WSR’s Charles Rainford sits second in the British Touring Car Championship standings after recording a podium finish and a pair of further top-six finishes on a thrilling day of racing at Donington Park on Sunday.
Strong pace from team-mate Daryl De Leon ensured that the 18-time title winners began the 2026 season with a large helping of points from the East Midlands venue.
After making solid progress during Saturday’s Qualifying Race, Charles started Race One from fifth place on the grid and ran competitive throughout to begin the season with a third-place result and a podium finish in his BMW 330i M Sport.
The Sussex racer added sixth and fifth-place results with two further battling drives later in the day to sit second in the Drivers’ Championship – his highest-ever position in the BTCC as he begins his second campaign in the series.
Team-mate Daryl produced two superb recovery drives early in the day; the Anglo-Filipino rising from 17th to 12th in the opener and then taking advantage of using the soft-option Goodyear tyres in Race Two to finish fifth.
This was the best result he’s achieved to date on the 1.9-mile Donington National layout in the BTCC.
An excellent start brought him up to third at the start of Race Three and he was on course for another solid points haul until he was hit from behind by a rival – who was later penalised for it – at the right-handed Coppice corner and spun onto the grass.
Mid-spin he received further contact from an unsighted car and dropped to the back of the pack. He recovered from last to 13th.
WSR hold second place in the Independent Teams’ points table and third in the overall Teams’ standings with nine triple-header rounds to go.
Charles Rainford said: “It’s been a very strong weekend for me and WSR. I’m second in the overall Drivers’ championship, which I’m delighted about. The BMW was flawless in the Qualifying Race yesterday, when we got a little bit lucky, and we’ve continued that form through today with a third, a fifth and a sixth. It’s been a fabulous weekend and I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch now.”
Daryl De Leon said: “It’s been a bit of a weekend to forget. I had a mega result in Race Two with fifth spot, but some issues all weekend have made things a bit tricky. It’s been a tough day. I made a bit of progress on the medium tyre in Race One to come up from the back to 12th, then Race Two on the option tyre was mega and I finished fifth. In the last race I just got wiped out, which ruined my race. But it’s a long season and Brands Hatch – where I scored my first BTCC win last year – is next.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “We’re pleased to see Charles take a podium finish and to be second in the championship. It’s quite a turnaround from a year ago, when he didn’t score a point here so it’s great to see the progress he’s made. Daryl deserved to have something similar points-wise – his Race Two drive on the soft tyre was very good – but a couple of things outside his control have turned what could have been a strong day into one of what might have been. I think we’ve done a good job to maximise the speed of the BMW against the opposition and had very good reliability, but it’s clear there are still some gains to be made, so we’ll look into how we can do that.”
