Charles Rainford tops the times in final pre-season test

WSR’s Charles Rainford topped the times in the final official British Touring Car Championship pre-season test at Brands Hatch, emerging three tenths of a second quicker than NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish.

Rainford put in the best lap of the day with an effort of 47.102 seconds just 15 minutes from the end of the session, at the time usurping Power Maxed Racing’s Dexter Patterson, who had until then been quickest.

Patterson was ultimately then also beaten by Cammish and Toyota’s Josh Cook, who both lapped within four tenths of Rainford’s BMW, whilst Patterson was an impressive fourth overall as the top Audi driver in PMR’s new A3.

After six hours of testing under glorious spring sunshine, Rainford held bragging rights as times tumbled in the closing minutes.

Mikey Doble was fifth quickest, with much of the session having seen a PMR 1-2, before he ultimately ended up 0.421 seconds adrift of the top time.

Four-time champion Ash Sutton was sixth, just over half a second off the pace, as two of the new Alliance Racing Fords made it into the top ten.

Laser Tools Racing duo Árón Taylor-Smith and Gordon Shedden were next up in their Toyotas in seventh and eighth respectively, Taylor-Smith being one of only a few drivers who didn’t improve on his time from the morning, whilst the top ten was completed by Restart Racing’s James Dorlin and Plato Racing’s Adam Morgan in the brand-new Mercedes A35 Saloon.

EXCELR8 Motorsport experienced a low-key session, with reigning champion Tom Ingram ending up 17^th overall, ahead of team-mate Tom Chilton in 18^th, with both Hyundai drivers being just under a second off the pace.

The 2026 season gets underway at Donington Park on 18 – 19 April.

Aggregated results

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	99		Charles RAINFORD	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	127	47.102	–
2	27		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	115	47.419	0.317
3	66		Josh COOK	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	90	47.437	0.335
4	17		Dexter PATTERSON	Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	80	47.474	0.372
5	88		Mikey DOBLE	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	69	47.523	0.421
6	116		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	133	47.616	0.514
7	50		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	97	47.644	0.542
8	52		Gordon SHEDDEN	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	117	47.657	0.555
9	132		James DORLIN	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	82	47.722	0.620
10	33		Adam MORGAN	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	101	47.735	0.633
11	16		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	67	47.739	0.637
12	22		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	124	47.747	0.645
13	77		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	115	47.755	0.653
14	32		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	107	47.770	0.668
15	19		Max BUXTON	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	115	47.810	0.708
16	15		Lewis SELBY	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	120	47.817	0.715
17	80		Tom INGRAM	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	98	47.988	0.886
18	3		Tom CHILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	82	48.049	0.947
19	11		Ricky COLLARD	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	80	48.188	1.086
20	2		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	82	48.303	1.201
21	28		Nicolas HAMILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	52	48.325	1.223

Morning session results

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	88		Mikey DOBLE	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	38	47.553	–
2	17		Dexter PATTERSON	Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	47	47.632	0.079
3	50		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	60	47.644	0.091
4	132		James DORLIN	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	43	47.722	0.169
5	66		Josh COOK	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	55	47.736	0.183
6	32		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	51	47.770	0.217
7	22		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	62	47.773	0.220
8	16		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	40	47.784	0.231
9	52		Gordon SHEDDEN	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	52	47.807	0.254
10	15		Lewis SELBY	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	76	47.817	0.264
11	27		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	62	47.855	0.302
12	99		Charles RAINFORD	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	63	47.862	0.309
13	33		Adam MORGAN	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	54	47.907	0.354
14	116		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	72	48.027	0.474
15	80		Tom INGRAM	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	47	48.064	0.511
16	3		Tom CHILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	43	48.085	0.532
17	19		Max BUXTON	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	46	48.148	0.595
18	2		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	50	48.303	0.750
19	77		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	59	48.337	0.784
20	28		Nicolas HAMILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	26	48.826	1.273
21	11		Ricky COLLARD	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	1	No time	N/A

Afternoon session results

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	99		Charles RAINFORD	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	64	47.102	–
2	27		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	53	47.419	0.317
3	66		Josh COOK	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	35	47.437	0.335
4	17		Dexter PATTERSON	Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	33	47.474	0.372
5	88		Mikey DOBLE	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	31	47.523	0.421
6	116		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	61	47.616	0.514
7	52		Gordon SHEDDEN	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	65	47.657	0.555
8	33		Adam MORGAN	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	47	47.735	0.633
9	16		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	27	47.739	0.637
10	22		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	62	47.747	0.645
11	77		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	56	47.755	0.653
12	50		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	37	47.780	0.678
13	32		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	56	47.783	0.681
14	19		Max BUXTON	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	69	47.810	0.708
15	132		James DORLIN	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	39	47.837	0.735
16	15		Lewis SELBY	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	44	47.884	0.782
17	80		Tom INGRAM	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	51	47.988	0.886
18	3		Tom CHILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	39	48.049	0.947
19	11		Ricky COLLARD	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	79	48.188	1.086
20	28		Nicolas HAMILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	26	48.325	1.223
21	2		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	32	48.850	1.748