All six different marques win in opening nine races of 2026
WSR’s Charles Rainford claimed victory in the Qualifying Race earlier today (23 May) as the BMW driver reigned supreme amidst scorching conditions at Snetterton.
Despite a frenetic start this particular ‘Race to Pole’ arguably proved to be the most routine so far as Rainford wrestled his way past pole sitter Tom Chilton on the opening tour.
Chilton’s #3 Team VERTU Hyundai tried to hold off the charging front-row starting BMW as the pair ran side-by-side for much of the early exchanges.
Rainford was briefly nudged wide onto the grass but the talented young gun held on and eventually completed the pass on the run through Williams.
The experienced Chilton was about to receive more blows as he was first handed a five-second penalty for starting out of position and was then shuffled further down the order on-track as a number of title protagonists nipped by.
Speedworks Corolla Racing’s Josh Cook enjoyed a very strong second place as his team made some notable setup changes to his car following a difficult practice session earlier in the morning, whilst reigning champion Tom Ingram followed.
Ingram’s Team VERTU Hyundai was behind title rival Ash Sutton for much of the race before the standings leader exited stage left with a mechanical problem – incredibly making this two out of three Qualifying Races that Sutton’s #116 Ford Focus has failed to finish.
NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish was fourth with Cataclean Plato Racing’s Dan Rowbottom in fifth – his best finish since his ‘Race to Pole’ triumph in the season opener at Donington Park.
Daryl De Leon was sixth in the second WSR BMW while Adam Morgan provided another solid result for Cataclean Plato Racing in seventh.
The recovering Chilton, James Dorlin (Restart Racing) and Sam Osborne (NAPA Racing UK) completed the top ten positions.
Rainford’s victory highlighted the ultra competitiveness of Britain’s fiercest championship with ALL six marques having now won at least once from the opening nine races of the 2026 campaign.
Rounds 7, 8 and 9 of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship take place at Snetterton tomorrow with the action getting underway in the UK on ITV4 from 10:45, with the races also being beamed around the world on Racer TV (North America) and the BTCC YouTube Channel (Rest of the World).
Charles Rainford, WSR, said: “We were in control and I wasn’t going to do anything silly. I was waiting for the tyres to go off on the front-wheel drive cars and that happened about halfway through so I’m very happy with that – let’s try and repeat that tomorrow. I sat down with my engineer Dan [Millard] after practice and was like ‘right, how do we turn this around?’ and we’ve come together with a rocket ship, so I think it’s going to be car cover on tonight, don’t touch it, and away we go tomorrow.”
Qualifying Race – Snetterton – Final Classification:
P/No/Name/Entry/Laps/Time/Gap/Best/On/199Charles RAINFORDWSR815:42.8141:56.2123266Josh COOKSpeedworks Corolla Racing815:44.8051.9911:56.6923380Tom INGRAMTeam VERTU815:46.6563.8421:56.9362427Dan CAMMISHNAPA Racing UK815:47.1194.3051:56.9422532Daniel ROWBOTTOMCataclean Plato Racing815:48.9326.1181:56.933262Daryl DE LEONWSR815:49.0666.2521:56.9816733Adam MORGANCataclean Plato Racing815:52.0369.2221:57.283383Tom CHILTONTeam VERTU815:52.3519.5371:56.64529132James DORLINRestart Racing815:52.5019.6871:57.39661077Sam OSBORNENAPA Racing UK815:54.27011.4561:57.34031117Dexter PATTERSONSteel Seal with Power Maxed Racing815:56.49013.6761:57.52031211Ricky COLLARDTeam VERTU815:56.62513.8111:57.34131352Gordon SHEDDENLaser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport815:57.40314.5891:57.57631422Chris SMILEYRestart Racing815:57.71914.9051:57.46971588Mikey DOBLELKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing816:00.00417.1901:57.67571628Nicolas HAMILTONTeam VERTU816:00.58817.7741:57.61041715Lewis SELBYNAPA Racing UK816:02.38319.5691:57.60141819Max BUXTONSpeedworks Corolla Racing816:18.75135.9371:58.76671950Árón TAYLOR-SMITHLaser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport716:14.4781 Lap1:58.3822DNF16Aiden MOFFATLKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing713:55.6021 Lap1:57.4264DNF116Ashley SUTTONNAPA Racing UK415:07.2184 Laps1:57.3012
More to follow…
