Max Hall, a fast Wunderkind. Mikey Doble putting the resurrected PMR top of the timesheets. Tom Ingram pointing out that he has yet to utilise the new boost system, but that he (and many others) noticed that “Some people are using a small amount of boost, some people are using loads.”
An almost full grid of BTCC machines made an appearance at Croft for two days of testing, in ideal spring conditions (a far cry from the damp and dingy one day affair last term) giving the teams a chance to measure up one another as the championship heads into a new era with no hybrid or weight ballast, and synthetic fuels. The net result was that a couple of machines that usually run mid-grid to rear of the field were on top form, and the big hitters were keeping their cards close to their chests – so there was no real measuring up at all.
It was quite a subdued affair, even by pre-season testing standards. With two drivers absent, and only the essential kit in town (no hospo, no bullshit boards, no cohort of hangers on) the health of the BTCC after a small 20 car entry in 2024 seems to be, outwardly, on the up.
The weather really did play ball thankfully. Croft has a Spa type of micro-climate, and the 2.1 mile circuit is often prone to wet weather quickly appearing, but a dry build up in the weeks before prepped the environs of the track fantastically. Nice and sunny, not too warm, not too cold, with perhaps a 90-minute period of wind gusts up to 25 mph (from the 7-8mph of the rest of the test) was a pleasing result. These were meaningful conditions, for the teams – maybe not for those who want to disassemble every lap time across the field.
Many of the conversations were of a similar ilk across the two days. How the cars felt without weight, how it was good to be back with a chance to run in traffic, how the upcoming season could be a great one – all the usual tempered pre-season niceties.
Tom Ingram probably explained it all the best when talking about his view of the two days, his own hopes for this year, and of course what a car without hybrid or ballast feels like. “I think we’re obviously all experiencing a bit of a change to the to the cars for the good,” he said. “It’s nice to get the weight out and they’re starting to feel like race cars again, rather than big lumps of tin going around, so it feels really good. We’ve all been waiting for the day it got lighter again.”
The 2022 champion, in the 2025 ‘shell suit’ livery Hyundai i30 joined around half of the grid in dipping into the 1m20s bracket. The pole position time from last year was smashed from the off, and one wonders if with perfect weather when the championship returns to the track in the summer, if pole this year will dip into the 1m19s region. If so, that could be down to tyres too, which in itself was an interesting piece of the puzzle. The teams had access to, and used, all three compounds, but who was on fresh, and who was using old rubber?
“From our side, we’ve been out on soft, medium and hard tyres just doing our own thing,” Ingram said of the run plan with the Goodyear tyres. “We’re not fussed about winning preseason testing. We’ve just put our heads down and we’re doing our programme really, and I think I think we’ve been in good shape. I think the car is feeling in a really nice place on all three compounds,” which was unlike his experience with the new TOCA Turbo Boost (TTB) system.
The 2025 delivery of extra power is no different to the Cosworth hybrid delivery of the last three seasons in terms of it being button based, and that it will give the drivers exactly the same amount of power (around 60bhp.) It’s just that the roughly 55kg weight of the hybrid package isn’t there anymore, and the cars are a lot nimbler for that. Engineers have spoke of the BTCC engine regulations restricting the current generation of engines, and with the rules as they are, most have been detuned to losing around 100bhp of their full potential anyway, meaning the turbo boost shouldn’t be any problem, but Ingram didn’t get to find out over the two days.
“I haven’t used it yet,” he calmly stated about the lack of TTB testing. “We’ll obviously have media day, which will be the next time we’re out, and we’ll obviously just go through our programme again, but you know it’s one of those things. We know that the boost or whatever it’s going to be called just makes you go faster. It’s a fairly obvious thing, so it’s nothing too revolutionary in that regard. You just go faster. We’ve seen that from the times today. There are times being pumped in where you go ‘yeah, okay, you can see what’s going on there.’ Some people are using a small amount of boost, some people are using loads. We can see who has used what by the timing screens. I mean, Doble was quickest today, but for us, we know that we’re in a really good place with the car, we’ll be fine. It’s the start of the new season. There’s always the thing where you want to stamp your mark on it, but at the same time, we’ve seen that over the years that actually it’s not necessarily won at the first round, and it’s all about the bigger picture. We’ll just stay level-headed and just always do what we always do, which is just not care about what anyone else does. And you know, we’ll just do our own thing and that will be the philosophy throughout the season as well.
QUIET TIMES FOR HYUNDAI
Adam Morgan was happier on Tuesday. Reacclimatising to the FWD Hyundai brought some pace and he admitted that the pre-season programme is instilling confidence. His Tuesday pace was comfortably top 10, but Wednesday did see a visit to the turn one gravel trap. Sharing the garage with Excelr8 (due to Tom Chilton and Michael Crees being away on holiday) Restart Racing were low key in their first two days of running in their new i30 machines. Lloyd suffered from a collapsed right front suspension on Tuesday afternoon, and Chris Smiley stopped on track. Simple bedding in challenges did curtail useful running with the pair ending up in 19th and 21st on day one. Day two would see Lloyd parked for most of the afternoon while Smiley posted 12th best overall.
WSR NEW CLASS INDUCTION FOLLOWS CHAMP HILL
Jake Hill was happy with the balance of the BMW and found it to be a bit livelier than 12 months ago with the weight off. There was a relaxed air surrounding West Surrey Racing as the team just went through its programme. Hill naturally put in the fastest BMW lap of the two days – and managed a quick spin at Sunny Out. Aiden Moffat is certainly in a happier place than he was last season, and he is very happy to be back in a rear wheel drive machine, even if it’s not quite as lively as his Ford Escort Mexico out on the roads of Southern Scotland. Also switching back to RWD is Daryl DeLeon who was at the end of the test a tenth off Hill in fifth with a trouble-free run. BTCC rookie Charels Rainford also ended the two-day test in the top 10.
ONE LAST TIME TO BE (FORD) FOCUSSED FOR ALLIANCE
Ash Sutton is another driver singing praises when it comes to the lighter cars. The four-time champion was also showing zero interest in overall speed compared to the other teams, but was certainly on it with a handful every time he got in the car. No clues were given about how much development work the Ford Focus quartet has been subject to over the winter, but a fired up Dan Cammish spent most of the test at the sharp end of the timing screens. The Alliance squad enjoyed the sun with the data being poured over outside (and the odd ice cream for cooling purposes.) Dan Rowbottom, despite an overall placing of 18th, was not concerned about where he was in the standings. He was more than happy with where his car was across the first three sessions, but a huge puff of smoke from his left front tyre turning in at Clervaux on Wednesday afternoon saw the car lose no speed as it skipped across the gravel and into the barriers. It took some time for marshals to arrive, which was far from ideal, but he was thankful that the new soft barriers in front of the tyrewall lessened the impact. Sam Osbourne also had an off late on Wednesday after completing 130 laps, with driver coach Rory Butcher also getting a 14 lap run on Tuesday.
NO LIMITS FOR HALL WITH UN-LIMITED
It was back to school for Nic Hamilton and Dexter Patterson, but it was new boy Max Hall who was stole the show. Fastest overall on Tuesday, second fastest overall. The times might sound great on their own, but on-track the rookie racer was a spectacular sight. There might have been a few spins, but the Cupra Leon was on edge in every corner. With a very soft setup Hall admitted that it was fun with a loose car to let it hang out. Even at corners like Tower and Sunny In Hall was taking lines far different to anyone else, and even on fast laps could be seen letting the rear slide far more than his older contemporaries on exit. The team looks to be in a good place. Patterson got lots of laps in and his pace was just outside the top 10. There was no sharing of how much boost was being used by the squad, but there was a lot of positivity. Hamilton seemed to be more relaxed out of the car than in previous years, and it was about getting to grips with the machinery once again. There were a number of spins, but like other drivers it was a simple case of finding the limits.
PMR RISE FROM THE GRAVE, THEN RISE TO THE TOP
Mikey Doble posted the fastest lap of the test as the Jack Sears Trophy winner picked up where he left off with PMR. After a tough off season it was business as usual for the – at the moment – single car team. A sensible set of runs put on display that driver and car are in fine tune as they head into a third season together – but, one rival driver did mutter after seeing an onboard of the fastest time that ‘he had his thumb on the boost for most of the lap, I haven’t touched mine,’ indicating the unreliability of taking notice of the timing screens with different levels of boost being used.
THE CAR IN FRONT IS NOT A TOYOTA, BUT THAT’S FINE – FOR THE MOMENT
At Speedworks the Toyota drivers didn’t quite get the same amount of laps as the other teams. Árón Taylor-Smith might have been restricted in terms of track time on Wednesday, but outwardly there wasn’t frustration abounding. He seemed quite sanguine and unpanicked as the #40 machine sat in the garage. Gordon Shedden was back to being Gordon Shedden. Animal pace for the car, really pushing the limits on the track, and super cool and chilled out of it. The Toyota is considered fourth in the manufacturer race, but again, when it comes to the use of boost, nobody really knows what the running order is. Ronan Pearson and James Dorlin ran their two days without too much problem. Pearson lost most of the first morning, but steady progress in the black and silver test colours was really reflected in Dorlin improving with every lap across day two.
COOK BACK IN THE ‘ONE’ PLACE HE BELONGS
Croft didn’t prepare for the arrival of Josh Cook properly. The exit of Tower Corner (along with a couple of other patches) had seen the dip behind the kerbing filled, and protective latticework installed. With freshly seeded grass it was a no-go area, with a bollard installed to prevent drivers abusing the work that the hard-working grounds staff had gotten sorted. It worked, but Cook was beyond the limits everywhere else, and was a major reason – according to circuit staff for three red flags on the opening day. He wasn’t the only guilty party, but repeated incursions across the kerbing at turn one and the chicane meant that tyre stacks were brought out. At Barcroft where half the drivers were getting two wheels on the grass and the rest getting none, Cook was flying through the corner with two left wheels on the kerbs and two right on the grass – eventually the new CCTV cameras forced the track to decide to black flag him. Now, none of this is a criticism of Cook, who in simple words has the ability to monster any corner in the land, but is a long diatribe to explain that in getting into a car that hasn’t been on track for two years and to turn it straight on in the extreme shows where One Motorsport are. Back in a familiar machine Cook was probably the most committed driver on the track across the two days, and his performance in that sense confirms that this isn’t a half-arsed comeback for the team, like some fans and commentators seem to think. One, being the ‘newest’ team on the grid were relegated to running from an awning, but that didn’t stop the team going full guns. BTCC returnee Stephen Jelly answered the question about his FWD credentials with a solid positive – and the crew also put in some shifts with his car going through an engine change on Tuesday, and a clutch change on Wednesday. Operationally and on-track the pieces of the jigsaw are fitting perfectly.
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