BTCC Round One – Doble inherits race win with Ingram disqualification

It was a debut win for Power Maxed Racing’s new Audi S3 Saloon as Mikey Doble inherited the opening win of the season after a disqualification for reigning champion Tom Ingram.

Ingram secured victory in the first round of the 2026 British Touring Car Championship season leading from near lights to flag. He passed Dan Rowbottom off the line and led the rest of the way. But after the race it was found that Ingram’s Hyundai had over boosted, meaning a disqualification from the results.

Mikey Doble finished second on the road in a thrilling opening race while Ash Sutton came from 21st on the grid to finish fourth. Fourth initially became third though as Rowbottom suffered a ten second penalty for track limits offences – unable to repeat his Saturday heroics. It then became second after Ingram’s exclusion.

The new-for-2026 qualifying race on Saturday saw thrills and spills as Tom Ingram led from pole, being hunted down by Sutton and Rowbottom. Lap two saw Sutton and Ingram touch, with the former spinning out of the race, meaning he started 21st and last for Sundays race one.

The drama didn’t end there, as Ingram was handed a five second penalty for being marginally out of his grid box at the start. He showed scintillating pace trying to bridge the gap between himself and Rowbottom in second. The last lap saw Ingram just over four seconds ahead, he put in an incredible lap but it wasn’t enough, he lost the win to Rowbottom by just 0.024 seconds.

Rowbottom was on pole for race one, and gave Jason Plato and his new team the ideal start.

However off the line for race one, Rowbottom bogged down, seeing Ingram, Cook and Rainford leapfrog the Mercedes driver. Ingram burst free from the pack and was leading by the end of lap one by 1.5 seconds. Rowbottom’s recovery began by overtaking Rainford for third into the final chicane.

Speaking of recoveries, Ash Sutton surged up from the back of the grid to be 11th by the end of lap two. Cook and Rowbottom were chasing down Ingram, but the reigning champion was holding them at bay.

There were plenty of exciting battles in the midfield pack, with Gordon Shedden getting his elbows out in his Laser Tools Racing Toyota. He was battling the likes of Tom Chilton and Aiden Moffat. Sutton made his way past the Scotsman and was seventh by lap eight when the Safety Car made its first appearance of the season.

Going into the final chicane Josh Cook’s Toyota, running in second, suffered a left rear puncture, spinning him off and into the gravel trap, beached and not moving any time soon. After three laps the race resumed.

Doble made his way up to third on the restart with Sutton now fourth. Ricky Collard’s return to the BTCC ended prematurely as he suffered a puncture and damage, retiring from the race.

By lap 17 Doble was on the tail of Rowbottom, with the Audi man having more boost available to him. He managed to get past a lap later and made second his own. Behind them Rainford and Sutton were fighting for fourth. Rainford got past but was soon dispatched by the four time champion. Adam Morgan was close behind in the second Mercedes.

Sutton cleared Rainford and was hunting down Rowbottom in third – Morgan passed Rainford as an exciting battle was reaching its climax.

The final lap saw Rowbottom hit with a ten second penalty for track limits offences, dropping him from third on the road to 12th.

Ingram took the chequered flag, his 41st win of his career before being excluded. Doble won with Sutton finished fourth but inherited third then second, an incredible drive from the NAPA man.

Morgan was fourth but suffered a five second penalty for a separate infringement, finishing tenth, with Rainford now third. Dan Cammish finished fourth ahead of Shedden in fifth. Power Maxed pair Aiden Moffat and Dexter Patterson finished sixth and seventh respectively with Aron Taylor-Smith taking eighth.

Tom Chilton was ninth with Rowbottom finishing 12th once the penalty was applied. Daryl DeLeon was 11th, James Dorlin and Sam Osborne finished in the points with Lewis Selby taking 15th and a single point on his BTCC debut.

Pos Name Team Car
1 (4) Mikey DOBLE Power Maxed Racing  Audi S3 Saloon
2 (21) Ash SUTTON NAPA Racing Ford Focus Saloon
3 (5) Charles RAINFORD WSR BMW 330i M Sport
4 (13) Dan CAMMISH NAPA Racing Ford Focus Saloon
5 (9) Gordon SHEDDEN Laser Tools Racing  Toyota Corolla
6 (8) Aiden MOFFAT Power Maxed Racing Audi S3 Saloon
7 (10) Dexter PATTERSON  Power Maxed Racing Audi S3 Saloon
8 (11) Aron TAYLOR-SMITH Laser Tools Racing  Toyota Corolla
9 (6) Tom CHILTON Team Vertu Hyundai i30N
10 (7) Adam MORGAN Cataclean Plato Racing Mercedes A35 AMG
11 (1)* Dan ROWBOTTOM  Cataclean Plato Racing Mercedes A35 AMG
12 (17) Daryl DELEON WSR BMW 330i M Sport
13 (15) James DORLIN Restart Racing Hyundai i30N
14 (18) Sam OSBORNE NAPA Racing Ford Focus Saloon
15 (16) Lewis SELBY NAPA Racing Ford Focus Saloon
16 (14) Chris SMILEY Restart Racing Hyundai i30N
17 (19) Nicholas HAMILTON  Team VERTU Hyundai i30N
18 (20) Max BUXTON Speedworks Corolla Racing Toyota Corolla
DNF (12) Ricky COLLARD Team Vertu Hyundai i30N
DNF (3) Josh COOK Speedworks Corolla Racing Toyota Corolla
DSQ (2) Tom INGRAM Team Vertu Hyundai i30N
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