It was a relatively lively opening to the BTCC season at Donington Park and now the wheels have turned in anger, how would the next round pan out? Four-time champion, Ash Sutton, held an eighteen point lead going into the meeting, while last year’s champion, Tom Ingram, started Brands over thirty points behind him after running into issues in the opening race weekend. 

Qualifying Race 

Sutton triumphed in Saturday’s qualifying race despite starting from fifth on the grid. Ingram, who started on pole, was pushed wide during contact with Daryl De Leon allowing Sutton to drive through the newly created gap and off he went to victory. De Leon recovered to line up second, with Dan Cammish and Ricky Collard ahead of Ingram and Adam Morgan. 

Race One, 7/10 – Ash Sutton, Ricky Collard, Tom Ingram

• Sutton was away quickly as the lights went out in damp conditions, with De Leon immediately dropping down. He wasn’t the only one as the cars tiptoed around in the difficult conditions. Collard had moved up to second, but as the cars crossed the line to start lap 2, Morgan found the barriers and a long safety car period was needed.
• As the race restarted on lap 9, Collard was exceptionally close to Sutton and after a little bit of contact, it momentarily gave Ingram an opportunity, but after being blocked he fell behind Cammish to fourth. 
• On lap 12, Collard once again closed on Sutton and this time, with the use of the boost, he took the lead. However, this didn’t last long as he ran wide and Sutton was able to get back through.
• In the following laps, the top five ran bumper to bumper, with Cammish all over Collard, but in the end Cammish fell behind Ingram to finish fourth. 
• Towards the end, Sam Osborne took sixth from Mikey Doble and Lewis Selby hit Aiden Moffat off the track, but Sutton claimed career win number fifty. 

Race Two, 8.5/10 – Árón Taylor-Smith, Ash Sutton, Ricky Collard

• The pack zoomed off the line in formation order, but like race one, a safety car was immediately needed, this time to recover Lewis Selby’s stricken Focus after he lost the rear. 
• When racing restarted, Charles Rainford moved up to fourth ahead of Cammish, while at the front it was three abreast for the lead with Collard winning the battle, before the rain really started to come down. 
• The top five remained very close together and at the end of lap 12, a sideways Rainford was hit by Cammish, but the pair continued with the former having damage. However, Cammish soon went wide and through the gravel which resulted in him dropping down the order. 
• Throughout the race, Árón Taylor-Smith had been making his way forward and was now fourth and his charge didn’t stop there. Over the next couple of laps, he made his way to the front, but while Dan Rowbottom was four seconds a lap quicker, he was recovering from a pit stop and was unlikely to challenge for the lead. 
• Taylor-Smith had a large gap on lap 19 and while several drivers struggled, he did not. His first victory in ten years was secured as a premature end was called to the race due to Rainford, and then Osborne, finding the gravel at Druids. 

Race Three, 7/10 – Tom Ingram, Ash Sutton, Mikey Doble

• James Dorlin was the lucky recipient of the reverse grid draw and he was away well, but Ingram zoomed up from fifth to second. Sutton, however, who started seventh, was nearly in the lead by Druids, but Dorlin and then Ingram held on. 
• Cars were on and off the track all over the place, including Collard who had a couple of excursions and he only lasted a couple more laps before he pulled over with a radiator full of grass. 
• While Selby and Chris Smiley were exchanging panels, Mikey Doble went around the outside of Sutton for third and while he tried to fight back, Dorlin blocked them. Doble was soon second after using the boost, but Ingram was 3.3 seconds clear. 
• Dorlin then lost positions to De Leon, Cook and Morgan as the race settled down. 
• Towards the end, Sutton caught Doble and after a few laps, he used his boost to overtake him for second, but Ingram collected his first win of the season. 

It has been quite some start to the season for Sutton with three wins and three second places and he holds what is already quite a seismic lead over Ingram of 47 points after just two rounds. It’s also been a fantastic start to the season for Doble, although Sutton nearly has double his points. 

Not wanting to wish the season away, but it already seems like it could be a Sutton and Ingram dominated championship once again. The way Sutton has started is imperious for the rest of the field. He has taken to the saloon car is fantastically and at the moment he has shown no signs of slowing down. Even when he has had a slightly lower qualifying session, he is soon immediately back at the front in the race. 

Ingram, after suffering poor opening results, showed his champion class at Donington with a strong set of results. Whether Sutton starts to suffer with his lack of boost next time out at Snetterton  in qualifying and the opening race remains to be seen, but if he does, it should give us a different front runner for at least a short period of time. If Sutton still qualifies on pole, you have to fear that it could be season over already. 

2026 has already had some fantastic races and they certainly can’t be classed as boring, as many were in the hybrid era. Brands Hatch had plenty of action throughout the pack and hopefully this is something that can be continued across the rest of the season. 

Snetterton is next up and it will be interesting to see how the cars and teams deal with the longer circuits and lap times. With hot weather expected, will the teams pick the right tyre at the right time and who will come out on top? For the good of the season, you’d have to say hopefully not Sutton. 

2026 British Touring Car Championship after 6 of 30 rounds

1.	Ashley Sutton	129 points
2.	Tom Ingram	82
3.	Mikey Doble	68
4.	Ricky Collard	67
5.	Dan Cammish	61
6.	Aiden Moffat	57