DeLeon smashes Croft touring car lap record at BTCC pre-season test

Darryl DeLeon topped the first of two pre-season tests for the British Touring Car Championship, setting the fastest time ever recorded by a touring car at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire.

The two-day test was the first collective public outing for the majority of this year’s BTCC contenders – 20 drivers from 10 teams featured, with Excelr8 Motorsport only running two cars out of its four (the two Team Vertu-branded entries) and West Surrey Racing fielding two of its three planned entries. Meanwhile, NAPA Racing UK had five drivers in action, with reserve driver Senna Proctor taking part in addition to the team's four confirmed race drivers.

One Motorsport was absent despite being on the published list of license holders for this season and its participation in the upcoming campaign is in serious doubt after it cut its participation short last season when team owner Steve Dudman faced health issues.

WSR driver DeLeon's best time of 1m20.417s came late on Wednesday, a day which was dry and sunny, albeit windy, a contrast to Tuesday's wet conditions. 

“Only just!” DeLeon told RACER of his performance. “I think I did it in the last two laps or something of the whole two days. But no, I’m relatively happy of course. 

“It's always nice to do a two day test, because you can finish the first day and then come back to the second day with a fresh mind. So, yeah, pretty happy. I think we've learned a lot.

“Although it's nice to end the two day test on top, everyone knows the championship is super-competitive, and we don't know what other teams are doing and vice versa. Like any high level championship, the true level of pace between everyone will always be found out at Round 1 qualifying. Although it's nice to be on top, we don’t know the true pace of everyone else.”

DeLeon was just 0.027s quicker than Restart Racing's James Dorlin, while Tom Ingram’s benchmark from Tuesday – a 1m20.455s – put him third overall across both days and ensured two Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performances ended the test in the top three.

Charles Rainford made it two WSR BMW 330i M Sports in the combined top four, splitting the two Team Vertu Hyundais, Tom Chilton ending the test in fifth. Ingram and Chilton were the only drivers to make it into the combined top 10 with a lap from Tuesday morning.

Dan Cammish was the quickest of the NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus Titaniums. The reigning teams' champions have reworked their Focus hatchbacks in the off-season into sedans in the hope of unlocking more aerodynamic performance from the already ultra-successful platform. He was 0.089s quicker than his four-time champion teammate Ash Sutton.

Chris Smiley was eighth quickest, ahead of Daniel Rowbottom, driving a Mercedes A35 Saloon for record BTCC race winner Jason Plato's all-new eponymous team. 

Josh Cook completed the top 10 for Speedworks Corolla Racing ahead of fellow Toyota runner, the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport entry of Aron Taylor-Smith. 

BTCC newcomer Lewis Selby was 12th quickest in his NAPA Ford, his best time coming in the first of Tuesday's two sessions. He was quicker than two-time race winner Proctor in another of the team's refreshed cars, with Gordon Shedden splitting the pair in 13th. 

Adam Morgan ended the test 15th in the other Plato Racing Mercedes, ahead of NAPA’s Sam Osbourne and Speedworks Corolla’s Max Buxton, who is embarking on his first full season in the BTCC after making his debut at Croft last season. Buxton was the cause of the first of two red flags on Wednesday when he went off at the Complex early in the afternoon. A second came in the second hour of the afternoon session when one of the NAPA cars crashed at Tower.

Power Maxed Racing's trio of Aiden Moffat, Mikey Doble, and Dexter Patterson completed the runners. The team's all-new Audi S3s didn't run until Tuesday afternoon, with Patterson not getting a time on the board until Wednesday afternoon as the team treated the test as an extended shakedown. 

The cars have been built from the ground up in the off-season after a fire at its headquarters last August destroyed its venerable Vauxhall Astras, forcing the team to complete last season with borrowed – and inferior – Cupra Leons.

The next official outing for the BTCC field will be the final pre-season test at the official Season Launch at Brands Hatch on April 8, ahead of the first rounds of the season at Donington Park on April 19.

Catch the full 2026 BTCC season on the RACER Network.