Chris Smiley and Scott Sumpton's #222 and #29 Cupra Leon’s embraced Restart Racing’s debut season with open arms. As with all new entries an element of learning was expected, but with direction from BTCC race-winner Smiley, the team enjoyed plenty of points finishes en route to finish second in the Independent Teams’ Championship.

Donington Park

The #222 advanced through to Part 2 of qualifying in the teams’ very first session, leaving an air of optimism heading into the first race day of the 2024 season. The mood would only improve on Sunday as that Saturday performance translated into points instantly.

In what was a weather-delayed opening bout, Smiley’s Cupra Leon would come home in 15th to earn the team its first-ever BTCC point. The opening bout would see him finish in front of two NAPA Racing UK Fords, the eventual winners of the Teams’ Championship to add to the celebration.

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Croft

It was 18 rounds before Restart racing would first taste victory in the Independent’s category. Championship leaders Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing had won the previous 17 races before the newest two-car entry ended the streak at the North Yorkshire-based circuit.

Despite starting on the final row of the grid, the #222 would gain eight positions in an action-packed race to bring home the first-place trophy. The first event after the summer break saw this result kick off a nine-race run of points-scoring finishes for the Essex-based team.

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Knockhill

Heading north of the border it was Sumpton’s turn to fly the Restart Racing flag as the rookie doubled the teams’ win tally in the Independent category. The result would be the #29 cars joint-best overall result of the year in 11th place, resulting in a quarter of all points scored across the 2024 season.

Similar to Smiley’s victory, Sumpton started the bout on the final row working the Cupra Leon’s way forward to take top spot at the Dunfermline-based circuit.

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Silverstone

Continuing the steep upward trend that the team set for themselves in the second half of the season, the results would get better and better all the way until the penultimate event of the year. Smiley would take the team’s best result with a sixth-place finish in the heavily weather-affected day.

The result was the best for any Cupra Leon across the season let alone for the team themselves. As has been the trend in 2024 for the #222, the result was based on an overtaking frenzy as Smiley started the race from 13th on the grid.

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Experienced racer Adam Morgan has today (10 December) been confirmed as the third member of the Team VERTU line-up for the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

The 36-year-old from Lancashire joins Tom Ingram and Tom Chilton as part of the driving talent for the EXCELR8-run team, which will once again run the potent Hyundai i30 Fastback N for the season ahead.

Morgan brings a wealth of experience in the BTCC, having made his series debut back in 2012, earning his place on the grid as a prize for winning the Ginetta GT Supercup title a year earlier.

After a character-building debut campaign, Adam showed his potential in his second year on the grid, with his own family-run team taking over the running of his Toyota Avensis.

Securing his maiden podium finish on home soil at Oulton Park, Morgan finished seventh in the standings before a hugely successful seven-year stint at the wheel of a Mercedes A-Class – where he scored eight of his eleven BTCC wins, and 30 of his 42 podium finishes.

Adam returns to front-wheel drive in the Hyundai after four years in BMW machinery, the last two of which have seen him running as part of the works entry into Britain’s premier motorsport championship.

This signing is a further statement of intent from Team VERTU as it bids to reclaim the title it won back in 2022, with the three drivers now confirmed bringing huge experience to the Droitwich-based outfit.

Combined, Adam, Tom and Tom have amassed more than 1,200 starts in the series, sharing 60 race wins and 199 podium finishes – providing levels of experience that the team hasn’t previously been able to call upon since joining the BTCC grid for the first time back in 2019.

Whilst the team has already been able to complete four days of productive running at Anglesey with the Hyundai, Adam’s first opportunity to get behind the wheel of the car will come when pre-season testing resumes in the New Year.

The 2025 season will then kick off at Donington Park on the final weekend of April.

Adam Morgan, Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said: “I’ve always felt that before I finished my time in the BTCC, I wanted to get back into a front-wheel drive car, as most of my success in the series came when I was in front-wheel drive with the Mercedes.

“To be able to do that with Team VERTU and the Hyundai is hugely exciting for me as a driver because I’m joining a championship winning team that has arguably the best front-wheel drive car on the grid, and have two fantastic team-mates alongside me in Tom and Tom.

“All of the ingredients are there for me to be able to come in and be competitive from the start. It’s not a case of going into a new team that is working to develop a package, as everyone can see how strong both the team and the car are.

“The main thing for me in 2025 is that I want to go out there to fight for race wins and battle at the front. I am not here to make up the numbers, but at the same time I also want to have fun and enjoy my racing, and I see no reason why that won’t be the case.”

Justina Williams, Team VERTU Team Owner, said: “It goes without saying that we are absolutely delighted to be able to welcome Adam into the Team VERTU line-up for the 2025 season. This is a deal that I’m sure will catch some people by surprise, but when we saw the opportunity was there to bring him into our line-up, it was one we had to take.

“Adam’s record through the years is very impressive and putting him alongside Tom Ingram and Tom Chilton means we have three drivers in place who we know are capable of winning races and fighting right at the front of the grid in what promises to be another hugely competitive season.

“We’re certainly in a very strong position and with talks ongoing for the final seat, we are ready to come out fighting in 2025 to reclaim that title!”

West Surrey Racing welcome rising star Daryl DeLeon to the team for the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

Aged 19, DeLeon will become the 18-time championship-winning team’s youngest BTCC driver since Tom Onslow-Cole made his series debut in 2007.

Following an impressive maiden BTCC season, the Anglo-Filipino racer will race a BMW 330i M Sport with the team who won both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers/Constructors' titles this year.

After winning multiple karting titles and taking race wins in the British Championship, DeLeon stepped up to car racing shortly after turning 16 in 2021.

The Drogheda-born driver excelled in the Radical SR1 Cup, taking his first victory in his debut season plus a podium in the Radical Intercontinental Cup against the cream of European competition in the category.

Further Radical wins followed in 2023, as did the overall British Endurance Championship title aboard a GT car. The 19-year old graduated to the BTCC midway through the year; a pre-cursor to fourth place in the Independents’ Trophy with 11 podium finishes in 2024 and third in the Jack Sears Trophy with 12 rostrum results.

DeLeon will test the BMW for the first time in the New Year as he gears up for the 2025 season, which begins at Donington Park, on April 26-27.

Daryl DeLeon said: “It’s a dream come true to join WSR and to be with the best team in the BTCC after only one full season in touring cars. I still can’t quite believe it. I’m excited to return to a rear-wheel drive car as that’s been my background pre-BTCC and the BMW is clearly a mega machine as it proved by winning the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships in 2024. The first aim will be to score a podium finish and I’ll also be trying to win the Jack Sears Trophy across the season. I think both are realistic targets and I’ll be working hard with the team to raise my performance level to where it needs to be for a team like WSR.”

Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “We’re very pleased to welcome Daryl to WSR for the 2025 season. He’s impressed us with what he’s achieved across the year and has a lot of the raw potential and determination that we’ve seen in a number of young drivers that have gone on to achieve great things in our cars and beyond. Given his background racing rear-wheel drive cars he should have little trouble getting used to our race-winning BMW. We look forward to helping him develop and move towards the front of the grid.”

The latest two-car entry into the BTCC certainly met expectations and then some in the teams' debut season in the UK's premier motorsport series. Driving the Cupra Leon, Restart Racing would arrive with returning BTCC driver Chris Smiley and newcomer Scott Sumpton behind the wheel.

This season, the Essex-based team went on to battle it out with eventual Independent Teams', Drivers', and Jack Sears Trophy (JST) Champions Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing (PMR) on many occasions, collecting 31 podiums across all categories in the 30-race season.

Donington Park was the scene of the first event of the year, to which Restart Racing impressed immediately after Smiley, in the #222 Cupra, would advance into Part 2 of qualifying. The one-time BTCC race winner would leave the Leicestershire-based circuit with two points-scoring finishes.

It would be at the first event after the mid-season break where the first victory for the BTCC's newest two-car entry would come. After 17 straight victories in all Independent categories for PMR from the very first round, the #222 would break that streak at Croft to kickstart the second half of their season.

After tasting victory at the North Yorkshire circuit, Restart Racing would go on to walk away from the season having a victory at three of the last five events. The second of those came up one event later at Knockhill but this time in the hands of the #29, Sumpton, tying his best result of the campaign.

The final of the three triumphs would come at Silverstone in what was a heavily rain-affected day. The result would be Smiley's best result of the campaign in sixth with his first double-digit points haul of the season. In the 30-race season, this race alone would make up 10 of his 70 points accumulated throughout 2024.

After a season in which the latest two-car entry made its mark on the BTCC, the Essex-based team already looks ahead to 2025 after two postseason announcements…

The first is a partnership with EXCELR8 Motorsport which will see the outfit run Hyundai i30Ns next season, a car that finished second in both drivers' and teams' championships in 2024. The second announcement was the re-signing of Chris Smiley, a previous driver of the same car model in previous years in the championship. There will be more eyes on Restart Racing in its sophomore year in what could be one of the stories of the season in 2025.

Rob Huff and Andrew Watson both joined TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK for their first year in the Toyota Corolla GR Sport. Huff, a World Touring Car Champion and race winner in the BTCC, added multiple wins to his resume with some stellar performances on his return, whilst Watson would also improve after his Jack Sears Trophy winning season, as he took a season-best finish of fifth and impressively scored points in 25 of the 30 contests. Take a look through the highlights of the team’s season:

Donington Park

After starting race day last due to not competing in qualifying, Huff would battle his way forward before finding himself on pole for the final race of the opening event.

The #12 would go on to show fantastic racecraft against eventual winner, Aiden Moffat, as well as previous and current champions Jake Hill, Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram and Colin Turkington. The eventual result was a sixth-place finish, as the #12 put on a show in his first full-time race weekend return to the BTCC.

Snetterton

Without a shadow of a doubt Toyota-driven teams' best event of the season. Not only did the final bout of the day produce Huff's first victory in the series for 20 years, but also Watson's highest finish of the season.

For Round 9 of the 2024 campaign, not many would have thought that 14th-starting Huff would be the eventual race winner. After what had been a dry-wet-dry-wet-dry day, the #12 took the gamble to start on dry tyres on what was a, at the time, wet circuit. Throughout the drying race Huff would pull off move after move before taking his victory at the scene of his last in 2004.

Croft

Rob Huff put on yet another scintillating show in the second bout of the day in North-Yorkshire to stand on the second step of the podium. After starting the race in seventh, the Cambridge-born driver ascended the order in fast fashion, finding himself in fifth after the opening lap.

It all could have been taken away after fighting with four-time champions Ash Sutton and Colin Turkington, which saw the combined eight championships come together, with the latter on the grass and unable to slow finding himself millimetres from collecting Huff's Toyota Corolla GR Sport.

The seventh-place starter then found his Corolla duelling with Josh Cook. The Toyota duo found themselves in one of the battles of the season with an incredible side-by-side move for the lead heading through the esses.

Knockhill

After what had proved to be a difficult weekend up to that point, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK team founds its form in the final race north of the border. Huff led the bout from lights-to-flag, but that doesn’t tell the full story of yet another hard earned triumph.

Ingram would find himself passing Árón Taylor-Smith on the opening lap to go on to a constant attack of the #12. Despite the obvious speed differential on the day, Huff defended in fine style as the 2022 Champion could not find a way through. After the defensive masterclass, Huff would double the 2023 wins total and equal the team’s number of podiums from the previous year, and all that with one less car out on track.

Árón Taylor-Smith is feeling ‘incredibly excited’ as the new Independent Champion’s plans for the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship begin to take shape.

The Dubliner has enjoyed something of a career renaissance since joining the Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing setup at the beginning of 2023.

Having put down strong foundations during his first season with both the team and the Vauxhall Astra, the 35-year-old reaped the rewards in 2024, claiming a dominant 20 Independent victories en route to the title, plus a brace of outright podium finishes.

The four-time BTCC race winner also proved to be consistent, as much as quick, and finished the campaign as the only driver on the grid to score points in each of the 30 races across the season. 

“Stability has certainly been key,” explains Taylor-Smith, “And when you look up and down the grid, most of the main contenders have that familiarity with the team, the car, and work with the same faces year-on-year to extract the maximum from the package.

“I’ve definitely felt the benefit of that, of being the focal point of a team and really being able to not only drive forward the development on the car, but also make sure we’re going in a direction that plays to my strengths as a driver.”

Having endured a three-year hiatus from the BTCC after a silverware-laden start to his career, Taylor-Smith’s path back to the front has been a long and steady one.

“You think the grass is greener, but it really isn’t,” he admits, “This championship has the absolute crème de la crème of British motorsport competing in it, it doesn’t really get much better as a driver than this.

“It took us a little while to re-establish ourselves, to get into a competitive seat, but we’re there now, and it really feels like this is just the beginning of a journey, rather than the end.” 

Having secured the Independent honours and established himself as a front-runner once again in the UK’s premier motorsport series, the focus has now switched to competing for the outright title in the future.

“It’s only at the end-of-season gala when I looked down at the trophy and saw the names on it – Tom Ingram, Ash Sutton, Colin Turkington – all the names you now see fighting for the main prize.

“The competition is always incredibly fierce, but I’m here for the long haul and it’s absolutely the ambition to put myself in a position to give it a go. I’ve always said I only ever want a chance, and that’s what keeps me pushing.” 

Taylor-Smith’s programme for 2025 has already begun to gather momentum, with a number of new and existing partners re-affirming their support in recent weeks. 

“2024 was an incredible season, and that’s entirely down to PMR, my partner network and all their hard work,” says Taylor-Smith.

“I’m incredibly excited to see what 2025 brings.”

Restart Racing has confirmed that Chris Smiley will remain with the team for the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, which follows the exciting announcement that the squad will switch to running two brand new Hyundai i30 Fastback N cars next season.

Following an impressive debut year running Cupra Leons, the move to the Hyundai i30s signals a significant step forward for the team in its challenge to become an established contender in Britain’s most competitive championship. The team has also confirmed a partnership with Swindon Powertrain, a renowned engine builder in the BTCC, having powered multiple championship winning teams and drivers in the past.

Smiley remains with the team after scoring the outfit’s best result of sixth at Silverstone in 2024, but the Northern Irishman is no stranger to silverware in the BTCC. In a solid run between 2018 and 2020, Smiley scored one victory and a total of six podiums in the BTCC, which interestingly included a first-ever podium for the Hyundai i30.

The team is currently seeking a second driver to race alongside Smiley but will be pleased to have already made significant progress with these two early off-season announcements.

Chris Smiley, Driver, said: “I’ve raced the i30s before, securing EXCELR8’s first podium at Donington Park in 2020, so I’m fully aware of what this package can deliver. It’s a proven race-winning car, and with the right team and preparation, we’re aiming to climb as far up the grid as we can. I’m thrilled to be back with Restart Racing and can’t wait to get started.”

Peter Jones, Managing Director, commented: “Since announcing our plans for 2025, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing with interest from potential drivers. Our focus is to find someone who can match the incredible package we’ve put together with the Hyundai i30s and our partnership with Swindon Powertrain. We’re here to compete and push for podiums, and we believe the right driver can take us even further up the grid.”

Ben Taylor, Team Principal, added: “Having worked with the i30s during my time at EXCELR8, I know firsthand just how fast and competitive these cars are. They were among the quickest on the grid last year, and with the talented team we have here at Restart Racing, we’re eager to hit the ground running in 2025.”

The curtain has fallen on another season for the Speedworks Motorsport-run TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK team with multiple wins in the locker – double its 2023 tally.

The reshuffle of drivers and the decision to run two cars, with Speedworks running the other Toyota Corolla GR Sport-driven team in LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, brought an exciting element to the Cheshire-based team.

Bringing a calm pair of hands to the team was 2012 World Touring Car Champion (WTCC) Rob Huff, who was making a full-time return to the series 20 years after his last. Partnering the touring car household name was none other than 2023 Jack Sears Trophy (JST) winner Andrew Watson, looking to improve with the backing of a manufacturer/constructor.

Despite the same amount of podiums scored from one season ago, improvements were made in both the #11 and #12 machines. In 2024, Toyota scored 61 more points in the Manufacturers/Constructors' Championship than it had achieved in the year prior.

Huff took his first victory since his return at the same circuit of his last triumph 20 years previous, Snetterton, leading a Toyota podium lockout at only the third event of this driver and team combination. The #12 would go on to take another rostrum-finishing performance with some extraordinary racing with fellow Toyota Corolla GR Sport driver Josh Cook for the lead at Croft three events later.

The team’s next triumphant moment would then come at Knockhill as the former WTCC would fend off 2022 Champion Tom Ingram with impeccable defensive driving. The top step of the podium would be Huff and the squad’s second time spearheading the results, a feat the Speedworks-run outfit only managed once in 2023.

It would not only be positive on the #12 side of the garage but also the #11 side. Watson, in his second full-time season in the BTCC, would further his JST win one year on scoring 30% more points than in his debut season. Saturday was also a strong point for the Belfast-born driver with two ‘Quick Six’ appearances and qualifying inside the top ten in six of the ten events.

After a season of improvement across the board, the Cheshire-Based team will be looking to take a further step toward the front runners in 2025.

EXCELR8 has today (2 December) confirmed it has entered into a multi-year collaboration with the Restart Racing team that will see two additional Hyundai i30 Fastback N cars join the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship as part of a customer programme.

EXCELR8 announced back in August that it was open to discussions about working with an additional team for the new season, with the possibility of providing cars if required to either a new entrant into the series or an existing outfit that was already on the grid.

The announcement led to discussions with parties interested in the team’s highly successful Hyundai, which has become one of the top cars of the current era since being introduced into the series at the start of the 2020 season; scoring a total of 23 wins and 63 podiums, as well as the 2022 championship title in the hands of Tom Ingram.

Founded in 2022 - but with vast experience of running of cars in a variety of championships, including the BTCC - Restart Racing made the switch into the BTCC in 2024.

Chris Smiley would score the team’s best result of the season with a sixth-place finish at Silverstone and finished the campaign third in the Independents’ Trophy with two class victories – and 18 further podiums – from 30 races.

With EXCELR8 continuing to run a four-car programme in the BTCC under the Team VERTU banner, with Ingram and Tom Chilton already confirmed in the driver line-up, the new collaboration with Restart Racing means that no fewer than six Hyundai cars will be part of the grid when the new season kicks off at Donington Park in late April.

Like the EXCELR8 quartet, the two Restart Racing cars will utilise the Hyundai engine developed alongside Swindon Powertrain, with further details on the team’s driver line-up to be revealed in due course.

Justina Williams, EXCELR8 Team Owner, said: “When we went public with the announcement that we were open to providing cars to a customer, we expected there to be interest given the success we have enjoyed with the Hyundai, and are delighted to have agreed a deal that will see us join forces with Restart Racing as a customer team for 2025 and beyond.

“Although this will be the first time we have provided BTCC machinery to another team, we are no strangers to building cars for customers in the MINI CHALLENGE and this is another step in the continued growth of EXCELR8 as we look to strengthen our position as one of the premier teams in British motorsport.

“The fact that Restart Racing has chosen the Hyundai as their weapon of choice is an indication of how far we have come in a relatively short period of time, and we look forward to working with them to make a success of this new collaboration over the coming seasons.”

Pete Jones, Restart Racing Managing Director, said: “I have been involved with the BTCC for a number of seasons, including a highly successful period alongside EXCELR8 supporting Tom Ingram’s 2022 title win, so when I heard that they were open to supplying cars to another team, it obviously caught my attention.

“The Cupra served us well this year as we embarked on our first season in the BTCC, but we are an ambitious team that has a desire to establish ourselves on the grid and to progress up the order - in much the same was as EXCELR8 themselves have done.

“The Hyundai is clearly an extremely strong package, and one that we know will allow us to move closer towards the targets we have set ourselves as a team. We are delighted to enter into this new relationship with EXCELR8, and can’t wait to take delivery of the cars and kickstart our preparations for 2025.”

Following the entry approval deadline, British Touring Car Championship organiser – TOCA – has today (2 December) announced its TBL holders for the 2025 BTCC season.

Teams must hold a TOCA BTCC Licence (TBL) to underpin participation for each car entered into the championship and a total of 24 cars have been confirmed for the upcoming campaign.

Following a fantastic 2024 season, the BTCC will now adopt fully sustainable fossil-free fuel for all its cars next year, underlining its position at the forefront of national motorsport innovation and industry-leading standards.

Additional rule tweaks have also been ratified by TOCA in recent weeks while this TBL announcement further fuels the anticipation ahead of the new season.

Teams – in collaboration with the BTCC – will announce full details regarding their own respective entries (drivers, team names and sponsors) over the coming weeks and months, prior to the release of the finalised entry list, which will be published by TOCA at the official Season Launch at Donington Park on 15 April.

The 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship kicks off at the same venue on 26/27 April and will again enjoy the all-season, all-day live high-definition coverage on ITV4, with highlights on ITV1 as well as live streaming on ITVX.

The following is a complete list of the 24 TBLs secured by teams for the 2025 BTCC season:

Name - No. of TBLs
Alliance Racing - 4
EXCELR8 Motorsport - 4
Speedworks Motorsport - 4
West Surrey Racing - 4
Power Maxed Racing - 2
Restart Racing - 2
One Motorsport - 2
Un-Limited Motorsport - 2

Total: 24