Mikey Doble returned to the top of the Independent Drivers’ Championship this past weekend (30/31 August) after producing a gritty performance in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.
The Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing driver found himself in the thick of the action and showed his fighting spirit once again to bank valuable points.
Sadly, the elation of clinching the best-ever qualifying result for the Cupra by delivering a superb lap to secure third on the grid soon turned to heartbreak. The Surrey racer was disqualified after his front-wheel-drive machine failed post-session checks, which in turn relegated him to the back of the grid.
Not to be deterred, Doble vowed to bounce back on race day, and he started with an elbows-out performance that took him to within the fringes of the points-paying positions in the opening contest.
Making several changes to his car for race two. Doble continued his march forward in a frenetic second contest that was impacted by a heavy rain shower late on. Managing to stay out of trouble, his reward would be a handful of points and Independent runners-up laurels.
The Jack Sears Trophy holder ended his weekend at Donington Park with another punchy drive as he went wheel-to-wheel with one of his chief rivals for the coveted Independent crown, Chris Smiley.
Enjoying a competitive door-to-door battle with the Restart Racing driver, Doble ultimately came out on top come the chequered flag, which crucially ensured that the pendulum swung back his way in the title fight.
With just two events and six races now remaining, Doble holds a slender two-point lead at the top of the Independent Drivers’ Championship.
Mikey Doble: “It’s been a tough weekend so I’m glad to be leaving with the Independents lead. We struggled for pace on race day so to overturn the deficit we had to make up is a great reward for the entire team.
“Qualifying on Saturday will go down as one of the highlights of my season because we had serious pace in those mixed conditions. Sadly a marginal ride height failure cost us in the end but we proved that we’ve really moved the car forward since Knockhill.
“It’s fair to say that we didn’t have the outright pace across Sunday’s three races but I think we optimised what we had, played the game and came away with some good results. Crucially we finished every race and at this stage in the season that’s massively important.
“Just three points now cover myself, Chris [Smiley] and Dan [Lloyd] so we’re in for quite a showdown. Silverstone is a track I’ve always loved and I know I can make the difference there so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in a few weeks’ time.”
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship next heads to Silverstone for the penultimate event of the 2025 season on the weekend of 20/21 September.
