Dan Rowbottom entered the mid-season break after staging a fightback to clinch a top-six finish in what proved to be a frustrating end to the team's first four events in the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

Looking to carry momentum into the series’ seven-week break, the Mercedes-AMG A35 squad had to dig deep, getting its elbows out as Rowbottom and teammate Adam Morgan fought to put points on the board.

Morgan enjoyed a stellar run in the Qualifying Race finishing seventh to kickstart the latest outfit's momentum hopes, while Rowbottom was further back after getting caught up in a host of midfield battles.

That would be as good as it got for Morgan in front of his home crowd as he was forced to retire from a top-six position in race one due to a technical issue. The Lancastrian then took the hard tyre in race two in the hope of progressing up the order in race three.

With the soft tyre bolted on his car, the 37-year-old had hoped to end the first spell of events with a flurry, but instead sustained race-ending damage at Old Hall after contact on the exit of the opening corner.

On the other side of the garage, Rowbottom opted to play the long game by utilising the hard tyre out in race one, which then enabled him to charge forward and finish on the cusp of the top ten in race two.

Having the benefit of the soft tyre to use again for race three, the multiple race winner delivered a storming drive to cut his way through the field and ultimately snare sixth place at the chequered flag.

Jason Plato, Cataclean Plato Racing Team Principal: “Overall, it had been a really frustrating weekend. Dan did well to chip away over the course of race day and probably sixth was the best we could have achieved given the pace of those ahead of us. I feel really sorry for Adam because he’s failed to score any points through no fault of his own.

“This summer break is welcomed as it allows us to really dig into everything we’ve learnt so far. We’ll look to go testing at some point too and hopefully come Thruxton we’ll be in a much stronger position to fight for honours.”

Dan Rowbottom, #32 Cataclean Plato Racing: “I’m happy I ended the weekend with a top-six finish. After the challenging qualifying we had on Saturday, reverse engineering race day was always the plan and I think we did the best we could.

“From a chassis perspective I’m feeling positive about the steps we’ve made over the past few events. In that last race the car felt like it was on its toes a bit more and that’s ultimately what you want from a front-wheel-drive touring car.

“We seem to be struggling for grunt in a straight line currently so we need to dive into that and understand why. It may be something on our side or it may be we need to work with our engine partners to unlock a bit more speed. Thankfully we’ve got the break to do all of that.”

Adam Morgan, #33 Cataclean Plato Racing: “From my side of the garage it was a weekend to forget. We were in the mix on Saturday and were on course for a good result in race one before we had to stop the car.

“That race one retirement was the beginning of the end almost because we were always going to struggle on the hard tyre and then there is nothing I could do in the last race. We’re in the summer break, we'll get our heads down and bounce back at Thruxton.”

The 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season continues at Thruxton on (25/26 July).