Thousands of fans enjoy the final pre-season test at Brands Hatch
The 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is ready for take off after more than 9,000 fans attended the final pre-season test at Brands Hatch today (8 April).
With media commitments kicking off proceeding early this morning, all 21 cars took to the track for six hours of running under quite glorious sunny conditions.
As so often is the case it was the closing moments of the afternoon that proved pivotal to the timesheets with WSR's Charles Rainford setting a blistering pace in his #99 BMW 330i M Sport.
Almost the entire field had been covered by just over a second until Rainford's late 47.102s flyer, which sent him more than three tenths clear of the chasing pack.
The group behind was led by NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish and Speedworks Corolla Racing's Josh Cook, who both also left it late to fire in their best effort.
It had looked like a PMR Audi one-two – as it had been during the morning session – but Dexter Patterson (Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing) and Mikey Doble (LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing) eventually had to settle for fourth and fifth. It was still a stellar day for PMR as the team showcased its all-new Audi A3 Saloons.
Two former champions were next in the order with Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) pipping Gordon Shedden (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport) to a top six finish in the afternoon.
Árón Taylor-Smith (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport) and James Dorlin (Restart Racing) failed to improve upon their morning times, but still ended up seventh and ninth respectively, whilst Adam Morgan rounded out the top ten for the debutant Cataclean Plato Racing.
Testing – as always – remains extremely hard to read too much into with every team running its own programme with different tyre compounds, fuel levels and boost activations being used.
The day proved to be an incredible celebration ahead of the 2026 campaign with thousands of fans not only streaming into the spiritual home of the championship, but also meeting the stars and grabbing photos with the cars, as the BTCC again proved to be the biggest show in town.
Now it's time for the serious action to commence with the opening rounds of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship set to take place at Donington Park on 18/19 April.
Charles Rainford, WSR, said: "I'm very happy that I've managed to go quickest, which has been a very nice surprise, and I'd like to thank West Surrey Racing for providing me with such an amazing car. It's all eyes forward now to Donington. It's been very hot today, but I can't imagine we'll get that lucky for the first event. Either way, I'm excited for the season ahead and looking forward to seeing lots of fans at Donington Park."
2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Season Launch – Brands Hatch – Combined Times
1. Charles Rainford, WSR 47.102
2. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +0.317s
3. Josh Cook, Speedworks Corolla Racing +0.335s
4. Dexter Patterson, Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing +0.372s
5. Mikey Doble, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing +0.421s
6. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +0.514s
7. Árón Taylor-Smith, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +0.542s
8. Gordon Shedden, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +0.555s
9. James Dorlin, Restart Racing +0.620s
10. Adam Morgan, Cataclean Plato Racing +0.633s
11. Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing +0.637s
12. Chris Smiley, Restart Racing +0.645s
13. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK +0.653s
14. Daniel Rowbottom, Cataclean Plato Racing +0.668s
15. Max Buxton, Speedworks Corolla Racing +0.708s
16. Lewis Selby, NAPA Racing UK +0.715s
17. Tom Ingram, Team VERTU +0.886s
18. Tom Chilton, Team VERTU +0.947s
19. Ricky Collard, Team VERTU +1.086s
20. Daryl De Leon, WSR +1.201s
21. Nicolas Hamilton, Team VERTU +1.223s
