WSR begin a new British Touring Car Championship season at Donington Park this weekend with another spot in the history of the UK’s most prestigious racing series the target.
With a lighter, faster BMW 330i M Sport race car, an expanded four-driver line-up and Jake Hill aiming to win back-to-back Drivers’ crowns, the 2025 season is set to be an all-action affair for the 18-time series champions, who currently share the all-time record of 132 race wins for a team and are aiming to take the accolade for themselves.
The 2024 season finale was a dramatic encounter that climaxed with Jake Hill winning his first BTCC title on home soil at Brands Hatch.
Jake, who needs just a 14th-place finish to break the 2000 career points barrier on Sunday, once again drives the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW in what will be his fourth season with WSR.
The 1.9-mile Donington Park National layout has happy memories for the Kent ace as he scored pole position and a race win on his WSR debut in 2022 and began his title-winning campaign there with a double-podium last year.
Joining Jake are three new arrivals; race-winner Aiden Moffat and rookie Charles Rainford in LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR BMWs, and BTCC sophomore Daryl DeLeon.
Aiden, who won at last year’s Donington opener, is one of a small number of current competitors to have won BTCC races in both front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive cars.
The Edinburgh driver has more than 300 starts to his name in the BTCC and has been on the podium five times at the Donington National circuit, making it his most successful track in the series.
Charles, meanwhile, is preparing to make his BTCC debut at Donington. The Sussex racer steps up from the Carrera Cup GB, in which he claimed the runner-up spot in last year’s championship.
Like Charles, Daryl DeLeon will not only compete for overall honours, but also for the Jack Sears Trophy – named in honour of the BTCC’s inaugural title-winner in 1958 and awarded to the best-performing driver without a podium finish or a top-10 championship finish at the start of the upcoming season.
The Cambridgeshire racer, 19, joins WSR after working his way up the grid in 2024 and claiming a career-best seventh place finish at the final round of the season. He was one of last year’s Donington stars as he qualified inside the top 10 for the first time.
All four drivers will race an upgraded BMW 330i M Sport, which is derived from the award-winning 330i production model and which sports the latest LCI updates.
Several revisions to the BMWs to enable greater performance, have been instigated and tested during the past month at a range of UK circuits.
RULE CHANGES
For the first time in 2025, entrants in the BTCC will run on 100 per cent sustainable fuel. This replaces the hybrid power unit that was used from 2022-24; the removal of which means that all cars will be 55kg lighter than last year.
The upto 60bhp boost that was available to drivers from the hybrid system in 2024 will be retained, but will now come direct from the turbocharger.
Boost will be assigned to each driver on a sliding scale based on their championship position coming into a race weekend and then on their results on-track for Races Two and Three each time. The drivers performing best will have the least boost available in the next race.
How to watch
While all races will be broadcast in HD on ITV4 from 1100 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, as in 2024, be broadcast on the ITV Sport YouTube channel without geographic restrictions.
What they said
Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, said: “It’s time to defend the title we worked so hard to win last year, but honestly, a week out from Donington, it feels no different having the #1 on the BMW as all the work is about the ‘now’. Lots has changed with the BMW with the BTCC’s move away from hybrid power and there’s a bit still to unpick in terms of ultimate pace, but we’ve been in this situation before and always been at or near the front come race day. We’ll take it one step at a time and we’ll be fine.”
Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR, said: “Donington gave me a winning start last year, and things look close this time around, even if it looks like we still have a little bit of pace still to unlock from the BMW, based on the final test. It’s been very easy to get comfortable within the team so I already have a good feeling. If we can just find a little bit more speed, I’m sure we can be challengers this weekend.”
Charles Rainford, LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR, said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed driving the BMW in testing and now I’m ready to make my BTCC race debut. There are still a few things we have to finalise with the set-up going towards Donington, but we’ll take everything as it comes. I’m feeling confident in my ability to fight and this first qualifying session this weekend will tell us exactly where we are. I can’t wait.”
Daryl DeLeon, WSR, said: “I’m so excited to start the season. I’ve had five days of testing in the BMW over the past month so I’m feeling comfortable and ready for the lights to go out on Sunday. As with anything, you can look at testing, but you never really know where you are until that first qualifying session is underway. I feel ready though; WSR are a great team and will put a good car under me, so I’m aiming for success.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “The new season is here and, as always, we’re aiming high and want to see if we can win more BTCC titles. It’s been a very busy winter at WSR with three new drivers to introduce to the team alongside our reigning champion Jake and with the technical rule changes requiring a total re-engineering job on the rear-wheel-drive BMWs. We’ve learnt plenty in testing, but to be honest, we won’t know where we really are until we arrive at Donington and see everyone’s true performance levels in both qualifying and the races.”
