Charles Rainford sets benchmark time at final pre-season test
WSR’s Charles Rainford topped the times at the final official pre-season test for the British Touring Car Championship, as the 2026 campaign was officially launched at Brands Hatch.
Rainford had been working through his own programme throughout the day but with 15 minutes remaining, the BMW 330i M Sport made his mark as he upped the ante and laid down a best time of 47.102s.
Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble had been the driver to beat during the morning session and he, along with his Audi S3 Saloon team-mate Dexter Patterson, had been the pace-setters for much of the afternoon.
Rainford was the first pip them and soon after the Alliance Racing Ford Focus Saloon of Dan Cammish and Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla of Josh Cook did the same to ultimately finish second and third overall.
Patterson and Doble would go on to finish fourth and fifth while four-time champion Ash Sutton enjoyed a strong day of running to end up sixth.
Rounding out the top ten was the MB Motorsport Toyota duo of Aron Taylor-Smith and Gordon Shedden, the first Restart Racing Hyundai of James Dorlin and the lead Plato Racing Mercedes of Adam Morgan.
Taking place under bright and sunning conditions, all 21 cars that have been entered for the forthcoming campaign were in action over the course of the day.
The only stoppages came when Nicolas Hamilton needed to be recovered twice, before Max Buxton brought proceedings to a premature end after crashing at Paddock Hill Bend.
