DeLeon leads way in first BTCC official test

Daryl DeLeon topped the British Touring Car Championship’s two-day official test at Croft with the fastest time ever recorded by a BTCC car at the venue.

While the Anglo-Filipino sat at the head of the field in his West Surrey Racing BMW 330i M Sport, the test also featured the public debuts of Plato Racing with its Mercedes A35 Saloons, Alliance Racing’s Ford Focus Titanium saloons, and Power Maxed Racing’s Audi A3s.

DeLeon has yet to be named for the West Surrey Racing BMW 330i M Sport squad for 2026, but the Sunbury team wants to make it happen – his 2025 season ended with pole position at each of the final two rounds, and he has continued that pace into the new year.

The final run from DeLeon, at the end of the Wednesday afternoon session, shaded the time set in the previous hour by James Dorlin at the wheel of a Restart Racing Hyundai i30 N Fastback.

Dorlin fell just 0.027 seconds short as he gears up for what he hopes will be his first full season in the BTCC – he was forced to stand down from the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla team due to commercial reasons after seven rounds last season.

Dorlin had been the first to dip below the Tuesday standard set by Tom Ingram in his Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai. The reigning champion and team-mate Tom Chilton were 1-2 in the morning session before appearing to switch their focus away from out-and-out qualifying runs.

Like DeLeon, the other WSR BMW of Charles Rainford had a late vault up the order in the closing minutes. He ended up fourth overall in the test, sandwiched between Ingram and Chilton.

The Alliance-run NAPA Ford Focus saloons were out in force, with four cars and five drivers. Ash Sutton headed the times in the relatively slow Wednesday morning session; the four-time champion went quicker in the afternoon but was shaded by team-mate Dan Cammish as they ended the test 6-7. Mini Challenge graduate Lewis Selby settled in, while newly recruited reserve Senna Proctor jumped aboard the car of Sam Osborne for some laps in three of the sessions.

Chris Smiley was eighth in the second of the Restart Hyundais, ahead of Dan Rowbottom in his Plato Racing Mercedes. The car was only shaken down last week, but Rowbottom completed 94 laps across the two days; team-mate Adam Morgan’s is newer, but he got 70 laps under his belt.

Rounding out the overall top 10 was Josh Cook in the quickest of the Speedworks-run Toyotas, although team-mate Gordon Shedden topped the wet Tuesday afternoon running.

That session was when the PMR Audis crept onto the circuit for the first time. There was no serious running for the A3s until the final period, when Aiden Moffat, Mikey Doble and Dexter Patterson racked up a combined total of 78 laps.

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– The Autosport.com Team