The 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship bursts into life at Donington Park this weekend (18/19 April) for the opening event of the year. Here’s all the information you need to know to keep up with all of the action…
For the very first time, the BTCC field will have an all-new Saturday format to adapt to, as the debut showing of the Qualifying Race will culminate Saturday’s full-throttle theatre.
Free Practice kickstarts the weekend, cut down to only one 40-minute session. Instead of FP2, we go straight into qualifying. Two groups get their own 15-minute session, split from the finishing order of practice. The group with the fastest time will take the odd-numbered grid spots for the Qualifying Race. 15 minutes after qualifying, the pit lane opens ahead of the ‘Race for Pole’. A 13-lap race will then take place with half points awarded, as the result forms the grid for the first of the traditional trio of races on Sunday.
Less than one week ago, the 2026 grid headed to Brands Hatch for the final of the three official pre-season testing days. The 21-car grid hit the track and gathered as much data as possible in preparation for the looming first event of the campaign.
This weekend’s race day action will feature on the home of the BTCC, ITV4, from 1045 on Sunday (19 April), while the ITV YouTube page will host the Qualifying Race and Qualifying on Saturday (18 April) from 1350.
As in 2025, each race day of the season – including all support series’ races – will be streamed LIVE around the globe on the BTCC YouTube channel, with the exception of the UK and North America, which have existing broadcast arrangements.
The BTCC will be aired LIVE in North America (US and Canada), continuing the multi-year agreement with the RACER Network, streaming live and on demand as part of a long-term agreement with the championship.
All 30 races are scheduled to air on the main RACER channel, whilst support series’ and extended BTCC highlights will be available to watch via the RACER+ App, the network’s premium motorsports streaming platform. Race 1 will begin at 06:25 Eastern Time (ET) with Race 2 following at 09:35ET and Race 3 closing out the day’s racing at 12:25ET.
