Thruxton BTCC races should not have been shortened - Goff
Jack Goff says that the decision to shorten last weekend's Thruxton BTCC races due to concerns over tyre life was not the right one, as it unfairly penalised those capable of nursing their rubber.
Jack Goff, Team IHG Rewards Club
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A major talking point of the weekend was the decision to cut the second and third races from 16 laps down to 12 after a spate of punctures in the opening race, which were partially caused by unexpectedly high track temperatures.
It was a decision that Goff did not agree with, as the West Surrey Racing driver felt it hindered the team's chances of a good result after looking after their tyres for the early stages of the race.
"I didn't agree with the decision," Goff said categorically. "You can see quite clearly there are cars out there carrying 75kgs - front wheel drive cars - who are still on the podium.
"So if you drive the car properly, stay off the kerbs and look after your tyres properly so they can last the whole distance you can quite easily do it.
"It's more the fact the teams weren't really listening to Dunlop and they were just going full steam ahead and bashing into the kerbs, and that's why punctures happen. The top teams didn't get punctures..."
Honda the "guinea pigs"
Honda's Matt Neal was among those to sustain a puncture in race one, and his attempt to dive for the pitlane triggered a multi-car collision involving teammate Gordon Shedden as well as Josh Cook's MG, Jeff Smith's Honda and Jake Hill's Toyota.
Neal believes that the weekend could have been a different story if the decision to shorten the races was taken before the first race rather than between races one and two.
"It's a shame," he said. "I almost feel like we were the guinea pigs a bit, with a full race distance and there were concerns with 75kg [of success ballast].
"If we'd have been restricted to 12 laps then we'd have had a stellar weekend. But that's life I guess. The catalogue of events that happened after that, was just.. whatever."
Despite the drama, Neal recovered to finish the final race second to leave Thruxton with a joint points lead with WSR driver Rob Collard, with race one winner Adam Morgan only three points behind in third.
Additional reporting by James Charman
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