Tom Ingram tops opening day of BTCC testing at Croft
Reigning champion Tom Ingram set the pace on the opening day of pre-season British Touring Car Championship testing at Croft, finishing two tenths of a second clear of his Team Vertu team-mate Tom Chilton.
Marking the first of three official test days prior to the start of the 2026 season, the reigning champion lit up the timesheets in dry conditions during the morning before the rain moved in for the afternoon.
At the wheel of his Hyundai i30 N, Ingram set a best time of 1:20.455 around the 2.1-mile North Yorkshire track. Chilton trailed the double champion by 0.201s while Ash Sutton was the lead NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus in third.
Debutant Lewis Selby enjoyed a strong showing to finish fourth with Josh Cook being the highest-placed Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport. Dan Cammish meanwhile made it three Ford Focus Saloons inside the top six.
Completing the top ten was Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley, Senna Proctor – who jumped behind the wheel of Sam Osborne’s car for a handful of laps – Gordon Shedden, who was fastest in the afternoon, and his Toyota stablemate Aron Taylor-Smith.
West Surrey Racing were in attendance once more with BMWs being driven by Charles Rainford and Daryl DeLeon. The team’s third car is on-site, albeit in the back of the their transporter.
Elsewhere, Plato Racing turned heads as they hit the track for the first time with Daniel Rowbottom and Adam Morgan driving their all-new Mercedes-AMG A35 Saloons.
Power Maxed Racing also debuted their new Audi S3 Saloon, with Mikey Doble and Aiden Moffat turning their first laps towards the end of the afternoon session. Doble and Moffat, along with team-mate Dexter Patterson, are all set to run further tomorrow.
Despite being on the original list of TOCA BTCC Licence list, One Motorsport were the only team not to be in attendance.
The BTCC is set to stage the second and final day of official testing at Croft tomorrow, with two more sessions slated to take place.
