WSR begin a new Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season this weekend at the very same venue – Donington Park in the East Midlands – where the team made their series debut 30 years ago.
Incredible success has been achieved in the intervening period including a record 137 race wins, five Drivers’ Championships and 18 overall titles, plus nine Independent Drivers’ and Teams’ crowns.
For 2026 the team from Sunbury-on-Thames is targeting more success with a pair of BMW 330i M Sport race cars driven by two of the series’ most promising up-and-comers, Daryl De Leon and Charles Rainford.
Pre-season running has been successful for the team with Daryl topping the timesheets in the recent official BTCC test at Croft and Charles doing likewise at Brands Hatch last week.
While the 1.9-mile Donington National track is less suited to the BMW’s rear-wheel-drive layout than either Croft or Brands Hatch, it has provided nine wins for WSR, who enter the season as an Independent team for the first time since winning the categories for non-Manufacturer Drivers and Teams in 2014.
Cambridgeshire racer Daryl, 20, made his first appearance for WSR at Donington last year, beginning a successful season in which he scored his first overall victory and won the Jack Sears Trophy.
Charles, from Horsham, East Sussex, made his BTCC debut at Donington Park in 2025 after stepping up from the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, but took just one further weekend to become a race winner. He finished in eighth place as leading rookie in the points.
Daryl De Leon, #2 WSR, said: “Last year, my first with WSR, was huge. First win, first pole positions and the Jack Sears Trophy… It went so quickly and now we’re back, almost at the first race of 2026 and ready to go again. I’m back in the same BMW with the same engineer and that consistency of the environment will be important as we aim to go even better and turn more of our good qualifying results into podiums and, ultimately, wins. We have a strong package and while Donington – a front-wheel-drive track – might not be the best place to show everybody what we can do, I think we can finish well.”
Charles Rainford, #99 WSR, said: “It’s hard to believe a year has passed since my BTCC debut, and so much has happened in that time. I knew the racing element would be hard, but it’s absolutely brutal compared to what I’ve experienced before and that definitely took some adjusting to. I feel like a BTCC driver now coming into season two and I’m excited about what we can do this year. Testing has gone well and the updates to the BMW seem to be working, so for the season as a whole, I’m certainly targeting wins and podiums, so let’s see if we can have a run at a title.”
Dick Bennetts, WSR Team Principal: “Thirty years and just over a week ago we made our BTCC debut at Donington Park and here we are, 18 championship titles and 137 race wins later, back at the same track to start a new season with two updated BMWs and the two most exciting young drivers on the grid. It’s been very good to top the times at both official pre-season tests, but we should remember that Brands Hatch and Croft have traditionally been circuits that have suited the BMW whereas Donington’s shorter layout has always favoured front-wheel-drive cars. It’s also difficult to know who has shown their full hand, but we know our BMWs have been improved over the winter in a number of areas. The new Qualifying Race format is great for fans, but an added challenge for teams, which is something our years of experience should help us navigate.”
