BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
 Image Credits- Btcc instagram Tom Ingram wins the British touring car championship for the second time with the most points ever scored in btcc history at 462 points. Ash Sutton, the 4 time champion, came second with Dan Cammish having his best season in the Napa taking third. Dan Lloyd took the independent trophy with a 4 point gap to Mikey Doble and Chris smiley just 1 point behind Doble. With both of the restart racing drivers scoring well, the team secured the independent teams for the first time in just their second year in the championship. Daryl DeLeon took the jack sears trophy win after a close fought battle all year with team mate Charles Rainford. They swapped points and positions even throughout the weekend with both of them having a DNF in one of the races. Rainford ended the year only 3 points behind his teammate and is not eligible for the trophy next year after his outstanding win at brands Indy earlier in the year. DeLeon was the first WSR driver to claim the jack sears win, meaning that they have won all the titles that they are eligible for over the years. Napa racing UK clinched the teams title by only 2 points ahead of team Vertu, maintaining their 3 year streak of winning the teams championship. However, excelr8 won the manufacturers championship with their Hyundai for the first time taking the title from Napa racing by 3 points and 142 points ahead of outgoing champions BMW.  Image credits- Btcc Website Race 1 Daryl DeLeon was due to start on pole but unfortunately had a loss of power on the formation lap so had to retire from the race and never got back out. Dan Cammish took the lead of the race from the beginning and maintained a gap to take the victory over Tom Chilton and Adam Morgan. Josh cook managed to fight his way through the pack and finished 11th from 22nd on the grid. Jake Hill suffered a puncture early in the race, forcing him to pit and finish the race in 19th, putting his fight for 3rd in the championship out of contention.
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 Jake hill takes the win after an action-packed race at Knockhill. The battle for first began as the lights went out with DeLeon and Rainford battling round and over the bends around Knockhill. DeLeon tried a move on Rainford but caught the grass and went across, putting grass into his radiator which caused him to drop back places. There were also major battles in the mid pack with 7 drivers fighting for 9th place with less than 2 seconds between them. Nick Halstead caused a safety car after getting a tap from the leader Jake hill and got stuck in the gravel trap. Senna proctor gave tom Ingram third on the line to benefit Ingram's championship as ash Sutton was running in 7th. Aiden Moffat had his best result of the season finishing in 6th at a BMW favoured Knockhill.
  Image credits- Btcc website Cars were flying around Knockhill during qualifying with the BMW’s taking the top 3 places for race 1.
In the 2 weeks since croft, a lot has happened in the Btcc world. Unfortunately, Power maxed racing suffered a fire that destroyed their base and with that their race team and cars. However, like a phoenix from the ashes, they managed to get a Cupra from the Patterson family and the ex max hall Cupra from unlimited Motorsport. This has meant that 7 days after they lost everything, they have 2 cars on the grid for Knockhill. They are still having to work hard to get everything up and running but they have shown resilience and shows the family spirit of the Btcc. Dan Lloyd has also had to front a massive cost as his engine failure at croft has led to him needing a new engine which cost £24,000 and he is trying his best to raise those funds so that he can continue for the rest of the season. The massive surprise of qualifying was Ash Sutton exiting in q2 after he nearly rolled it coming out of the chicane. His set up doesn't seem to favour Knockhill with him struggling in all sessions. The BMW’s have found a better set up since the summer break with all 4 of the cars getting into q2, which was Aiden Moffat’s first appearance this season. Daryl DeLeon also had his best qualifying result, placing second on the grid for race 1. Reigning champion Jake Hill takes third after his recovery from the ear infection that made him miss Croft. The main championship contenders Tom Ingram, who starts in 4th and Ash Sutton, who starts in 10th, will have to try and fight their way through the BMWs to get a good points haul from race 1. Dan Rowbottom was excluded from qualifying after he failed his post weight check so will start race 1 from the back of the grid.
 Image Credits- BTCC instagram Race 1
Tom Ingram wins race 1 from pole position ahead of championship rival Dan Cammish and teammate Senna Proctor, who takes his first podium in 4 years after his return at Thruxton this year. Mikey Doble had a spin at the chicane which led to him going into the barriers and to the back of the pack, losing him his good position of 4th. Chris smiley had an off at cleavux( check spelling) putting him into the gravel and casing a safety car. Championship leader Ash Sutton had a puncture on the safety car restart causing him to pit where he then had a power steering issue which led to him exiting the pits in last place. The puncture came due a pin or nail from the track markers. This issue means that Sutton has to start the 2nd race from 20th place. With Tom Ingram winning, that puts him into the championship lead, 13 points ahead of Ash Sutton.
 Image Credits- BTCC Instagram Qualifying
At a warm and sunny croft, Tom Ingram takes his second pole of the season and extends his lead in the Goodyear Wingfoot award. He topped the times in both fp1 and fp2 putting in a lap time of 1:20.522 for him to take pole ahead of local lad Dan Cammish and superstar Mikey Doble. However there were a few more surprises earlier in the day. Colin Turkington filled in for Jake hill in fp2 after Jake was taken ill to the medical centre where he was assessed and told that he was unfit to drive. This has led to the team pulling the car out of the week meaning that the reigning champion will not score any points out of this weekend and may potentially lose out in the championship to Adam Morgan and Tom Chilton, putting him 7th in the championship with only 4 rounds to go. Track limits were the major words spoken during qualifying with most drivers getting a lap time deleted throughout the stages of qualifying, especially through turn 5 which is the exit of the chicane. Dan Rowbottom was the main victim of track limits but still managed to put in Ford focus in 5th behind the hastily rebuilt Hyundai of Tom Chilton who had a big crash in fp2 with the bumper and sides having to be replaced. The major shock of qualifying was Ash Sutton not making it through to the quick 6 and qualifying 11th after complaining that his car lacked the power to be able to complete a fast lap. Dan Lloyd was also a stand out performer with his best quality result of the season in 6th, which will be a relief after a major sponsor pulled out during the summer break which led to him having to scramble to get sponsorship so that he could continue in one of his best seasons in the btcc. 1- Tom Ingram 1:20.522 2- Dan Cammish 1:20.789 3- Mikey Doble 1:20.936 4-Tom Chilton 1:20.938 5- Dan Rowbottom 1:21.071 6- Dan Lloyd 1:21.593 7- Aron Taylor Smith 1:21.109 8- Senna Proctor 1:21.122 9- Charles Rainford 1:21.164 10-Daryl DeLeon 1:21.172 11- Ash Sutton 1:21.204 12- Adam Morgan 1:21.708 13-Dexter Patterson 1:22.171 14- Chris Smiley 1:21.653 15- James Dorlin 1:22.173 16- Aiden Moffat 1:21.693 17- Gordon Shedden 1:22.367 18- Sam Osborne 1:21.731 19- Stephen Jelley 1:22.537 20- Nic Hamilton 1:22.882 21-Max Buxton 1:36.888 22- Nick Halstead 1:24.396  Image credits- Btcc website Thruxton lived up to its name this weekend being the quickest and liveliest circuit on the Btcc calendar. Tom Ingram took his first victory of the year in the first race after a long fight with Ash Sutton which led then to both skip the chicane and Tom to take the lead of the race. Sutton then started to drop back due to his race plate going into the radiator and making it overheat. Max hall and Sam Osborne had a coming together which led to a safety car making the field bunch back up again and made for a lively restart. Mikey Doble was unlucky, and his engine overheat meaning he had to retire from the race and could not capitalize on his success from Snetterton last round. Josh Cook made a huge recovery from 14th in his rebuilt Honda to 3rd and proving that Thruxton is still a good circuit for him despite the lack of performance from the Honda civic this season.
 Image credits- Btcc website  Ash Sutton slips and slides his way to pole position with a lap time of 1:20.786 on the wet, fast Thruxton circuit. He is beat championship rival Tom Ingram to pole with teammate Dan Cammish, who has taken 2 poles this season so far, in third.
Josh Cook was the first real victim to the wet conditions at Thruxton as he aquaplaned into the wall with a smash. He got out of the car but was taken to the medical centre with an ankle problem. His lap times were taken off him as he caused a red flag meaning the king of Thruxton may have to fight his way through the pack to maintain his title if his car can be fixed in time and if he is cleared to drive. Adam Morgan had a lucky escape after also aquaplaning into the barriers but was able to recover himself and return to the track. The conditions were very tricky and made worse by the fact that Thruxton is the fastest circuit that the Btcc visits. Senna proctor, who has replaced Michael Crees for the rest of the season after Bensley's outing at Snetterton, made a surprise entry into the quick six and securing 6th on the grid for race 1. He had not set foot in a touring car since the end of the 2021 season and will be hoping to get good results in the races tomorrow and will be hoping that the electrical issue he was suffering from in the quick 6 is fixed before race 1. James Dorlin was also a surprise entry to the top 6, getting 5th on the grid for tomorrow and he will be looking to get his best result of the season for the Toyota gazoo racing team who have not had much success so far in the season. His teammate Gordon Shedden also had a good qualifying in 9th which is the best qualifying for the 3-time champion on his return to the championship. Nick Halstead was also taken to the medical centre and did not take part in qualifying and will line up last on the grid tomorrow.
 image credits to Btcc website Btcc was back in full force this weekend at Snetterton and had many battles up and down the grid. 36 laps across 3 races around a 2.7 mile circuit provided entertainment and suspense for everyone to enjoy with history and personal victories added to it.
Elbows were out for the first race at Snetterton on Sunday. Dan Cammish took the win but with the threat of a penalty after he crept before the lights hanging over him. Jake hills race came to an early end after one of the Toyotas ran into him and spun him, meaning he had to pit and finish 5 laps down. The bashing didn't stop there as Max Hall lost it going into the last corner and hit the side of Gordon Shedden taking them both out of the race and proving that coming back to the Btcc is not a walk in the park. There was a battle for 2nd towards the end of the race between championship rivals’ Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram with late lunges and switch backs that show the true power and nature of the cars and drivers. Tom Ingram taking 2nd meant that it was his 100th podium in the Btcc with () being wins. However, the 2022 champion is yet to get a win this year despite being sat in 2nd in the championship. Aiden Moffat was disqualified after the race due to over boosting during the race and had to start race 2 from the back.
 Image credits to Btcc Instagram Dan Cammish secured pole position with a 1:53.750 lap time ahead of Tom Ingram and teammate Dan Rowbottom. Tom Ingram, who is 2nd in the championship, with only 3 seconds of boost managed to put in a flyer and qualify 2nd which put him in a good position to fight Ash for the lead of the championship. One of the shocks of qualifying was Jake hill not progressing through from his group and ending up 20th on the grid and he only has 5 laps of Toca turbo boost to make his way through the pack at a circuit where boost will have a major impact. Restart racing had a good qualifying with both progressing into the top 12 with Chris smiley qualifying 12th and Dan Lloyd narrowly missing out on making the quick 6 and qualifying 7th. Ash Sutton had electrical issues throughout qualifying with him stopping in track and having to restart the car at the beginning of the top 12 session and then coming to a stop in the quick 6 meaning that he caused a red flag and did not set a lap time in that session. However, he still qualified 6th but will only have 1 lap of boost to try and keep his championship lead.
1- Dan Cammish 1:53.750 2- Tom Ingram 1:53.780 3- Dan Rowbottom 1:54.255 4- Mikey doble 1:54.518 5-Adam Morgan 1:54.908 6-Ash Sutton 1:54.308 7-Dan Lloyd 1:54.769 8- Josh Cook 1:54.842 9- Tom Chilton 1:54.872 10-James Dorlin 1:54.927 11- Charles Rainford 1:55.177 12- Chris smiley 1:55.221 13- Daryl DeLeon 1:55.494 14- Aiden Moffat 1:55.411 15- Gordon Shedden 1:55.499 16- Sam Osborne 1:55.470 17- Aron Taylor smith 1:55.544 18- Dexter Patterson 1:55.508 19- Max Hall 1:55.865 20- Jake Hill 1:55.769 21- Stephen Jelley 1:55.907 22- Ronan Pearson 1:56.003 23- Nick Halstead 1:58.281 24- Nick Hamilton 1:58.556 25- Ryan Bensley 1:58.637  Image credits- Btcc website gallery Qualifying
Jake hill takes pole position at Brands hatch indy circuit Jake hill takes pole with a lap time of 46.493 seconds ahead of team mate Charles Rainford and team vertu driver Adam Morgan. The lack of toca turbo boost affected Ash Sutton's qualifying who didn't make it out of the group stages of qualifying and ended up in 13th. Aiden Moffat had an off into the gravel with caused a red flag and meant that his lap time was disallowed and put him 25th on the grid. This also impacted other peoples strategies and meant that some front runners did not put in a good lap and did not get through to q2. Tom Ingram was also under investigation for not going to the weigh bridge when the red flag was called and led to all his lap data being deleted and leaving him the mission to put in a good lap with less than 5 minutes left on the clock. Sam Osborne had a brilliant qualifying putting himself 7th on the grid and out qualifying all of his Napa team mates.
Race 1 Hill takes the win after 24 laps around the brands indy circuit The BMWs showed that they are still up there in race 1 with both Hill and Charles Rainford running in the front of the pack with them creating a large gap to Tom Ingram in third early in the race. Rainford was racing around the short Indy circuit at brands and took a new lap record of 47.604. Ash Sutton made some progress up the pack after qualifying 13th due to lack of boost and was on the hard tyre which allowed others to learn off his progress. Boost played into people’s strategies which meant that the pack was fighting for positions all down the grid. With Hill taking the win, it made WSR the most successful team in Btcc history with 133 wins.
Race 2 Deleon takes his first Btcc win at round 5! Daryl DeLeon took his maiden victory after a lunge on Hill after the safety car restart in his 50th race in the Btcc. He worked his way up from 7th through the field and after Max Hall and Dexter Patterson caused a crash which resulted in a safety car and then Dan Cammish stalled on the restart, the hard tyres which Jake hill was running on meant that Deleon could get passed easily and take the victory. The hard to soft tyre deficit was evident as Ash Sutton came through to 3rd from 10th whereas Tom Ingram, who had finished 3rd in the first race which resulted in him having to take the hardest tyre available, lost ground and ended the race in 11th. Chris Smiley had a good race making him the winning independent driver and his best result of the season.
Race 3 WSR takes their 3rd win of the day with Charles Rainford taking the victory Wsr made it 135 wins in total for them after their dominance at brands hatch Indy. Dan Rowbottom was drawn from the reverse grid to be put on pole for the 3rd race of the day. Charles Rainford took victory after a many laps battle with teammate and current champion Jake hill and took his maiden win after only 6 races in the Btcc with Wsr. Their teammate Aiden Moffat was also battling through the pack with fights between him and Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram with paint work being exchanged between them all! Max hall had an unfortunate off in the gravel which luckily did not cause a safety car but meant that after a good-looking weekend at Donington, Hall had 2 DNF this weekend.
After the weekend’s events, Ash Sutton leads the championship by 5 points ahead of Tom Ingram with reigning champion Jake Hill 7 points behind again in 3rd. There is already a 25 point gap between 3rd and 4th but after this weekend but everything can change within a weekend. The next weekend is a Snetterton on the 24/25th May
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