Round Six of the 2025 campaign brought the KwikFit British Touring Car Championship to Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire, kicking off the second half of a hotly-contested championship, courtesy of Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton’s 10-point gap at the head of the standings.
Key stories ahead of Sunday’s action included the absence of reigning champion Jake Hill due to illness, and a grid shortened by two cars as One Motorsport stepped back from Croft and Knockhill over concerns for owner Steve Dudman’s health. One of their drivers, Stephen Jelley, jumped to Un-Limited Motorsport to replace outgoing Max Hall.
Max Buxton made his Toyota debut at Croft, 22 years after his father Danny Buxton made his BTCC debut at the same circuit. The 19-year-old has only 18 months of competitive car racing experience, but was “extremely excited” ahead of his debut weekend. He is due to replace outgoing Ronan Pearson (a seat filled by Finn Leslie at Oulton Park).
Race One
Team VERTU’s Tom Ingram started on pole with a 1:20.522 in qualifying, accompanied by NAPA Racing’s Dan Cammish on the front row. Dan Rowbottom and Dan Lloyd made up row two while Mikey Doble and Tom Chilton completed the Quick Six.
Race One started on a drying yet slippery circuit. With the exception of Chilton and Rainford escaping the road at turn five, and Mikey Doble spinning into the wall one lap three, the pack remained clean and orderly.
Senna Proctor’s stunning opening laps took him from eight on the grid to third, and careful use of his boost laps kept him clear of pressure from Rowbottom behind.
Chris Smiley’s Restart Racing Hyundai spun across the gravel and into the barrier at turn one following a fierce battle with Gordon Shedden. Smiley clipped the inside kerb and hooked Shedden’s front bumper, spearing him off the road and triggering a Safety Car.
The Safety Car period added two laps and aided Ash Sutton’s dash from 11th on the grid – until he picked up a front-right puncture as the pack restarted, forcing him to pit.
The extra laps were no help to Cammish, however, as Ingram collected his third victory of the year, with a podium completed by Cammish and Proctor. Ingram’s win and Sutton’s misfortune placed the Team VERTU driver 13 points ahead in the championship battle.
Race Two
The top three started on hard tyres. Proctor fell away sharply while Rowbottom disposed of Cammish by the end of lap two and Ingram allowed Rowbo and Chilton past.
The hard tyre runners eventually fell back, putting Ingram eighth, Cammish 10th and Proctor 19th.
A clinical performance from Dan Rowbottom rewarded him a third victory of the season which moved him ahead of NAPA team-mate Cammish in the standings. Tom Chilton brought home second place while Daryl DeLeon, leader in the Jack Sears Trophy championship, finished third.
Sutton started on the softs in 20th and cut through the pack like a hot knife through butter, ending race two in fifth place.
Ninth-placed Aiden Moffat was drawn to start on the reverse-grid pole in his LQK Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR BMW.
Race Three
An early multi-car collision proved critical for numerous drivers, when Charles Rainford tagged Dan Cammish into a spin into the Complex, the latter collecting Daryl DeLeon’s BMW and Chris Smiley’s Hyundai – ending their days and affecting others. A Safety Car was called to collect the scattered cars and debris.
When racing resumed, Moffat lost the lead to Sutton while defending from Ingram, which proved pivotal in allowing Sutton to create a gap to his main championship antagonist.
Moffat continued a stunning defence until he was tagged by Senna Proctor, off-track and across the grass entering the Complex on lap 12.
Sutton won Race Three, to bandage the wounds from a point-less Race One and close the championship lead to just eight points. He topped the podium for the fifth time this year with Team VERTU duo Ingram and Proctor completing the top three.
Meanwhile, Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble banged doors and traded paint with Un-Limited Motorsport’s Dexter Patterson as he dived the Scotsman at the final corner of the final lap – for the Independent Victory and P10 on the road.
Gordon Shedden finished race three in an impressive fourth place, capitalising on the misfortune of others while driving a sensible and measured race, like he did at Oulton Park previously.
Team VERTU and NAPA Racing UK were class of the field this weekend – unexpected at a track historically favouring the rear-wheel drive BMWs. They ended the weekend only three points apart in the teams’ championship.
One Motorsport’s absence forced them below Toyota and extended the gap above to independent rivals, Restart Racing.
Daryl DeLeon, despite his tough luck in race three, still leads the Jack Sears Trophy championship by 19 points over fellow BMW driver, Charles Rainford.
With tight gaps in all quarters of the championship, the pressure will surely build in the two weeks before the next race meeting at Knockhill.
MotorPost 
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