TCR UK racer Ryan Bensley is to make his BTCC debut with Vertu/Excelr8 at Snetterton this coming weekend, replacing Michael Crees. The King’s Lynn native will be hoping to usurp George Russell and Martin Brundle from being the centre of racing attention in the town as he steps up to the top level of British motor racing.

Former Civic Cup racer Bensley made the step up to TCR UK at the end of last season in a Lynk & Co 03 and raced to fifth place on his debut in the series. After missing round one this term Bensley re-joined the series for this year and immediately equalled his best finishing position at Donington Park before suffering technical maladies last weekend at Silverstone.

The Josh Cook tutored racer also recently competed in the C1 24-hour race at Silverstone (a race he previously competed in in its inaugural form at Rockingham.) Sharing his machine around the home of the British Grand Prix was Cook and fellow BTCC racers Aiden Moffat and Jade Edwards. The fifth driver on the team was Sylvain Rubio – technical director at Excelr8/Hyundai engine builder Swindon Powertrain who is a constant in the team garage.

The fourth seat at Excelr8 has been one that has attracted much attention since the exit of Ronan Pearson with three rounds to go in the 2024 campaign. Initially triple Mini JCW Champion Dan Zelos filled the gap to close out the year before the team put their backing behind him for this season, but it wasn’t enough to get a deal across the line to secure the ride for Zelos.

Crees was a late addition to the grid for 2025 and was initially scheduled to race the first half of the season with Senna Proctor racing the car from round six of ten at Croft. Current BTCC rules allow only for one driver swap per season, meaning that the move will have been cleared by TOCA to maintain a healthy 25 car field.

Rumours in the paddock have been persistent in claiming that Crees’ seat was under threat due to financial requirements, Crees stated: ““This season for me is all about building for the future, and over the first two weekends of the year I feel I’ve been able to show what I can do despite the fact that I went into the opening round with no testing and having been out of a car for twelve months.

“Ryan is someone who has been a long-term commercial partner of mine through his mortgage business, and it’s always been his dream to be able to compete in the BTCC at Snetterton given it’s his home circuit. As I didn’t sign up for a full season and don’t have a championship to think about, this was the perfect opportunity to help him achieve that dream, and he’ll have my full support on track this weekend.”

There is no notice for the moment if Bensley, who is expected to continue his TCR UK campaign, will have any further outings before the mid-season BTCC break as the move is purported to have been made to give Crees breathing space to firm his plans after Snetterton. For now it is unclear how the BTCC regulation concerning driver changes affects the team.

Under the 2025 BTCC regulations (1.4.4) drivers can be replaced by a substitute in force majeure situations, but that does not include for financial reasons, unless approved by the Championship administrator. With Senna Proctor already installed for the second half of the year and rules regarding changes limiting teams to one switch, this already puts Excelr8 into a position of having confirmed three drivers for one car in a season.