Mikey Doble enjoyed a fairytale start to the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season at Donington Park this past weekend (April 18-19) as he charged to a spectacular second career victory.
On what proved to be a dream debut for the all-new Audi S3 Saloon, the LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing driver delivered a wheel-perfect performance in the opening round to triumph in front of a capacity trackside crowd.
Leading the BTCC Drivers’ Championship for the first-ever time at one stage too, Doble also added two further battling drives to cap off a memorable outing in the UK’s premier motorsport series.
Entering the weekend having shown promising front-running pace throughout pre-season testing, Doble arrived at the opening meeting of the season with a quiet confidence; all of which was reinforced as he enjoyed a sublime Saturday at the Leicestershire venue.
Securing eighth on the grid for the BTCC’s first-ever Qualifying Race, Doble underlined his credentials as one of the series’ leading lights as he hustled his front-wheel-drive machine onto the fringes of the top three.
Producing a number of standout overtakes in the early stages of what turned out to be a frenetic 13-lap contest, the former Jack Sears Trophy winner battled his way up to fourth at the chequered flag - which is where he would then start the first of Sunday’s three races.
Opting to run the soft tyre for race one, the 27-year-old underlined his status as being one to watch this year as he produced a virtuoso performance live on ITV4.
Keeping out of trouble in the opening exchanges, the Surrey-based racer soon came alive as he firstly found a way past Charles Rainford for third before then dispatching Dan Rowbottom for second.
Doble would spend the remaining laps chipping away at the gap to race leader Tom Ingram however he would ultimately be unable to overturn the deficit, crossing the line in second place overall and as the lead Independents’ entry.
Shortly after the race it would be confirmed that Ingram had been disqualified from the result due to a technical issue, which therefore promoted Doble up to first to claim what was a hugely popular win.
Riding a wave of momentum from his earlier victory, the Audi ace endured a bruising second race as a lack of TOCA Turbo Boost and the less favourable medium tyre saw him tumble back to the 14th at the chequered flag.
Doble’s weekend then came to a close as he found himself getting caught up in a multi-car incident, all of which resulted in him having to take avoiding action across the grass and then a trip into the pit lane to scoop out the aforementioned grass in his radiator.
Mikey Doble, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing: “What an absolutely incredible way to start the season. Winning the first race of the year is perhaps one of the best to win as it is the race where everyone is at the exact same level in terms of boost, etc.
“Obviously my first win last year was very special but this is just as incredible given what the team have been through during the past year and that they’ve had to build three brand-new cars. To take a win straight out of the box is phenomenal.
“We knew we had really strong pace from the Qualifying Race and on the soft tyre, the car came alive. I had great pace and although we didn’t win on the road, I don’t think anybody could deny us that result. It’s a great reward for the whole team.
“The lack of boost and the medium tyre hampered us a little bit in race two and then we just found ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time in race three. We used that more as an extended test session to gather data.
“It’s been an incredible start to the season, not just for me but also for my team-mates Aiden [Moffat] and Dexter [Patterson], so hopefully we can go to Brands Hatch next month and maintain this strong start.”
The 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship continues in less than three weeks’ time at Brands Hatch (9/10 May).
