Jason Plato's dream BTCC comeback kicks off at Donington Park

---

Cataclean Plato Racing made history at Donington Park earlier today (18 April) as Dan Rowbottom took victory in the first ever BTCC Qualifying Race in the debut weekend for the team.

The highly anticipated 'Race to Pole' – introduced during the off-season – saw the best tin top drivers in the UK battle for not only grid positions for tomorrow's opener but also for the first haul of points of the new campaign.

It came as little surprise to see Tom Ingram (Team VERTU) and Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK) – with six BTCC titles between them – lineup on the front row of the Qualifying Race by virtue of their flying laps during the earlier session, but both hit trouble during Saturday's main contest.

It was a breathtaking start and opening lap as Ingram, Sutton, Rowbottom and NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish fought it out for P1.

There was little space as Sutton slipped his #116 Ford Focus Titanium down the inside of Ingram at the start of lap two, and with the gap running out his car slid across the grass and eventually into the gravel.

It was a double blow for NAPA Racing UK as Cammish was held up by the incident, while Ingram, Rowbottom and Speedworks Corolla Racing's Josh Cook pulled clear.

There was further drama shortly after as news filtered through of a five second penalty for Ingram for being out of position at the start of the race.

It proved to be a race against the clock, and with Ingram needing to pull clear, he eventually finished just 0.024s short as the chequered flag waved.

Celebrations ensued as Team Principal and Team Manager Jason Plato cut an emotional figure with his incredible BTCC comeback producing an immediate fairytale story.

Ingram did enough to grab second ahead of a promising performance from Cook in the #66 Toyota Corolla.

The LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing duo of Mikey Doble and Aiden Moffat enjoyed a great debut in the new Audi A3 Saloon – finishing fourth and eighth respectively.

WSR's Charles Rainford, Team VERTU's Tom Chilton and Cataclean Plato Racing's Adam Morgan were next in the order, whilst Gordon Shedden (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport) and Dexter Patterson (Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing) rounded out the top ten.

Round 1, 2 and 3 of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship takes place at Donington Park tomorrow with a huge crowd expected at the Leicestershire venue with many more able to watch the action all-day LIVE on ITV4 from 10:45.

Dan Rowbottom, Cataclean Plato Racing, said: "We've made a little bit of history. We've put the car on pole for tomorrow for Cataclean Plato Racing and it obviously feels fantastic. We still have to do a lot of work, but we made the best of it.

"We didn't have the pace of [Tom] Ingram if I'm honest, but he had that five second penalty, so all I had to do was manage the gap. It's been a long winter but this is an incredible moment for Cataclean Plato Racing... let's try and make it happen tomorrow."

Qualifying Race - Donington Park (National)

P/	No/	Name/	Entry/	Laps/	Time/	Gap/	Best/	On/
1	32	Daniel ROWBOTTOM	Cataclean Plato Racing	13	15:07.947		1:08.649	6
2	80	Tom INGRAM	Team VERTU	13	15:07.971	0.024	1:08.236	6
3	66	Josh COOK	Speedworks Corolla Racing	13	15:08.257	0.310	1:08.713	5
4	88	Mikey DOBLE	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	13	15:09.249	1.302	1:08.624	9
5	99	Charles RAINFORD	WSR	13	15:09.952	2.005	1:08.744	9
6	3	Tom CHILTON	Team VERTU	13	15:11.455	3.508	1:08.818	9
7	33	Adam MORGAN	Cataclean Plato Racing	13	15:12.665	4.718	1:09.028	11
8	16	Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	13	15:12.955	5.008	1:08.868	10
9	52	Gordon SHEDDEN	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	13	15:17.551	9.604	1:09.104	5
10	17	Dexter PATTERSON	Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing	13	15:18.793	10.846	1:08.948	5
11	50	Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	13	15:19.116	11.169	1:09.045	3
12	11	Ricky COLLARD	Team VERTU	13	15:19.378	11.431	1:09.022	4
13	27	Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	13	15:19.514	11.567	1:08.996	3
14	22	Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	13	15:19.741	11.794	1:08.984	5
15	132	James DORLIN	Restart Racing	13	15:20.651	12.704	1:08.968	5
16	15	Lewis SELBY	NAPA Racing UK	13	15:22.794	14.847	1:08.866	5
17	2	Daryl DELEON	WSR	13	15:23.646	15.699	1:08.969	5
18	77	Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	13	15:28.147	20.200	1:08.981	5
19	28	Nicolas HAMILTON	Team VERTU	13	15:28.442	20.495	1:09.444	5
20	19	Max BUXTON	Speedworks Corolla Racing	13	15:31.326	23.379	1:10.071	7
DNF	116	Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	1	1:16.403	12 Laps		0

Team VERTU's Tom Ingram has topped the opening Free Practice of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship as the #80 Hyundai clocked a 1:07.842s around the Donington Park National circuit.

Speedworks Corolla Racing's Josh Cook was second as his Toyota-run squad look to mount a consistent championship challenge in 2026, whilst third and fourth went to the debutant Cataclean Plato Racing team.

Daniel Rowbottom was third in his #32 Mercedes A35 Saloon, whilst team-mate Adam Morgan led the times at one stage before having to settle for fourth.

Tom Chilton backed-up his Team VERTU stablemate Ingram by setting the fifth fastest time, ahead of the first of the new NAPA Racing UK Ford Titaniums.

The two Blue Ovals of Dan Cammish and Ash Sutton had the new LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing Audi of Aiden Moffat wedged between them on the timesheets, whilst Charles Rainford (WSR) and Mikey Doble (LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing) rounded out the top ten.

The action not only marked the start of the 2026 BTCC campaign but it also kicked off what will be an historic day for the championship.

After this one 40-minute Free Practice, the finishing order will be split into two groups, odd-finishing-numbers (Group 1) and even-finishing-numbers (Group 2). Each group will get a 15-minute qualifying session to set their fastest times. The group with the fastest qualifying time will occupy the odd-numbered grid positions for the Qualifying Race, ordered by their respective qualifying times. The other group will occupy the even-numbered grid positions, also ordered by qualifying times.

15 minutes after the qualifying session for Group 2 has concluded, the standard grid procedure for a race start begins, and the pit lane opens. The finishing order of the shorter 13-lap ‘Race to Pole’ will determine the grid for the first of Sunday’s traditional trio of races.

Half-points are awarded for the Qualifying Race. There are no bonus points for leading a lap, the fastest lap, or for pole position for the Qualifying Race, whereas the bonus points for leading a lap and the fastest lap are still available on Sunday. Making 76 the highest score across a race weekend, more than the 67 of recent years.

Qualifying and the Qualifying Race can be found LIVE on the ITV Sport YouTube Channel worldwide for the very first time from 13:50 later today. You won't want to miss it!

Free Practice – Donington Park

P/	No/	Name/	Entry/	Laps/	Time/	Gap/	On/
1	80	Tom INGRAM	Team VERTU	16	1:07.842		14
2	66	Josh COOK	Speedworks Corolla Racing	21	1:08.048	0.206	18
3	32	Daniel ROWBOTTOM	Cataclean Plato Racing	16	1:08.076	0.234	15
4	33	Adam MORGAN	Cataclean Plato Racing	19	1:08.154	0.312	9
5	3	Tom CHILTON	Team VERTU	21	1:08.241	0.399	12
6	27	Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	19	1:08.288	0.446	10
7	16	Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	21	1:08.319	0.477	21
8	116	Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	21	1:08.413	0.571	11
9	99	Charles RAINFORD	WSR	16	1:08.427	0.585	10
10	88	Mikey DOBLE	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	16	1:08.451	0.609	14
11	52	Gordon SHEDDEN	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	22	1:08.598	0.756	13
12	2	Daryl DELEON	WSR	21	1:08.657	0.815	11
13	77	Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	23	1:08.699	0.857	15
14	17	Dexter PATTERSON	Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing	17	1:08.712	0.870	13
15	15	Lewis SELBY	NAPA Racing UK	25	1:08.723	0.881	24
16	50	Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	20	1:08.734	0.892	8
17	22	Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	22	1:08.821	0.979	14
18	132	James DORLIN	Restart Racing	21	1:08.852	1.010	18
19	11	Ricky COLLARD	Team VERTU	25	1:09.187	1.345	13
20	28	Nicolas HAMILTON	Team VERTU	25	1:09.204	1.362	16
21	19	Max BUXTON	Speedworks Corolla Racing	18	1:10.472	2.630	13

TOCA announces next year’s calendar in record time

---

The 2027 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship calendar has been announced this morning (18 April), in record time and before the 2026 season has even begun.

Thanks to the close cooperation of TOCA, ITV and the venues the 2027 schedule has been released on the opening day of the 2026 season, giving teams, drivers, fans and all stakeholders almost 12 months to plan ahead.

The early confirmation continues TOCA’s trend of leading the way among major championships and also allows other series to organise their schedules around the UK’s premier motorsport spectacle.

The 2027 BTCC season will commence at the Donington Park National circuit, before visiting the Brands Hatch Indy layout and then Snetterton in May. 

Oulton Park will remain as the fourth event of the season – and as per 2026 – precedes the annual summer break.

Action resumes at Thruxton during the school holidays in July, starting a run of three events in four weekends.

Knockhill and Croft run back-to-back in August, before the trip to Donington Park GP later in the same month.

Silverstone hosts the penultimate event and the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit stages the unmissable finale in October.

Alan Gow, BTCC Chief Executive, said: “We are pleased to announce the 2027 calendar in record time, even before the 2026 season has begun.

“Agreeing our dates so early with our partners at ITV ensures we have locked in the primary slots for our continued all-day-live and free television coverage on ITV4. It also benefits the wider British motorsport community, as other organisers can continue scheduling their own events.

“Furthermore, locking-in our plans so soon for 2027 enables us to look even further ahead to 2028 for what I am sure will provide several unforgettable celebrations for the BTCC’s 70th anniversary.

“I’m told we are probably the first major championship in the world to have already announced next year’s schedule and, if true, then I’m delighted to do so!”

2027 British Touring Car Championship Calendar

Rounds	Date	Venue/Circuit
1, 2, 3	10/11 April	Donington Park (National)
4, 5, 6	08/09 May	Brands Hatch (Indy)
7, 8, 9	29/30 May	Snetterton
10, 11, 12	12/13 June	Oulton Park
13, 14, 15	24/25 July	Thruxton
16, 17, 18	07/08 August	Knockhill
19, 20, 21	14/15 August	Croft
22, 23, 24	11/12 September	Donington Park (GP)
25, 26, 27	25/26 September	Silverstone*
28, 29, 30	9/10 October	Brands Hatch (GP)

*tbc

Team VERTU will look to make a positive start to its defence of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship title when the 2026 season bursts into life this weekend at Donington Park.

The EXCELR8-run team secured double title glory last year as Tom Ingram lifted the Drivers’ title for a second time, with the team also taking the Manufacturers’/Constructors’ crown after a year-long battle with rivals Alliance Racing.

Ingram heads into his sixth campaign with the team looking to join the select band of drivers to have won the BTCC title on three occasions, and on the back of a stunning year that saw him set a new record for points scored in a BTCC season - having bagged seven wins and a further eleven podium finishes.

In fact, Ingram has only failed to finish on the podium five times in 15 starts around the Donington Park National layout since joining forces with the team.

Experienced team-mate Tom Chilton is also something of a Donington Park expert, having scored wins in two of the last three season openers.

Chilton played a key role in the team’s success last year in what was his strongest campaign in Team VERTU colours, with six podium finishes helping him to take seventh in the championship standings.

Like Ingram, Chilton will hope to make the most of the proven pace of his Hyundai to start the season strongly, with his goal being to launch his own title challenge.

The two long-time Team VERTU members are joined by two new names for 2026, including Ricky Collard as he returns to the series for the first time since 2023.

Collard, the son of multiple BTCC race winner Rob, rejoins the grid for what will be a third full season of touring car competition, with much of his career to date having been spent in sports cars.

The late nature of his deal to join the team means Collard heads to Donington Park with limited time at the wheel, with three solid points finishes being the target as he continues to adapt to the switch back to front-wheel drive.

The four-car entry is rounded out by Nicolas Hamilton, who joins forces with Team VERTU for what promises to be the biggest season of his BTCC career to date.

Hamilton - who has now made more than 150 starts since his debut back in 2015 - has fond memories of Donington Park, with a sixth place finish in tricky wet conditions back in 2023 being his best result in the series so far.

Having shown encouraging pace during testing at Snetterton and Brands Hatch, Hamilton will hope to try and push towards the points on his first weekend with the team, with three solid results in the Jack Sears Trophy being his first target.

The Donington Park season opener will make the start of a new era for the BTCC with the introduction of the Qualifying Race on Saturday afternoon as part of a revised weekend format.

The ‘Race for Pole’ this weekend is scheduled to take place at 15:05 on Saturday and will air live on YouTube, with Sunday’s three races - at 11:30, 14:40 and 17:30 - being shown on ITV4.

Tom Chilton, #3 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said: “Last season was the best year I’ve had in the BTCC for a long time, and I’m chomping at the bit to get down to business again this weekend at Donington Park. Going into 2026, we’ve refined what was already a mega race car and I feel confident that we can put on a strong performance to kick off the new season.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how everyone adapts to the new format we’ll be using for the first time this weekend, and practice is going to be more important than ever now when we only have one session to set us up for the rest of the weekend. 

“With the Qualifying Race instead of a traditional session to decide the grid, having a strong race car is going to be key and it’s going to be exciting on Saturday afternoon to see how everyone approaches the first ‘Race for Pole’ of the year.

“On a personal level, I’ve won around the Donington Park National layout in two of the last three seasons, and it would be great to do it again this weekend to kick off 2026 on a high.”

Ricky Collard, #11 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said: “Given the deal all came together very late, I’ve only had limited running in the car and I probably surprised myself with how close I was to my team-mates at Brands Hatch. 

“The new weekend format means I’m also not going to have much time at Donington Park before we head into qualifying when you consider the prep work that we’ll need to do in a single practice session, so I’m really going in at the deep end! Despite that, I’m confident that I can go out there and be competitive this weekend and pick up some solid results.

“As far as I'm concerned, there is no pressure on me for the opening rounds given the amount of track time I’ve had compared to everyone else. I’ll just focus on myself, and make sure I do the best job possible.”

Nicolas Hamilton, #28 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said: “This is still a very new environment for me with the team and the car, but I already feel comfortable in the Hyundai and am excited to keep learning this weekend. I’m not really thinking about results, more about going out there and doing the best job that I can do in what is a very competitive field this season.

“It will be interesting to see how Donington Park pans out with the new format, and I’ve been working hard on my preparation away from the circuit with things like sim training and my fitness so that I’m as comfortable as I can be from the moment we go out on track for the single practice session.

“This first weekend will be a bit of a learning experience in terms of getting the most out of the car on new tyres and also seeing how people approach the qualifying race, as I’m sure there will be some who go out and take risks and others who are a bit more conservative. 

“I’m just going to see how things go in real time but as I’ve said before, this deal is all about giving me the tools to show what I can do and I’m excited to get the action underway.”

Tom Ingram, #80 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said: “Pre-season testing has gone well and we’ve just focussed on our own programme ahead of the opening rounds of the season. We’ve worked to improve what was already a very strong package last year and I feel in a good place as we prepare to get our title defence underway.

“Donington is going to be an interesting weekend to start things off, because there are so many unknowns to consider. The new format means we have less practice time to work on the car and then the qualifying race to consider, so we have to make sure we hit the ground running and are on our game from the moment we hit the track.

“There’s also new cars to consider from our rivals and given that you can’t read too much into testing when everyone is doing different things, we’ll only really know how quick everyone actually is when the serious stuff gets underway.

“Last season, it was all about making sure that we maximised the points that were available every weekend, and I’m taking the same approach into round one with my focus on making a solid start to the year.”

Ahead of the 2026 BTCC season, you can now view the newly published Drivers’ and Teams’ pages on the Official BTCC website!

The latest artwork and photography for all 21 drivers and nine teams, plus a whole host of other information is available.

Team pages include the squad’s BTCC CV, with information from each campaign contested in the series, images, team stats and how the squad has fared in the results.

Similarly, driver pages include their BTCC CV, results, images and honours.

In addition to this, all pages include the team or driver’s social media handles, so you can keep up-to-date with what your favourite BTCC protagonists are up to ahead of the start of the championship.

Get yourself up to speed with every competitor and every outfit ahead of the upcoming season!

Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport embarks on a new chapter in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, with Donington Park set to host the 2026 curtain-raiser this weekend (18/19 April).

It’s been a transformative winter on and off the track for Mark Blundell’s outfit, which has expanded to a two-car team for the first time in 2026, signing three-time champion Gordon Shedden and Independents Trophy winner Árón Taylor-Smith and switched to the TOYOTA Corolla GR Sport, one of the most successful contemporary cars in the UK’s premier motorsport series, with a view to remaining a long-term, competitive force at the front of the field.

That strength in depth will be needed more than ever. As well as the BTCC’s notoriously close quarters, hard-fought racing, the championship has changed format for 2026, with the notable introduction of a new Qualifying Race on Saturday afternoon.

Teams will now have just a single 40-minute practice session to set their cars up before the competitive action begins, a scenario where Shedden and Taylor-Smith’s combined 736 race starts - plus the team’s championship-winning engineering expertise on the pit wall - will come to the fore to navigate this new strategic element to the weekend.

Donington Park’s 1.98-mile National circuit has been a regular fixture on the BTCC schedule since 1977 and in that time it’s fast, flowing layout has become synonymous with some of the best racing on the calendar.

It’s a circuit where Shedden in particular has previously excelled, with “Flash” scoring an enviable 11 race victories at Donington across his BTCC career to date, as well as twice holding the lap record in previous years. It’s also a place with a silverware-laden history for the team and fan favourite Taylor-Smith; MB Motorsport have a win and eight podiums to their name, with the Dubliner twice a visitor to the rostrum in Leicestershire.

Saturday’s Qualifying, followed by the Qualifying Race, is available to stream at 13:50 UK time on the ITV Sport YouTube Channel, with the trio of races on Sunday live on ITV4, starting at 11:30, 14:40 and 17:30 respectively.

Árón Taylor-Smith (#50) said: “I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever begun a new season with as much excitement as I have right now - that’s the truth of it.

“It’s been a busy winter at Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and, as encouraging as testing has been, there’s nothing quite like a race weekend, and the chance to find out exactly where all that hard work and preparation puts us, versus the others. Donington Park is also one of my favourite circuits, so we’ve all the ingredients for a real push.

“I’m feeling upbeat; I think we’ve a good car to go out and fight with, and as always, I’ll be aiming to put on a show.”

Gordon Shedden (#52) said: “Donington Park is a great place to start the season. It’s fast, unforgiving at times, and always produces entertaining racing, and that’s before you add into the mix the new format for this year, which is definitely going to shake things up a bit, and how we as drivers and a team approach the weekend.

“But it’s been a happy hunting ground for me in the past, with some really memorable moments, so hopefully we can begin the new season and this new chapter for Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport on an equally positive note.”

Mark Blundell, Team Principal, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport said: “As a team, we’re really looking forward to kicking off the new season at Donington Park this weekend, and the start of a new chapter in the history of Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport.

“There’s a real feeling of positivity within the garage, and rightly so. We’ve had a good winter and completed our testing programmes without issue, have two new, very experienced and motivated drivers in Gordon and Aron, and have been able to develop and refine the Toyota Corolla, which is already one of the most successful contemporary cars on the grid.

“Inevitably, the BTCC will continue to be a rollercoaster ride, and throw up drama and unpredictability, but we’ve prepared well and controlled everything we can - now it’s time to see what we’re all working with.”

A reimagined Goodyear Wingfoot Award shifts focus from qualifying to complete weekend performance

---

Goodyear will relaunch its popular Wingfoot Award for the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season with a bold new format designed to bring fans closer to the heart of the racing action than ever before.

The reimagined Goodyear Wingfoot Award evolves from its traditional qualifying-based format into a new, weekend-long accolade that rewards drivers who deliver across qualifying, the Race to Pole and all three races.

At the heart of the new format is a dual decision-making process that combines expert analysis with fan engagement. An expert panel made up of Goodyear representatives and championship officials will assess performances across the weekend and shortlist four standout drivers based on outright pace, racecraft and tyre management. The final decision will then be handed to fans, who will vote via social media to crown each weekend’s Goodyear Wingfoot Award winner.

Fans will be able to vote until 23:59 on Sunday, with the winner announced the following day across Goodyear Racing and BTCC social media channels. The winning driver will be presented with their Wingfoot Award trophy at the subsequent race weekend.

Michael Butler, Goodyear’s BTCC Event Leader, commented: “The Goodyear Wingfoot Award has always been about recognising performance across each race weekend, but this new format takes that to the next level and brings fans closer to the action. We have designed the award to combine expert insight with fan voting, giving touring car fans a direct voice in celebrating the drivers who stand out on track each weekend.”

The Goodyear Wingfoot Award has up until now been based on qualifying results, with points awarded to drivers throughout the season based on their qualifying grid positions. In 2025, that structure saw Tom Ingram secure the season-long award after a string of front-row starts and pole positions across the campaign.

The change also brings the Goodyear Wingfoot Award into closer alignment with its counterparts in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series, where a similar fan-led ‘driver of the day’ format is already employed to choose the weekend’s Wingfoot Award winners.

The first Goodyear Wingfoot Award winner under the new format will be chosen this weekend as the season gets underway at Donington Park. Click HERE to read the pre-race weekend Goodyear Racing Notes for Donington Park (National).

Get ready for the ‘Race to Pole’

---

The 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will kick off at Donington Park this Saturday (18 April), and history will be made as the all-new Qualifying Race is run for the very first time.

The ‘Race to Pole’ was introduced during the off-season following a meeting between Series Organiser – TOCA – and its competing teams, when it was decided that a short, sharp Qualifying Race would take place every Saturday at every race weekend. Not only will this race set the grid for Sunday’s opener, but it was also agreed that a further 100 points would be made available during the season, providing an historic and significant dynamic shift in the overall race for the championship.

After the one 40-minute Free Practice takes place, the finishing order will be split into two groups, odd-finishing-numbers (Group 1) and even-finishing-numbers (Group 2). Each group will get a 15-minute qualifying session to set their fastest times. The group with the fastest qualifying time will occupy the odd-numbered grid positions for the Qualifying Race, ordered by their respective qualifying times. The other group will occupy the even-numbered grid positions, also ordered by qualifying times.

15 minutes after the qualifying session for Group 2 has concluded, the standard grid procedure for a race start begins, and the pit lane opens. The finishing order of the shorter, roughly 15-minute ‘Race to Pole’ will determine the grid for the first of Sunday’s traditional trio of races.

Half-points are awarded for the Qualifying Race. There are no bonus points for leading a lap, the fastest lap, or for pole position for the Qualifying Race, whereas the bonus points for leading a lap and the fastest lap are still available on Sunday. Making 76 the highest score across a race weekend, more than the 67 of recent years.

Qualifying and the Qualifying Race can be found LIVE on the ITV Sport YouTube Channel worldwide for the very first time this Saturday from 13:50. You won't want to miss it!

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.”

Tom Ingram says the pressure is off as he approaches the forthcoming Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship campaign, when the defending title-holder will seek to add a third career crown to his increasingly impressive résumé in the UK’s premier motor racing series.
 
Ingram was the indisputable cream of the BTCC crop last year, sealing the deal with a round to spare at Brands Hatch back in October, as a record-breaking points haul saw him add the 2025 trophy to the one he had already clinched in 2022.
 
Along the way, the Team VERTU star notched up no fewer than seven race wins – taking his overall victory count to 40, a tally bettered only by six other drivers in the championship’s near seven-decade history – and 11 further podium finishes. Underscoring his outstanding consistency, on just four occasions in 30 starts did he take the chequered flag outside of the top five in the high-calibre, 25-strong field.
 
It was by any measure a true masterclass, and Ingram has entered 2026 in much the same vein. Starting as he means to go on, he confidently topped the timesheets on the opening day of the first official pre-season test at Croft behind the wheel of his EXCELR8 Motorsport-prepared Hyundai i30N, dipping underneath his own qualifying lap record around the challenging North Yorkshire circuit that he established last summer.
 
After setting the pace in the dry, the talented Bucks-born ace also posted the theoretical fastest lap time in the wet later the same day, based upon every driver linking together their three quickest sectors.
 
In a series famed for its unpredictability, however, 2026 looks harder to call than ever before, with three new models of car on the starting grid and a raft of regulation changes, including a small but significant adjustment to the way TOCA Turbo Boost (TTB) works and – most notably – the introduction of the new Qualifying Race on Saturday afternoons.
 
Approximately 15 minutes in duration, the final classification of this will determine the grid positions for the first of three full-length contests the following day, with championship points on offer to the top ten finishers – injecting yet another element into the equation and promising to keep competitors constantly on their toes.
 
It is a challenge Ingram is relishing, and as he sets his sights on the successful acquisition of the most coveted prize in British motorsport once again, he has vowed to leave no stone unturned.
 
Battle will get underway this weekend (18/19 April) around Donington Park’s National Circuit – where the 32-year-old Coventry-based racer sped to a trio of runner-up results 12 months ago – followed by outings at Brands Hatch Indy (9/10 May), Snetterton (23/24 May), Oulton Park (6/7 June), Thruxton (25/26 July), Knockhill (8/9 August), Donington Park GP (22/23 August), Croft (5/6 September) and Silverstone (26/27 September), before concluding with the traditional season finale at Brands Hatch GP (10/11 October).
 
Saturday afternoon’s Qualifying session (14:00) and ‘Race to Pole’ (15:05) at Donington will both be streamed live worldwide on ITV Sport’s YouTube channel, with every moment of Sunday’s doorhandle-to-doorhandle action to be shown live and in high-definition on ITV4 and ITVX, beginning at 10:45. The full race day schedule will additionally be aired 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.
 
Tom Ingram, Driver, Team VERTU, said: “I think we’re in good shape. Pre-season preparations have gone well. We were quick at Croft, and then in the second group test at Brands Hatch last week, we focussed on following our own programme – I don’t think I pressed the ‘boost’ button all day and we certainly didn’t chase any lap times.
 
“The package feels really strong; given how fast the Hyundai was last year, we’ve deliberately not made any major changes or tried to reinvent the wheel. You can never sit still, of course, because by doing that you go backwards, but it’s also all-too-easy to go backwards by interfering too much so you need to be sure the changes you make will have a positive effect.
 
“With that in mind, our approach over the winter has been more evolution than revolution, just chipping away at both performance and reliability through a really structured testing and development programme, and I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made.
 
“With the introduction of a Saturday race halving our free practice time, it’ll be so important to hit the ground running right from the start of every weekend to ensure we’re as fully-prepared for qualifying as we can possibly be.
 
“There’s also obviously been a change to the way boost is deployed, meaning the disparity between having it and not having it will be greater than before and will make it even harder for those without to make much headway, so that will inevitably have an impact.
 
“I think we will see a lot more tactics in play this season, and it might be that it’s better to not lead the championship until the final weekend, or to sacrifice individual results along the way in favour of the bigger picture. I predict plenty of gamesmanship in that respect and we will need to be smarter than ever in terms of strategy – it will be vital as a team to make sure we leave absolutely nothing to chance.
 
“The level of competition looks super-high – we know the Fords will be strong and the BMWs are always there-or-thereabouts, and then there is the unknown of the new Mercedes and Audis – but we’ll get our first indication of where everybody is in the pecking-order in just a few days’ time.
 
“None of us really know quite how the new regulations will play out, but our aim as ever will be to get through the first weekend relatively unscathed and score as many points as possible to set ourselves up for a successful season.
 
“It goes without saying that the ultimate goal is to take the title again. Having now proved that we can win it more than once, I don’t feel the same pressure or emotion as I did heading into my first championship defence in 2023, which means we can go out there and really enjoy it – and then we’ll see where we end up come Brands Hatch in October.”