Mikey Doble closed out his 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season at Brands Hatch this past weekend (4/5 October) with a valiant performance that saw him clinch runner-up laurels in the Independent Drivers’ Championship.
On a thrilling final day of the season around the famous Kent circuit, the Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing driver took the title fight down to the wire; however, he ultimately fell short of preventing Restart Racing’s Daniel Lloyd from lifting the crown.
Despite missing out on the title, the 26-year-old had plenty to be proud of having endured a rollercoaster campaign that included taking his maiden BTCC win at Snetterton and having to adapt to a completely different car following the devastating fire at the team headquarters.
In the end, the Surrey-based racer threw everything he had at the final day of the season but ultimately missed out on lifting his second title in as many years by just four points.
Doble’s title-deciding weekend began on Saturday as he dialled in his front-wheel-drive machine to find the ragged edge as he valiantly battled to try and progress into Part 2 of qualifying.
Last year’s Jack Sears Trophy title winner would struggle to find room on his final flying lap, which resulted in him pushing into the last corner to make up for lost time and dropping a wheel onto the grass. Despite finishing up in 17th, he pivotally qualified around his title rivals.
The final day of the season would see race one set the scene for Doble as he got his elbows out and became embroiled in a number of wheel-to-wheel scraps within the points-paying positions, clinching third place in the Independents’ category as well.
Knowing that he needed to make serious in-roads into his title rivals if he was to have any shot at walking away as champion, Doble delivered yet another feisty performance in race two and crucially out-scoring Lloyd to set up a winner-takes-all final contest.
With just a handful of points separating Lloyd, Doble and Chris Smiley in the standings, the Cupra driver pulled out all the stops to try and overturn the points deficit - including backing Lloyd up into other drivers - however his efforts would see him fall just short of the ultimate prize.
Mikey Doble: “It’s obviously not the way any of us wanted to end the season however there is so much to feel proud about. Given what the team has been through this year, to even be in a title fight was a huge achievement - it’s just a bitter pill to take to have missed out at the final hurdle.
“If I’m being honest we didn’t have the outright pace on Sunday and given how close we all were I knew that I needed to make something happen. We had a steady race one and then in race two I was very aggressive to make sure we finished ahead of Lloyd.
“The Cupra had some battle scars from that contest and with one race to go we threw everything behind trying to make something happen. I tried my best to back Lloyd into the pack but we just didn’t have enough cars in play to swing the points my way.
“While I’m a little disappointed at the moment, I’m sure in a day or so those feelings will change and I’ll take stock of the season with fond memories. I can now call myself a BTCC race winner and that alone motivates me to return stronger than ever next year to chase after more trophies.”
