his first victory of the day. The action was not finished there! Jeff Smith and Neal collided on the penultimate lap and while Neal was able to continue, Smith’s car ended up pointing the wrong way. Shedden duly completed a Honda 1-2-3 from Neal and Jordan, with TOC finishing a superb weekend in 4^th ahead of Aron Smith and the recovered Jeff Smith. The S2000 class saw victory for Wood again from Nye and Kaye.

At the start of the season I announced ‘BTCC is back!’ Perhaps, it was in terms of the cars lining up on the grid, but not in terms of great action that keeps you glued to the racing. After Thruxton, I can definitely announce, ‘BTCC is back,’ and what a great feeling it is too. I can only hope that this action continues at each round until the end of the season, because if it does we are in for some season. My only gripe is that the Honda dominance is somewhat predictable and annoying so come on you other teams, sort it out!

Driver standings following Thruxton:

 Matt Neal 137 points

Andrew Jordan 124

Jason Plato 121

Gordon Shedden 109

Sam Tordoff 103

Adam Morgan and Jeff Smith 85

Here is my latest round-up of all the teams:

Honda Yuasa Racing- Honda Civic

Another great weekend for the team- they won every race. Definitely the team to beat. 

MG KX Momentum Racing- MG6

Plato’s puncture spoilt the last race, but on the whole a fairly decent weekend. They just need to find that extra bit of speed from somewhere.

eBay Motors/WSR- BMW 125i M Sport

Are Nick Foster and Rob Collard racing this season? Yes, but you wouldn’t know it. Where are you guys? Turkington had a solid, if yet unspectacular weekend. The team need to find more rear grip desperately.

Airwaves Racing/ Motorbase- Ford Focus

Once again, I think Aron Smith had the slight edge on more experienced teammate Mat Jackson and achieved a good 5^th place in the final race. Like eBay Motors, in desperate need of rear grip.

Pirtek Racing- Honda Civic

Like the factory team, doing a great job this season. I’m starting to know who Jeff Smith is now, after his somewhat quiet start to touring cars over the last couple of seasons.

Speedworks Motorsport- Toyota Avensis

Once again, a fairly anonymous weekend.

Dynojet- Toyota Avensis

Frank Wrathall had a difficult weekend with various issues. We’ve not seen the best of this Avensis yet.

Ciceley Racing- Toyota Avensis

A more difficult weekend for Adam Morgan compared to the opening 2 rounds, but I’m sure he’ll be back on form at Oulton Park.

Wix Racing- Audi A4

Another poor weekend in all honesty. I’m sure Rob will be working hard to sort it out.

Kraftwerk Racing/ Team HARD.- VW Passat CC

What a weekend for Tom Onslow-Cole with a 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th. My driver of the weekend.

RCIB Insurance Racing/ Team HARD.- Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R

Started on pole in the 3^rd race, but not up to the standard of the Passat yet.

Team 44 Club- Chevrolet Cruze

Nothing to report because they weren’t there again. However, they are expected to be at Oulton Park.

BTC Racing- Chevrolet Cruze

Nothing to report because they weren’t there!

Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp- Proton Gen-2 (NGTC) and Ford Focus (S2000)

A good weekend for David Nye in the S2000 Focus, not such a great weekend for Dan Welch who will have a big bill for his Proton.

Addison Lee/ Motorbase- Ford Focus MK III (NGTC) and Ford Focus MK II (S2000)

There was no sign of Michael Caine in a NGTC Focus again but Liam Griffin had a good first race.

 Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing- Vauxhall Vectra

 A couple of wins for Lea Wood will see him happy after Thruxton.

M247 Racing- Chevrolet Cruze

Not much to report, but I’m sure the car’s changed colour.

Team BMR Restart- SEAT Leon

Once again, there were a few visits off the road for Warren Scott in the Leon. (Same summary as Donington)

AmD Tuning.com- VW Golf MK5

Once again, the Golf suffered a few problems, but the podium in the last race may have brightened James Kaye’s day.

The BTCC next visits Oulton Park after a 5 week break. Last year, it was a great day out, but I’m not sure if I’ll get there this season. The tickets for Croft however, have arrived.  

It’s also worth pointing out that we were a little bit amused by some of the names Volkswagen had come up with for the up!’s trim-levels. However, in a world where a major car manufacturer sees fit to call a car Adam, then clearly any sense when it comes to nomenclature has gone out the window.

Along with announcing that the fully electric, and Yorkshire accented, e-up! will hit the UK in 2014, Volkswagen have also announced two new special editions aimed at fans of “loud music, great-looking small cars and questionable puns”. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Groove up! and Rock up! editions!

This is the Rock up! edition. Looks good!

The Rock up! features that distinctive anthracite body-stripe, full bodykit and rear spoiler and rolls on 16″ alloy wheels. I think the bigger “Upsilon” rims really give the up! some presence, and makes ESM very excited for a GT or GTI version.

Upping (sorry) the equipment count even higher, the Groove up! comes fitted with a 300w Fender sound system with 6-speakers, amplifier and subwoofer! Further kit includes a leather trimmed (with orange stitching) steering wheel, gear lever and handbrake to complement black seats with more orange stitching. The Groove up! also rolls on the same “Upsilon” wheels as the Rock up!, but the lacks the former’s bodykit.

Both feature the 1.0 litre 3-cylinder engine with 75bhp, with the Groove up! starting at £11,640 whilst the edgier Rock up! costs from £12,980. Buy now, collect in July.

In all seriousness, the up! continues to be ESM’s recommend city-car, and these two cunningly named special-editions just further the appeal. We’re still waiting on the proper sporty offering, hopefully with the beloved 1.2 litre turbo motor! Fingers crossed.

Honda’s Donington Dominance Stopped by Turkington!

Turkington! (c) BTCC.net

Last weekend saw the second round of 2013’s British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park. The hills surrounding the circuit still look like huge quarry mud banks due to the works to upgrade the track and facilities, so I can’t say it was all that aesthetically appealing, nor are eBay Motors’ vile grey and yellow race suits! Who chose those colours?

Anyway, enough about aesthetics and more about the racing! Race One saw Gordon Shedden on pole, for amazingly the first time in nearly two years since he lined up as leader at Oulton Park in 2011. Jason Plato was quick to point out, as normal, that he was the fastest man if all ballast had been taken account of. However, it wasn’t and Shedden was the first man to see the lights go out. Shedden led from pole with Andrew Jordan in second into the first corner. The cars appeared to be fairly processional in the early part of the race after sorting themselves out after the first few corners. The cars on the soft tyres suffered towards the end of the race, with Aron Smith being the best placed come the end in only 11^th.

A car which perked up my interest in Race One was that of Tom Onslow-Cole. I think the VW Passat looks great and I fully expect it to be a competitive car by the end of the season, especially on the evidence witnessed this weekend. I would suggest that the Passat needs a bit more speed as it looked a bit sluggish at times.  I was surprised at how much traction it had off the corners, especially compared to Rob Collard’s BMW, who he was having a good battle with.

The race ended with an all Honda podium with Shedden taking victory from Jordan and Matt Neal. The Race Two result was again fairly dominant for Honda, albeit it a slightly different order with the delighted Jordan taking victory from Plato, Shedden and Neal. Plato had achieved a 4^th place finish in the opening race of the day so it’s fair to say this quartet had a good day at the office for the first two races.

Race Two opened with one of the more dramatic incidents of the weekend. The leaders got away from the lights cleanly, but further back David Nye’s S2000 Focus mounted the rear of yes, that Golf, and sent the unfortunate James Kaye sideways across the track and into the pit wall causing a safety car as both cars were recovered.

Overtaking was at a premium in the second race of the day, but credit must go to Jordan for his move up the inside of Shedden to take the race lead. Similarly, Plato’s bravery allowed him to take Neal, in their 400^th and 500^th races respectively, and later Shedden at the start of the Craner Curves. Race Two was much more of a tactical battle and something that isn’t often seen in the BTCC. However, due to this somewhat rare type of race, it was still exciting to watch.

Race Three was exciting to watch due to the usual action and controversies. Tom Onslow-Cole had the honour of the reverse grid pole, but he was a little slow to react to the change of the lights, which seem to be held for ages, and Colin Turkington sped off into the lead- a lead that wouldn’t be caught. Onslow-Cole’s Passat was able to keep up with the pace of the Hondas initially, before eventually falling back. Sam Tordoff, in his second BTCC race weekend, was again showing great pace and race-craft in the MG and pulled a super move on Onslow-Cole on the Craner Curves. Seeing cars overtake going full pelt on downhill curves really is some spectacle and one of the reasons why I love the BTCC so much. Tordoff made his way up to second, but lost out to the two Yuasa Racing Hondas on the last lap as he went wide after his tyres had given up.

There was a huge deja vu moment in the third race as the Speedworks Toyota of Dave Newsham was sideways in the middle of the track at the Craner Curves. Rob Austin, who had a nightmare weekend, was luckily no-where to be seen this time although Newsham came incredibly close to collecting several drivers, especially Jeff Smith and Shedden.

While all the action was playing out behind him, Turkington sped off into the distance and built up a commanding lead of nearly 6 seconds at points. He managed the race well and took the first victory for the BMW 1-series and his first victory in the BTCC since 2009. A great feat. Turkington was joined on the podium by Shedden and Neal, meaning that 7 of the weekend’s 9 podium positions were filled by a Honda car. When I predicted the Honda’s were going to have a good weekend in my previous article, I didn’t quite think it would be as good as this for them!

The Jack Sears Trophy saw race wins for James Kaye who crossed the line 0.9s ahead of Liam Griffin in Race One, Lea Wood in Race Two and Joe Girling in the final race of the day.

I was pleased to see the BTCC was heading towards its best this weekend, especially in the third race, after a somewhat dull episode at Brands Hatch. It is great to see some of the new drivers taking the battle to the old foxes, notably Adam Morgan who finished the weekend with a trio of 5^th place finishes. Top marks to you sir.

Thruxton is next up for the BTCC parade on the weekend of 4^th/5^th May. Thruxton is the fastest track on the calendar so it will be interesting to see who has their gear ratios correctly set-up to maximise their speed. Plato will be heading into this race with no success ballast, unlike the Hondas so I wouldn’t be surprised to see JP leading the charge next time out.

Top 6 Drivers:

1. Jason Plato 92 points
2. Andrew Jordan 87 points
3. Matt Neal 78 points
4. Sam Tordoff 73 points
5. Gordon Shedden 72 points
6. Adam Morgan 66 points

A quick summary of all the teams:

Honda Yuasa Racing- Honda Civic

A really strong weekend and back to their best. Neither driver finished lower than 4^th all weekend.

MG KX Momentum Racing- MG6

MG once again looked strong. They will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

eBay Motors/WSR- BMW 125i M Sport

Once again, it was a learning weekend for eBay Motors, but I tell you something they are learning quickly. I didn’t expect Turkington to have the pace to win the third race of the day, but he did and he had more than enough pace. A top job! We still haven’t really seen much of Rob Collard or Nick Foster this season.

Airwaves Racing/ Motorbase- Ford Focus

Aron Smith was probably the racier of the two Airwaves drivers this weekend, but once again I thought it was a fairly poor showing from Motorbase.

Pirtek Racing- Honda Civic

Andrew Jordan got his first win of the season and again looked strong throughout with Jeff Smith doing well too.

Speedworks Motorsport- Toyota Avensis

Dave Newsham’s Craner Curves spin is about all I can really remember of the Speedworks cars to be honest.

Dynojet- Toyota Avensis

Frank Wrathall had a bit of a nightmare weekend, especially in the third race.

Ciceley Racing- Toyota Avensis

A super weekend for the Avensis with Morgan retaining 6^th place in the driver standings after a trio of 5^th place finishes. Superb.

Wix Racing- Audi A4

Nothing really went right for Rob Austin and his team this weekend. It started badly with the team using the wrong gear ratios in qualifying and in the end they were just too far back to make much of an impact, in addition to suffering various reliability issues.

Kraftwerk Racing/ Team HARD.- VW Passat CC

A great improvement by TOC this weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing more of the Passat at Thruxton.

RCIB Insurance Racing/ Team HARD.- Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R

Fairly anonymous this weekend.

Team 44 Club- Chevrolet Cruze

Nothing to report because they weren’t there again, nor will they be at Thruxton!

BTC Racing- Chevrolet Cruze

Nothing to report because they weren’t there!

Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp- Proton Gen-2 (NGTC) and Ford Focus (S2000)

A quiet weekend for Dan Welch and David Nye’s weekend highlight was smashing into James Kaye on the start line of Race Two.

Addison Lee/ Motorbase- Ford Focus MK III (NGTC) and Ford Focus MK II (S2000)

There was no sign of Michael Caine in a NGTC Focus but Liam Griffin took 2^nd place in Race One before retiring in both of the next races.

Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing- Vauxhall Vectra

Winner in Race Two but retired in Race Three.

M247 Racing- Chevrolet Cruze

Joe Girling celebrated his first Jack Sears Trophy win in Race Three. He’ll be hoping for another next time out.

Team BMR Restart- SEAT Leon

Once again, there were a few visits off the road for Warren Scott in the Leon.

AmD Tuning.com- VW Golf MK5

Kaye set a blistering pace in qualifying compared to his rivals and took the victory in the first race of the day. A crash and an electrical fault meant that was the only highlight.

…and finally, I’d like to mention some of the other racing that took place over the weekend. The Ginetta Juniors were as mental as ever, which made it brilliant to watch as you didn’t know who was going to wipe who out next and I also enjoyed the Renault Clio Cup. However, one thing that needs improving is Paul O’Neill’s presenting skills. I think the sooner he gets back in a car the better; I find his question and answer sessions cringe worthy and he also seems to avoid actually answering the questions!

Over and out until Thruxton.

With Munich’s goal seemingly being to ensure that almost every model in the BMW lineup features an M-model; step forward the M6 Gran Coupe:

Utilising the same twin-turbo 4.4litre V8 as its M5 and M6 brethren, the Gran Coupe comes equipped with a useful 560 bhp and 502 lb-ft of torque. Funnelled through a 7-speed DCT dual-clutch gearbox, this is enough to propel the Gran Coupe from 0-60 mph in 4.2seconds, and on to a limited 155mph. An optional extra exists to up this limit to 190mph, which is an effective way of charging money to untick a setting hidden away in the car’s ECU.

Whilst it is difficult to argue that the M6 Gran Coupe isn’t a handsome beast, you really have to wonder whether it really justifies an additional £25,000 over the M5 saloon. It may be more swoopy, but it only has four seats compared to the M5. It might hit 60mph quicker by 0.1 of second, but it’s chassis is seemingly tuned more towards comfort. A carbon fibre roof might suggest racey performance, but even BMW admits this car is intended to be more luxurious than any other M-car with it’s, wait for it, “ambience”.

Use of the word “ambience” and “luxury” in relation to an M-model sends a slightly cold shiver down my spine. Yes, vehicles such as the legendary E39 M5 were comfortable, but not to the point of eroding it’s razor-sharp edginess. The fact that the M6 version has seemingly been dialled back for comfort, makes it an even more confusing prospect than the regular Gran Coupe.

Perhaps if I had £100,000 sat ready to spend on a new car I’d think differently but, in my enthusiast’s head, I struggle to understand the reasoning behind the M6 Gran Coupe, other than as a marketing exercise. Although after the X6 M, it seems nothing is truly sacred in Bavaria anymore. BMW may have returned to using the Ultimate Driving Machine tagline, but its products do little to support that notion today.

Might I change my mind if I found myself behind the wheel of an M6? Possibly. But for now, I’ll have to go by the words of those who have gone before me, and don’t seem too impressed. Also, I struggle to find myself ever able to bond with a car that offers an interior colour scheme such as this:

You have to pay extra for this. I suggest you don’t.

Oh dear. Little bit too much ambience going on there I feel.

A few similarities; both black, both VW-group, both petrol-turbo and both with motorsport pedigree. Our correspondent’s is the rather rare Seat Leon TFSI, which existed for only a short period of time in the first year of this model’s life, before the introduction of the FR trim level. With 185bhp from the 2.0 turbo motor it’s no slouch, just don’t talk to him about fuel economy! Or the drawbacks of black paintwork.

This weekend sees the next instalment from the BTCC with the parade visiting the Leicestershire circuit, Donington Park. There have been several ‘upgrades’ to Donington since the supposed change of the British Grand Prix to the circuit which, rather predictably, in the end fell flat on its face. Whether the upgrades have been a success still remains to be seen, but the circuit luckily still contains the fantastic Craner Curves and Goddards to challenge the drivers before they hit the start/finish straight. It is however, a great shame that the iconic Dunlop Bridge has been dismantled and is now under the ownership of Radio 2 DJ and BTCC fan, Chris Evans. 

I complained post-Brands about the circuit not endearing itself to good racing due to the short lap. I am highly confident that we will see better and more exciting racing this weekend, as I believe the circuit layout is much better and we should see lap times around the 1 minute 11/12 mark. 

The weekend will be special for two people in particular: Matt Neal and Jason Plato. The third race on Sunday will see Matt Neal compete in his 500th race. Matt may not be popular with everyone, but this is still an achievement for which Matt deserves a huge pat on the back for from ESM. He has so far notched up 49 race wins and 3 Drivers’ Titles and I’m sure there will be more to come. Plato, similarly, also reaches a race milestone as Sunday will see him compete in his 400th BTCC race; once again, a big pat on the back for you Jason. 

Someone who will be pleased just to be racing this weekend will be Rob Austin. His Audi A4 (Sherman) has successfully been repaired with the help of donations from fans buying his ‘I fixed Sherman’ t-shirts, following a huge smash at Brands. I’m glad to be reporting this news as I did fear the worst when I saw the smash, but luckily for us fans the only thing hurting is Rob’s wallet. 

My final piece of news comes from Team Club 44. Andy Neate has announced that the team will not be competing in the next two rounds at Donington or Thruxton due to on-going issues with the Cruze. Luckily, for all of us who like taking pictures of cars at the back of the grid, we will get the opportunity at Oulton Park on 9th June- a date for your diary, I’m sure you’ll agree! 

I’m really looking forward to Sunday, as it’ll not only be a full day of motorsport as Formula One is also on from Bahrain, but because by the end of Sunday we should have a good idea of who the serious contenders are going to be for the title following 6 races of the season. I predict this weekend will be good for the Hondas, especially if the results from last year are anything to go by. The coverage starts on ITV4 at 10:45am.

Well the answer to third question is quite possibly on the evidence of Round One, but I would point out that there were so many strong performances throughout the weekend I wouldn’t think that Plato and Neal are sleeping soundly at night. Notable strong weekends came from Rob Austin, Sam Tordoff and Adam Morgan who all excelled in at least one race. 

The season opener was definitely a solid if unspectacular start to the season. In all honesty, it wasn’t all that exciting but I think I can explain that in a nutshell: Brands Hatch Indy Circuit. There is little doubting that Brands Hatch is one of the most traditional names in British Motorsport and that is probably why the BTCC holds 2 rounds there each season. However, the Grand Prix Circuit is great with several bends, long straights and so on which allows for entertaining racing. The Indy Circuit on the other hand, is quite frankly a waste of time. A lap that takes around 50 seconds is never going to produce quality racing, in my opinion, and I think that showed on Sunday. With 27 cars taking part in the opening round, it was more like a precession because the circuit was simply not long enough to enhance quality racing. I’m not saying cars didn’t overtake and that there was no action, because there was, but just not as much as I wanted as an avid BTCC viewer.

Race One saw a fantastic start from Rob Austin in the Audi A4 as he shot up the field from 7^th on the grid. Austin’s drive in the first race was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time, taking the lead until he was eventually beaten by Jordan and Plato. Austin showed that the Audi has been developed even more over the winter and I think he will have a promising season. It was a shame that in the second race he had to retire before retiring in more dramatic circumstances in Race 3, having being collected by a spinning Dave Newsham. Austin’s Audi spun before smashing into the barriers at high speed. ‘Sherman’ as Austin calls his car, was definitely looking a bit worse for wear.

The high drama in Race One, was saved until the very last corner where a quite desperate and in all honesty stupid move from Andrew Jordan nearly took himself and Jason Plato out. Jordan jumped down the inside of Plato looking for a gap that was never there, which ended in the pair visiting the gravel but both had enough momentum to get out and cross the line ahead of Austin. Plato was remarkably calm about the incident post-race, probably helped by Jordan’s rather red face.

Race Two followed a similar pattern, Jordan followed home Plato who led from start to finish. I can’t really recall any major incidents from Race Two apart from Frank Wrathall turning his car into a bumper car and smashing into anything in his path.  This was something that didn’t go unnoticed by the stewards as he has subsequently been given penalty points and a fine. Jeff Smith inherited a podium finish after Gordon Shedden, who had forced his way through from the back of the grid, failed a post-race ride height check.

Race Three saw most of the big names run the soft, white striped tyre for the first time. However, the finishing positions were quite similar to what we have seen on a regular basis with Neal taking victory from Shedden. However, in third was new boy Sam Tordoff who had an excellent weekend on his BTCC debut. Tordoff, who finished the weekend 3^rd in the Driver Standings, had a successful race day with 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th place finishes. I think we can all agree that is an excellent debut. As previously stated, the big incident in Race Three was Newsham losing control at the top of Paddock Hill bend before spinning into the middle of the track where he collected Austin and the rest is history as they say. The stewards covered this with a safety car when a red flag was not out of the question. For ITV4’s lucky viewers however, they and myself, missed the re-start and several changes in position because they were more interested in showing the latest PPI advert. They need to sort that out for the rest of the season.

At the end of the opening round, Plato leads the way on 54 points, 9 ahead of Jordan, with Tordoff 5 points behind him. Jeff Smith, Matt Neal and Adam Morgan round-up the top 6.

Before the race weekend there was a lot of excitement about the soft tyre, which all cars have to run in one of the races they have nominated before Saturday qualifying. I originally thought this new regulation was going to be a positive for the drivers and give them a much better advantage in their chosen race. However, this weekend seems to show it is more of a disadvantage and this was even on a really cold race weekend! It’ll be interesting to see how the drivers cope with the soft tyre on a red-hot track because it’s going to be lucky to last for even half of the race.

Finally, I’d like to give a mention to the drivers in the Jack Sears Trophy. (Humble pie) Well done to James Kaye who won the inaugural round of the Jack Sears Trophy. You were either very lucky or have done a very good job to win a race in that Golf! Liam Griffin won the other races, although he inherited the victory in Race Three as Lea Wood was disqualified following a technical issue. Wood had qualified as the leader of the Jack Sears pack and looked like the man to beat over the weekend. All the cars seemed to suffer problems, with Joe Girling only making it out for Race Three following drive shaft problems, James Kaye missed the last race due to a faulty gearbox, David Nye had various issues including the gravel trap as did Warren Scott in the SEAT Leon. 

A quick summary of all the teams:

Honda Yuasa Racing- Honda Civic

Had a nightmare weekend until Race Three, but showed they are still one of the strongest teams in BTCC

MG KX Momentum Racing- MG6

Certainly had the strongest weekend out of all the teams with 2 race wins and a podium. They look even stronger than last season.

eBay Motors/WSR- BMW 125i M Sport

Ah, eBay Motors. Other than Turkington who had 3 low top-10 finishes the weekend was a complete nightmare for the team. On the plus, side they will have learnt the most out of any team about their car over the weekend. A steep learning curve ahead.

 Airwaves Racing/ Motorbase- Ford Focus

I was a little bit disappointed with Airwaves to be honest; I thought they would have been a bit stronger. Mat Jackson had a few reliability problems, notably his car cutting out again. If this is the same problem as last season, then it is criminal that it hasn’t been fixed.

Pirtek Racing- Honda Civic

A strong weekend for the team with both drivers doing well. A team to watch.

Speedworks Motorsport- Toyota Avensis

A fairly decent weekend for the team, more so Dave Newsham than the heaviest driver on the grid Ollie Jackson. Definite promise.

Dynojet- Toyota Avensis

Frank Wrathall, who I have a lot of time for, annoyed me with his bumper cars in Race Two and deservedly got points and a fine. It’s a shame I’m talking about this and not the fact that it looks like he’s got another strong car. (Both performance and structurally!)

Ciceley Racing- Toyota Avensis

A super weekend for the Avensis with Morgan finishing 6^th in the driver standings after the opening round.

Wix Racing- Audi A4

Rob Austin showed great promise in Race One, in particular, and I think this will be a great season for Wix Racing. Will Bratt was fairly inconspicuous with his presence though.

Kraftwerk Racing/ Team HARD.- VW Passat CC

TOC was towards the back end of the field throughout the races, I’m sure improvement will be made during the season.

RCIB Insurance Racing/ Team HARD.- Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R

The Insignias didn’t look too bad although they were often found in a spin.

Team 44 Club- Chevrolet Cruze

Nothing to report because they weren’t there!

BTC Racing- Chevrolet Cruze

Nothing to report because they weren’t there!

Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp- Proton Gen-2 (NGTC) and Ford Focus (S2000)

Dan Welch was around the mid-field all weekend. Solid enough. David Nye had a few issues, notably a gravel trap.

Addison Lee/ Motorbase- Ford Focus MK III (NGTC) and Ford Focus MK II (S2000)

There was no sign of Michael Caine in a NGTC Focus but Liam Griffin had a decent weekend despite a couple of dramas and leads the Jack Sears Trophy after the opening round.

Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing- Vauxhall Vectra

Still looks like the man to beat in the Jack Sears Trophy for me.

M247 Racing- Chevrolet Cruze

Joe Girling made it out for the third race following issues. Hopefully, he’ll be out for all three at Donington Park.

Team BMR Restart- SEAT Leon

The car looked decent but not when it was off the road, as it was on several occasions.

AmD Tuning.com- VW Golf MK5

Well done to James Kaye as he won the inaugural Jack Sears Trophy race. However, normal service was resumed as he retired the Golf with gearbox issues in Race Two and didn’t want to risk it in Race Three.