BTCC confirms points system for new qualifying race

The points system for the qualifying races being introduced into the BTCC in 2026 have now been confirmed, alongside revisions to the way in which Saturday’s will work work next season.

Free practice will now be scaled back to a single 40 minute session each weekend rather than the two sessions that have been the norm in recent years, before the field is split in two for ‘Qualifying’ – which will decide the grid for the qualifying race.

The group with the fastest time will form the odd side of the grid with the other group making up the even side of the grid for a race that will run for a duration of around 15 minutes, with the exact number of laps for each circuit to be confirmed.

All drivers will run on the standard tyre for the event throughout the qualifying race, with TOCA Turbo Boost allowed as per championship points.

There will be no bonus points offered in the qualifying race, which will also only award points for the overall Drivers’ championship.

Those points will be half-points compared to the three Sunday races, with any half points rounded up to create a system of 10-9-8-7-6-5-5-4-4-3-3-2-2-1-1 for the top 15 drivers.

The qualifying race will be streamed live on YouTube.