WSR continues its 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season at Donington Park this weekend (22/23 August) as driver Charles Rainford prepares for his 50th start in the series.
Unlike at the season-opening round in April, the upcoming event takes place on the full 2.49-mile ‘Grand Prix’ layout of the East Midlands track, with the ‘Melbourne Loop’ added to the ‘National’ circuit.
After scoring a podium finish at that season-opener, Rainford is back and looking for more aboard his BMW 330i M Sport.
The Horsham driver, who has two wins to his name in 2026 and holds fifth place in the Drivers' standings, reaches a significant career milestone this weekend as race two at Donington is set to be the 50th of his BTCC career.
Teammate Daryl De Leon enjoyed his visit to Donington’s GP circuit last year as he took a perfect score in the Jack Sears Trophy with class victories in all three races as he surged to the title at the end of the season.
That weekend included a pair of overall top-10 finishes for the Cambridgeshire-based Anglo-Filipino, who holds second place in the Independent Drivers’ standings – one point ahead of Rainford – and is aiming to close significantly on the series lead.
Lewis Gilbert, also aboard a WSR BMW, is preparing for only the third BTCC event of his career. The Scotsman, from Dalry, North Ayrshire, ran competitively in the final race at his home circuit of Knockhill recently with peak lap times almost on a par with the race winner.
This will be the 22-year-old’s first time racing at Donington Park; his rookie season in racing has encompassed mainly circuits on the European continent before he took part in the BTCC events at Thruxton and Knockhill.
Charles Rainford: “Fifty races in the BTCC! That’s come around really quickly. It only feels like yesterday that I was making my debut – also at Donington, but on the shorter circuit – and it’s amazing how things have progressed since then with a handful of wins, a pole position and more podiums. The target for this weekend is 100 per cent to add more, score as many points as I can and move up the championship table.”
Daryl De Leon: “Donington GP was a strong event for me last year as I won the Jack Sears Trophy in all three races and had a very strong performance in Race Two coming from the back to finish in the top five. Currently I’m second in the Independents’ points and if we can have a strong weekend, I’m sure I can close in on the leader and make it a really good fight for the title. We’ve had the pace recently, so I’m confident of our chances.”
Lewis Gilbert: “My first two BTCC events have been a really steep learning curve at Thruxton and Knockhill – because they’re such unique tracks – aren’t the best places to really try to click with your car. Donington is a much more conventional racetrack; it’s wide, smooth and has lots of medium-speed corners, so I think I can probably make more gains with my driving here than any other track so far. A clean weekend and some points finishes – which I think we deserved at Knockhill with the pace we had – would be really satisfying to come away with.”
