Would Seat have won by now if they had stuck with RML?

[old friend]

Do you think that Plato (and team mates) would have had a better chance of winning with Seat if they had stayed with RML?

Since they took the whole thing inhouse it has never seemed to really work. JP has been 2nd for a couple of years but it looks like that's all the team can manage.

[tdb]

It's not "in house" Northern South run the seat sport uk btcc programe, much the same as Triple 8 run Vxr.

I am now waiting for the nissan threads to start. ;)

[BTCC2]

It is in house though, that's what they said themselves when NorthernSouth began to run the programme.

[old friend]

I see, so they changed from one team to another (RML to Northern South)...still doesn't seem to have worked out the way they intended! I can't belive that Seat wanted to wait 5 years for the drivers title!

[Alfa Fan]

RML left SEAT Sport UK; not the other way round. RML wanted to built cars, something not available with SEAT, so obviously when they were offered the Chevrolet WTCC deal they took that.

[SEATFreak]

As far as I know of the history of NorthernSouth pre-SEATSport UK and from information recieved on the teams website on the "history" tab, it appears they were brought in because they had experience of running SEAT's.

During the first 3 years of their time they prepared for the most part rally cars. Over 30 entries in Group A, Group N, WRC, and F2. It was in this time they prepared rallying SEAT's.

They also built and prepared over 25 trackday Leons and over 30 Ibizas for its model launch.

In 2002 SEAT UK has looked to NorthernSouth to run the Cupras because SEAT had trust in them as a team and they had been placed on the pitch list. NS preparing all the cars "in house" for the first two years.

With foresight I wouldn't have chosen them. I would have chosen either Prodrive or GR Asia. NS simply for me don't have as much top pedigree of building, running and peparing title winning cars as GR Asia and Prodrive.

[old friend]

I guess like most things in life its who you know not what you know!

Question still holds (although with the new info I've updated it a bit):

Would Seat have won the drivers title by now if they had gone with a different team?

[The mad monk]

Yes,I believe thay would.

[SEATFreak]

Stupid question I know but would it be out of the question for someone to perhaps list teams and possibly presume with each where they would have taken SEAT had they been chosen instead of NorthernSouth?

Because unquestionably, I think, some teams would have been, and still to this day is, better suited to building, preparing and running cars than others.

But understanding certainly what happened to DT in race 2 at Oulton, I don't think any team operating SEATSport UK would have avoided that. A broken wishbone can, as far as I am aware, happen to any racecar and certainly I think cars in general. It isn't directly, as far as I am aware, attributed to any one thing.

Finally, it would be a gut wrench to loose the top guys like Piers Phillips, Nick Clipson and of course the founders; Grant Clearwater and Ian Fisher, but I think in the long term if SEAT get better as a result, albeit with the aid of hindsight, yes I would be prepared to accept NorthernSouth has gone. So yes, if you were to ask me "would you support a change now?" I would say yes.

[Iain]

The engine issues they've had recently are SEAT Sport in Spain issues, as that's where the engines come from and they are maintained at the races by Spanish staff I understand.

Going back about 10 years or so ago, you had all the works teams and the preparation companies behind them. It was pretty much a closed shop and if there was a change of company, one of the others would take their place. You had Prodrive (Honda then Ford), 888 (Vauxhall), WSR (Ford then Honda), RML (Vauxhall then Nissan) and MSD (Honda then Peugeot). Nowadays there are less big companies involved in the BTCC, as they've gone on to other things (since the end of the ST era) and are too busy to take on a BTCC programme. This has left smaller teams that maybe were more used to running cars built by others (Dynamics) to become major forces and manufacturers to look outside the touring car scene to the likes of Northern South who came from a rallying background.

[tintin]

Nowadays there are less big companies involved in the BTCC, as they've gone on to other things (since the end of the ST era) and are too busy to take on a BTCC programme.

But they've gone because their paymasters (the manufacturers) pulled out, rather than any desire not to work in the BTCC.

The likes of MSD, Prodrive and RML don't care what sort of championship they are preparing cars for - to them it's important that a) there is a chance they will win and b) they are making a profit. And not necessarily in that order.

[Eurotech]

what about ORECA?

they ran Stephane Ortelli in the WTCC in 2005 and then James Thompson & Yvan Muller in 2006.

wouldn't they have been a good choice for say 2006 onwards?

[Iain]

They're busy running the top driver in the WTCC at the moment.

[Eurotech]

yes but teams can multi-task

oh yeah and theyre running Rydell and Muller not tarquini....

[SEATFreak]

Stupid question I know but would it be out of the question for someone to perhaps list teams and possibly presume with each where they would have taken SEAT had they been chosen instead of NorthernSouth?

ORECA
Likely more of the available trophies - Drivers, Teams and Manufacturers. They currently run aswell as the WTCC works team a P1 class team at Le Mans. They have very good predigree at running cars at a high level of motorsport.

GR Asia
Very good Independent team. Again probable that they would have taken SEAT to more success. Data from their cars in the WTCC from 2006 onward may have gone to help the cars in the BTCC. I like to think they would like to take over a factory entry.

Prodrive
Very well respected builder of cars with a level of performance. In racing they seem to be best known for running the Aston Martins in the GT1 class at Le Mans. They are currently building the latest model of Alfa Romeo - the Bora I think. I think they would have been good for SEAT but whether or not they would have been attracted to running SEAT's cars in the BTCC I don't know.

That is all I know of the teams who aren't currently running works cars in the BTCC or the WTCC.

[Eurotech]

Alfa Romeo - the Bora I think.

The Brera unless youre talking about the VW racing cup! ;)

[Iain]

Prodrive
Very well respected builder of cars with a level of performance. In racing they seem to be best known for running the Aston Martins in the GT1 class at Le Mans. They are currently building the latest model of Alfa Romeo - the Bora I think. I think they would have been good for SEAT but whether or not they would have been attracted to running SEAT's cars in the BTCC I don't know.

That is all I know of the teams who aren't currently running works cars in the BTCC or the WTCC.

The Alfa Romeo is a limited edition car that's run by their road car division. They also run the Subaru World Rally Team and the Ford Performance Racing V8 Supercar team.

They'd know a thing or two about extracting performance from a car someone else has built.

[thetrooper_scot]

Prodrive started with Alfa Romeo in 1995

[Iain]

They ran BMWs from 1987-92.

[Rover V8]

They'd know a thing or two about extracting performance from a car someone else has built.

I wonder whether they'd want to get involved in doing that though- these days I'd see Prodrive more likely to run the whole show, from building the car upwards

[Eurotech]

Maybe Prodrive would rather support an Alfa Romeo team like (if they went back to Alfa) N.Technology.....