Power Maxed Racing has emerged as one of the early stories of the 2026 British Touring Car Championship season, with its all-new Audi package delivering immediate front-running performance.
With the decision to change cars forced by the team’s devastating fire at its headquarters in late summer 2025, Power Maxed Racing had a hectic off-season.
Yet, despite limited pre-season running, the team has exceeded expectations, scoring podiums, wins and establishing itself as a genuine contender in the early championship fight.
For Mikey Doble, the start to the season has been close to ideal. Sitting third in the standings after the opening meetings, his results underline both the competitiveness of the new car and the cohesion within the team.
“I don’t think we could have asked for much more to start the year,” said Doble to TouringCars.Net. “The guys at Power Maxed Racing were confident they’d built a really good car, and everything about it is great. It’s fast, we’ve got three quick drivers, and we all work well together.”
Doble’s tally already includes multiple podium finishes, a race victory and several wins in the Independents’ category, marking a strong continuation of his upward trajectory in the series.
Crucially, those results have not come by chance, but through consistent race pace in varying conditions.
“We’re sitting P3 in the championship,” he added. “We’ve had two podiums, a win and multiple Independents’ victories as well, so it’s been a great start to the year.”
The early success is particularly notable given the lack of a historical data baseline for the Audi. Unlike more established packages in the BTCC field, the car is still at a relatively early stage of its development curve.
Doble highlighted the contrast with the outgoing Vauxhall, which had reached the limit of its potential.
“The Vauxhall was a good car, but it was at the peak of its development, probably too late in its career. This Audi is a young whippersnapper and it’s only going to get better.
“It’s already strong in areas where the Vauxhall wasn’t. And we’re going to make it better. That should be a worry for everyone else.”
Doble acknowledged the strength of his rivals but remains optimistic about his own prospects in the overall championship.
“Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram are at the peak of their powers, with great teams around them. It might be unrealistic to target the overall title in year one, but top six is a minimum and top three is definitely achievable.”
Doble also insisted that the Independents’ title – often a primary focus for smaller teams – is not currently a priority.
“When we’re this competitive and fighting for outright wins, the Independents’ becomes secondary,” he said. “It’ll come as a byproduct of doing well in the main championship.”
That opinion is echoed by Team Principal Adam Weaver, who was more direct about the team’s ambitions this season.
While pleased with the early results, he has made clear that the ultimate objective goes beyond podium finishes or class honours.
“I want to win the championship,” Weaver told TouringCars.Net. “At the very least, I want to be in contention going into the final round.”
Weaver emphasises that overall success carries more weight than secondary honours.
“You take the other championships because they’re there, and they’re good for PR,” he explained. “But that’s not what we’re here to do. The goal is to be in contention at the end of the year.”
Explaining the team’s choice of chassis for 2026, Weaver admitted there were only a few cars they were interested in running, one of which (the Mercedes A35 Saloon) was ultimately utilised by Plato Racing.
“We had to settle on the car quickly because they take a long time to build,” said Weaver. “There were only two or three options we were interested in, one of which was being built by Plato Racing. The Audi stood out in terms of its shape, aerodynamics and overall package.”
The brand also brought added appeal from a sponsorship perspective, strengthening existing relationships and enabling new partnerships.
“It’s a slightly more prestigious brand,” Weaver added. “I’ve had a long-term friendship with Awesome GTI, who are Volkswagen Audi group specialists. When we were running a Vauxhall, they couldn’t justify paying for a sticker on the car.
“As soon as we ran a CUPRA, they helped us out and became a sponsor and then stepped up even more so to get involved with the [Dexter] Patterson car.”
One of the most striking elements of Power Maxed Racing’s early form is the lack of testing time. With a compressed schedule between race weekends, the team has effectively been developing the car in live competition.
“We’ve done no testing really,” added Weaver. “We had a shakedown and media day, but since then we’ve been learning on race weekends.
“There’s no way to go testing between rounds. We won’t really be able to do that until the mid-season break, so we’re making the most of the time we have.”
Weaver has already identified areas where the car can improve, particularly in traction and low-speed performance.
“We’re not struggling massively in straight-line speed, we’re carrying speed well through high-speed corners, but others are getting the power down better out of slow corners. That’s something we need to work on.”
Circuits such as Snetterton, which place a premium on traction, could therefore present a sterner test for the Audi package.
“It’ll be a tough one for us,” Weaver admitted. “Unless we find something in the data, that might be one of our toughest rounds.”