The standings in which all teams compete in has some of the tightest fights during a campaign... NAPA Racing UK won the last Teams' championship and headed into the new season with expectations to repeat the success.
Donington Park National - Rounds 1-2-3
NAPA Racing UK started 2024 as it ended 2023, at the very top. In fact across the opening three races the Alliance Racing-run outfit were only outscored by one team in the final race of the weekend. That team was the Toyotas of LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ who, after Aiden Moffat's win in race three, came away from the weekend second in the standings.
Despite having won two of the three races overall, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS came away from Donington Park third in the Teams' standings. Team BMW were narrowly behind as the top four were split by 13 points leaving the first weekend of the season.
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport left the first round as the highest team to field one car with Jake Hill. Not only doing that but finishing above three teams of two-car entries behind. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK would finish ahead of Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing by two points with the two new teams to the championship closing out the order.
Teams' Championship Standings - Event 1
1 - NAPA Racing UK - 75 | 6 - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK - 34 |
2 - LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ - 68 | 7 - Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing - 32 |
3 - Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS - 65 | 8 - Restart Racing - 8 |
4 - Team BMW - 62 | 9 - Duckhams Racing with Bartercard - 6 |
5 - Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport - 41 |
Brands Hatch Indy - Rounds 4-5-6
Another weekend with no wins did not hurt NAPA Racing UK in the slightest as it continued to top the standings by ten points. Team BMW jumped from fourth to second after two wins for Colin Turkington, but still tied on points with Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, who remained in third place after another win of its own.
Despite outscoring all of the teams above them in race one, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ's remaining races were not as successful dropping the team to fourth. In fifth place we saw a jump in form from Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing, climbing up two places with increasingly better results across all three races.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK held its sixth place from the first event, leapfrogging Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport after Hill had a non-scoring race two. Restart Racing remained ahead of Duckhams Racing with Bartercard, with the latter also feeling the effect of a non-scoring round with running one car.
Teams' Championship Standings - Event 2
1 - NAPA Racing UK - 146 | 6 - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK - 74 |
2 - Team BMW - 136 | 7 - Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport - 60 |
3 - Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS - 136 | 8 - Restart Racing - 26 |
4 - LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ - 113 | 9 - Duckhams Racing with Bartercard - 13 |
5 - Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing - 77 |
Snetterton - Rounds 7-8-9
The changeable conditions of Snetterton proved to be a shake up again, but not at the top. NAPA Racing UK continued to top the standings despite still not winning a single race overall at the opening three events. The team even grew its advantage over Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, which jumped into second.
LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ outscored all teams in races two and three to rise up the standings, but neither gained nor lost points to the top spot. Team BMW fell two places to fourth as the positions behind the leaders continued to change after every round.
The fight for fifth changed for the third round running with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK getting the better of Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing in Norfolk. Even after winning races one and two, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport did not climb any places, but continue to be the top-placed one-car outfit.
Teams' Championship Standings - Event 3
1 - NAPA Racing UK - 205 | 6 - Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing - 114 |
2 - Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS - 184 | 7 - Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport - 107 |
3 - LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ - 172 | 8 - Restart Racing - 37 |
4 - Team BMW - 169 | 9 - Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR - 34 |
5 - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK - 126 | 10 - Duckhams Racing with Bartercard - 26 |
Thruxton - Rounds 10-11-12
The fastest circuit in the country is the event where NAPA Racing UK really stretched its legs. Not only getting a first overall win of the year, the team also walked away with a 99-point weekend having the highest scoring event of any team so far this season.
Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS continued to hold on to second place as Team BMW and LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ once again traded places for third and fourth. The gap between second to fourth was less than half the gap from first to second.
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport climbed back up to fifth, with Hill winning races one and two. The midfield left Thruxton in a tight battle as the fifth-placed team led TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK by four points, with Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing a further point behind.
Teams' Championship Standings - Event 4
1 - NAPA Racing UK - 304 | 6 - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK - 154 |
2 - Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS - 243 | 7 - Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing - 153 |
3 - Team BMW - 227 | 8 - Restart Racing - 49 |
4 - LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ - 215 | 9 - Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR - 34 |
5 - Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport - 154 | 10 - Duckhams Racing with Bartercard - 29 |
Oulton Park - Rounds 13-14-15
Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS could not put a dent into NAPA Racing UK's lead heading into the halfway mark of the season, as the gap remained the same as it did after Thruxton. The championship leaders outscored the EXCELR8-run outfit by two points in race one before the latter gained a point back in each subsequent race.
Josh Cook helped LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ in retaking third place with a race win in race two, whilst Team BMW fell back behind the Toyota Corollas by two points.
Despite a win for Hill and Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, the double podium for Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing in the same race would see the team jump two places to fifth, with the former now in sixth. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK would be outscored by both teams ahead of them in every race to hit the mid-season mark in seventh.
Restart Racing along with NAPA Racing UK are the only two teams to remain in the same position at every round as the BTCC newcomers would stay in eighth. In ninth would once again be Duckhams Racing with Bartercard, placing them as the second-placed team running one car.
Teams' Championship Standings - Event 5
1 - NAPA Racing UK - 364 | 6 - Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport - 204 |
2 - Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS - 303 | 7 - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK - 186 |
3 - LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ - 266 | 8 - Restart Racing - 76 |
4 - Team BMW - 264 | 9 - Duckhams Racing with Bartercard - 41 |
5 - Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing - 220 | 10 - Zeus Cloud Racing with WSR - 34 |