Young WSR star tops the times during pre-season testing

Official BTCC pre-season testing got underway at Croft with a two-day run (24/25 March) as thousands of fans flocked to the popular North Yorkshire venue.

The opening day was topped by reigning champion Tom Ingram, before the cars and stars of the UK's premier motorsport championship contended with a wet Tuesday afternoon, but it was WSR's Daryl DeLeon that set the ultimate pace on the final day of running.

DeLeon 1:20.417s lap time dipped under Ingram's pole position lap from last season, as the #2 BMW 330i M Sport driver kicked off the 2026 campaign in impressive fashion.

It must be noted of course that testing times must always be treated with caution as fuel loads and tyre combinations vary throughout the order.

Restart Racing's James Dorlin thought he had scooped the bragging rights when his afternoon run promoted him to the head of the timesheets, but he eventually fell just 0.027s short of DeLeon's brilliant benchmark.

Team VERTU's Ingram clocked the fastest lap time in the dry cool morning running of the opening day, with team-mate Tom Chilton ending up second.

Heavy rain fell as the afternoon progressed with three-time champ Gordon Shedden setting the pace in the wet. The Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver recorded a solid 1:28.453s lap time as the Corolla continued its pre-season improvement, albeit more than four seconds off the pace in comparison to the fastest lap in optimum conditions.

More to follow...