Young WSR star tops the times during pre-season testing
Official BTCC pre-season testing commenced at Croft with a two-day run (24/25 March) as thousands of fans flocked to the popular North Yorkshire venue.
The opening day was topped by reigning champion Tom Ingram, before the cars and stars of the UK's premier motorsport championship contended with a wet Tuesday afternoon, but it was WSR's Daryl De Leon that set the ultimate pace on the final day of running.
De Leon's 1:20.417s lap time dipped under Ingram's pole position from last season, as the #2 BMW 330i M Sport driver kicked off the 2026 campaign in impressive fashion.
It must be noted of course that testing times are often treated with caution as teams and drivers carried out varying fuel load and tyre combinations throughout the two days of running.
Restart Racing's James Dorlin thought he had scooped the bragging rights when his afternoon run promoted him to the head of the timesheets, but he fell just 0.027s short of De Leon's brilliant benchmark.
Team VERTU's Ingram had clocked the fastest lap time in the dry cool morning session on the opening day, with team-mate Tom Chilton ending up second – the pair eventually finishing up third and fifth overall with the second WSR BMW of Charles Rainford wedged between them in the order.
Heavy rain fell as Tuesday afternoon progressed with three-time champ Gordon Shedden setting the pace in the wet. The Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver recorded a solid 1:28.453s lap time as the Corolla continued its pre-season improvement, albeit more than four seconds off the pace in comparison to the fastest lap in optimum conditions.
NAPA Racing UK and Speedworks Corolla Racing went through their respective test programmes, with the former amassing a mind-boggling 652 laps across its quartet of new Ford Focus Titaniums.
Plato Racing officially ran its cars for the first time with Daniel Rowbottom and Adam Morgan both showing solid pace on the second day in their Mercedes A35 Saloons.
PMR's trio of Audi A3 Saloons also wowed the crowds as Aiden Moffat, Mikey Doble (LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing) and Dexter Patterson (Power Maxed Racing) carried out an extended shakedown.
In total, the 20 drivers amassed 2,268 laps around the 2.13-mile circuit – more than 4800 miles across the two days – with reliability and speed already proving impressive.
The show now moves on to Brands Hatch for the official Season Launch of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship on 8 April, which will include the final pre-season test.
2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Official Croft Test – Combined Times
1. Daryl DeLeon, WSR 1:20.417
2. James Dorlin, Restart Racing +0.027s
3. Tom Ingram, Team VERTU +0.038s
4. Charles Rainford, WSR +0.133s
5. Tom Chilton, Team VERTU +0.239s
6. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +0.388s
7. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +0.477s
8. Chris Smiley, Restart Racing +0.511s
9. Daniel Rowbottom, Plato Racing +0.826s
10. Josh Cook, Speedworks Corolla Racing +0.838s
11. Árón Taylor-Smith, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +1.048s
12. Lewis Selby, NAPA Racing UK +1.137s
13. Gordon Shedden, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +1.304s
14. Senna Proctor, NAPA Racing UK +1.365s
15. Adam Morgan, Plato Racing +1.618s
16. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK +1.833s
17. Max Buxton, Speedworks Corolla Racing +1.863s
18. Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing +2.112s
19. Mikey Doble, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing +2.782s
20. Dexter Patterson, Power Maxed Racing +3.930s
Click here for the full and final classification.
