West Surrey Racing’s Charles Rainford stormed to the top of the timing screens on BTCC Season Launch day with record pace. The 27 year old set a 47.102s, three tenths faster than second place Dan Cammish.
Record Breaker Rainford
Charles Rainford’s quickest laptime was quicker than Tom Ingram’s BTCC race lap record which was a 47.157 set in 2025.
Cammish sets impressive pace in succesful day for NAPA Racing
The new NAPA Racing Ford Focus Saloon was really put to the test today with all four cars getting solid mileage put on them ahead of Donington Park in nine days. Dan Cammish set the second quickest time of the day with a 47.419. The team racked up an impressive 483 laps throughout the day with no stoppages. With a solid combination of reliability and pace, the NAPA Racing squad should be competative at Donington.
Josh Cook sets solid pace in a brillaint day for Toyota
The Speedworks Corolla Racing Team and Laser Tools Racing both had brilliant days with their Toyota Corolla’s. Josh Cook headlined the times by setting a 47.437, putting him third fastest. Gordon Shedden wasn’t far behind with a 47.657 which earned him seventh position. Aron Taylor-Smith was 12th fastest in the afternoon session. The only hiccup for the team came when Max Buxton ground to a halt with just a few minutes to go in the session. He still managed to achieve the 14th fastest time in what should be a very encouraging day for the Corolla’s.
Power Maxed Racing continue to impress
The Power Maxed Racing Audi’s had a superb day at Brands Hatch and were the suprise packages of the day! Mikey Doble spent most of the early part of the session top of the standings before he was toppled by Dexter Patterson. Aiden Moffat also had a brief stint at the top of the times but fell down to ninth position come the chequered flag.
One thing to note about the Audi’s was that they didn’t compete that many laps. They only completed 91 laps between the three drivers in the afternoon session. Compare that to Ricky Collard who completed 79 laps on his own and you start to see that PMR really didn’t put that many laps on the clock. Still, very encouraging signs for PMR!
Hyundai’s difficult day
The Hyundai i30n Fastback that was so dominant last year, especially in the hands of Tom Ingram, couldn’t even crack the top 10 in the afternoon session.
The four EXCELR8 cars all finished together with Ingram 17th, Chilton 18th, Collard 19th and Hamilton 20th.
Hamilton was the cause of another red flag after he stopped on track for the second time today.
Ricky Collard had a much improved afternoon session. He only managed one lap in the morning session but managed 79 in the afternoon.
The pace from the EXCELR8 Hyundai’s isn’t a huge concern at the moement. We know that Ingram and Chilton can produce brilliant laps and race results. But the reliability is a concern for EXCELR8. The team will need to iron out the problems before the opening round.
The top 10 in the afternoon session
It’s now finally time to say that the season opener at Donington Park is next up! We are just nine days away from the 2026 BTCC season getting underway.
In the meantime, lets recap the top 10 from the afternoon session:
- Charles Rainford: 47.102
- Dan Cammish: 47.419
- Josh Cook: 47.437
- Dexter Patterson: 47.474
- Mikey Doble: 47.523
- Ash Sutton: 47.616
- Gordon Shedden: 47.657
- Adam Morgan: 47.735
- Aiden Moffat: 47.739
- Chris Smiley: 47.747
