Charles Rainford scored WSR’s first victory of the 2026 BTCC season with a dominant drive on Sunday at Snetterton.
And with team-mate Daryl De Leon also claiming a deserved double podium finish, it was the most successful weekend of the year for the 18-time title-winning team and its pair of BMW 330i M Sport race cars.
Having won Saturday’s Qualifying Race, Charles, a podium finisher at the Donington Park season-opener, stated Race One from pole position and was unchallenged into the first corner.
He resisted opening-lap pressure and quickly created a decisive two-second advantage, which he preserved throughout the 12-lap race to record his first win of 2026 and the second of his career.
It was the ninth victory for WSR in the past eight years at Snetterton and also means that the team have now won BTCC races for 15 consecutive seasons; a remarkable run of success dating back to 2012.
For Charles, it followed on from his Saturday success on a day when he added eighth and fifth places in the remaining races as the Horsham ace amassed 52 points to make him the weekend’s top scorer and climb to third place in the Drivers’ title race.
Making it a double success in Race One was team-mate Daryl De Leon, who started sixth and drove masterfully to clinch third place on the penultimate lap; a position he retained to the chequered flag.
Anglo-Filipino Daryl finished tenth in Race Two, two spots behind Charles, and both were unfortunate to be disadvantaged in the grid draw for Race Three with only the top seven positions reversed for the finale. This meant they started eighth and tenth.
That was no deterrent to the Cambridge-based 20-year-old; Daryl producing another highly mature drive to once again finish third and to claim his first career podium double.
That result took the 2025 Jack Sears Trophy title winner’s weekend points total to 41 – his highest ever in the BTCC – and elevated him to sixth in the Drivers’ Championship and third in the Independents’ Trophy – only two points away from the series lead.
Charles Rainford, WSR, said: “It’s been a great day with a race win to add to yesterday’s Qualifying Race win, two Fastest Laps, top points scorer this weekend… all the things we absolutely love when they happen, plus I’m back up to third in the championship. It was really hot today, which definitely suited our BMW. The only negative is that we could have been a little bit higher in the last race, but overall, it’s been fabulous and it’s nice to be back towards the front, where we should be.”
Daryl De Leon, WSR, said: “DOUBLE PODIUM!!!!! What a great day. My first double podium in the BTCC. In Race Two I started third and finished tenth, but to do that on the medium tyre and with reduced boost was pretty good. In the last race I didn’t get any luck with the reversed-grid draw so started tenth, but I came through to third. It’s been a very good weekend, and we were much stronger today thanks to some excellent support from my engineer and the whole team at WSR. I can’t wait for Oulton Park in a couple of weeks’ time.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “It’s been an excellent weekend for WSR and I’m very happy with the overall performance. Charles and Daryl blended outright speed with a lot of maturity and the fact that they’ve both achieved their best-ever weekend points totals in the BTCC are a big indicator of that. The BMW has always been strong here, but the high track temperatures definitely helped the car to come into its ideal set-up window and the team’s done a very good job. To say we’ve now won races in 15 consecutive seasons is something that we can be very proud about.”
