TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA will head into Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship battle with a new rising star in its ranks this weekend – as talented teenager Finn Leslie joins the team for Oulton Park (21-22 June).

Following a successful stint in karting from the age of eight, Leslie has been rapidly climbing the national racing ladder – and making a name for himself along the way. After clinching the coveted ‘Kartmasters Grand Prix’ title in 2022, the Wakefield-born ace graduated to cars a year later in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship – turning heads by winning on his debut at Silverstone and going on to secure the Mk7 class crown.

Aged only 17, at Oulton Park this weekend, he will be the youngest driver in the high-calibre, 25-strong BTCC field.

He can take encouragement from the prior performance of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA’s British-built Corolla GR Sport, which in recent seasons has won twice around the undulating Cheshire circuit – home soil for Speedworks Motorsport, whose workshop is located just ten miles up the road in nearby Northwich.

Gordon Shedden, Árón Taylor-Smith and James Dorlin have all similarly shone at Oulton in the past. Three times a champion in the country’s premier motor racing series, the Scot counts six victories to his credit there – including the first of his illustrious career in 2016 – as well as nine further podiums.

Taylor-Smith – the BTCC’s reigning Independents’ Trophy winner – triumphed at the track in 2014 following a consummate lights-to-flag display, with Shedden close behind in second. The 35-year-old Irishman returned to the rostrum at Oulton 12 months ago, by dint of determinedly fending off former title-holder Tom Ingram in the weekend’s finale.

Dorlin, by contrast, will be making his maiden touring car appearance at the circuit, but the 26-year-old Yorkshireman – who has impressed over the course of his 12 starts in the championship to-date – enjoys a close affinity with Oulton. After claiming a dominant double pole position there in the Michelin Clio Cup Series in 2016 – which he converted into two equally dominant victories – he added another pair of poles and a third race win to his tally at the track in the Renault UK Clio Cup two years later.

The erstwhile McLaren Young Driver Programme member was also a podium-finisher at Oulton en route to lifting the British GT Championship’s GT3 Silver/Am Cup laurels in 2022, and like his three stablemates, he will benefit from maximum turbo boost in qualifying and race one this weekend – a significant advantage around a lap where overtaking opportunities are famously scarce.

Following Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session at 15:00 – available to watch on ITV Sport’s YouTube channel – every moment of Sunday’s doorhandle-to-doorhandle action will be shown live and in high-definition on ITV4 and ITVX from 11:35. The full race day schedule will additionally be streamed live around the globe on the BTCC YouTube channel, with the exception of the UK and North America, where there are existing broadcast agreements in-place.

Christian Dick, Team Principal, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said: “First and foremost, we are pleased to welcome Finn to the team this weekend. He initially came onto our radar when he was competing in the Fiesta Junior Championship; he was a step above the drivers he was racing against, and when he then moved up to senior-level competition in TCR and immediately finished on the podium, it was clear that he is a very promising young talent indeed and somebody to keep an eye on.

“We didn’t expect an opportunity to come around so quickly, but it has, and while we could have plumped for a more established and experienced driver, we wanted to give Finn a shot and this represents a superb chance for him to showcase his skills on a major stage. Having only had a very limited amount of running in the Corolla, he faces a tall order at Oulton, but everything we’ve seen so far suggests he is more than up to the task.

“Speaking more generally, it’s a huge weekend for us as a team. The local crowd is always right behind us, which generates a fantastic atmosphere and it’s not too far from Toyota’s Deeside engine plant either, so we get a lot of support from the guys and girls at the factory as well.

“We know we’ve still got work to do, but having got ourselves into a position now where we are racing inside the top ten, I’d like to think we can take a similar step forward to the one we took two weeks ago at Thruxton and push for even stronger results still.”

Gordon Shedden, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said: “Oulton Park is a great track, with lots of undulations and barriers that are never far away, which makes it a very exciting and rewarding challenge from a driving point-of-view. There’s certainly plenty of variety to the lap, from slow-speed, tight-and-twisty sections to heavy-braking zones and some faster sweeping stuff for good measure. While you clearly need decent grunt for the long drag up Clay Hill towards Druids, it’s also quite a chassis-dependent circuit, and establishing a good balance in the car is vital.

“Qualifying will be super-important given the difficulty of overtaking there, and some changeable weather like we had at Thruxton might not be the worst thing in the world as that tends to mix things up a bit. Historically, Oulton has generated very close racing, so let’s see what happens this weekend...”

Árón Taylor-Smith, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said: “I’ve always enjoyed Oulton – it’s just so cool! It’s nestled in the trees and it’s a real drivers’ circuit – up-and-down with blind corners, and I love that the barriers are so close, which truly accentuates the feeling of speed. It’s a track that I gel with and I think with the undulations and hills, the turbo boost will make a big difference, so maximising its benefit will be key to putting us in with a real chance.

“Coming off the back of a sixth-place finish at Thruxton, it genuinely feels like we’ve got a bit of wind in our sails now and that the tide has finally turned. We’re in a place where the car is exactly where I want it to be, and I’m excited to go to Oulton because it’s a chassis circuit so I can really wring the Corolla’s neck round there. Everybody has worked their absolute tails off over the past few months, and I’m desperate to give them the kind of results they all deserve!”

James Dorlin, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said: “I love Oulton Park. Like Thruxton, it’s a proper drivers’ circuit, with the major difference being that there’s not a lot of run-off! I’ve not been there for a while, but I’ve always achieved decent results at the track in the past and being fairly tight-and-twisty and not quite so power-dependent, it should be good for us.

“Every circuit obviously has its own unique characteristics, and we go there aiming to put all of our learnings so far into practice to maintain our recent progress and hopefully come away with some more top ten finishes – if not a little bit better. Thruxton finally delivered the kind of results we’ve been waiting for following a frustrating start to the season, and now my sights are set on battling even further up the field!”

Finn Leslie, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said: “Firstly, it’s a pleasure and an honour for me to join a team that has achieved so much success in the BTCC as Speedworks and with the support of such a major manufacturer as Toyota. When you add in the experience of my team-mates at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, I really couldn’t ask for a better place to be making my debut in the series. Oulton Park is also somewhere I like racing and where I have always gone well.

“Growing up watching it on TV, it’s been a lifelong dream of mine to compete in this championship – it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since the beginning of my career – so to be able to say I’ll be on the grid this weekend is an incredible opportunity and honestly means the world to me. It’s a dream come true.”

Ronan Pearson will stand down from the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA driver line-up for the forthcoming Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race weekend at Oulton Park (21-22 June).

Pearson joined the team this year in the country’s premier motor racing series, and thus far in 2025, the young Scot has achieved seven points finishes, while reaching the ‘Quick Six’ in qualifying on his debut behind the wheel of the British-built Toyota Corolla GR Sport at Donington Park.

Unexpected commercial challenges, however, mean the 23-year-old Fife native will unfortunately forgo the fifth outing of the campaign at Oulton Park – home soil for the Speedworks Motorsport-run outfit, whose workshop is located just up the road from the popular Cheshire circuit in nearby Northwich. 

Pearson’s substitute for the weekend alongside three-time BTCC champion Gordon Shedden, reigning Independents’ Trophy winner Árón Taylor-Smith and rapid rookie James Dorlin will be confirmed tomorrow (19 June).

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK will go into the event aiming to build upon its best display of the season to-date last time out at Thruxton, which yielded a double top ten qualifying performance and a quartet of top ten finishes.

Christian Dick, Team Principal, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said:

“We are very sorry that Ronan will not be racing with us this weekend – all the more so given it is the event we look forward to the most, with Oulton Park being our home track. Ronan has been a key member of the team since joining us back at the beginning of the year, and has demonstrated his speed and skill in the Corolla on numerous occasions.

“Sadly, in this day and age, commercial considerations often speak loudest and while both sides have explored every feasible option, we ultimately had to accept that it will be impossible for Ronan to be in the car at Oulton.”

The 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship heads to Cheshire this weekend (21/22 June) to race one final time before the mid-season break at Oulton Park. Here’s all the information you need to know to keep up with the action on TV and online for the fifth event of the year, wherever you are in the world…

This weekend’s race day action will feature on the home of the BTCC in the UK, ITV4, from 1135 on Sunday (22 June) while the ITV YouTube Channel will host qualifying on Saturday (21 June) from 1500.

TOCA – organisers of the BTCC – also announced that each race day of the 2025 season – including all support series’ races – will be streamed LIVE around the globe on the BTCC YouTube channel, with the exception of the UK and North America which have existing broadcast arrangements.

Furthermore, the BTCC will be aired LIVE in North America (US and Canada) for the first time ever thanks to a new multi-year agreement with the RACER Network, streaming live and on demand as part of a long-term agreement with the championship.

All 30 races are scheduled to air on the main RACER channel, whilst support series’ and extended BTCC highlights will be available to watch via the RACER+ App, the network’s premium motorsports streaming platform. Race 1 will begin at 07:20 Eastern Time (ET) with Race 2 following at 09:40 ET and Race 3 closing out the day’s racing at 12:05 ET.

Click here for the full TV guide for Oulton Park.

One Motorsport will continue their push for silverware in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship this weekend (June 21-22) as the 2025 season reaches the halfway marker at Oulton Park.

The Honda Civic Type R squad heads to the Cheshire venue in a buoyant mood after Josh Cook and Stephen Jelley each produced a battling display last time out at Thruxton - all of which resulted in Cook snaring a second podium of the year and two Independent race wins.

Now poised to take on the undulating challenge that Oulton Park’s 2.226-mile Island layout presents, the Brackley-based outfit are hungry to speed into the series’ annual summer break with even more results to celebrate.

Having been a winner at the circuit last year, Cook will undoubtedly be one to watch over the course of the coming weekend as he looks to continue his rise in the Drivers’ Championship standings.

The 34-year-old bounced back from a high-speed crash in treacherous conditions at Thruxton when qualifying to produce 27 overtakes on race day, which in-turn allowed him to scoop three trophies.

Cook’s charge was helped by the inspiring effort and dedication by the team to repair his car overnight and since then additional developments have been carried out ahead of this weekend, leaving Cook relishing at what could be achieved this time out.

On the other side of the garage, Jelley left Thruxton with renewed optimism as he made progress with his front-wheel-drive machine - where he narrowly missed out on the points-scoring positions in all three races.

Keen to get back inside the points and fighting towards the top ten, the Leicestershire racer will take confidence from the fact that Oulton Park has been a happy hunting ground for him in the past - with two of his four career wins coming at the picturesque circuit.

Qualifying at Oulton Park will be broadcast on the ITV Sport YouTube channel on Saturday from 15:00 before all three races are aired LIVE on ITV4 and ITVX on Sunday. Race one is scheduled to begin at 12:20 ahead of race two at 14:40 and race three at 17:05.

Stephen Jelley, #12 One Motorsport driver, said: "I think if you ask most drivers on the grid where Oulton Park ranks on the calendar I imagine most will place it very high. It’s a really technical circuit that doesn’t provide much respite, meaning each and every lap is busy behind the wheel. My last two BTCC wins have come at the circuit so I’m going there with fond memories and feeling positive that we can put three strong results on the board. At Thruxton we made some good progress with the car and I'm hopeful we can make another step forward ahead of the summer break. It goes without saying that if we can qualify a bit higher up then that'll make the world of difference to how our race day could pan out, so that's the aim."

Josh Cook, #66 One Motorsport driver, said: "Oulton Park is a circuit I’ve always enjoyed racing at and it has a bit of everything; it’s quite old school, technical and undulating. We’ve seen in the past that the racing is always super close around there so qualifying up towards the front on Saturday will be as important as ever this weekend. As a team we’re chipping away to extract the maximum from the car all the time and so far it’s been great to reward everyone’s hard work with a few trophies. Going into the weekend I think we should have a good race car to battle for those top positions so I’ll be going all-out for more podiums and importantly that first win of the season!"

NAPA Racing UK enjoyed a fine weekend on track at the fastest circuit on the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship calendar, with two wins from three at Thruxton. The Hampshire venue also saw the NAPA Racing-Alliance Racing team celebrate the milestone of 100 BTCC starts together.  

Qualifying itself would be a massive challenge as torrential rain that had been forecast arrived just before the session got underway.

Although Sam Osborne dropped out in Q1 to qualify in 21st place, Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom all made it through the first part of the session unscathed, although Rowbottom was then knocked out in Q2 to leave him tenth on the grid for the opening race.

Sutton then stormed to an impressive pole position in the Quick Six shootout to put himself at the front of the field for Sunday’s opening race, with Cammish only missing out on making it a front-row lock-out by 0.020s.

Conditions couldn’t have been any different for race day, with Sutton leading the field away at the start before an early caution period, unfortunately caused by Max Hall’s spinning Cupra, collecting Osborne.

After the restart, Sutton went wheel-to-wheel with title rival Tom Ingram trying to take the lead before contact between the pair at the final chicane meant they would both shortcut, with Ingram managing to get ahead into the lead. Sutton kept him honest, with Cammish following behind, until a loss of power mid-way through the race saw him slip back down to fourth spot.

Instead, it was Cammish who emerged as the best of the NAPA Racing drivers in second spot, with Rowbottom putting on a strong showing as he climbed his way through to finish in fifth.

Race two would be decided at the start, and in favour of Sutton as he rocketed away from the line to jump from fourth to first within half a lap of the lights going out. Once at the front, he quickly used a lap of turbo boost to break away from the chasing pack as he scored a third win of the campaign.

A difficult opening lap for Cammish had seen him shuffled back down to seventh, with Rowbottom amongst those drivers to have got ahead of the #27 car on the first tour. Battling throughout with Jake Hill, Rowbottom would come out on top of that fight to snare fourth spot, with a recovering Cammish also getting ahead of the BMW late on to take fifth.

Both would then gain an additional place after the race when Josh Cook was excluded for a technical infringement, giving Rowbo and Cammish a double podium for NAPA Racing UK.

It was a tricky race for Osborne, with contact seeing him off the road and into pits to remove debris from his radiator, which saw him finish a lap down in 20th spot

With the top six on the grid reversed for race three, hopes were high of another strong result to finish the weekend, and so it proved with Rowbottom fighting his way to a second win of the campaign.

From fifth on the grid, he enjoyed a strong opening lap to climb into second spot before overhauling Hill on lap two and was never headed despite a safety car period backing up the field at the half-way stage.

Cammish would also make forward progress and cleared Hill after the restart to sit in second spot before losing out to Ingram late on when the Hyundai driver was able to benefit from having additional boost in reserve, with Cammish having to settle for the final step of the podium.

Sutton had also been firmly in contention for the podium places before contact with Hill’s BMW 330i M Sport at Noble resulted in a high-speed spin across the grass. The #116 collected his Focus and managed to recover through to fifth at the finish. Osborne was finally able to score the kind of result his pace deserved as he worked his way from the back of the pack to finish in eleventh.

Kwik Fit, the UK’s leading car servicing and repair company and title sponsor of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), hosted a day of educational events with an exciting motorsport twist for all age groups at Thruxton Circuit last Friday (6 June).

50 children aged 10-to-11-years old from local primary schools attended the ‘Kids in Motorsport’ day which aims to showcase the potential future career avenues within the motorsport industry.

The day began with four engaging workshops designed with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in mind. These included a media workshop with motorsport presenter Isi Browning; CPR and first aid with the TOCA Medical Team; a racing simulator experience with Pure Sims and an interactive overview of race car engineering with Driven By Us.

Paddock tours were next on the agenda with a behind-the-scenes look at teams and suppliers in the British Touring Car Championship. This included a tour of reigning BTCC Champion, Jake Hill’s race car and team area. After this, the children were treated to a lesson about race tyres courtesy of Goodyear, the exclusive race tyre supplier for the championship.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the race paddock, five lucky Kwik Fit apprentices got to put their training to the test with a host of hands-on activities within the Goodyear race tyre facility, designed to complement and develop skills they have learnt in their apprenticeship.

Kwik Fit’s apprenticeship programme is highly regarded in the automotive industry. Over 4,000 people have started their careers as a Kwik Fit apprentice, with many progressing to a wide range of senior roles, both within Kwik Fit and other organisations in the sector.

The Kwik Fit apprentices had hands on experience with some BTCC race teams, NAPA Racing UK, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA – as well as Goodyear - where they were able to get involved in race car preparation, pit stop tyre changes, race tyre fitting and engineering comparisons between race and road cars. They also received insights as to how the BTCC is run, with highlights from TOCA Medical, TOCA Technical – all ending with some fun on the BTCC racing simulators.

Once again, Kwik Fit has chosen as its charity partner Air Ambulances UK which supports vital rescue services all over the country. Both the children and apprentices spent time with the Air Ambulance volunteers at Thruxton circuit to learn more about their critical work and have a go on their helicopter simulator.

This is the third consecutive year of Kwik Fit hosting educational events at BTCC race weekends with hundreds of children and young adults benefiting from these unique motorsport workshops.

Michael Butler, Goodyear BTCC Event Leader, said: “I really enjoy being involved in the Kwik Fit educational events, as I feel like I’m giving something back. I explain what we do, what we bring to the track, our experience and we try to engage the apprentices and the children as much as possible through asking questions since this is a truly unique experience.

Hopefully, some of these young people will consider a career in motorsport in the future, as the industry is in need of the next generation of mechanics, engineers and tyre specialists.”

Tom Gentle, Head of Retail Marketing at Kwik Fit, added: “We are delighted to have run these educational events across the BTCC Thruxton race weekend, which provides a reflection of future career paths within the automotive and motorsport industries. With both the kids and apprentice events being tailored to maximise engagement and learning, we hope we have inspired the next generation in both the schools and our centres. This is another brilliant example of how mutually beneficial our partnership is with the BTCC.”

Restart Racing returned to action at Thruxton for the fourth event of the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship. Known for being the UK’s fastest circuit and its high-speed layout, Thruxton always rewards commitment which both Daniel Lloyd and Chris Smiley provided plenty in their Hyundai i 30 Ns.

The team arrived in Hampshire leading the Independent Teams’ Championship and just two points off the lead in the Independent Drivers’ standings.But qualifying delivered a curveball, as a British summer storm soaked the circuit moments before the session. With no previous wet running in the 2025-spec cars, both drivers struggled in the conditions and were left disappointed with Lloyd qualifying 15th and Smiley 17th.

Race one saw both drivers avoid an early incident, one that eliminated several cars and brought out an early safety car. Smiley moved forward consistently throughout the race, making a number of strong overtakes to end the opening bout 12th on the road.

Lloyd also battled his way back from a tough start to climb into the points by the flag. Post-race penalties promoted both drivers up a place, securing a 11th and 13th place finish, whilst pushing both onto the Independents’ podium, behind the fast charging Josh Cook. 

The second race of the day followed a similar theme. After a cautious opening lap, both drivers picked off places steadily through the field. Smiley ran well on the fringes of the top ten while Lloyd gained ground with some clean and well-timed passes.

At the chequered flag, the #22 finished 10th and #123 12th, but more post-race disqualifications elevated the pair to eighth and 10th overall. The disqualification for Cook also meant that Smiley claimed his fourth Independent win of the season, and the team celebrated their third one–two Independent finish of the campaign.

Despite narrowly missing out on the partially reverse-grid race draw, race three promised more of the same. Lloyd made a lightning start from the fifth row and charged into the top eight with Smiley finding himself in a scrap with a pair of BMW 330i M Sports, coming out on top and quickly moved forward back into the top 10 to join Lloyd.

The pair ran line astern in seventh and eighth before a safety car bunched the field. On the restart, they capitalised on to competitiveness ahead, with Jake Hill and Ash Sutton colliding at Noble and both Restart Racing drivers avoiding the spinning cars to move into fifth and sixth.

As the race entered its final stages, Sutton began a recovery drive and passed both cars, with Smiley settling for sixth on the road and Lloyd in seventh. With plenty of penalties dished out over the course of the weekend, it would next be the latter who would incur a post-race penalty. A five-second time penalty for being outside of his grid box at the start of the race relegated him to 10th.

Initially, it looked like another strong result with another Independent win for Smiley until post-race scrutineering revealed the car to be underweight. The #22 was disqualified from the final result, promoting Lloyd to ninth, but the team lost their seventh Independent win of the year.

Chris Smiley, #22, Restart Racing said: “Overall, a pretty steady day. In race one, we came from 17th to 11th, moved forward and scored some solid points for the Independents’ Championship. Race two, we moved forward again and finished eighth, winning the Independents’, which was really good for that championship fight.

"In race three, we gained a few more places to finish sixth overall. We also won the Independents’ class on the road, but unfortunately, the car was found to be slightly underweight after the race.

"It’s a really frustrating way to end the day, especially when we were on course for strong points and making good progress in the championship. But the boys have worked their socks off all weekend. They’ve put in a huge effort, and it was just an honest mistake.

"I’m absolutely gutted, but we’ll reset and head to Oulton Park, a track I really like, and I’m confident we can be right back in the fight in a few weeks’ time. That’s racing sometimes.”

Daniel Lloyd, #123, Restart Racing said: “Tough race day, to be honest. We were definitely lacking a bit of pace at the start, and we made a lot of changes to the car throughout the day to try and improve it, which we did, especially by race three.

"Overall, some good points scored, even if it wasn’t quite where we wanted to be. Race three was a big step forward in terms of performance. Unfortunately, I was just over the line in my grid box again, which I’m really kicking myself about because I got a mega start and got up to sixth early on.

"I let Chris through and brought the car home the best I could, and we ended up 10th. Not a disaster by any means, but I’m frustrated because I think we had a real shot at a much stronger result in that last race.

"Still, we’ve learned a lot, and we know we’ll be stronger at Oulton Park. We’re in a good place in the points for the teams’ championship, so we’ll take the positives and move on.”

Restart Racing joins the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship once again in just over one weeks time at Oulton Park, June 21–22.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA came away buoyed by its performance in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton last weekend (7-8 June), after battling up at the sharp end come rain and shine around the fastest circuit in the country.
 
Mastering the most challenging conditions of the season so far, BTCC rookie James Dorlin turned heads as he advanced through both Part 1 and Part 2 to book a berth in the ‘Quick Six’ shootout for the first time in the UK’s premier motorsport series. He proceeded to secure a fine fifth on the grid behind the wheel of his British-built, Speedworks Motorsport-prepared Toyota Corolla GR Sport – with Gordon Shedden in close company in ninth.
 
Under sunny skies the next day – and in front of the live ITV4 television cameras and a huge trackside crowd – Dorlin continued to hold his own in race one. Confidently taking the fight to his more experienced rivals, the 26-year-old Yorkshireman finished less than three seconds adrift of the podium in seventh as he hassled defending champion Jake Hill right to the chequered flag.
 
Dorlin replicated that result following a similarly feisty showing in race two, earning him pole position for the partially reversed-grid finale. Despite having to give best to Hill’s fast-starting rear wheel-drive BMW at lights-out, the series rookie was once again running solidly inside the leading pack when a high-pressure fuel pump failure sidelined him on only lap four.
 
While understandably disappointing, that sad ending did not take the shine off an otherwise excellent weekend, and team-mate Árón Taylor-Smith was another of the Toyota quartet to shine. After being relegated to the back row of the grid due to his car failing post-qualifying ride-height checks – the legacy of splitter damage caused by a snapped tension cable – the 35-year-old Irishman scythed through to 12^th in the curtain-raising contest.
 
He continued to climb the order in race two and was on-course to finish seventh – just ahead of Dorlin –  until he picked up a last lap puncture, but undeterred, from 17^th on the grid for race three, Taylor-Smith produced another crowd-pleasing charge to wind up a stellar sixth.
 
The reigning Independents’ Trophy winner was joined in the top ten in the final contest by Shedden, as the series returnee grittily salvaged a clutch of points after encountering misfortune in races one and two. In the first of them, the three-time BTCC title-holder initially rose to seventh before being spun, pitching his Corolla off the circuit; in the second, he was seen off-track, this time in avoidance of somebody else’s accident at Church, the quickest corner in the country...
 
Fellow Scot Pearson, meanwhile, struggled in qualifying, leaving him a frustrated 22^nd on the grid for the opener, from where he worked his way up to 16^th – just one spot shy of a points-paying finish – prior to improving further to 14^th in race two. The 23-year-old Fife native had hauled himself onto the fringes of the top ten in the finale when contact sent his bonnet skywards, prompting an early bath.
 
Gordon Shedden, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said: “Ultimately, Thruxton was another disappointing weekend, as not for the first time this season, we were denied a shot at better results through no fault of our own. The weather was pretty horrendous in qualifying, but ninth was a solid outcome – and we actually had the potential to be a little bit further forward still, I would say.
 
“I got a good start in race one to make up a couple of places and we were running well, until Senna Proctor got all excited and took me out at Goodwood. It was lucky we didn’t sustain more damage than we did, but irrespective of that, it destroyed our weekend yet again, which was massively frustrating.
 
“Then in race two, I had to go off to avoid another car spinning right in front of me, and the BTCC is so competitive these days that it’s a tough ask to come through the field from the back, but we stayed out of trouble in a busy race three and that at least earned us a top ten finish and a handful of points.”
 
Árón Taylor-Smith, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said: “At last, everything is starting to click! The failure in qualifying was tough to take after showing promise in free practice, but the three races were great. We picked our way through the pack to make up 11 places in the first one, in race two we were on for a really strong result until we got the puncture on the final lap and then in race three we achieved our best result of the season so far. We never gave up and kept on fighting despite the setbacks along the way.
 
“In the same vein, everyone at Speedworks has been working tirelessly to improve the car, and we made significant changes to the set-up of my Corolla for the weekend that yielded a huge step in the right direction. Thruxton was the first time all year that it felt like it was properly my car, enabling me to disengage my brain and simply focus on maximising performance, which is a real breakthrough.
 
“I’ve had similar ‘eureka’ moments at other teams in the past, and good things have always followed. Thruxton was the most successful and positive weekend we’ve had all year, and I’m really proud of everybody involved. I feel like the tide has turned now and the car is in the window where I need it, meaning we can truly kick on from here. This is just the beginning...”
 
Ronan Pearson, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said: “We honestly seem to have no luck whatsoever! Saturday was a very difficult day; we struggled with the set-up – I didn’t have the same good feeling in the car that I had at Snetterton, which made things difficult – and then an ill-timed red flag in Q1 when I was on a quicker lap didn’t help either, as we would have been on the cusp of making it through to Q2 at the very least.
 
“We gradually found our feet on Sunday; we made up a few places in race one, and while race two was a bit of a slog, the balance of the Corolla was mega towards the end and it felt better still in race three, which was reflected in our pace. I was able to pull off some fantastic overtakes to get into the top ten, the car was in a really good window and I was confident of continuing to move forward until the contact happened, which was totally needless and frankly disappointing at this level.
 
“So overall, it was another weekend of ‘what could have been’, but looking at the bigger picture, it seemed more positive for the team as a whole, which is obviously encouraging. Thank you as ever to my car crew for all of their efforts; they put in so much work and really deserve to be rewarded for that at some point, but nothing goes unnoticed and I truly appreciate everything they do.”
 
James Dorlin, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA, said: “Finally, a bit of luck went our way – although the changeable weather in free practice and having to take the engine out after FP2 because of a crack in the exhaust manifold obviously didn’t make for the most ideal start to my ‘Thruxton in a touring car’ adventure!
 
“We didn’t even know if we’d be out in time for qualifying, but the Speedworks guys did a mega job under huge pressure to get my Corolla ready with only five minutes to spare and I was delighted that I could repay them. The conditions were horrible – even on the straights, the car was aquaplaning everywhere – but what the rain also did was level the playing field a bit and I was over-the-moon to end up fifth.
 
“Having not got much dry running during practice to know what we were doing in terms of set-up, it was a bit of a guessing game in race one and we struggled with understeer and turn-in at the front, but we developed the car throughout the day to the point where it was at its best in race three, and I genuinely think a top four finish was on the cards until we were forced to retire.
 
“I was gutted not to be able to capitalise upon my first BTCC pole, but it was still a fantastic weekend overall – the best so far. That’s credit to everybody’s hard work and shows we’re on the right track with what we’re doing. I think people thought we might drop back from where we were in qualifying, but we didn’t – we stayed up there and showed our true potential. The results in the first few events didn’t reflect what we’re capable of, but this is where we should be and where we deserve to be. Now let’s keep the momentum going!”