WSR continue their British Touring Car Championship title defence at the shortest circuit on the calendar, the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, this weekend with three thrilling races guaranteed for what is sure to be a bumper crowd.
The 18-time series champions were victorious on last year’s visit to the 1.2-mile Kent venue with two wins and pole position with their BMW race cars.
Now their quartet of BMW 330i M Sports head to the iconic and undulating venue with drivers Jake Hill, Aiden Moffat, Charles Rainford and Daryl DeLeon determined to move up the order after a solid season-opener netted nine points finishes.
Leading the charge for WSR is Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver Jake Hill, the Kent racer who will compete at his home circuit for the first time since becoming BTCC Champion at a dramatic season finale on the longer Grand Prix loop last October.
The Indy layout was the scene of Jake’s first series podium in 2018 and he has added three more rostrum finishes there since.
LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR driver Aiden Moffat was one of Sunday’s stars at Donington as he recovered from a 20th-place qualifying result to take a trio of top-10 finishes on race day.
The Edinburgh driver was a podium finisher on the Indy Circuit in 2021 and has been a race-winner on the GP layout as well.
Brands Hatch is the local circuit for Aiden’s LKQ team-mate Charles Rainford, who made his BTCC debut at Donington in April and only narrowly missed out on a spot in the Q3 ‘Quick Six’ pole position shoot-out section of qualifying.
The Horsham racer was a winner in the Carrera Cup GB in 2022 on the GP layout and a podium-finisher last year on the Indy Circuit.
Cambridgeshire’s Daryl DeLeon was another to excel at the 2024 season finale in Kent as he scored his career-best result of seventh place – again on the longer layout – but he has been a winner in sportscars at the shorter track earlier in his career.
The WSR driver, who is set to make his 50th BTCC start in Race Two on Sunday, scored a trio of points finishes at Donington and is aiming to make further gains this weekend.
WSR’s record on the Indy Circuit is one of the strongest in BTCC with 17 victories – more than any other team on the grid, including last year’s pole position and double win.
How to watch
While all races will be broadcast in HD on ITV4 from 1040 on Sunday, a major new agreement means that fans outside the UK and North America will be able to watch every BTCC race live on the BTCC YouTube channel. Qualifying will be broadcast on the ITV Sport YouTube channel without geographic restrictions.
What they said…
Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, said: “Although we made progress during the opening weekend and came away with a good points haul, our full focus has been on raising our game and challenging those at the front of the grid. Returning to Brands Hatch is a real confidence boost. Being born and raised in Kent, it’s a special place for me, and I can’t wait to get out there in front of a home crowd. Brands Hatch Indy presents a unique challenge with its short layout, which makes qualifying crucial for Sunday’s races. There’s little room for error, but I’m confident that both the team and I will be giving everything we’ve got to be back fighting at the front.”
Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR, said: “It’s hard to know where we are in the competitive order just now after a pretty tough Saturday at Donington and then a very encouraging race day where we got three top-10s. Brands Hatch should be better-suited to the rear-wheel-drive BMW than Donington was so this, plus the work the team have done on set-up over the past week, should mean we can be further up the order.”
Charles Rainford, LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR, said: “Donington was wild as far as a debut goes! On the one hand, it was a baptism of fire in terms of learning how to race a touring car, but on the other, we made some solid progress with the BMW over the weekend and if we can carry that into Brands Hatch and I can keep learning the specifics of how to get the speed from the car, I’m sure we can move forwards and get more towards where we want to be.”
Daryl DeLeon, WSR, said: “We’re up and running for 2025, have some points in the bag and now we’re looking at getting all our cars higher up the order at Brands Hatch. Personally, I’m ahead of where I was last year points-wise so I’m heading to Kent trying to take that next step with the BMW and to get that Jack Sears Trophy win that came so close last time out.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “It’s no secret that the rule changes for 2025 have benefitted the front-wheel-drive cars, so we were expecting Donington to be tough after our performance at Media Day. With this in mind I was pleased with the progress we made. We have a very experienced technical team here and we’ve left no stone unturned as we look to find a set-up that will help all four drivers unlock the performance from the BMWs this weekend. We are naturally targeting a more competitive showing at a circuit where we won twice last year.”
