Grand Prix Rejects

Samster wrote:

takagi_for_the_win wrote:I would like to run Edenbridge Racing, and we will use an 02 MG ZS

Car number?

#23

If the 93 is available, I'll use that number. 93 stands for the last time, BMW won the BTCC, courtesy of the great Joachim Winkelhock.

Three teams still available.

Kartworld Racing - £650,000
TH Motorsport - £620,000
John Batchelor Racing - £600,000

While we wait for the final few teams to be taken up, lets begin the driver contracting.

As Flaschenpost did, teams will be sorted into groups, the works and front running teams will get first pick.

Group A (VX Racing, SEAT Sport UK, Team Honda, Petronas Syntium Proton, Team Dynamics and West Surrey Racing)

Only the six teams listed above may choose drivers at this point.

List the drivers you are interested in, in order of preference. You may list as many as you like regardless of how many cars you have entered. You may want to offer them a salary to sweeten the deal, particularly if you want the big names. Multiple teams can bid for any one driver so don't worry if someone else beats you to an offer on a certain driver, just place your own offer in and you'll still have a shot.

Certain drivers will come with sponsorship money, example Tom Chilton will bring Daddy Chilton's wallet with him. This will give you team's budget a little boost, useful if you are low on money.

Once all the teams in this group have made offers, I'll base the relevant drivers choices on the detail's of their options and random.org. Any drivers who refuse all their offers will remain available for the next group and any teams from this group still with open drives left will have to compete again in the next group.

Hope this is all understood. Make your offers!

Fabrizio Giovanardi
James Thompson
Colin Turkington
Rob Huff
Tom Chilton

all salarys TBA

Due to Proton's relatively diminished budget compared to the other works teams after car registration, we have decided not to offer salaried drives.
Nevertheless, we would like to give offers to the following drivers:
1) Yvan Muller
2) James Thompson
3) Matt Neal
4) Paul O'Neill (though I'm assuming I'm not allowed him currently due to diabetes)
5) Alan Morrison
6) Anthony Reid
7) Warren Hughes
8) Colin Turkington
9) Tom Chilton
10) Rob Collard

There's no harm in aiming high...

Samster, are there any drivers that will offer 1M (or more) in sponsorship? If there are, we'll add in a second Vauxhall Astra Coupe '03 under car #78. But if there isn't anyone with enough budget to pay that kind of money we'll have to forgo the second car idea.

My drivers will be offered money, when I figure out a competitive price

1. Anthony Reid
2. Warren Hughes
3. Dan Eaves
4. Darren Turner
5. Ricard Rydell


salary or 750.000

Honda
1. James Thompson (offering a salary of 275.000)
2. Toranosuke Takagi (salary: 120.000)
3. Rob Huff (75.000)
4. Satoshi Motoyama (75.000)

1) Matt Neal (family team)
2) James Thompson £210 000
3) Gabrele Tarquini £180 000
4) Andy Priulux £150 000
5) Ricard Rydell £100 000

If more than 2 drivers want to sign, we will consider running more cars.

SEAT
First car
1. James Thompson (offering a salary of 285,000)
2. Fabrizio Giovanardi (offering a salary of 250,000)
3. Matt Neal (offering a salary of 175,000)

Second car
1. Colin Turkington (offering a salary of 100,000)
2. Tom Chilton (no salary offered)
3. Darren Turner (offering a salary of 75,000)

kostas22 wrote:Samster, are there any drivers that will offer 1M (or more) in sponsorship? If there are, we'll add in a second Vauxhall Astra Coupe '03 under car #78. But if there isn't anyone with enough budget to pay that kind of money we'll have to forgo the second car idea.

I reckon that both Tom Chilton and David Pinkney can come up with at least 1M if they need to.

Eurobrun, do you think you can come up with some salary offers by the end of today? Otherwise I'll assume that your offering unpaid drives.

Consider my drivers at page 1 (except Wurz) as priorities for both cars. Or am I doing "false start"?

FMecha wrote:Consider my drivers at page 1 (except Wurz) as priorities for both cars. Or am I doing "false start"?

GA's turn will come in the next group.

Team dynamics will offer Matt Neal a salary of £50,000 in view of market forces, along with the chance to win the title for the first time in his life with his family team.

Updated list

Giovanardi 300,000
Thopmson 220,000
Turkington 220,000
Huff 100,000
Hughes 150,000
Plato 150,000
Chilton N/A
Watson-Smith 100,000

Order of preference

andrew wrote:1. Anthony Reid
2. Warren Hughes
3. Dan Eaves
4. Darren Turner
5. Ricard Rydell


salary or 750.000

Are you offering £750,000 to all of these drivers, I'm not sure I can tell. If so then hire two of these will put you £1,100,000 in debt which means they'll have to score 1,100 points between them for you to make that money back.

Off topic, but can I take Kartworld? #97 2002 MG

Grovey wrote:Off topic, but can I take Kartworld? #97 2002 MG

Of course.

Time to begin the contract signing. No more changes to your offers.

I'll list each driver that has at least one offer, as close to everyone's order of preference as possible and deal with each one at a time.

So first up.

Fabrizio Giovanardi

Multiple touring car champion, Fabrizio Giovanardi has received the highest offer of anyone with a £300,000 offer from Vauxhall. Alfa Romeo's ETCC team have also shown interest in signing him and the idea of racing for an Italian manufacturer on the European stage has appeal. However he has already won that series in 2002 and the offer of a new challenge in the BTCC where he has never raced, particularly with its new format is looking tasty. Plus it seems Vauxhall are willing to pay him more. SEAT have also made an offer but less than both Vauxhall and Alfa.

So I say
1-40 He signs with Vauxhall in the BTCC
41-70 He signs with SEAT.
71-100 He signs with Alfa in ETCC.

And it is, 7 Giovanardi signs with Vauxhall.

James Thompson

The man with by far the most offers as every one of the works teams are after him. Both SEAT and Honda have offered him more money than his current employers at Vauxhall while Proton have rather ambitiously offered him bugger all to drive for a manufacturer now well known amongst BTCC fans as the definition of mediocrity. Team Dynamics have also offered him a paying drive but it's lower than Vauxhall's offer. Since he already won the 2002 BTCC championship with Vauxhall plus with better offers from SEAT and Honda, Thompson is definitely considering a move to see if he can win for a second team. Honda have a proven if slightly aging package in the Civic but their funding has been cut since last season and may not continue to support the Arena team much longer while SEAT look to be in the series long term though as a new entry, the Toledo's potential is unknown.

1-40 Move to SEAT
41-70 Move to Honda
71-90 Stay with Vauxhall
91-99 Move to Dynamics
100 Shock move to Proton

66 Thompson signs with Honda.

Gabriele Tarquini

Current ETCC champion driving for Alfa Romeo who are interested in retaining him. However Tarquini has offers from both SEAT and Dynamics and would like to prove that he can win in something other than an Alfa. SEAT are an unknown quantity while Dynamics are running two year old Civics which he doesn't see as a title winning car.

1-50 Stay with Alfa in ETCC
51-95 Move to SEAT
96-100 Move to Dynamics

16 Tarquini will remain in the ETCC with Alfa.

More in the next post.

Colin Turkington

West Surrey Racing haven't offered an extension to Turkington's contract but luckily he has offers from Vauxhall, SEAT and Proton, the former two looking very appealing with good salaries. Vauxhall looks like easily his favourite, the team that has dominated the last three seasons of the series are offering him more than twice the money that newcomers SEAT are, though he may feel less pressured to perform with SEAT.

1-70 Sign with Vauxhall
71-95 Sign with SEAT
96-100 Sign with Proton

71 Turkington signs with SEAT

Toranosuke Takagi

Currently an Indycar racer for struggling midfielders Mo Nunn Racing who are interested in retaining him for 2004. Honda also want him to move to the BTCC and are offering him more money and a more stable environment to thrive in. However having raced in open wheels his whole career by this point, a switch to tin tops presents a steep learning curve where he could easily flop and ruin his reputation, plus there is the issue of moving back to Europe.

1-60 Stay in Indycar
61-100 Move to BTCC

11 Takagi sticks with Indycar. Dang was looking forward to that.

Robert Huff

Very glad to have offers from both Vauxhall and Honda but is disappointed that SEAT aren't interested despite him having won their feeder category in 2003. Vauxhall look easily the more desirable team, they have dominated the past three seasons after all plus they are offering more money and seem more committed to the BTCC long term than Honda who have scaled back their funding for Arena this season.

1-80 Sign with Vauxhall
81-100 Sign with Honda

1 Huff signs for Vauxhall.

Satoshi Motoyama

Despite being the defending Formula Nippon and Japan GT champion, Motoyama is genuinely surprise that Honda have contacted him about a potential move to Britain to race in touring cars. Relatively unknown outside of Japan, he wouldn't have anything to loose rep wise by taking the move but it would involve him moving miles from home. However the new challenge looks appealing.

1-70 Sign with Honda
71-100 Continue to race in Japan.

9 Motoyama signs with Honda. I believe this makes him the first Japanese driver in the BTCC.

Matt Neal

With Honda opting not to renew his contract, Matt Neal is faced with three choices. Take a pay cut and move back to his family team who finally have a package good enough to consistently compete at the front or sign with SEAT who are willing to pay him a similar amount that Honda did. Then there is Proton who are offering nothing. Though on paper, SEAT are the best choice, Dynamics are more likely to give him preferential treatment.

1-50 SEAT
51-99 Dynamics
100 Shock move to Proton

37 Neal signs with SEAT.

Andy Priaulx

Ran his debut season in the ETCC last season for BMW. Dynamics have given him a good offer to return to the BTCC but BMW want to keep him and offer arguably a better chance at a title than Dynamics.

1-80 Stay with BMW in ETCC
81-100 Move to Dynamics

55 Priaulx stays in the ETCC.

Rickard Rydell

Has offers from both Dynamics and WSR but SEAT also want him to lead their ETCC effort and are offering him more money than both teams combined and a likely shot at a title in the future.

1-90 SEAT in ETCC
91-95 Dynamics
96-100 WSR

59 Rydell will run with SEAT in the ETCC.

Anthony Reid

With MG withdrawing their funding from WSR, they are cutting down his salary to £75,000. That's still better than his only other offer from Proton. Reid is also getting on in years too and retirement from full time racing is an option too.

1-80 Stay with WSR
81-85 Move to Proton
86-100 Retire

71 Reid remains with WSR.

Warren Hughes

Same deal as Reid regarding staying with WSR but Vauxhall has offered him twice the money to move there. And Proton have offered him an unpayed drive.

1-75 Move to Vauxhall
76-95 Stay with WSR
96-100 Move to Proton

14 Hughes signs with Vauxhall completing their lineup.

Jason Plato

Only Vauxhall seemed interested the 2001 champion a deal to return to their lineup except that three of their preferred choices already have already signed before the team turned to him for an official offer. Unlucky Plato.

Dan Eaves

With Vic Lee Racing pulling out, Eaves is saved by an offer from WSR which would give him the best car of his career to date.

1-90 Sign with WSR
91-100 Hold out for alternate offers.

4 Eaves signs with WSR completing their lineup. He will also bring £500,000 in sponsorship from Halfords.

Tom Chilton

Honda may have dropped him but Vauxhall, SEAT and Proton have offered him unpaid drives in return for daddy's wallet. But the former two have filled their lineup already leaving just Proton. Chilton won't mind being unpaid for his services as his sponsors will give him money anyway.

1-40 Attempt to flash the cash at SEAT to convince them to run an additional car for him.
41-100 Sign with Proton.

18 Daddy Chilton will offer £800,000 to SEAT if they add a third car for him. If declined then he'll remain on the market for Group B.

Chilton isn't even interested in looking at other teams? This saddens me.

Samster wrote:Tom Chilton

Honda may have dropped him but Vauxhall, SEAT and Proton have offered him unpaid drives in return for daddy's wallet. But the former two have filled their lineup already leaving just Proton. Chilton won't mind being unpaid for his services as his sponsors will give him money anyway.

1-40 Attempt to flash the cash at SEAT to convince them to run an additional car for him.
41-100 Sign with Proton.

18 Daddy Chilton will offer £800,000 to SEAT if they add a third car for him. If declined then he'll remain on the market for Group B.

Certainly, SEAT would be very happy to run a third car for Chilton.

Shaun Watson-Smith

Vauxhall showed interest but have completed their lineup already before reaching him in their preference list.

Darren Turner

Same fate as SWS.

Yvan Muller

As the defending champion, Yvan Muller is extremely pissed that not only Vauxhall seem to have shunned him but his only offer for 2004 was from Proton and its not even paid. A drive in another series is looking very tempting now. However his ego may convince him to join Proton for the challenge of bringing them to the front.

1-50 Sign with Proton on the condition that they actually offer him some money (at least £100,000).
51-85 Look for drive in DTM or ETCC or something.
86-100 Hold out for another offer within BTCC.

56 Muller tells Proton 'screw you guys, Ima going home.'

Alan Morrison

Another Honda refugee, Morrison only has an unpaid offer from Proton.

1-70 Proton
71-100 Hope for something better.

87 Morrison also turns his back on Proton.

Rob Collard

Raced for his own team thus far in his BTCC career and is unlikely to change that unless an offer from a front running team comes along, preferably one that is payed. However he may be willing to give Proton a chance for the sake of loosing the stress of running a team.

1-60 Hold out for another offer, failing that continue with own team.
61-100 Sign with Proton and sell his team.

46 Collard also refuses the Proton.

Paul O'Neill

Has offer from Proton which he'd have been happy to take were it not for being diagnosed with diabetes, ruling him out for at least the 2004 season.

So that's Group A complete. Dynamics and Proton were both unable to sign a deal with any drivers so must join the midfielders in Group B. They can make an offer again for the drivers that declined this time as long as they are still available.

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:

Samster wrote:Tom Chilton

Honda may have dropped him but Vauxhall, SEAT and Proton have offered him unpaid drives in return for daddy's wallet. But the former two have filled their lineup already leaving just Proton. Chilton won't mind being unpaid for his services as his sponsors will give him money anyway.

1-40 Attempt to flash the cash at SEAT to convince them to run an additional car for him.
41-100 Sign with Proton.

18 Daddy Chilton will offer £800,000 to SEAT if they add a third car for him. If declined then he'll remain on the market for Group B.

Certainly, SEAT would be very happy to run a third car for Chilton.

Which number for Chilton's entry?

kostas22 wrote:Chilton isn't even interested in looking at other teams? This saddens me.

Nope, greedy bugger thinks he deserves only the best works drives now that he has already driven for Honda.

Group B's turn. They have only tomorrow evening to make their offers.

Group B teams

Team Dynamics
Petronas Syntium Proton
GA Motorsports
Tech-Speed Motorsport
Synchro Motorsport
Collard Racing

Wow, Proton seems popular

Well isn't that freaking hilarious, Proton failed to sign a single driver! Shame Yvan Muller has buggered off to the continent, we'd have made him our first choice if he'd stuck around...

Anyway, here are our driver choices (Tech-Speed);

CAR ONE
Alain Menu
Laurent Aïello
Nicola Larini
Jason Plato
Tom Kristensen

CAR TWO (all drivers must provide 800K+ sponsorship money or no deal)
Rob Collard
Richard Göransson
Alan Morrison
Allan Simonsen
Tommy Rustad
Paul Dumbrell
Vincent Radermecker
John George
David Pinkney

eurobrun wrote:Wow, Proton seems popular

More surprised that Dynamics didn't manage to get anyone.

Anyone else find it hilarious that apparently Plato couldn't find a ride for his oh so glorious return in this universe? I find it deeply satisfying.

If no one takes up the two remaining teams on the list by the time Group B are done then I'll run them myself until someone wants them.

Team Dynamics are very disappointed with Matt Neal, Christmas dinner will certainly be awkward in the Neal household....

Team Dynamics will thus offer Jason Plato £250,000 and number 1 status. Plus the chance to annoy Matt Neal by winning the title with the family team....

Team Dynamics are very interested in signing Darren Turner to the #6 car. £100,000 paid salary is on the table, plus the chance to work with and learn from the 2001 series champion.

Peter Terting will also be offered a drive in a third car, if he can bring sponsorship. Team Dynamics feel that this will enable Audi to develop the youngster away from the pressure of the DTM.

Rob Huff and Alan Menu also are under consideration. If they are interested then the salary is up for negotiation.

It's a pity Yvan Muller doesn't wan't to race in the BTCC. We would have offered a generous salary better than his previous offers.

HonoraryNortherner wrote:Team Dynamics are very disappointed with Matt Neal, Christmas dinner will certainly be awkward in the Neal household....

Team Dynamics will thus offer Jason Plato £250,000 and number 1 status. Plus the chance to annoy Matt Neal by winning the title with the family team....

Team Dynamics are very interested in signing Darren Turner to the #6 car. £100,000 paid salary is on the table, plus the chance to work with and learn from the 2001 series champion.

Peter Terting will also be offered a drive in a third car, if he can bring sponsorship. Team Dynamics feel that this will enable Audi to develop the youngster away from the pressure of the DTM.

Rob Huff and Alan Menu also are under consideration. If they are interested then the salary is up for negotiation.

It's a pity Yvan Muller doesn't wan't to race in the BTCC. We would have offered a generous salary better than his previous offers.

I should point out that Huff is already signed with Vauxhall.

Now if you can give a number for a salary for Muller he may be tempted back to race for you but Alfa are interested in having him fill the drive that Giovanardi declined at their ETCC team so you'll have them to compete with.

Oh would anyone be interested in a feeder series to this? Kind of akin to the V8 Development series where old cars from the BTCC and other 2 liter spec series can be raced. Those that already have a team in this can enter. Teams can be fictional so any team name you want, drivers still have to be real, anyone in the tin-top scene at the time not already in the main series or any other major championship.

Should give the driver market for future BTCC seasons a bit of a boost.

Samster wrote:Oh would anyone be interested in a feeder series to this? Kind of akin to the V8 Development series where old cars from the BTCC and other 2 liter spec series can be raced. Those that already have a team in this can enter. Teams can be fictional so any team name you want, drivers still have to be real, anyone in the tin-top scene at the time not already in the main series or any other major championship.

Should give the driver market for future BTCC seasons a bit of a boost.

Would be 100% interested

I'll take TH Motorsport with a Ford Focus, to be run by Larkham Motor Sport. We'll make offers to Mark Larkham, Greg Ritter and Jason Plato, in that order.

Wizzie wrote:I'll take TH Motorsport with a Ford Focus, to be run by Larkham Motor Sport. We'll make offers to Mark Larkham, Greg Ritter and Jason Plato, in that order.

Great but TH will be in Group C for driver choices.

Samster wrote:

HonoraryNortherner wrote:Team Dynamics are very disappointed with Matt Neal, Christmas dinner will certainly be awkward in the Neal household....

Team Dynamics will thus offer Jason Plato £250,000 and number 1 status. Plus the chance to annoy Matt Neal by winning the title with the family team....

Team Dynamics are very interested in signing Darren Turner to the #6 car. £100,000 paid salary is on the table, plus the chance to work with and learn from the 2001 series champion.

Peter Terting will also be offered a drive in a third car, if he can bring sponsorship. Team Dynamics feel that this will enable Audi to develop the youngster away from the pressure of the DTM.

Rob Huff and Alan Menu also are under consideration. If they are interested then the salary is up for negotiation.

It's a pity Yvan Muller doesn't wan't to race in the BTCC. We would have offered a generous salary better than his previous offers.

I should point out that Huff is already signed with Vauxhall.

Now if you can give a number for a salary for Muller he may be tempted back to race for you but Alfa are interested in having him fill the drive that Giovanardi declined at their ETCC team so you'll have them to compete with.

I see. Team Dynamics will offer £300,000 to Yvan Muller.

I definitely would be interested in the feeder series, it sounds like a great idea!

Collard Racing would like to offer Rob Collard £250.000. It may not be much, but he'll get to run a BMW 320i (A proven race winner on the continent), plus it's his own team after all.